Stable video in windy conditions?

JonW · Oct 17, 2015

Has anyone had luck getting smooth, stable video flying Solo in windy conditions? I have only had my gimbal for a week now and flew yesterday in the strongest winds I have flown in yet. It was maybe 15mph with 20+ gusts. The video was all so shaky it is unusable. Maybe it could be saved with stabilization software but I have never done that before. My gimbal and props are balanced. All flying was in GPS mode to utilize smart shots. I'm sure it would have been smoother drifting in "fly manual" but I really wanted the capability of smart shots. So it just seems that in GPS mode there is a wind threshold above which usable video is not possible. I'm wondering if anyone has experimented enough to know that limit.

Marich · Oct 17, 2015

Yep, I shot this little ditty a couple weeks ago a few days after I installed my gimbal - just for fun I guess.
Wind was 19 mph according to my trusty iPhone with gusts to 22.

Jubalr · Oct 17, 2015

JonW said:
Has anyone had luck getting smooth, stable video flying Solo in windy conditions? I have only had my gimbal for a week now and flew yesterday in the strongest winds I have flown in yet. It was maybe 15mph with 20+ gusts. The video was all so shaky it is unusable. Maybe it could be saved with stabilization software but I have never done that before. My gimbal and props are balanced. All flying was in GPS mode to utilize smart shots. I'm sure it would have been smoother drifting in "fly manual" but I really wanted the capability of smart shots. So it just seems that in GPS mode there is a wind threshold above which usable video is not possible. I'm wondering if anyone has experimented enough to know that limit.

I just happened to shoot this today. We are on the edge of a cold front coming in tonight and the wind was a constant 10-20 all day today. Flew some Tower missions then towards the end just shot this to use up what was left of the last battery for the day. I thought it held very well. Wind was coming from the left.

JonW · Oct 18, 2015

Here is one video from my windy flight. Obviously both of your results Jubalr and Marich are much better than mine. I consider my all of the video I shot in these conditions to be completely unusable. Are you sure Marich that your wind speed was 19-22? Just asking because I don't see a lot of movement in the trees. In Jubalr's video the tree is obviously blowing. So now I need to figure out does my Solo have a defect and need to be returned or why is my stability in wind so poor compared to yours. BTW this is with balanced props and gimbal balanced for filters. Maybe I'll try next time without the gimbal balance weights. To me that defies logic but I know that 3DR recommends not balancing for the filters.

Marich · Oct 18, 2015

JonW said:
Here is one video from my windy flight. Obviously both of your results Jubalr and Marich are much better than mine. I consider my all of the video I shot in these conditions to be completely unusable. Are you sure Marich that your wind speed was 19-22? Just asking because I don't see a lot of movement in the trees. In Jubalr's video the tree is obviously blowing. So now I need to figure out does my Solo have a defect and need to be returned or why is my stability in wind so poor compared to yours. BTW this is with balanced props and gimbal balanced for filters. Maybe I'll try next time without the gimbal balance weights. To me that defies logic but I know that 3DR recommends not balancing for the filters.

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Yes, it was that speed, and I see what you mean - never really looked closely before.
The area behind the swimming pool (to the west) consists of an extremely hilly section. The pool and water towers are essentially at the base of a gigantic hill (think Kill Devil Hill). We have our 4th of July fireworks there every year because there is basically no wind effect and subsequent danger of falling debris.
In this area, a favorite of mine for first flights because of that same quality, the buffeting occurs at almost exactly 75 feet altitude. You can almost literally fly a paper airplane on one of the baseball diamonds! The real crap occurs whenever you really get up there.
I just got home from another flight there, orbiting the towers. A little less windy today, but it was from behind the hill and I bet the wind is far more noticeable. I'll post here when I process it so you can see!

chadgadget · Oct 19, 2015

JonW - I would check your gimbal install. The HDMI cable can cause this issue if it is not routed properly. With that much wind moving the craft around the rubber mounts are supposed to help out. If the HMDI cable is hung up on something the rubber dampers are useless. There are a few threads on here addressing the HDMI cable routing.

Solo58216 · Oct 19, 2015

Fly with the wind if posable.

JonW · Oct 19, 2015

chadgadget said:
JonW - I would check your gimbal install. The HDMI cable can cause this issue if it is not routed properly. With that much wind moving the craft around the rubber mounts are supposed to help out. If the HMDI cable is hung up on something the rubber dampers are useless. There are a few threads on here addressing the HDMI cable routing.

I'll open it up again and have a look. I did study and follow all the tips that have been shared here and removed the battery tray to have access from the top. I'm also considering the ribbon cable that is being discussed in another thread. The 3DR hdmi cable is definitely the wrong component for the job. It's way too stiff.

Solo58216 · Oct 19, 2015

One thing that happened to me during my install was I accidentally dislodged one of the rubber damping balls. I had to reseat it in its base.

Maddog · Oct 19, 2015

I really would send your logs to 3DR so they can see if it's a problem with Solo/ gimbal.
That really is bad video but great scenery. Does it film better with no wind?

Michael Schneider · Oct 19, 2015

I just posted this video in the Photos and Video section. I was flying in 10-15 knot winds the entire time.

Maddog · Oct 19, 2015

Michael, looks good- nice colors. What camera settings did you use?

Michael Schneider · Oct 20, 2015

Maddog said:
Michael, looks good- nice colors. What camera settings did you use?

1080p 60fps FOV Medium - ProTune ON, White balance Native, ISO Limit 400, Sharpness low, Color Flat

Maddog · Oct 20, 2015

Michael Schneider said:
1080p 60fps FOV Medium - ProTune ON, White balance Native, ISO Limit 400, Sharpness low, Color Flat

Thanks!

Solo58216 · Oct 20, 2015

Hey I just watched your solo defective out of box video and it has the same shake! did you use the same camera? What's up?

RichWest · Oct 20, 2015

JonW said:
Here is one video from my windy flight. Obviously both of your results Jubalr and Marich are much better than mine. I consider my all of the video I shot in these conditions to be completely unusable.

Man your motors are fighting hard to fly, high winds or not. Listen to Jubalr's motors in his video and listen how the motors maintain a smooth effort, even within a moderate movement. I'd venture to bet he's made efforts to improve his motor's performance or he is really lucky. The motors reveal a lot of information if you just listen to them. Yours are resonating quite a bit, the video output will be effected no matter how good the isolation system is.

You may want to send 3DR some data logs and have them looking it over for any issues out of normal operation related to vibration. What they deem as excessive and the root cause is at their discretion.

JonW · Oct 20, 2015

Solo58216 said:
Hey I just watched your solo defective out of box video and it has the same shake! did you use the same camera? What's up?

That's just what happens when a right handed guy shoots with his phone pinched between the thumb and index finger of his left hand so he can operate a volt meter with his right hand while filming. I promise my Youtube videos will be much more steady in a couple weeks when my DJI Osmo arrives.

Jubalr · Oct 21, 2015

RichWest said:
Listen to Jubalr's motors in his video and listen how the motors maintain a smooth effort, even within a moderate movement. I'd venture to bet he's made efforts to improve his motor's performance or he is really lucky. The motors reveal a lot of information if you just listen to them. Yours are resonating quite a bit, the video output will be effected no matter how good the isolation system is.

You may want to send 3DR some data logs and have them looking it over for any issues out of normal operation related to vibration. What they deem as excessive and the root cause is at their discretion.

Nope, just stock motors as they came to me back in June. Nothing modified.

RichWest · Oct 21, 2015

Jubalr said:
Nope, just stock motors as they came to me back in June. Nothing modified.

Like I said, ...or lucky. Well actual, maybe it is me that is unlucky. I've got one questionable motor. Like in JonW's video, the motor "warbles" while adding power. From your video, I'd suspect the motors are fairly smooth through-out the entire throttle. Which is how it should be.

I can't confirm one way or another until the replacement motor pods are installed. Just waiting on 3DR to ship....

JonW · Oct 21, 2015

RichWest said:
Man your motors are fighting hard to fly, high winds or not. Listen to Jubalr's motors in his video and listen how the motors maintain a smooth effort, even within a moderate movement. I'd venture to bet he's made efforts to improve his motor's performance or he is really lucky. The motors reveal a lot of information if you just listen to them. Yours are resonating quite a bit, the video output will be effected no matter how good the isolation system is.

You may want to send 3DR some data logs and have them looking it over for any issues out of normal operation related to vibration. What they deem as excessive and the root cause is at their discretion.

This still could just be based on the conditions I flew in. It was not only windy but gusty, which might explain the fighting motors. It sounds like the other videos posted were maybe in more constant wind. And like I said, maybe I just found the operational limits of the Solo, which I fully expect it to have . When I have time I want to duplicate my flights on a less windy day. Next time I will also set a matching waypoint mission with one of my P3s to compare performance. I also ordered a anemometer so next time I'll have more accurate wind speed info.