CGO3 video problems

Capt Mark · Dec 31, 2017

Hello all! Noob here. Prior to the first flight I updated the ST16, installed NFZ firmware, then updated the H with firmware package 3.04A. All went well and the bird flew fine. Drone and driver safely conducted 2 flights.

The problem is the video. The stills came out fine, the video is horrible. Stuttering, green screens and artifacts galore.

I set the resolution to 3840x2160F24 and of the 6 videos shot, only 1 was on the sd card in the camera. The other 5 were in the ST16 internal memory. The 5 in the ST16 had a resolution of 1280x720 and had the same stuttering and artifact problem as the vid on the sd card from the camera.

I sent a couple of days watching videos about the bird and did all if the calibrations, compass, camera and level platform.

The sd card is a 32gb class 10 and has a symbol of an I in the center of a U, and has a write speed of 20 mb/s. Is this too slow for the resolution I was recording?

The video problems persist when they are viewed on a computer or the controller.

Is there any documentation for the CGO3+ Pro that I can RTFM? The official manual (Ver 1.2) is rather thin on camera docs.

Thanks,

Ty Pilot · Dec 31, 2017

Your SD card is insufficient to record 4K video. You need a UHS speed of at least 3 (a 3 inside of the U) to record 4K. The video that is stored on the ST 16 is always 720 as it is that resolution when transmitted from the camera and is.

PatR · Dec 31, 2017

Also not mentioned are the computer, monitor, and processing programs being used. More than half of all video issues are found there.

Capt Mark · Jan 1, 2018

@Ty Pilot, thanks for the input. I will switch to a faster sd card. That would explain the poor quality of the video. I am still wondering why there was only 1 video on the card in the camera.

Capt Mark · Jan 1, 2018

@PatR, I do not have a 4K computer to view the video however I do process 4K video taken by a camcorder and write it to Blu-Ray on my computer. It has worked out well in the past. I am running Linux and use Cinerella and OpenShot.

Eagle's Eye Video · Jan 1, 2018

Capt Mark, if possible you always want to shoot video in 4K...

1) You do not have a 4K capable computer now, but you will upgrade at some point. If you shoot in 4K you can always create a downsized MP4 at 1080 to edit. Just keep the original 4K files archived.

2) You need to have selected a 4K video resolution, to be able to get full 12MP photos. If your video settings are at 1080, you will only get about a 2MP photo.

Capt Mark · Jan 1, 2018

Great info! I was trying for the highest resolution video however I did not use an sd card with a high enough write speed. The stills did come out to 3840x2160.

Eagle's Eye Video · Jan 1, 2018

If you actually switch modes to photo from video, (rather than just pressing the photo button in video mode) you will get full 3000x4000 photos. A clue is seeing the display on the ST-16 become stretched. That is because at full 12MP photo mode, the aspect ratio is 4:3.
However the displayed aspect ratio of the ST-16 does not change from it's 16:9 format.

Capt Mark · Jan 1, 2018

Thank you for your help. I did not know that. In some of the videos on youtube there is mention of more features than I see in the menu such as panorama modes and the ability to shoot stills in dng or RAW format. Were these features removed from the latest firmware?

Ty Pilot · Jan 1, 2018

You have to set the camera mode (1) to photo. Then when you go into camera settings, (2) the other options are there (3)

Capt Mark · Jan 1, 2018

Great! I did not know that either. Do you mind if I write all this good info down and contribute it to the unofficial manual being assembled on google.docs?