Whilst a nice video, being familiar with the Mavic I can see the 'issues' with ti are the same as mine. It's the wrong type of scenery to get the best out of the Mavic. Trees, water, and small details are where the compression artefacts are most visible. Still I mean i'm sure most would love to have that footage so that's fine. It is good.
That's a great post, mikedefieslife, and points out the compromises we face. A sailor's drone will no doubt get pointed at waves and trees on shore, and that's where the trouble starts when the bitrate is a little too low. The video linked could have instead been shot in HD without so many artifacts. Most people don't need 4K anyway, and its a pain to edit and color correct in that resolution without compromising the bitrate in these post production efforts. Unless your UHD monitor is 65" or more, and you are viewing your own source media directly, 4K won't add anything to the experience. If you upload your carefully babied (high bitrate, no transcoding) 4K final cut to Youtube, they will automatically transcode it from your format to VP9 and most likely serve it with a bitrate in the inferior 20Mbps range, depending on the viewer's browser or player.
On the bright side, if you simply insist upon 4K in these conditions because more K's are ... um ... more fun, then all is not lost. Your compression artifacts contained in scenery with nice detail and contrast will be just like that nice "Corfu 4K" Youtube video that was linked by Thalas. Most people will mistake these problems for old fashioned motion blur, and enjoy the video. However, once you see the problem, you cannot un-see it. I am quite certain that trees are only supposed to look like this inside of a video game, but not in real life on the beautiful Corfu Island:
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Re: Good Drones for Cruisers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyan
That's a great post, mikedefieslife, and points out the compromises we face. A sailor's drone will no doubt get pointed at waves and trees on shore, and that's where the trouble starts when the bitrate is a little too low. The video linked could have instead been shot in HD without so many artifacts. Most people don't need 4K anyway, and its a pain to edit and color correct in that resolution without compromising the bitrate in these post production efforts. Unless your UHD monitor is 65" or more, and you are viewing your own source media directly, 4K won't add anything to the experience. If you upload your carefully babied (high bitrate, no transcoding) 4K final cut to Youtube, they will automatically transcode it from your format to VP9 and most likely serve it with a bitrate in the inferior 20Mbps range, depending on the viewer's browser or player.
On the bright side, if you simply insist upon 4K in these conditions because more K's are ... um ... more fun, then all is not lost. Your compression artifacts contained in scenery with nice detail and contrast will be just like that nice "Corfu 4K" Youtube video that was linked by Thalas. Most people will mistake these problems for old fashioned motion blur, and enjoy the video. However, once you see the problem, you cannot un-see it. I am quite certain that trees are only supposed to look like this inside of a video game, but not in real life on the beautiful Corfu Island:
Ok, so I take it that I shouldn't bother with 4k video if I go for the Mavic Pro.
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That's a great post, mikedefieslife, and points out the compromises we face. A sailor's drone will no doubt get pointed at waves and trees on shore, and that's where the trouble starts when the bitrate is a little too low. The video linked could have instead been shot in HD without so many artifacts. Most people don't need 4K anyway, and its a pain to edit and color correct in that resolution without compromising the bitrate in these post production efforts. Unless your UHD monitor is 65" or more, and you are viewing your own source media directly, 4K won't add anything to the experience. If you upload your carefully babied (high bitrate, no transcoding) 4K final cut to Youtube, they will automatically transcode it from your format to VP9 and most likely serve it with a bitrate in the inferior 20Mbps range, depending on the viewer's browser or player.
On the bright side, if you simply insist upon 4K in these conditions because more K's are ... um ... more fun, then all is not lost. Your compression artifacts contained in scenery with nice detail and contrast will be just like that nice "Corfu 4K" Youtube video that was linked by Thalas. Most people will mistake these problems for old fashioned motion blur, and enjoy the video. However, once you see the problem, you cannot un-see it. I am quite certain that trees are only supposed to look like this inside of a video game, but not in real life on the beautiful Corfu Island:
I agree about 1080p vs 4k. All depends on the situation. The problem though is that the 1080p on the Mavic is abysmal. Unless they've fixed it now. When mine was still running, and I used to follow the Mavic forums, it was by far the worst mode. The Spark's 1080p output is superior. On the Mavic I actually found 2.7k a decent compromise.
Anyway, I think we can all agree that quality just needs to be good enough for the user. And as we've figured out 'good enough' is subjective.
One thing that gets mentioned a lot is form factor. Unless you are going to be taking the drone ashore often, size (within reason) isn't important on a boat. Sure space on a boat is important, but the difference in storing a Mavic Pro vs a Phantom 4 Pro (which is a brilliant drone) is negligible.
Now if you have or want to haul them onto land, that's another matter entirely. The Spark, and Air are more friendly in that regard with the Mavic being a great allrounder.
There's no right choice, and I think threads like these only come about because of the cost of these devices. $1,000 isn't small change. I bet if they were $200 there'd be an awful lot less arguing.
Personally, I'm now keen on the Air, but want to see someone like Phillip Bloom do an in depth review, rather than these DJI ambassadors like Jon Olsson, and the like.
Ok, so I take it that I shouldn't bother with 4k video if I go for the Mavic Pro.
Im not an expert on the technical side. i have however, survived trying to edit a 4k video.
NEVER again. Considering it mainly will be used for YOUTUBE and my personal collection but... WILL need editing... screw that pro 4K for a game of soldiers...It has its place but not at my house..
Good discussion.. spend the money on the drone of choice with a good but sub 4k camera. FOr now 1080 rules..
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I agree about 1080p vs 4k. All depends on the situation. The problem though is that the 1080p on the Mavic is abysmal. Unless they've fixed it now. When mine was still running, and I used to follow the Mavic forums, it was by far the worst mode. The Spark's 1080p output is superior. On the Mavic I actually found 2.7k a decent compromise.
That's good to know, thanks! My PP3 needs a different mode for different conditions. 1080P is safe for reasons mentioned. Interesting about the Mavic having an issue with that setting.
I don't read the drone forums any more because when the fanboys start to post nonsense, it just makes me laugh. There is a RED camera forum with similar fanboys where pro wannabees say all kinds of bogus things. There is no reason to blindly believe what I say either, BTW. However, I do get paid to evaluate the image quality on pro cameras like the Arri Alexa, Sony F55, and (ugh) RED Dragon as the imaging Science apart of my post production job. I can back up what I say with technical details and images and graphs, as we often have to prove such things to movie/tv producers who are asking million dollar questions about similar issues.
I only have a PP3 and a racing drone, but I'm very curious to hear from people like you with other drones, who are not simply fanboys regurgitating company nonsense.
Im not an expert on the technical side. i have however, survived trying to edit a 4k video.
NEVER again. Considering it mainly will be used for YOUTUBE and my personal collection but... WILL need editing... screw that pro 4K for a game of soldiers...It has its place but not at my house..
Hi weavis, I feel your pain! The large files and slow editing also plagues the professional world. In our machine room, we keep adding PetaBytes of storage and expensive 32Gb FibreChannel interfaces. Consider HDR bit depths (12 or 16) and high performance workstations for editing/color... then the headache grows quickly.
1080P is close to the sweet spot I think, for home or boat use. 2K (such as 2048) or a little more is potentially a choice to explore too, as the SOURCE can always be DOWN-converted later if needed. (up-conversion is just fakeness)
For retrieving on a boat underway I've wondered if a metal plate suspended from the bottom of the quadcopter and a strong magnet on a pole would be helpful.
Either that or something about the size of a golf ball on the end of a string hanging from the bottom so you can grab it.
Retrieving it underway seems to be the biggest issue.
I don’t understand why people don’t think of building one...compare it to building a computer. If you buy an Alienware then you have 1/2 the computer you could of had if you built your own.
I’ve built about 8 RC vehicles ranging from professional to beater and there was always a substantial difference between mine and ready made out of the box sold RC’s.
If you’re up for it I can guarantee that you will have a lot of fun building one! It’s very addictive because you’re building it and the customization you’re able to do is unreal!
It would affect the downward facing cameras for VPS (visual position sensing) and might affect the programmed response rates of the flight computer.
I tried adding some closed-cell foam (pipe insulation, just enough to keep it from sinking) to the pop guards of a DJI Spark and it went a bit haywire trying to recover from minor wind gusts. It just wasn't programmed for it. I returned the Spark because I didn't think it would give enough speed or flight time to satisfy me (I want to take some vids of my boat under sail).
To expand on building your own a bit, let’s say you purchased the drone for video and you need flight time. What I would do is purchase a small expandable chassis that would allow you to run smaller or larger batteries. With smaller batteries I’d use a lighter camera for fast action and larger batteries for a flight time of 40+min.
If you’re tired of video you’d purchase a different bracket for a camera.
If you’re tired of both you could switch out motors for torque/maneuverability and make an obstacle course, or fly stuff to the dock.
I’d purchase a separate receiver/transmitter so distance/interference wouldn’t be an issue, and make video stand alone, however there probably is already a really good (expensive) transmitter with over 10channels that already does this.
Most importantly you would be able to use any replacement part and waterproof everything!
I’d build a list at tower hobbies (RC warehouse), and most likely purchase on hobby king (RC Walmart).
Knowing electronics and water...I think the best "waterproofing" is to get a third-party warranty package that is "oops proof" and covers damages without excluding water immersion. That might be $20/year or $50/3 years or $40/year, all depending on the company and the price of the drone.
DJI also has a new Mavica Air, smaller, lighter, smarter, faster, a little less expensive than the M.Pro, coming out next week(?). Might also be worth looking at. And, literally, a yard of tennis net or fishnet tied to a big pole and loop, might give you a good "hail mary landing pad".
Every sailing vlog that has added drones, has had a video of the bumbles it took to get them flying and landing reliably well.
The Phantom 4 has the same and some better specs than the Mavic. I really think a significant factor in the decision for the ocean is safe recovery. The P4 undercarriage makes this far safer and easier. See the mavic crash video above and my recover doing 8 kts and in a swell. The blades cut badly!
Knowing electronics and water...I think the best "waterproofing" is to get a third-party warranty package that is "oops proof" and covers damages without excluding water immersion. That might be $20/year or $50/3 years or $40/year, all depending on the company and the price of the drone.
The chassis of those quads limits your ability to waterproof so you need a warranty.
Cases are sold for all RC vehicle electronics. You would need one for the receiver, specific connectors for the battery and other electronics. I waterproofed my receiver with a box, installed the connectors and bought a waterproof motor and esc, so no case was necessary. When it was completely submersed the power would cut off but the electronics were 100%. Not sure about waterproofing a gimbals, but everything else is standard.
Hi Boosted,
I really like your enthusiasm! I've built a racing drone from scratch but I don't think I would attempt a stabilized camera drone with satellite antennae and calibrated camera gimbal, as the time needed for that would be much more IMO. Update us if you do it!
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