DJI Inspire video mode comparison with LUTs

Peter Esteves · Mar 20, 2015

Third Party on the ND... company called http://www.snakeriverprototyping.com/... they are test them as we speak.

I purchased ND wratten from ebay: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Kodak-Wratten-Gelatin-Filter-5-Square-No-96-N-D-0-70-/170868584621

I plan to experiment with how to make the wratten work. I'll let you know how it goes.

gruvpix · Mar 20, 2015

Peter Esteves said:
Stronger ND's on the way Gruv... In the meantime I've ordered some ND Gel sheets and am cutting my own ND and using that.

Yep, can't wait

gruvpix · Mar 21, 2015

Ok I think I found a workflow that works great for producing some clean yet vibrant shots using Adobe CC.
Shoot in LOG with style set to none, manual shutter and pick what speed works best without overexposing. Lock exposure.
Apply cineon converter (linear to log), and then desired LUT. Tweak small settings as needed.
Export sequence to after effects, apply 'remove grain' effect. Tweak settings as needed using preview box.
Export back to premiere and continue on...

Might have a few more steps than necessary but this to me is the best solution for getting good results.

Devils · Mar 21, 2015

Thanks for test, it has clarified something for me

Ferdi · Mar 21, 2015

Richard-Inspire said:
i don't really understand how one can recommend a shutter speed to use, given that exposure will always be different. this is a fixed aperture camera, so if you have to use 1/60 for shutter speed, that means that the auto ISO must be in play, right? In the case of your 1/60 shutter speed examples, the shots are clearly over exposed, and all sky is blown out. that will always result in a loss of image, however good the LUTs are. Did you see from the histogram whether it was clipping on the right?

what would be more useful, to my mind, would to have some settings where the exposure is 'correct' but the contrast is reduced by a set amount (presumably what LOG mode is for). then you know you're not blowing out the highlights, and the darks are raised. then the LUT has something to work with.

On my screen the one I preferred was the auto setting with contrast and saturation -3, with the LUT applied. Did you happen to shoot in auto/LOG mode by any chance?

Unless I'm missing something, the only reason for Neumann Films to determine a shutter speed to use is so that the auto ISO would be as low as possible, resulting in the least amount of video noise - but it appears the ISO didn't go low enough in your 1/60 examples.

The reason we like to shoot with a shutter speed of 1/50th in PAL world (and 1/60th in NTSC world) has to do with getting a natural looking motion blur from any motion within frame or of the camera itself. To achieve this we've always use ND filters of various strengths in traditional cinematography to control exposure so we can shoot at 1/50th. This is especially important when dealing with aerial cinematography because of the awesome amount of movement we can create in the shot. Filming at a high shutter speed creates some "juddering" (although frame-rate plays a bigger role when moving fast). So without a selection of stronger ND's for the Inspire we won't be able to achieve natural motionblur in bright light.

gruvpix · Mar 22, 2015

Ferdi said:
The reason we like to shoot with a shutter speed of 1/50th in PAL world (and 1/60th in NTSC world) has to do with getting a natural looking motion blur from any motion within frame or of the camera itself. To achieve this we've always use ND filters of various strengths in traditional cinematography to control exposure so we can shoot at 1/50th. This is especially important when dealing with aerial cinematography because of the awesome amount of movement we can create in the shot. Filming at a high shutter speed creates some "juddering" (although frame-rate plays a bigger role when moving fast). So without a selection of stronger ND's for the Inspire we won't be able to achieve natural motionblur in bright light.

Exactly. Number one flaw of this device right now.

Tahoejmfc · Mar 22, 2015

flyingclint said:
Yeah, where are you getting your ND sheets and how are you cutting them and making them work???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodak-Wratten-96-ND-0-70-Gelatin-75mm-Filter-NEW-/310258563388
just use some swiss army knife scissors to cut. you might want some acid free cotton gloves to handle the filter, it is a thin gelatin sheet

flyingclint · Mar 22, 2015

Tahoejmfc said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodak-Wratten-96-ND-0-70-Gelatin-75mm-Filter-NEW-/310258563388
just use some swiss army knife scissors to cut. you might want some acid free cotton gloves to handle the filter, it is a thin gelatin sheet

Thanks! I'll look into it...!

Richard-Inspire · Mar 24, 2015

gruvpix said:
Ok I think I found a workflow that works great for producing some clean yet vibrant shots using Adobe CC.
Shoot in LOG with style set to none, manual shutter and pick what speed works best without overexposing. Lock exposure.
Apply cineon converter (linear to log), and then desired LUT. Tweak small settings as needed.
Export sequence to after effects, apply 'remove grain' effect. Tweak settings as needed using preview box.
Export back to premiere and continue on...

Might have a few more steps than necessary but this to me is the best solution for getting good results.

do you use auto iso in this example? Presumably not if locking expusre? For that matter - why lock the exposure? Don't you want it to react depending on what you're filming, or does the subject not vary greatly for you?

Just trying to get my head around it all, as it works very differently from my Nikon camera.

and in the end, did you go with the Nuemannfilm recommendation of -3 saturation, -3 contrast or was that not necessary once you used LOG mde and Cineon in CC?

gruvpix · Mar 24, 2015

Richard-Inspire said:
do you use auto iso in this example? Presumably not if locking expusre? For that matter - why lock the exposure? Don't you want it to react depending on what you're filming, or does the subject not vary greatly for you?

Just trying to get my head around it all, as it works very differently from my Nikon camera.

and in the end, did you go with the Nuemannfilm recommendation of -3 saturation, -3 contrast or was that not necessary once you used LOG mde and Cineon in CC?

Can't remember exactly how it works with iso, but as far as I know it's locked to 100 as well. I should probably use the caveat that what I wrote is based on daytime shooting. The problem with auto-exposure is that if I'm doing a pan up from ground to sky or the reverse, the image will change significantly as more light enters the sensor from the sky. What I'll do is find a mid-point in the shot I have planned and do a spot exposure to get a happy medium. I can't stand when I have a great shot in motion and all of a sudden it starts trying to brighten or darken itself to compensate for changing light conditions, I want a consistent image and if it's a touch blown out then so be it, more useable that way. I have a tough enough time leaving WB to auto but the recommendations on here and other forums are correct, it works pretty well.

As for the Neumann recommended settings, no I do not use those. I leave the 'style' set to none instead of custom, as I have found the default sharpness creates unwanted grain, and the -1 value is much too soft to even sharpen up adequately in post.

The cineon converter works well to completely desaturate the already desaturated image, and then when applying the LUT it generally works pretty well right from the get-go. 'Remove grain' effect is also very handy if you have after effects on hand.

Overall I'm definitely not blown away by the camera, but do believe a lot of the early issues can be solved through firmware updates and stronger ND filters. The flying platform is amazing though so I really hope DJI sticks to their word and looks into future camera upgrades.

DJI Inspire video mode comparison with LUTs

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