Solo Leg in Picture

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Hello everyone! This is my first post and I just got my drone so please forgive me if it's silly. I'm having a problem with my GoPro/Solo combo where when I turn the drone, the leg appears in the image. It's quite frustrating as it kind of ruins my shots/videos. Does anybody have any advice on what I'm doing wrong? I'm turning the drone NOT the camera at all. Thank you!!!!
 
Hi Lady-welcome to the forum! Silly questions are our specialty.

Generally the leg shows up when turning (yawing) if you turn too fast. You can control yaw speed using the speed controls in the Solo App and with the left stick.

If you're yawing slowly, then having the GoPro set to WIDE can cause this. Try MEDIUM.

What resolution is your GoPro set to? If 4K or 2.7K you can crop the leg out if you do post processing with a video editor.

Let us know if that helps and post some videos for us to enjoy!
 
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Just 1080p, and I figured maybe that was what was happening!!!!! So I'm not the only one this has happened to?
 
Hi FLZ,

That is great advice from Maddog above... I just wanted to add something on top his great advice as an option which will also help you as well if you chose to go that direction.

I am a brand new 3DR Owner but have been following it's development from the beginning... There is a company called Relish3D that makes some nice 3D printed accessories for 3DR. I was just about to order a couple of items from them tonight to modify My primary Solo. (That sale was so sweet, I purchased a backup). Quick note, I have zero affiliation with 3D Relish and I don't rep them in any way shape or form. A fellow Filmmaker recommended them to me knowing that I was prepping for a 7 week job in Brazil.

Now.. these guys make a little slider that you can attach to the 3DR that will allow you to side the two front legs 20mm away from the camera keeping it out of your frame.

Here is the link: Solo Sliders

They have a really good tutorial on how to install the mod:
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And here is a shout out to Grandpa Jake who also made a nice video on the system:
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I am headed there now to get the sliders, the Solo Extenders V2 and the flat ribbon hdmi which seem like great little mods... I hope this helps.

PS: To the board... There are a LOT of helpful/knowledgeable people that post here so please weigh in if you see a better solution or have great advice... The more I learn, the more I realize that I have more to learn.

Cheers.
 
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Another solution (my preferred one) is to change the lens on the gopro to something with a narrower FOV and get rid of the stupid fisheye at the same time with a rectilinear lens. No more legs in the shot. No more wasting time getting rid of fisheye in post production. Kills 2 birds with one stone. Now that Premiere doesn't have to waste processing power de-fisheyeing the video when editing, my color grading tools work in realtime while color grading 4K content lol. Another bonus. Faster rendering in post.
 
Another solution (my preferred one) is to change the lens on the gopro to something with a narrower FOV and get rid of the stupid fisheye at the same time with a rectilinear lens. No more legs in the shot. No more wasting time getting rid of fisheye in post production. Kills 2 birds with one stone. Now that Premiere doesn't have to waste processing power de-fisheyeing the video when editing, my color grading tools work in realtime while color grading 4K content lol. Another bonus. Faster rendering in post.
Thanks Steve- good to know!
 
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Whoo! I will try that Steve!
Here is the one I use and a lot of others like it as well:
3.97mm f/2.8 82d HFOV 16MP(No Distortion) – Peau Productions

Here's a great discussion on various lenses: Dedicated 3rd Party Lens Discussion (Examples Updated)

One important thing to know before changing to an aftermarket lens - if you replace the stock gopro lens with anything else with a narrower FOV, there will be pink in the corners of the shot/video. There is only one company right now that can get rid of that and it's Peau Productions (first link). It's a $50 service but very much worth it. I'd recommend having them do the lens install/focus as well as removing the stock lens profile.
 
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Hello everyone! This is my first post and I just got my drone so please forgive me if it's silly. I'm having a problem with my GoPro/Solo combo where when I turn the drone, the leg appears in the image. It's quite frustrating as it kind of ruins my shots/videos. Does anybody have any advice on what I'm doing wrong? I'm turning the drone NOT the camera at all. Thank you!!!!

Before you buy anything, check to see what field of view ("FOV") you have set for the pictures. You should try a 7mb/Medium FOV to start. At a 12mb/Wide FOV you will certainly see props which you will need to remove in post-processing. You will also get field curvature which you may or may not want. Check the recommended GoPro settings from 3DR as a start.

For some reason 3DR hides the User Manual, but it is very helpful. Get it here:
User Manual | 3DR - Drone & UAV Technology
 
Hello everyone! This is my first post and I just got my drone so please forgive me if it's silly. I'm having a problem with my GoPro/Solo combo where when I turn the drone, the leg appears in the image. It's quite frustrating as it kind of ruins my shots/videos. Does anybody have any advice on what I'm doing wrong? I'm turning the drone NOT the camera at all. Thank you!!!!
BTW, you can change the pitch of the camera (up/down) with the front paddle, but you can't yaw the camera independent of your Solo. In other words, the camera is always pointed forward. This is not a limitation, as it is very easy to yaw the Solo. When you roll the Solo (fly left/right) the gimbal corrects the camera angle so that shot stays stable.
 
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The problem with using a narrower FOV in the camera settings is then it doesn't use the entire sensor for capturing the image. It's basically the same as cropping the center of the image out in post, so you get less data.

Aftermarket lenses are more spendy for sure if you want to do it right, but it also alleviates just about everything wrong with the gopro+solo so you can use full gopro resolution, not get fisheye and save time in post.

@Robert Rose In some smartshots the software flies the solo and you have free reign to point the camera wherever you'd like as it flies the preprogrammed path. Cablecam and zipline are 2 examples.
 
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They're still working on the documentation for the 2 new smartshots: zipline and pano

When you enter zipline, it just flies straight in it's current heading but you have full control of everything else.Think of it as a 2 point cablecam, without having to fly out and set the 2nd point. It also lets you lock onto a subject and the camera will track it as it flies the line.
 
Another solution (my preferred one) is to change the lens on the gopro to something with a narrower FOV and get rid of the stupid fisheye at the same time with a rectilinear lens. No more legs in the shot. No more wasting time getting rid of fisheye in post production. Kills 2 birds with one stone. Now that Premiere doesn't have to waste processing power de-fisheyeing the video when editing, my color grading tools work in realtime while color grading 4K content lol. Another bonus. Faster rendering in post.

Is this the lens you recommend?
3.97mm f/2.8 82d HFOV 16MP(No Distortion) – Peau Productions
 
Just to add to the above solutions. Check your settings every time. Android and IOS are having serious app malfunctions. Mine (android) for example refuses to let me change camera settings( 3+, Black) while in the gimbal and I have to physically remove the go pro and change settings on the camera itself.
 
They're still working on the documentation for the 2 new smartshots: zipline and pano

When you enter zipline, it just flies straight in it's current heading but you have full control of everything else.Think of it as a 2 point cablecam, without having to fly out and set the 2nd point. It also lets you lock onto a subject and the camera will track it as it flies the line.
Hi. I was googling what the 3 wires are that are hidden in the legs ( my very first solo gave up the ghost on my 3rd flight while filming a sunset and kissed the earth from 300'. 3DR looked at logs, determined it was an equipment failure and said they'd replace only the drone and gimbal...NOT the GoPro. Said I had to supply proof of purchase for the solo and gimbal. No problem, I thought,.......turns out not covered due to being purchased from Ebay. Totally pissed me off. So I have all these accessories...and I'm stubborn as hell...so I scored another drone and gimbal. Currently working with GoPro for a resolution on the camera. HDmi port detached from the board. So I'm JB Welding it all back together, taking the legs off, and want to see if this puppy can really do 55mph..lol) When I bought the GoPro I had NO idea that all of the cool slow motion and stabilization came in post production. That blows because now I have to learn a whole new subject...editing. Oh well. Back to why I am writing to you...Since you said that a different lens will get rid of the fisheye and save me steps in editing, I am VERY interested. But the part that made me sit up and take notice was when you said, " It also lets you lock onto a subject and the camera will track it as it flies the line." THAT is EXACTLY why I got everything I purchased. I want to film my dog herding sheep and when he chases the tennis ball at the beach. As it stands now, I can't get the live feed because the GoPro is broken. I have another cheap gopro knockoff that has an HDMI port and I tried that to no avail. I have broken 4 HDMI ports on gimbals due to the stiffness of the stock cable. I'm on my 5th gimbal now and just installed the flex one from 3Drelish. I still can't get a view on my asus memo pad 7 hte. says vehicle connected and all that good stuff, its just that I can't see or control the camera thru the solo app. Gonna wait til I have another GoPro to see if that's the problem. Now I just guesstimate the angle of the shot and hope for the best. So...imagine my excitement when you said that in zip mode I can have the camera follow my dog. That leaves me free to throw the ball myself. As it stands now I have to hold the controller in one hand, keep the ball away from my psychotically- tennis -ball- obsessed dog, cradle the controller in my left arm, awkwardly position my fingers on the right joystick, throw the ball, release the chuck-it, and try to fly the drone. Total drag...but to be honest I'm way better at it than when I first started. Anyway, to make a short story even longer...will you please tell me how to make the camera focus on the dog in zipline mode so that I just have to control the speed Thanks man, I have read many posts that you have replied to and am impressed.
 
3DR stopped replacing GoPros under warranty when all the compatible GoPros went out of production.
I was very surprised to hear that. But that's kinda my lifes story.... figures. Thank you for your reply. I'm on a wickedly steep learning curve here.
 

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