Noise driving me crazy

gruvpix · Mar 12, 2015

So I am trying to get my Inspire figured out, have taken it out for a few flights and not getting the results I'm after. I have it on all recommended settings as mentioned by the various threads on this board.

LOG
ISO 100
stock ND filter
Shutter speed - variable, attempt to stick as close as possible to 1/60
exposure -0.3
Sharpness -1
Contrast -1
Saturation -1

Now I'm getting really bad grain on shots even done in broad daylight under these settings... Which makes no sense to me as under similar settings with my phantom and hero4 I can get perfect shots. Now I know the camera on these things is nothing to write home about, but the footage I'm getting is not up to par with a lot of stuff I've been seeing online... Any input/advice into what I may be missing buried in the settings?

johnmont250 · Mar 12, 2015

got a sample? most have found that turning down the sharpness makes it too soft.

gruvpix · Mar 12, 2015

johnmont250 said:
got a sample? most have found that turning down the sharpness makes it too soft.

I'll upload tomorrow, I agree the sharpness should be at zero. I've tried both 0 and -1 but still getting grain.

Kilrah · Mar 13, 2015

Shooting LOG will give you much more noticeable grain than normal as it "lightens up" the dark areas where it is most present. Your grading process that will restore the dark levels would hide it again.

LOG footage is kind of a raw intermediate that isn't supposed to be viewed as is, needs to be further processed to taste first.

gruvpix · Mar 13, 2015

Kilrah said:
Shooting LOG will give you much more noticeable grain than normal as it "lightens up" the dark areas where it is most present. Your grading process that will restore the dark levels would hide it again.

LOG footage is kind of a raw intermediate that isn't supposed to be viewed as is, needs to be further processed to taste first.

Yea I know what you mean, problem is I still seem to be seeing it after grading. Now I'll admit I'm no pro at grading and have been doing it in Premiere. I've just purchased the Inspire LUTs so I will be applying those to the footage and see how I go.

Richard-Inspire · Mar 13, 2015

would love to see the result of those LUTs - do let us know once you've done your post.

gruvpix · Mar 13, 2015

The LUT did get rid of most of it, it's impossible to tell on the crappy YouTube file but there is still noticeable grain on the buildings especially in the second shot. I suppose I just need to mess with the settings a bit more. I seem to get better results with the style set to 'none' rather than custom. Also the slight flickering I'm getting, is that stocato effect or is that because I don't have my exposure locked?

Thanks guys

PS: This is the 'clear skies' LUT applied with no other grading done. I think it looks pretty good. All the LUTs are quite similar, and do not work well for low-light i.e. sunsets or at dusk.

Peter Esteves · Mar 13, 2015

Hey Gruv,

This is the exact issue I've had. My feeling is that it is shutter related as the ND4 provided cannot cope with bright sun, never mind snow covered landscape. There's no way I can maintain the 180 rule so I'm finding both staccato and jelloing. I think the artifacting is also a result. Looks like a set of ND filters are being tested for the I1. I'm aiming to test fly on an overcast day and darker landscape to in order to lock my cam at the proper shutter. I'll let you know what I find.

gruvpix · Mar 13, 2015

Peter Esteves said:
Hey Gruv,

This is the exact issue I've had. My feeling is that it is shutter related as the ND4 provided cannot cope with bright sun, never mind snow covered landscape. There's no way I can maintain the 180 rule so I'm finding both staccato and jelloing. I think the artifacting is also a result. Looks like a set of ND filters are being tested for the I1. I'm aiming to test fly on an overcast day and darker landscape to in order to lock my cam at the proper shutter. I'll let you know what I find.

Cool yea I mean I haven't spent much time so am attempting to get the settings for various conditions on lock before shooting season in summer. I'd love a set of ND filters for varying conditions as well as a good polarizing filter (not to mention a better camera

) but I'm sure some will be developed.
I'm going to play around with it more tomorrow on my day off so I can really analyze the settings and determine what works best for my environment and post workflow.

flyingclint · Mar 13, 2015

Peter Esteves said:
Hey Gruv,

This is the exact issue I've had. My feeling is that it is shutter related as the ND4 provided cannot cope with bright sun, never mind snow covered landscape. There's no way I can maintain the 180 rule so I'm finding both staccato and jelloing. I think the artifacting is also a result. Looks like a set of ND filters are being tested for the I1. I'm aiming to test fly on an overcast day and darker landscape to in order to lock my cam at the proper shutter. I'll let you know what I find.

Yeah, so relieved to see others starting to talk about their footage not being what I was expecting either! I have noticed in all my footage tests a lot of artifacting like if I fly over grass it looks like the grass is flickering or like ants moving across it! Almost like the sharpness is too sharp!
BTW, I've done nothing but shoot on overcast days here in Houston cause our weather has been so bad lately and I still can't get the shutter speed at 60 when shooting 4k 30fps, it's still highly overexposes the shot and I still see some of the noisy, artifacting looks in the shots...!

gruvpix · Mar 14, 2015

flyingclint said:
Yeah, so relieved to see others starting to talk about their footage not being what I was expecting either! I have noticed in all my footage tests a lot of artifacting like if I fly over grass it looks like the grass is flickering or like ants moving across it! Almost like the sharpness is too sharp!
BTW, I've done nothing but shoot on overcast days here in Houston cause our weather has been so bad lately and I still can't get the shutter speed at 60 when shooting 4k 30fps, it's still highly overexposes the shot and I still see some of the noisy, artifacting looks in the shots...!

Yes exactly, it's like a sharpness grain and not an ISO grain... I've completely given up on the 1/60 shutter rule. There is simply too much light entering the sensor in 95% of conditions I am in on that shutter speed. If all goes according to plan today I will test it under various conditions and post up a comparison (on Vimeo) so that we can try and nail down what works best (ie lesser of two evils)