Mavic Air - Settings for cinematic photography and video (PLUS one trick nobody is talking about)
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- Опубликовано: 23 апр 2018
- In this video I'm giving you my exact settings for cinematic photography and video on the DJI Mavic Air. PLUS one trick nobody is talking about.
Ok, I wont keep you waiting, the one trick nobody is talking about is adjusting the EXP curves! Watch the video for my explanation of what's going on here as it does look a little confusing when you first see it.
If you've ever seen the DJI Go app then you'll know it can be extremely overwhelming the first time you open it. My goal here is to simplify everything for you and set you up for the first time with the right settings for photography and video.
The first problem is that the default settings on the Mavic Air move the drone around very fast. When it's fast, it's hard to control and hard to make smooth movements. Cinematic looking video requires non-jerky slow and controlled movements. So to set this up we simply need to reduce the sensitivity of all of the controls on the drone for the both the camera gimbal and the drone itself.
- EXP curves to 0.1.
- Yaw movement limit 50.
- Max gimbal pitch speed 20.
- Gimbal pitch smoothness 20.
Once we've done this we can look at the technical settings for the video itself. Learn manual mode first!!! If you dont understand manual mode this is absolutely essential. I've included a link below teaching you how to do this. From there our video settings are as follows:
ISO - Low as possible. High ISO handling still not good on the DJI Mavic Air.
Shutter Speed: At least double the frame rate, not too fast to avoid jitter.
Frame Rate - 24FPS is what's used in cinema. If you slow motion use 60FPS and slow down in post production.
White Balance - Cloudy.
Style - None.
Color - D Cinelike. Better baseline settings for post production.
For photography you want to be shooting in DNG RAW and developing your photographs in Lightroom! Dont bother with JPEG mode at all. Set your image size to 4:3 as this is the native resolution of the sensor. 16:9 is just 4:3 cropped in camera.
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DJI Mavic Air Complete Beginners Guide: • DJI MAVIC AIR Beginner...
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Stay in touch!
Instagram: @danielbilsborough @djbphotographyschool
I like the way how you simplified the settings for a more cinematic effect. Thanks a lot. I look forward for more of your practical tips....
you're welcome Rene!
The best, most informative cinematic settings video in 11 minutes...beautiful footage, thank you for your knowledge and time sir.
you're welcome Dixie, thanks for watching.
Best video I’ve come across. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
My friend and i bought the mavic air fly more couple weeks ago, to use for fishing, hiking etc.. and damn, even with the original stats im so happy with it!! and the astroid!? HOLY !!
thank you so much for this video, i can't wait to try this out ^^!!
you got it
I'm glad I came across this!! Thank You!
thanks for watching!
Such a great video. Thx man. Extremely helpful!
You're welcome Giovani!
Helpful and insightful. Thank you.
You're welcome Cory
I’m still discovering the Mavic Air and getting more drone time to test my shots. Thanks for this!!
you're welcome
Thanks for video bro!
You're welcome brother
Excellent presentation. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Just purchased this drone and the info will be very useful.
Thank you Robert!
Marty here from Adelaide South Australia and just wanted to say thanks for a great video and information :) loved it fella.
you're welcome Marty!! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Very nice video!
thank you!
Great video. Really helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent tutorial brother! Yesterday was my one year anniversary of owning the Mavic pro. It has been a 100% flawless drone in every way.
Thank you my friend! haha I hope you took it out on a nice date :)
thank for great ideas
Thanks for sharing this interesting and informativ setting video. Interesting and helpful.
You're welcome!
Brilliant video mate 👏🏻👏🏻👌
thank you Martin glad you like it my friend :)
Thanks for the sharing your knowledge! Very helpful video! (Nice smile by the way) 😂👍
you're welcome Egor! haha thank you :)
Such a great review, I would have to say a very accurate comparison. I just purchased the Mavic Air and started a channel to showcase the Australian landscape, after some more use I’ll also do a review on the Mavic Air from my personal experience.
thanks man glad you liked it! Congrats on your channel, wishing you all the best with your journey :)
Very clear and useful video.
Thanks for watching Hi! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Thanks so much!
just subscribed.
you're welcome Santiago :)
You should have so many more subs! Great content
I appreciate that!
awesome video
Thanks Jason
First, I must say thanks for a really detailed look at the settings with a great explanation. The drone movement settings are particularly helpful and can universally be adopted.
However, I would love to see another version of the photographic settings for amateurs. People who like to take holiday videos and family snaps etc. People who don't do much post-processing, but want to get the best "out of the box" videos for simple "cut and paste" video editors. I think you'll find that there are more people in this category than you would expect ;)
you're welcome! Great idea for a new video thank you, I'll have a think about how to put that one together.
Good One Mate!
cheers
Great video thanks! There are some companies who make luts specifically for the Mavic Air so of course they recommend certain other settings but I'm gonna try these out as well.
:) Thanks for watching!
Great vid 👍🏻
thanks Howard!
Thank you you still get my like 🙌🙌🙌
thanks Carlos!
Very good video ! Liked the video. Thank so much!
thanks for watching my friend :)
Thanks for the help bro! Good vedeo
you're welcome Connor!
Thanks for the great idea's
you're welcome :)
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I also subbed for your lightroom course! :)
Hey Bela! You're welcome man, I hope you enjoyed the LR workshop!
Found yourself a new subscriber! I use a dji mavic air and this video was on my RUclips feed!
Nice to have you here Chad
Thank you this is very helpful
you're welcome Walo!
Great video, thank you for sharing all your experience and knowledge. I just subscribed! While you did mention that this video was not for 100% newbies, I still think it is crucial to mention the need of ND filters in order to be able to record at the right shutter speed. Going out to film with the right settings (100 ISO, 24 fps @ 1/50 SS) in a sunny or even partially cloudy day without an ND filter will simply produce an over-exposed video. But I have taken notes and am eager to go out to fly again with the new settings you have shared. Thanks again!
True true my friend ;) ND is very handy if you need to lower the shutter speed. Thanks for sharing.
Totally agree..... ND filters is extremely important when shooting following the 180 degree rule.
Useful. Thanks.
you got it Azizul
Nice video. Congrats!
thank you Jones :)
Just bought a Mavic Air for Aussie trip in Dec. I've always flown without FPV with a Phantom 2 and got some great footage using a GoPro Hero4 just using line of sight and sort of guessing what I'm filming. It's worked in the past more or less. But having a phone seeing the live feed will be a game changer for me. Some great tips here... the screen can be intimidating on first glance, but I'm slowly understanding the functions, good to know how to change the sensitivity of the Yaw and gimbal, great work keep it up, nice to hear a Aussie accent, makes a lovely change from American which is the usual on here. Greetings from the UK.
Great to hear Andy!!! Hope you enjoyed your trip to Aus :)
Hey! Thanks! That really helped... Be been slowly making my way around the world East from Hawaii over the last year. Recently got my "Air" will post some videos soon (my last drone was a phantom 2 dinosaur bought in 2014) it is all magic now.. Thanks again Philip
that's awesome man! Im sure you're going to produce some killer video on your trip :)
djb photography school "Namaste" this is something I did with a Phantom 2 with it'sGoPro with no first person view). ruclips.net/video/zCWF6VIamOc/видео.html
When your on the EXP screen actually move the joystick and you will see how making the changes impacts the joystick.. the dot will move and follow the line and you will see / feel how much movement you have to do in order for dot to start moving.. super handy to see it while you test the movements.. also helps you see which of the 3 is adjusting what for sure..
Thanks for the info my friend! That's awesome! I didn't notice this when doing it, maybe a new inclusion from an app update :)
Great video, very helpful I think you should add a part on neutral density filter’s because filming with 180 rule at 24 frames / shutter speed of 50, the picture can look washed out. I also use my histogram keep that on the screen to make sure I capture the image
True
Thank you! I will try this out :) I subbed yout channel
Glad you liked the video guys!
That shot of the birds is something straight from NatGeo. Dope! And thanks for the quick tips.
haha thanks so much Hassan! That shot is one of my all time fave's, filmed in a country town just outside of Melbourne.
Shots from my Mavic Air
ruclips.net/video/q6WFdd-sQKg/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/4EExaec-NhI/видео.html
Isang Kang henyo very nice..
thanks!
Great instructional video, could you please tell me , , in "Camera Gimbal Advanced Settings" , why configuration 1, configuration 2, and configuration 3 ? . My drone is a Mavic Air . Thanks for your help .
Great video. I also like to put the histogram on as well. Keep the peak in the middle but definitely not too dark or white or you lose video information.
I see the benefit of that. But I dont like using the histogram only.
@@djbphotographyschool that's cool. I don't use it much either.
Hi, great info thank you. Quick question, do the manual settings apply when you switch over to the Quick Shots? e.g. if I set up per your suggestions, then do a quick shot, circular, boomerang, etc, will the custom settings hold?
No probs Mike, yep the manual settings still apply with those modes. Most of them anyway.
White balance makes a huge difference if you get it right on camera
True, you can also fix this in post with a good colour grade :)
Great tutorial, thanks. What do you suggest for shooting video of a tight space, trees all around the structures.
hmmm, turn off obstacle avoidance for that or else the drone will constantly be braking. Or use an FPV drone.
Thanks so much for sharing your wealth of experience and methodical explanations. Very informative.
Question: I will be new to drones and do a heap of mountaineering and mountain sports and amateur adventure filmmaking. I've been pouring over the reviews for the Mavic Air and the Mavic Pro. Both are about the same price now (actually Mavic Pro is nearly $100 cheaper). I'm indecisive because the Mavic Pro's video quality is apparently worse, (and only 60 mbps) and my purpose is filming. However the range, controller (ocusync) and flight time is better on Pro. Which would you purchase if you were me?? Cheers!!!
You're welcome! Get the Mavic Air, easy choice. I've been using the Air for a few months now and have never had issues with range compared to the pro.
djb photography school
I figured! Done! Cheers!
Aaron
Nice work! I am now working hard on staying exclusively in Manual mode. The bit I struggle with is when the scene is changing light to dark and back (typically at either ends of the day) and having to continually go back in to tweak the settings to avoid alternate plunges into darkness and then light blow-outs - always a compromise of course becasue too much tweaking and you may as well stay in auto. Would the right thing to do be to select an ND filter for the lighter scenes and then just tweak ISO a little bit, so as to maintain the 180 degrees shutter/frame rate rule?
Nice work regarding manual mode. How are you going from light to dark so quickly? Usually when flying it's a gradual process and therefore you're only making small changes as the sun drops.
Good Video, very informative. Do you not use the Tripod setting when taking video with the drone?. I find it works well to slow everything down nicely when filming..
Hey Martin! Ive actually never used the tripod setting my friend. If I need slow footage I film at 60FPS and slow it down in FCPX.
Nice video ... you got a new sub 👍🏼
Can I ask what settings you use for night photography. I noticed a nice pic during the slide show at the end.
I'll make a video about drone night photography with the Mavic Air very soon :)
djb photography school lol to that video? Thank you
Haha! You're one of the few who doesn't get into lowering contrast and saturation. I'm still experimenting with what I like to grade video from here.
yeah I haven't need to as yet!! Definitely experiment for yourself :)
Very nicely explained! Thank you for that! What is your tip to do about over exposure when filming with a ND filter (I am using PolorPro ND4, 8 or 16 depending on the weather conditions) and the shutter speed is set to 50% of the frame rate? Just crank up the shutter speed a bit or correct it in FCPX?
Hey Hemmo, your shutter speed needs to be at least double the frame rate my friend :) If you're image is still overexposed then you need a darker ND filter.
djb photography school that’s what I meant;) 2 x frame rate :)) Thanks for the reply!!
you got it ;)
Good morning, loving this tutorial. You explain everything beautiful. My only issue is how your shutter speed is displayed compared to mine. On my DJI Mavic Air the shutter speed is displayed as a fraction. I.e 1/100 as opposed to a stand alone digit. How does this translate to work in line with your tutorial? Thanks in advance.
Its the same. Without the fraction it assumes you know it means with a fraction.
thanks for the video ! question when i in camera settings go to photo all i have listed is single shot??
Hi Steve, either you're not connected to your drone or you need to update your firmware!!
Great video. Thanks. Will definitely change the settings on mine to suit. Just one thing - can you change the timing of the end screen cards? Miss out on half the photos. 🙁
that's a very good point thanks for bringing that up!! I'm actually not sure if I have control over that particular part... isn't that automatic?
djb photography school go into the video in the analytics and click on the end card for the video. You can adjust the time. I think the minimum is around 5 seconds at the end.
0:08 underrated shot.... its amazing...
Thank you!
I like your tips. I am new to the Mavic Air but am familiar with GoPro Hero 7 black. If I choose 100 ISO, can I select 24 fps and have the Mavic auto select the frame rate? I do this a lot with the GoPro just because it's easier than dealing with and switching out ND filters for the 180 rule. So basically I'm asking if in manual mode on the Mavic Air, can I just select ISO and frame rate and let the Mavic choose the proper shutter speed?
Auto select the frame rate? I'd advise not auto selecting anything. Ever.
Great video, thanks a lot. One little doubt, is there any differences between mp4 or mov recording?
Not in quality. It boils down to, at the very basic level, as a windows user record in MP4, as an apple user, record in MOV.
great video quality. What camera do you use for this vblog?
thanks Andrew, I use the Nikon D750 :)
Hi Daniel, thanks for this informative video. I have had my DJI Mavic drone, but have not been game to explore the settings much. I have taken video and been a bit disappointed. I will try to get all the settings you have outlined and see the difference. I'm sure it will encourage me to do more video! The program you mentioned for post production, what is it called as I missed your pronunciation of it. Anyway, can't wait to have a try with your suggested settings! cheers Mary.
I think he said he does his video editing on Final Cut Pro X and his photography post production on Adobe Lightroom.
=)
Thanks for the reply! Correct. Lightroom for photography and FCPX for video my friend :)
It should be mentioned that Final Cut is an Apple product and is fundamentally designed for Mac and not Windows.
You might want to look at DaVinci Resolve 15. There are Mac AND Windows versions , and there is a powerful FREE version which will do EVERYTHING a beginner might want to, and can still be used by non-techies after watching a few tutorials on RUclips.
@@paulgee3411 Good tip :)
Great video! For some strange reason when i shoot at 120fps and then put the footage in post it is already slowed down AND sometimes it speed ramps all by it self like i edited it to do that AND today i shot something at 30fps and when i played the footage back its nice slow mo witch makes zero sense at all at 30fps 🤷♂️🤦♂️🤷♂️ I REALLY hope u could shine some light on this b.s Thanx
Because your editing app is choosing the frame rate for you. You need to decide the frame rate of your project then add footage in and slow down according to that choice.
Yaw movement limit settings you set it to what? I cannot understand the number you say. And thanks for a great video!!!!
Experiment yourself and choose your own number.
Good On You Mate , Great Job , Really Appreciate your Good Effort ....Cheers......Jacob
thanks Jacob! Glad you enjoyed the video :)
Thanx for great tutorial! Just one question! After replacing battery do you need again do adjust foto/video settings?? Is there any kind of memory for that?
video and photo settings will stay consistent everytime you use the drone until you change them!\
Not usually, unless the battery is so dead that the entire device dies.
Nice video! I stumbled across some these settings previously. But, a little surprised you did not talk about flying in "Tripod Mode" ?
Tripod mode is boring mode. We want full manual control.
What filters do you use? , if any. I mostly go to the beach and try to catch surf or just waves, I've been thinking on getting a nd32 don't know if I would need a hugher filter. Any tips?
Yep get some ND's to bring down the light and use the shutter speed required for your chosen frame rate.
what filters do you recommend nd16, nd8 or polarized filters.
hey Mike, get a variable ND filter so you dont have to think about changing them all the time. The reason we use them is to reduce the amount of light so we can use slower shutter speeds when it's super bright. However, when you're shooting at sunrise or sunset you usually dont need them. I haven't had to use a polarized filter yet!
I hiked all the way up a mountain the videos look good but I must of changed the settings to manual a goofed up cause it's grainy asf, until the next mountains I guess thanks
haha, it happens :) Live and learn!
Do you have any LUTS for sale that you used in this video? I love the color grading here!
Not yet but good idea
Not sure if AEB is avail on Air but is on M2P would/do you use it for photos 3-5 photos for HDR pics?
It is, but you can do AEB manually also. I personally don't like HDR but I can see why you'd want to do this. Make sure you're shooting in DNG RAW also.
Do you have any videos on how to process in post production. Are any options better than others for new drone photographers?
I'll be making some post production videos in FCPX soon :)
what editing program do you use for the vidio I use capture NX 2 for stills
FCPX Eugene
as you mentioned for 25fps ideally the shutter is 1/50, during sunset when i look at the controller screen the image is dark, what should i do?
Hi Julia, not sure. Sounds like it's too dark outside?
I notice you didn’t put on your overexposure warnings. Is it better to under expose than over expose using raw for video like it is for photo? Also wondering how well noise can be cleared up in post if you need to go up in iso. Thanks for the vid.
yes correct, once you blow out highlights or bright areas it's difficult to recover detail in post production, same with photography. Noise can be reduced in post but if too much noise reduction is used it looks a little inauthentic and overly smooth. Use NR with balance!
Can I use my Mavic Air at night ?
Hey! Thanks man! Great job! ✨👍🙌 lovely footage.
Just bought my Mavic Air 😋
I’m little confused about 24fps. Is that for normal video ,? and if I wanna make slowmo : should i use 60 or 120 fps?
If i don’t have postproduction , will it be bad ? Is postpr necessary ? Is it difficult? Is it expensive?
Also for photos.,?
Do you use something for the sun , cause i have difficult to watch screen in sunlight..?
Thanks if you would answer! 👍 keep posting!
Thank you Kris! You need post production, there's no question about that . 24fps for normal, 60 or 120 for slow motion. Re not seeing your screen, stand in the shade my friend!
Hi, Good video. One thing I don't understand: When I switch from photo mode to video mode, somehow it looks like the video mode is a zoom of the frame I had in photo mode. What's going there?
Thanks,
Hey Douglas, that happens on most devices I've worked with, a very slight zoom in when going to video mode. Why? I'm not sure.
Part of the zoom may be a change from 4:3 aspect to 16:9. Also, it might be that video mode might be a crop mode to not use the full sensor. Not sure on the specific drones that may do this, but common in DSLRs on video mode.
Very infornmative, thanksWhen do you set Anti Flickr on?
Thanks, Anti Flick... TBH I've never touched that setting.
OK, then I must it find out myself
Nice Man!! But I didn’t understand why you set the aspect ratio to 4:3 instead of 16:9....
Thanks Del! We use 4:3 because it's the native aspect ratio, you can crop down to 16:9 in post production. This is more useful with photography I think, for video 16:9 may make it easier while flying and filming.
Thanks for this video! I do have a question regarding the iso and shutter speed. On my MA, I have the settings as 24FPS, shutter speed 1/50 and iso at 100, however the quality still looks incredibly overexposed when I fly outside and I'm unsure on how to reduce it without tampering with those settings. I've got it on cloudy as well. Any pointers?
Your settings are fine, from what I read is that the sun is too harsh. So what you can do is to shoot earlier or later in the day when its a bit overcast or put on an ND filter (works like shades for your drone)
@@DKKiter Cheers thanks!
Yep, shoot when the sun is lower or better - get some ND filters and shoot at any time
I just got the drone
nice
What settings do you set for shooting video at night?
I don't use the drone at night ;)
and for film at night?
I dont fly the drone at night :)
Is the camera supposed to be dark on the phone display , I'm shooting real estate video in good light conditions blue skies and sunny. Do you reccommend Cinematic ?
Hi Daniel, that could be a number of things. Your phone display brightness, your exposure, or it's just too sunny where you're standing.
06:53 had me confused for a second. You said shutter speed needs to be around double your frame rate so if you are shooting at 24fps your shutter needs to around 1/50th or 1/60th (of a second) but if you are shooting at 60fps the shutter should be at 1/20th which really threw me but then I realised it was a slip of the tongue and should have been 1/120th - or am I wrong again? I am very new and trying to learn
You're right! 1/120th ie double 60FPS :) Not 1/20 :)
I set all of my settings up while following the video. I flew my drone today and it was so white that I could barley see the footage. Are these settings mainly for post editing?
Shutter speed too low, you overexposed the video if you shot at 1/60 or 1/125 in daylight. To shoot like that, you NEED ND filters to control the exposure so you can use those slower shutter speeds in daylight.
You need to learn about manual mode photography. ie shutter speed, ND filters, ISO.
What software you use to develop photos and video in post development?
Lightroom for photography, FCPX for video :)
y a-t-il des tutos en francais
I guess my biggest problem with all this is I tried Davinci and light room. So big a learning curve. I use VideoPad Editor and the color corrections is slow and sloppy. Tried some sample video and I don't see the results I want.
Post production can only do so much. Choose the time of day and get the best light in camera.
What app are using to produce videos and add music? Thank you for the video and tips
Gabe, FCPX :)
djb photography school thank you for video and response
Are you in Sydney as well? It would be really nice to meet you. Maybe i can learn something for my channel, which I'm going to "open" soon...
Melbourne based Lex :)
2:00 Why not use the cinematic mode instead??? It slows everything down... you get the shot. Then you fly fast again to the next spot. (I don't know if this affects the gimbal tilt speed because I've already slowed that to 5)
Sup man, I'm sure the cinematic mode is great! I prefer to have the most control possible over my drone. But if that works for you my friend, do it.
Are you using any nd filter?
I'm not personal Kasper, but they serve a purpose for sure. ie if you want to be shooting at precise shutter speeds.
I had some footage yesterday turned out very noisy/grain had my settings correct for right exposure also had ND filters so idk why it appeared that way
What was your ISO set on?
@@djbphotographyschool around 400
ah yep that'll be your issue, even iso 400 I've found is too high in some cases, it's especially noisy in low light!
@@djbphotographyschool Ok Thanks it was definitely a low light situation almost dark I was too excited to wait to fly the next day lol thanks for info!
What do you do when the wind is blowing harder on the Mavic Air and making the gimbal not keep a level horizon? Also, what do you think about using ND Filters to minimize motion blur?
Land it ;-)
With strong wind I dont fly! yep Nd filters, definitely :)
love my air..
;)
Thanks for sharing this informative piece of advice. I really appreciate it. Quick questions though. With all the settings that you've mentioned (which I am going to follow all), do you need to use filters to reduce the effect of sunlight? I have a range of ND4 to ND16 and I wonder whether your settings match with these filters to get a good cinematic results. Also, if I want a quick result without having to amend anything afterwards using the Lightroom, does your settings need any adjustment to cater for that? Thanks!
You're welcome Firdaus :) Yes you will need an ND filter from time to time in order to bring the light and shutter speed down. Your shutter speed should ideally be double the frame rate or close to it. RE Lightroom - here's my advice. Stop avoiding it! Without it you're missing out on so much learning AND you're not uncovering the full potential of your work.
I see. My bad. Will try to learn gradually from time to time. Hope you have videos on Lightroom tutorial as well :)
yep get into it! ruclips.net/video/yDhS8i5a5r8/видео.html