Should videos taken with the gimbal be this shaky?

TJC64 · Jun 21, 2017

The winds were just over ten miles per hour and sometimes it takes butter smooth shots but most of the time it's this shaky. How can I fix this?

Gary Burch · Jun 21, 2017

Balance your props

jimloss · Jun 21, 2017

No, your video should definitely not be that shaky.

Some ideas:

Isolate the shake - gimbal or Solo? In a wide open field where you won't lose GPS signal, hover your Solo 5-6' off the ground and look closely to see if the drone body is shaking or if only the gimbal shakes.

Is your gimbal balanced? Have you added a filter? When fully balanced, with power off, you should be able to place the gimbal in any position and have it hold. It shouldn't always fall back to a specific position after each movement by hand.

From underneath the drone, make sure that the rubber damper balls are positioned properly on the gimbal.

Remove the battery/GPS tray. Look into the top side of the gimbal and again check that all rubber damper balls are pulled through the gimbal plate. Also, check the HDMI cable and ensure that it is lifted off of the top of the gimbal. You may need to use some double sided tape to secure the cable to the front inside of the drone body.

There was another post a month or two ago where someone had a loose screw on a gimbal motor shaft. If the problem still continues and you want to dig into, this might be the problem?

TJC64 · Jun 21, 2017

jimloss said:
No, your video should definitely not be that shaky.

Some ideas:

Isolate the shake - gimbal or Solo? In a wide open field where you won't lose GPS signal, hover your Solo 5-6' off the ground and look closely to see if the drone body is shaking or if only the gimbal shakes.

Is your gimbal balanced? Have you added a filter? When fully balanced, with power off, you should be able to place the gimbal in any position and have it hold. It shouldn't always fall back to a specific position after each movement by hand.

From underneath the drone, make sure that the rubber damper balls are positioned properly on the gimbal.

Remove the battery/GPS tray. Look into the top side of the gimbal and again check that all rubber damper balls are pulled through the gimbal plate. Also, check the HDMI cable and ensure that it is lifted off of the top of the gimbal. You may need to use some double sided tape to secure the cable to the front inside of the drone body.

There was another post a month or two ago where someone had a loose screw on a gimbal motor shaft. If the problem still continues and you want to dig into, this might be the problem?

Thanks for all the info I'll try some things in a little bit I didn't think unbalanced props could cause it to shake that much so this helps

TJC64 · Jun 21, 2017

Alright I'm pretty sure my gimbal is balanced when my hero4 silver is in it stays in all the positions except when tilted towards the ground.
Underneath the dampener balls are in.
After removing the battery case it seems like the hdmi cable would not be interfering with the gimbal but the data cable looked like it could be because of its stiffness.
Also the two dampener balls you can see from the top are in.

Maddog · Jun 22, 2017

Somebody else had this problem but I can't remember if a solution was found. I think it was separate from the one jimloss mentioned. I know that doesn't help but searching might turn up that thread. I'll see if I can find it.

Here it is:
https://3drpilots.com/threads/gimbal-vibration-uneven-footage-help.7212/

I'm not sure if this was ever solved.

TJC64 · Jun 22, 2017

Maddog said:
Somebody else had this problem but I can't remember if a solution was found. I think it was separate from the one jimloss mentioned. I know that doesn't help but searching might turn up that thread. I'll see if I can find it.

Here it is:
https://3drpilots.com/threads/gimbal-vibration-uneven-footage-help.7212/

I'm not sure if this was ever solved.

I watched the videos and it does not look nearly as shaky as mine.
I feel like it has to be a problem with the gimbal because of just how shaky the footage is.

Maddog · Jun 22, 2017

TJC64 said:
I watched the videos and it does not look nearly as shaky as mine.
I feel like it has to be a problem with the gimbal because of just how shaky the footage is.

I think you're right.

TJC64 · Jun 22, 2017

Does anything look wrong?

wsalopek · Jun 24, 2017

TJC64 said:
The winds were just over ten miles per hour and sometimes it takes butter smooth shots but most of the time it's this shaky. How can I fix this?

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Could you send me the raw video? I'd like to try some software to fix it. (Maybe PM me with a link to a shared Google Drive file? Something like that?)

I've seen that much shaking in my videos from time to time...I think it has something to do with exactly how the wind is hitting the Solo, combined with the downward propwash, then send some air turbulence toward the gimbal. But that's just a guess. Maybe next time it happens, pitch the gimbal a bit to changs it's orientation, and/or yaw around a bit.

--

Bill

skyhax · Jun 24, 2017

The rubber grommets are perfect up and down but sideways shake is crazy. Put half a piece of moon gel in each grommet to get rid of that lateral shake.

go to 12:54

TJC64 · Jun 24, 2017

Thanks for the suggestions but I noticed today my gimbal was making a high pitched noise while I was hovering it close to the ground.

Could this be an unbalanced GoPro? Or is something wrong with it?

skyhax · Jun 24, 2017

I was going to say that with the battery not in the quad the camera should be perfectly balanced pointing forward. If it is not it is hard on a gimbal over time.

TJC64 · Jun 24, 2017

Also I saw a video that said to put foam in between the gimbal and hdmi cable

skyhax · Jun 24, 2017

I did remove the heavy black vinyl from the hdmi cable and put thin clear packaging tape on it instead.
Cheap unbalanced ebay props, moongel in grommets, high wind footage taken today:

TJC64 · Jun 24, 2017

It could just be less windy but I put a piece of foam on top of the gimbal loosely just to see if it worked similar to this video: so that the hdmi cable would touch that and it's a lot smoother so I may put a more permanent piece of foam.
Maybe I will try and strip the wire since that seems to be the problem.
What about the gimbal data wire also?

skyhax · Jun 24, 2017

The data wire seems to just squeak by as is.

Dmitry · Jun 25, 2017

Everyone came up to you

(In the topic below there is a link to the video how to do it)
The video shows what is done in 2 hole dams, but it must be done in all 4
https://3drpilots.com/threads/compression-versus-tension-gimbal.2573/page-10#post-66923

Dmitry · Jun 25, 2017

Here is a detailed description of how to do it
https://3drpilots.com/threads/compression-versus-tension-gimbal.2573/page-6

Maddog · Jun 25, 2017

wsalopek said:
Could you send me the raw video? I'd like to try some software to fix it. (Maybe PM me with a link to a shared Google Drive file? Something like that?)

I've seen that much shaking in my videos from time to time...I think it has something to do with exactly how the wind is hitting the Solo, combined with the downward propwash, then send some air turbulence toward the gimbal. But that's just a guess. Maybe next time it happens, pitch the gimbal a bit to changs it's orientation, and/or yaw around a bit.

--

Bill

There should never be anywhere near that much shake in your footage. You can introduce some shake by yawing too fast, flying too fast, or descending too fast.
Sometimes I correct minor "micro-vibes" in post, but you shouldn't need to rely on that.

I still think something is wrong with the gimbal.