My City at 5:30 AM - 2.7k upscale to 4k

[CaptainDrone798]

Here is a video I recently uploaded to my YouTube channel. I tried an old photography trick to achieve a cinematic contrast effect. I shot the video in 2.7k (no filters - auto settings) and then upscaled it to 4k in post.

What that does is takes some of the video sharpness away and slightly softens the overall look.

 

[DirtyHarry]

Nice !

 

[DroneDestination]

I tried an old photography trick to achieve a cinematic contrast effect.

What trick? Please share!

 

[Nuno Barreto]

That's an interesting idea. While I like the overall detail of the P3S, sometimes it does feel like it's over sharpened. Have you experimented with the picture settings as well, where you can change the level of sharpness ? (I haven't yet)

 

[CaptainDrone798]

What trick? Please share!

It's an old upscaling trick. Here I filmed a pile of footage at 2.7k using a Phantom 3 Advanced (max resolution/30 FPS). The video was sharp at that resolution and looked like video. I then upscaled it to 4K and had it rendered (several passes per frame) with a much higher bitrate (I pretty much quadrupled the DJI bit rate and ended up with very large files). The result is a 4K video at high resolution but with a less video appearance due to smoother lines.

 

[CaptainDrone798]

That's an interesting idea. While I like the overall detail of the P3S, sometimes it does feel like it's over sharpened. Have you experimented with the picture settings as well, where you can change the level of sharpness ? (I haven't yet)

This was filmed with a Phantom 3 Advanced. I do find the Phantom 3 Standard (as you mentioned) has a very sharp picture... even sharper than the Phantom 3 Advanced. I have played with the picture settings (reduce sharpness) but was not too pleased with the results. So I just leave all settings at zero (sharpness, contrast, etc). I also don't mess with the exposure setting of FPS as those items are only of use when filming in one direction and not panning (I do plenty of panning and like to get my Phantom in and out quickly). Also I don't use lens filters in the early mornings because it takes away from that natural golden color the sun produces on objects.

The DJI Phantom Standard, Advanced and Professional can all take really great video, but movement needs to be slow due to the crappy bit rate DJI has put in the cameras. If you wish to speed up movement (like in my video), I just do it in post production.