Hello Fellow Yuneec Pilot!
Join our free Yuneec community and remove this annoying banner!
Sign up

Washed out video. Problem or user error? (with video)

Joined
May 13, 2016
Messages
187
Reaction score
33
Age
51
My H seems to be washing out the video. My initial videos seemed ok but current ones appear washed out especially in the greens. I've left AWB on for all the videos. This most recent one starts out ok but quickly gets washed out at a few points it looks better but not much.

Is this typical? Or am I doing something wrong or is this an issue?

Thanks!

 
Last edited:
Well, for some reason YouTube capped the video at 360p. Hopefully, you can still see what I'm talking about. First few seconds looks good but then it washed out and I don't ever get the color back.
 
Looks like you had it set to raw. Try setting to natural and lock the white balance. You should enable "Advanced" to get full control of the camera exposure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NoCoOutdoorGuys
That's a good question. I believe gorgeous. I didn't intentionally change anything out of the box on the video but I did notice the photo setting exposure was set to manual.

Does the EV setting matter in either video or photo mode when exposure is set to auto?

Should it be set at Zero EV by default?
 
Looks like the setting effects photos and video. I had it set to dng but when I got home it had taken some in jpg and it looks like crap. Very low res.YUN00033.jpg
 
It does not matter if you're using the camera on the typhoon h or a $3000 Canon EOS body, full auto mode sucks. You have to get used to messing with manual mode and finding out what best works for you as far as aperture settings, shutter rates, white balance, exposure values, etc. if you want to get the best photography and video possible from whatever rig that you're running.
 
Hey I looked at your video, and you’re right that it looks good at certain points but not all the way through; and I think the problem you were having was that you had your exposure set to automatic and not manual. The automatic settings are great when you want to focus on flying the Typhoon H and not necessarily worry about the video, but to get the best footage from the camera, there are a few things you want to try and set up before recording video.

First thing is getting the right white balance and then locking the settings in. To do this just point the camera at the location you are going to be filming, and then hit the “lock” button; or you can choose one of the pre-installed settings which will ensure the image color doesn’t change while recording.

The next step (which is the most important part) is setting up your exposure. Go over to the “exposure side menu” and hit the red AUTO button on top. This will bring you into the manual settings. In an ideal world you would want to set your ISO to as low as it can go (to avoid digital noise), and then set your shutter speed to twice the number of the frame rate you are filming at. For example, if you were shooting in 4K at 30fps you would want to set the shutter speed to 1/60s. The problem you may run into is that the video will most likely be over exposed, meaning way too bright. Unless you add an ND filter to your camera lens (which is basically like putting a pair of sunglasses on the lens), you will need to increase the shutter speed until the image is dark enough to be seen (PLEASE NOTE: the higher you set the shutter speed, the more of a chance your video will have that “jello like effect” or show sun shadows from the propellers).

The key to getting the right exposure is to make the image dark enough to just see details in the sky (such as clouds), but also to make sure everything on the ground is still clearly visible (and not so dark that the shadow areas are pitch black). This takes some practice, but once you find the right exposure settings, you will be able to record different types of scenery without the image getting too washed out or too dark.

The last thing to note, is which video profile you want to shoot in. I would always recommend shooting in the Raw video profile (but only if you plan to later color grade the footage in a video editing program). But if you just want to take the video straight from the camera to your computer, I would recommend shooting in the Natural video profile. I’ve found that this profile gives your video a good amount of saturation, contrast, and video sharpness with the least amount of noise in the final image. (Note that the Gorgeous video profile is appealing as well, but at least to me it seems that the camera forces too much color and sharpness in the image, which adds unwanted noise to the final product).
 
Shouldn't that be handle automatically? The lighting was fairly stable.
This is a tricky subject, but even though the lighting was pretty much the same when you were filming, the camera’s sensor picks up very subtle changes in exposure when it tilts up and down. When the camera is looking straight forward (in auto mode), it can tell that the sky is really bright so to compensate it darkens the whole image. But when you tilt the camera down and take the sky out of the frame, there is no longer a bright source to level out the image and as a result the camera automatically brightens the image, which can cause things to look washed out.

I think this was more evident in your video because when you tilted the camera down, a lot of the time you were looking at a dark body of water. Since the camera was pointed towards something pretty dark, it over compensated by brightening the image more than it should have.
 
Frankie,

Thanks for the advice. That is very helpful. I have ND filters on order.

Another issue I have is telling if exposure is good on the ST-16. How accurate is the screen in rendering exposure?

If I have to manually dial in the exposure, film, land, go home and get the video off the card to see if it's ok I'll never get anywhere.
 
Hey I looked at your video, and you’re right that it looks good at certain points but not all the way through; and I think the problem you were having was that you had your exposure set to automatic and not manual. The automatic settings are great when you want to focus on flying the Typhoon H and not necessarily worry about the video, but to get the best footage from the camera, there are a few things you want to try and set up before recording video.

First thing is getting the right white balance and then locking the settings in. To do this just point the camera at the location you are going to be filming, and then hit the “lock” button; or you can choose one of the pre-installed settings which will ensure the image color doesn’t change while recording.

The next step (which is the most important part) is setting up your exposure. Go over to the “exposure side menu” and hit the red AUTO button on top. This will bring you into the manual settings. In an ideal world you would want to set your ISO to as low as it can go (to avoid digital noise), and then set your shutter speed to twice the number of the frame rate you are filming at. For example, if you were shooting in 4K at 30fps you would want to set the shutter speed to 1/60s. The problem you may run into is that the video will most likely be over exposed, meaning way too bright. Unless you add an ND filter to your camera lens (which is basically like putting a pair of sunglasses on the lens), you will need to increase the shutter speed until the image is dark enough to be seen (PLEASE NOTE: the higher you set the shutter speed, the more of a chance your video will have that “jello like effect” or show sun shadows from the propellers).

The key to getting the right exposure is to make the image dark enough to just see details in the sky (such as clouds), but also to make sure everything on the ground is still clearly visible (and not so dark that the shadow areas are pitch black). This takes some practice, but once you find the right exposure settings, you will be able to record different types of scenery without the image getting too washed out or too dark.

The last thing to note, is which video profile you want to shoot in. I would always recommend shooting in the Raw video profile (but only if you plan to later color grade the footage in a video editing program). But if you just want to take the video straight from the camera to your computer, I would recommend shooting in the Natural video profile. I’ve found that this profile gives your video a good amount of saturation, contrast, and video sharpness with the least amount of noise in the final image. (Note that the Gorgeous video profile is appealing as well, but at least to me it seems that the camera forces too much color and sharpness in the image, which adds unwanted noise to the final product).

Frankie, some great advice thank you.
Have you noticed the difference in bitrates between Raw/Natural and Gorgeous modes? Raw is significantly less than the other two and I worry if i shoot in this to be able to colour correct the image will not be as detailed. What do you think? Also any advice on colour grading?
 
Frankie,

Thanks for the advice. That is very helpful. I have ND filters on order.

Another issue I have is telling if exposure is good on the ST-16. How accurate is the screen in rendering exposure?

If I have to manually dial in the exposure, film, land, go home and get the video off the card to see if it's ok I'll never get anywhere.
Unfortunately I’ve found that getting the right exposure is kind of tough on the ST-16. It actually gives you a pretty good representation of exposure on the screen, the problem is that the screen is not very bright and when shooting in sunlight, it’s hard to tell what’s really dark and what’s not (even with the sunshade on). If you can, I would suggest flying the Typhoon H up to where you are going to film at, then get to a very shaded spot (or even just pull a towel over your head and the ST-16) and dial in the right exposure. After you’ve gotten to see the screen in a semi-dark environment, and chosen your exposure, you can go back to any open area where you can maintain line of site to the drone.

Now as far as choosing which exposure setting works best, a general rule of thumb is to try and match what you are seeing in real life to the image you are getting from the ST-16 THEN dropping the exposure down 1 or 2 stops. The reason for this is that the CGO3+ camera (and really any camera with low dynamic range) can very easily over expose a bright area in the frame. So to compensate for this, it’s best to under expose your shot a little because it’s way easier to brighten an image and still maintain detail, than it is to darken an image and hope that any highlighted areas are visible. More than likely any over exposed shots from the CGO3+ camera will show up as white in the video, and when this happens there’s no bringing that lost data back.

If you’re able to do all this, but you’re still on the fence about what exposure to use, something you could try is to set up your Typhoon H in a curved cable cam route, then record multiple videos going through this same route, but each one at a different exposure. Then watch the videos back on your computer when you’re done. This is what I ended up doing to see which exposure I liked best (and even though this is not practical every time you fly, it can help you get a feel for what the right exposure should be, and what you can expect to see from the ST-16 controller).

It would be amazingly helpful if Yuneec released a firmware update that added a histogram to the ST-16 screen; that way we can have a visual representation of the shadows, midtones, and highlights that the camera sensor is picking up. I was actually pretty surprised that it didn’t already have one, because that’s a relatively “entry-level” feature on most cameras. I guess only time will tell what Yuneec has in store for all the Typhoon H users in their future updates.
 
Frankie, some great advice thank you.
Have you noticed the difference in bitrates between Raw/Natural and Gorgeous modes? Raw is significantly less than the other two and I worry if i shoot in this to be able to colour correct the image will not be as detailed. What do you think? Also any advice on colour grading?
Hey gregreh, I actually ran into the same problem when I was first testing out the CGO3+ camera, and at first it thought it was defective, but after testing the camera some more I figured out what the problem was. For some reason the video bitrates change drastically if you switch profiles in between shooting. So if I turned on the Typhoon H and started filming in the Natural profile, that video would be about 50mbps, but then if I switched to Raw the bitrate would be anywhere between 14 to 40mbps. The same goes if you start with Raw and then switch to Natural (the video shot in Natural would be at a lower bitrate). So I found out that in order to get around 50mbps on a consistent basis when shooting in Raw, I had to start off with that profile and then keep it there during the whole flight of the Typhoon H. I now shoot all my videos in Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) at 24fps in the Raw profile, and since then I’ve always had the videos be right around 50mbps.

Just out of curiosity I also did a few other tests to see if there were any other inconsistencies among the camera, and it turns out there were; most notably I found out that when I upped the resolution to true 4K (4096 x 2160) at 24fps (still shooting in the Raw profile only) the bitrates were a little sporadic, and I had some at 50mbps and others much lower. I didn’t test any of the higher frame rate options, or any of the 1080p ones, but it would be interesting to see what the camera produces with the other resolution options.

As far as color grading goes, I would always shoot in the Raw profile, making sure of course that the video is close to 50mbps (because you’re right, if it’s much lower, than the final product won’t be as good or detailed). But the most important thing to do when you want to color grade a video, is to first make sure the “in-camera” settings are as close to correct as you can make them. This means that the white balance should be consistent and “color accurate” to what you’re actually filming, and the exposure should be very close to a point where you can make out details in the highlighted areas, as well as some of the shadow areas in the frame (I went into further detail about this in the above post if you wanted to check it out). The reason these settings are so important is because even though the CGO3+ is a good camera, with a decent bitrate, it’s still not stellar; and adding extra work to correct the footage in an editor will end up degrading the final product since there’s not a ton of data to play around with in the first place.

The good thing I’ve found out about grading this footage so far is that it doesn’t take too much manipulation in post to get a pretty cool looking shot. The first thing I like to do is brighten the image up a little (that is if it’s slightly under exposed) then add in some saturation. Next I’ll add a little contrast to the video, but not too much as it’s already a pretty “contrasty” profile. If everything’s looking pretty good at this point, I will add just a little bit of blue to the shadow areas and some orange/reds to the mids (which helps give it a little bit of a cinema type feel). The last thing I do is add some sharpening to the video (and it’s important to always do this last, or else the picture won’t look quite right when it’s rendered out).

You can definitely do some more stuff to the footage to make it your own, but it’s kind of dependent on the editing software you use, and of course your own personal taste. I hope this helps though!
 
  • Like
Reactions: gregreh
Once again fantastic advice Frankie. If I had known that it took that much effort to get a decent video/photo from the H I never would have bought it.

I feel like I can get better video tying my iPhone to a pigeon on a long leash and letting it fly off.
 
Once again fantastic advice Frankie. If I had known that it took that much effort to get a decent video/photo from the H I never would have bought it.

I feel like I can get better video tying my iPhone to a pigeon on a long leash and letting it fly off.

You can get decent video straight out of the box I think (providing you have in focus lens!!) the techniques, such as colour grading Frankie is describing are advanced techniques that film makers would use regardless of the camera.

I cant believe your original footage was in Gorgeous mode. When i shoot in that the colours really pop
 
Hey gregreh, I actually ran into the same problem when I was first testing out the CGO3+ camera, and at first it thought it was defective, but after testing the camera some more I figured out what the problem was. For some reason the video bitrates change drastically if you switch profiles in between shooting. So if I turned on the Typhoon H and started filming in the Natural profile, that video would be about 50mbps, but then if I switched to Raw the bitrate would be anywhere between 14 to 40mbps. The same goes if you start with Raw and then switch to Natural (the video shot in Natural would be at a lower bitrate). So I found out that in order to get around 50mbps on a consistent basis when shooting in Raw, I had to start off with that profile and then keep it there during the whole flight of the Typhoon H. I now shoot all my videos in Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) at 24fps in the Raw profile, and since then I’ve always had the videos be right around 50mbps.

Just out of curiosity I also did a few other tests to see if there were any other inconsistencies among the camera, and it turns out there were; most notably I found out that when I upped the resolution to true 4K (4096 x 2160) at 24fps (still shooting in the Raw profile only) the bitrates were a little sporadic, and I had some at 50mbps and others much lower. I didn’t test any of the higher frame rate options, or any of the 1080p ones, but it would be interesting to see what the camera produces with the other resolution options.

As far as color grading goes, I would always shoot in the Raw profile, making sure of course that the video is close to 50mbps (because you’re right, if it’s much lower, than the final product won’t be as good or detailed). But the most important thing to do when you want to color grade a video, is to first make sure the “in-camera” settings are as close to correct as you can make them. This means that the white balance should be consistent and “color accurate” to what you’re actually filming, and the exposure should be very close to a point where you can make out details in the highlighted areas, as well as some of the shadow areas in the frame (I went into further detail about this in the above post if you wanted to check it out). The reason these settings are so important is because even though the CGO3+ is a good camera, with a decent bitrate, it’s still not stellar; and adding extra work to correct the footage in an editor will end up degrading the final product since there’s not a ton of data to play around with in the first place.

The good thing I’ve found out about grading this footage so far is that it doesn’t take too much manipulation in post to get a pretty cool looking shot. The first thing I like to do is brighten the image up a little (that is if it’s slightly under exposed) then add in some saturation. Next I’ll add a little contrast to the video, but not too much as it’s already a pretty “contrasty” profile. If everything’s looking pretty good at this point, I will add just a little bit of blue to the shadow areas and some orange/reds to the mids (which helps give it a little bit of a cinema type feel). The last thing I do is add some sharpening to the video (and it’s important to always do this last, or else the picture won’t look quite right when it’s rendered out).

You can definitely do some more stuff to the footage to make it your own, but it’s kind of dependent on the editing software you use, and of course your own personal taste. I hope this helps though!

Great reply thanks for taking the time to post that Frankie. Ive mainly been shooting in gorgeous mode at the minute but I want to get into colour grading when i start doing some more serious stuff.
 

New Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
20,955
Messages
241,598
Members
27,286
Latest member
lahorelaptop