Hey guys,

I’m mainly into cinematic FPV and hoping one day to fly BMPC or better on FPV drones for commercial use. I just started building and flying FPV about 4 months ago so I’m still super new to this hobby/career.

For a while I had been using GoPro hypersmooth 2.0 which worked really well but finally tried Reel Steady and it is definitely smoother. The one thing I’ve noticed, because in order to use Reel Steady you need to have hypersmooth off, is that the raw video footage is pretty shaky. I’m curious to how people like Johnny FPV get raw video that is almost vibration free. Obviously there’s going to be a little shake in any unstabalized video but it is a lot less prominent in this Johnny video which is 100% unstablized when compared to mine.

I haven’t learned to PID tune so I’m not sure if that’s something that would help make it smoother, but any tips help. The reason I’m wondering is because when I eventually get to flying the bigger cameras, it would be nice to have smoother or at least usable footage right away without having to run it through stabilization software in post.

Thanks!

Proper PID tuning makes a HUGE difference. Almost dangerously so in the sense that I would go so far as to argue PID tuning can go so far as to hide mechanical issues that cause video vibrations that ought be addressed mechanically.

next to pid tuning, there are some suggestions for bf4.2 for hdfootage or cinematic flights

https://github.com/betaflight/betaflight...ning-Notes

„HD (smoothed FF for HD cameras, strong low turn rate smoothness, low iterm relax to minimise bounce back)

set iterm_relax_cutoff = 10
set rc_smoothing_auto_smoothness = 20
set ff_interpolate_sp = AVERAGED_3
set ff_smooth_factor = 40
set ff_spike_limit = 55
set ff_boost = 0
set feedforward_transition = 40
set yaw_lowpass_hz = 70
set throttle_boost = 5
set throttle_boost_cutoff = 10
set dyn_lpf_dterm_curve_expo = 7
set gyro_rpm_notch_q = 800


Cinematic (For slow rate turns only, may feel a bit 'dull' otherwise)

set iterm_relax_cutoff = 5
set rc_smoothing_auto_smoothness = 40
set ff_interpolate_sp = AVERAGED_4
set ff_smooth_factor = 50
set ff_spike_limit = 50
set ff_boost = 0
set feedforward_transition = 70
set yaw_lowpass_hz = 50
set throttle_boost = 2
set throttle_boost_cutoff = 10
set dyn_lpf_dterm_curve_expo = 8
set gyro_rpm_notch_q = 900
set iterm_windup = 75
The following tuning suggestions may help minimise minor random wobbles in HD footage:

disable D_min,
set D about 20% above P, using the P ratio slider
set TPA to D only, to start at your cruising throttle value, and increase the cut percentage a little
set the D lowpass expo value as high as possible (you'll be limited by mid-throttle D noise) (with the extra D, you may need more D filtering, e.g. 2 clicks left on the D filter slider)
use about 20% less P than your normal freestyle tune, just barely enough to provide basic P stability.
and about half the default I on pitch and roll
high FF transition eg 0.7
make sure the ADC is not ticked in the hardware settings of OpenTx
use Actual Rates with centre set to 10-50, expo to 0, and your usual max rate. Actual with zero expo gives a soft centre with quicker return to normal responsiveness out of centre. Transition and/or deadband may not be required when the centre sensitivity is very low.
For zero throttle instability

go back to 24kHZ PWM if you've set the ESc to 48kHz
raise DShot idle progressively until it becomes floaty, and tune dynamic idle appropriately
try thrust linear at 25
try disabling Dmin and slightly higher overall PIDs
Return to defaults (zero values mean 'off')„

i settup some of the suggestions for cinematic footage, i will try them soon.

Thank you so much both of you! This is extremely helpful! I had been avoiding tuning for a while, but now I know it is well worth the time. I’ll get started on those suggestions soon!