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Issues with the V3

Gibcity

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Hello,

Since getting the V3 we have had nothing but issues. This is my 2nd unit after a RMA due to an aircraft wobble while flying. The replacement aircraft still wobbles but now I'm noticing that the V3 does not record in 10bit nor does it record at 120mbps. I have all the correct settings to enable 10bit but nothing will work. Has anyone else been dealing with these issues? I'm getting extremely frustrated with this aircraft.
 

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Hello,

Since getting the V3 we have had nothing but issues. This is my 2nd unit after a RMA due to an aircraft wobble while flying. The replacement aircraft still wobbles but now I'm noticing that the V3 does not record in 10bit nor does it record at 120mbps. I have all the correct settings to enable 10bit but nothing will work. Has anyone else been dealing with these issues? I'm getting extremely frustrated with this aircraft.

The EVO II 6K does not record in 10bit unless you select MOV for the container. I noticed in your codec output that MP4 was selected. When MP4 is selected it records using H.264, 4:2:0 8bit. When MOV is selected it records using H.265 4:2:0 10bit. It also only records in 8bit when shooting at resolutions higher than 4K and at framerates higher than 30FPS regardless of the container selection probably to keep it from overheating or possibly to keep the bitrate within a manageable range to support slower microSD cards.

The bitrate is a variable bitrate, so for a relatively static scene it can easily drop well below the maximum bitrate. 101Mb/s sounds about right for a typical scene. Notice in your software it listed the bitrate as "overall bitrate", meaning that was the average bitrate for the video. That does not mean that within the video it did not go as high as 120Mb/s or possibly as low as 70 or 80Mb/s.

I go over a lot of this in my Autel EVO II 6K User Experience post here. Unfortunately, the Autel documentation on the drone's camera is either completely lacking, has inaccuracies, or is about as clear as mud. In my post, I keep new findings updated based on almost 2yrs now of actually getting out and using it for commercial projects.

I am not sure what you mean by aircraft wobble, typically things like that can be fixed by doing a IMU, compass, and gimbal calibration (in that order). When you state "wobble" is it the entire aircraft or do you see "jello" in the video? If it is the entire aircraft it could be bad props if calibrations don't fix it. If its just the video and a gimbal calibration doesn't fix it then it could be something wrong with the gimbal bushings.
 
The EVO II 6K does not record in 10bit unless you select MOV for the container. I noticed in your codec output that MP4 was selected. When MP4 is selected it records using H.264, 4:2:0 8bit. When MOV is selected it records using H.265 4:2:0 10bit. It also only records in 8bit when shooting at resolutions higher than 4K and at framerates higher than 30FPS regardless of the container selection probably to keep it from overheating or possibly to keep the bitrate within a manageable range to support slower microSD cards.

The bitrate is a variable bitrate, so for a relatively static scene it can easily drop well below the maximum bitrate. 101Mb/s sounds about right for a typical scene. Notice in your software it listed the bitrate as "overall bitrate", meaning that was the average bitrate for the video. That does not mean that within the video it did not go as high as 120Mb/s or possibly as low as 70 or 80Mb/s.

I go over a lot of this in my Autel EVO II 6K User Experience post here. Unfortunately, the Autel documentation on the drone's camera is either completely lacking, has inaccuracies, or is about as clear as mud. In my post, I keep new findings updated based on almost 2yrs now of actually getting out and using it for commercial projects.

I am not sure what you mean by aircraft wobble, typically things like that can be fixed by doing a IMU, compass, and gimbal calibration (in that order). When you state "wobble" is it the entire aircraft or do you see "jello" in the video? If it is the entire aircraft it could be bad props if calibrations don't fix it. If its just the video and a gimbal calibration doesn't fix it then it could be something wrong with the gimbal bushings.
Thank you for the detailed response. I just tested this out again with the MOV container and it looks like it still does not record in 10bit. This clip was at 4k 24fps in LOG.
 

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Thank you for the detailed response. I just tested this out again with the MOV container and it looks like it still does not record in 10bit. This clip was at 4k 24fps in LOG.

Here is a sample video of the wobble issue on the first drone. The 2nd drone I received still has the same issue. Calibrations have been performed and I've also switched out the props. I'm going to try and redo a firmware refresh to see if that helps. Just waiting to test out the flights when it finally stops snowing.
Wow, looking at your video, I had that twice and both occasions my drone flew into something, first was my deck and today my house on take off. I also notice my sat count went from 31 to 15 during that time on the AirData log. I sent an email to Autel with the Logs, hoping for them to give a resolution.
 
Wow, looking at your video, I had that twice and both occasions my drone flew into something, first was my deck and today my house on take off. I also notice my sat count went from 31 to 15 during that time on the AirData log. I sent an email to Autel with the Logs, hoping for them to give a resolution.
Was that with a V3? Care to share the logs here?
 
Thank you for the detailed response. I just tested this out again with the MOV container and it looks like it still does not record in 10bit. This clip was at 4k 24fps in LOG.

Here is a sample video of the wobble issue on the first drone. The 2nd drone I received still has the same issue. Calibrations have been performed and I've also switched out the props. I'm going to try and redo a firmware refresh to see if that helps. Just waiting to test out the flights when it finally stops snowing.

I have never seen one do that, possibly an ESC issue (which you would need to send in to get fixed), a firmware issue (nothing you can do about that either except try to downgrade to an older version), or an unbalanced prop somehow, but you have switched them out already so no idea. As far as 8bit vs 10bit, what program are you using to view the metadata? I use Davinci Resolve and it shows that it is 10bit, I can try the program you are using to see how it sees my footage, it is possibly a program error. Or you could upload a few seconds of the footage to somewhere like Google Drive and I can see what DR says it is, just make sure that it is MOV not MP4.

I would still try an IMU and compass calibration for the wobble, but doubt it would help.
 
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I have never seen one do that, possibly an ESC issue (which you would need to send in to get fixed), a firmware issue (nothing you can do about that either except try to downgrade to an older version), or an unbalanced prop somehow, but you have switched them out already so no idea. As far as 8bit vs 10bit, what program are you using to view the metadata? I use Davinci Resolve and it shows that it is 10bit, I can try the program you are using to see how it sees my footage, it is possibly a program error. Or you could upload a few seconds of the footage to somewhere like Google Drive and I can see what DR says it is, just make sure that it is MOV not MP4.

I would still try an IMU and compass calibration for the wobble, but doubt it would help.
Thanks Herein,

Yea. It's just strange this is the 2nd aircraft that has the same issue. Just to confirm, you are using a V3 and have not experienced any of these issues?

The software I am using is MediaArea. It's an opensource tool for digital media analysis. MediaArea

Here is a link to sample footage for bit-rate testing. Autel 10bit Issue - 1-29-2023 - Google Drive
 
Thanks Herein,

Yea. It's just strange this is the 2nd aircraft that has the same issue. Just to confirm, you are using a V3 and have not experienced any of these issues?

The software I am using is MediaArea. It's an opensource tool for digital media analysis. MediaArea

Here is a link to sample footage for bit-rate testing. Autel 10bit Issue - 1-29-2023 - Google Drive

No, I am using a V1 and have not experienced any of those issues. I also have the original FW from 2021. Your software is correct though, the clip shows as 8bit in Davinci Resolve. VLC shows quite a bit of info so I compared one of my clips to your clip in VLC, your clip is definitely missing some information. I remember the V1 was advertised as 10bit but didn't actually shoot 10bit until enough forum members complained to Autel about the missing 10bit then they added it via a FW update. I wouldn't have imagined that they would make that mistake again.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe it shoots 8bit in 24FPS, I only use 30FPS and 60FPS, so maybe you could try switching to 30FPS and use the MOV container to see if somehow it shoots 10bit for 30FPS but not 24FPS.

Below is the side-by-side VLC output for the two clips. I would file a ticket with Autel, maybe they screwed up the FW again; its possible all the V3s out there are only shooting 8bit all this time.

ClipComparison.jpg

I also compared the same two clips in MediaArea and below is the output. I would say that you have enough information to open yet another ticket with Autel.

Media-Area-Comparison.jpg

For the wobble, you could try taking the props off and spinning up the motors on a flat surface to see if it still shakes or sounds strange. It could be the motor mount itself is not perfectly straight for one of the motors. If it still sounds strange without props then it could be the ESC, FW, a bad motor mount, etc.
 
Anyone get any updates in regards to the 10-bit feature for the V3? Thats a big deal to me for what I do and I may be returning my drone if it cant do 10-bit. I assumed it would since the V1 does it. I also filmed the drone with MOV, h265, and LOG at 24 and 30 (as these were the only 2 that I was aware that did 10-bit on V1) and only got 8-bit footage.
 
Wow, looking at your video, I had that twice and both occasions my drone flew into something, first was my deck and today my house on take off. I also notice my sat count went from 31 to 15 during that time on the AirData log. I sent an email to Autel with the Logs, hoping for them to give a resolution.
Mission: photogrammetry of a dry marina, to ensure boat batteries where taken offline before boats were being stored to reduce a fire risk, This dry marina is 4 decks of 30 boats on two sides of the metal structure, totalling 240 boats.

I just had a similar experience yesterday when photographing a dry marina. When the drone entered the building, 5 feet inside the threshold of the building, assuming it lost satellite coverage, the drone immediately accelerated and collided with a boat. Luckily, I was 12 inches off the ground and the top cover where the accessories attach was knocked off and hit the ground delicately.

The lesson to be learned here is that Autel did not program the aircraft to immediately halt upon losing contact with satellites or even take a reciprocal course back out to the place it came from. Throughout the entire time, when rebooted inside the building the drone would from time to time get minimal satellite capture and then have to be flown to the ground, fighting the entire time.
 
Mission: photogrammetry of a dry marina, to ensure boat batteries where taken offline before boats were being stored to reduce a fire risk, This dry marina is 4 decks of 30 boats on two sides of the metal structure, totalling 240 boats.

I just had a similar experience yesterday when photographing a dry marina. When the drone entered the building, 5 feet inside the threshold of the building, assuming it lost satellite coverage, the drone immediately accelerated and collided with a boat. Luckily, I was 12 inches off the ground and the top cover where the accessories attach was knocked off and hit the ground delicately.

The lesson to be learned here is that Autel did not program the aircraft to immediately halt upon losing contact with satellites or even take a reciprocal course back out to the place it came from. Throughout the entire time, when rebooted inside the building the drone would from time to time get minimal satellite capture and then have to be flown to the ground, fighting the entire time.
Losing sats inside a building I can understand but not when it is outside on a clear sunny day in full view of the sky.
 
Anyone get any updates in regards to the 10-bit feature for the V3? Thats a big deal to me for what I do and I may be returning my drone if it cant do 10-bit. I assumed it would since the V1 does it. I also filmed the drone with MOV, h265, and LOG at 24 and 30 (as these were the only 2 that I was aware that did 10-bit on V1) and only got 8-bit footage.
I'm just seeing this and I just received my Autel 2 6k pro v3 and its sitting new in the box next to me...does it not film 10bit??? I've been under the impression that it did and if it doesn't I'll be sending this back for a DJI, much as that pains me.
 
I looked again on the Autel website and it seems that no where it states that the V3 will record 10 bit video, it does talk about 12 bit DNG but no 10 bit video, maybe it was removed from the sites because I was told the processor can't handle 10 bit.
 
I looked again on the Autel website and it seems that no where it states that the V3 will record 10 bit video, it does talk about 12 bit DNG but no 10 bit video, maybe it was removed from the sites because I was told the processor can't handle 10 bit.
Im confused why they would effectively downgrade with the newer drone...the V2 had this capability right? Bizarre to me.
 
I'm just seeing this and I just received my Autel 2 6k pro v3 and its sitting new in the box next to me...does it not film 10bit??? I've been under the impression that it did and if it doesn't I'll be sending this back for a DJI, much as that pains me.
 
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I have already started the process of returning my V3 for a full refund. Pity because I bought 2 xtra batteries and filters of amazon that I am stuck with. Well maybe someone on here will want to buy it.
 
They lied. I used the waybackbackmachine.com for 2023-03-04, this is what autelpilot.com were advertising.

2023-03-04 autelpilot com waybackmachine com.jpg

2023-03-28 at autelpilot.com
2023-03-28 autelpilot com.jpg

Anyone notice the difference?
 
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