Anafi video "glitch / shake"

[doylecolmdoyle]

Hi all,

Today I let a friend try out my anafi, he is very experienced in flying drones and really put the anafi thru its paces, maxing out all settings. He is interested in buying a new drone and he was keen on the anafi, but not so much after seeing the video output... We recorded in 1080 with auto exposure.

I have really only ever taken stills so never noticed this glitch / shake in the video output. See the video below, first glitch is at 1:21, second at 1:43 and then occurs many times after, seems like a horizontal shake in the footage.

Any idea what is causing this shake? I will get out and take some more video soon to confirm its a recurring problem.

Updated - just checked FF6 and this flight shows an 3 second flight time with no data... We did notice the video (enabled on take-off) cut out at 3 seconds. After flying for 5-10 minutes we hit record again, resulting video below.

 

[jmbsmt63]

What SD card are you using?
Is this video directly from the SD card or downloaded to the device from the Anafi?
Since the video had trouble even "starting" ( you mentioned it didn't record at first). I would try clearing the apps cache and try again.
Try a good "full" format of the SD card.
Although it shouldn't affect the actual recordings on the SDcard, what device/phone do you have? is it glitching out? Too much stuff running which can affect the app's performance.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

@jmbsmt63 thanks for the reply....

I am using the standard SD card that comes with the anafi.
I transferred the video via the supplied cord plugged into the back of the anafi (Ive never removed the sd card)

The previous flight (first battery) I kept getting a SD card error, I dont recall the exact wording but was something like "Error - SD Card Malfunction" I landed the anafi and checked the SD Card was seated correctly, it was, I checked available space and this was only 1 gig so I erased all content, replaced the battery and started the second flight, which is posted above with the camera glitches, I dont have any footage form the first flight as it was erased.

Good tips on the app cache and full format, will do both. I am using a iphone 6, pretty sure ff6 was the only app running, the video feed didnt seem to glitch but glare so so bad I could hardly see the display. I did get many alerts of wifi interference etc, even tho FF6 has not logged any data from the flight.

 

[Liger 1956]

As you know the Anafi has both Film and Sport settings. As you friend has maxed out all of the settings I am not surprised that the gimbel and the EIS system had a hard time keeping up. I would not expect any other drone to record it's best quality video when being thrown about the sky as fast as that.

 

[jmbsmt63]

I would definitely try the full format option in the app and clear the cache...good starting points.
I did have a few " SD card errors" occasionally so just as a troubleshooting step I "tweaked" that cheesy holder just a touch to hold the card a little tighter. That seems to have fixed it (fingers crossed)
I, VERY CAREFULLY, just put a slight bend in that cover to put a little more downward pressure...I have attached a photo of what I mean..

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

@Liger 1956 I would agree but many of the glitches happen when just flying fairly normally, he did have setting maxed but generally didn't fly with the sticks fully engaged and didnt "throw" the drone about the sky, I would say the video shows fairly standard flying.

@jmbsmt63 thanks I will do the format tomorrow and look at modding the SD card holder, tho it does seem very secure... I did buy a few spare SD Card holder "covers" so have some to spare.

 

[Liger 1956]

After viewing the video again I accept that 'thrown about' was probably not the correct term however I still think that the speed of flight, especially the fast yaws, have a lot to do with the quailty of the video.

 

[AnafiPilot]

I have seen these kind of wobbles as well.

Recently I've shot four hyper-lapses where the bird just hovers in place for 17+ minutes. It can't hold a steady position even in minimal breezes. It twitches around, preventing a stable hyper-lapse shot.

I called support and they blamed it on interference. Two of the four flights saw zero interference.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

I have seen these kind of wobbles as well.

Recently I've shot four hyper-lapses where the bird just hovers in place for 17+ minutes. It can't hold a steady position even in minimal breezes. It twitches around, preventing a stable hyper-lapse shot.

I called support and they blamed it on interference. Two of the four flights saw zero interference.

Mine can hold position while hoovering very well, even in light windy conditions.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

I formatted the card, to me the "glitch" looks exactly the same every time it happens, I dont think its a shake from the drone itself more a processing glitch perhaps, havent had the chance to do more testing after the format, probably wont until the weekend.

 

[AnafiPilot]

Mine can hold position while hoovering very well, even in light windy conditions.

Have you tried a 15 minute hyperlapse at 15x? Is it rock solid?

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

Have you tried a 15 minute hyperlapse at 15x? Is it rock solid?

No, for that purpose I perhaps would place it on a table.

 

[Landbo]

Have you tried a 15 minute hyperlapse at 15x? Is it rock solid?

I have made many recordings of sunrises and sunsets without touching the pegs during the time a battery lasts. And Anafi is actually more stable with the camera than both DJI Mavic Pro and Phantom 4 Advance !!!

Regards, Leif.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Adding to my video shake / camera shake drama I took a video today (was only flying to shoot photos but had the video on from take-off) upon watching the footage the camera shake is still very noticeable, do you guys think this could be a image stabilisation problem? As I said before I dont usually take video, but still I would like the video to be usable and with shakes so often or more its basically useless for video.

Sample below, film mode, first noticeable shake is at 29 seconds and a fair few more after 1.05 seconds, this footage was not taken to demonstrate the shake and isnt the best... will do some real video testing hopefully soon.

 

[Landbo]

Adding to my video shake / camera shake drama I took a video today (was only flying to shoot photos but had the video on from take-off) upon watching the footage the camera shake is still very noticeable, do you guys think this could be a image stabilisation problem? As I said before I dont usually take video, but still I would like the video to be usable and with shakes so often or more its basically useless for video.

Sample below, film mode, first noticeable shake is at 29 seconds and a fair few more after 1.05 seconds, this footage was not taken to demonstrate the shake and isnt the best... will do some real video testing hopefully soon.

Yes it is the horizontal gimbal engine/electronics that fails. No more can be said about that. It must be a guarantee case at Parrot as they give 1 year warranty on Anafi.

Regards, Leif.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Yes it is the horizontal gimbal engine/electronics that fails. No more can be said about that. It must be a guarantee case at Parrot as they give 1 year warranty on Anafi.

Regards, Leif.

Dam, well I will open a case with Parrot tomorrow

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Well I returned my anafi (and spare battery) to my place of purchase (jbhifi in Australia) and they gave me a full refund on the spot. Took the opportunity to buy a Mavic 2 pro, will see how that goes for me. Bit of a spontaneous purchase but the credit of the anafi and battery covered half the cost of the Mavic 2 pro.

 

[AnafiPilot]

Here are a few of my examples

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

@AnafiPilot the hyperlapse seems more like the wind moving the drone but the last few examples do look like a similar horizontal glitch / shake, perhaps not has fast / glitchy as I was experiencing.

 

[Island Xpress]

HELLO
During my 200 flights I have also noticed this problem from time to time, typically about once every 2 minutes but at random.
Using Adobe Premiere, I have the possibility to analyze the video frame by frame. The glitch is usually one or two frames long (4k, 30 fps). The faulty frames show a section of the picture taken in a very different direction. Cutting out these frames make the error almost invisible. I don't think it is a failure of the gimble as the fault is very short and the picture taken is very different to the neighbouring frames.