DJI

Recent DJI cameras write their motion data straight into the video file, together with the lens calibration and the sensor readout time. For FPV pilots this is the simplest workflow there is: open the clip, check the preview, export.

  1. Supported models
  2. What the file gives you
  3. Recording settings
    1. O4 Air Unit and O4 Air Unit Pro
    2. Vibration
  4. Long recordings
  5. Using DJI motion data for another camera

Supported models

Following the Gyroflow 1.6.3 list:

Group Models
FPV air units O3 Air Unit, O4 Air Unit (O4 Lite), O4 Air Unit Pro
FPV drones Avata, Avata 2
Action cameras Action 2, 4, 5 and 6, Nano
Drones Neo, Neo 2

Other DJI products that store the same kind of metadata may load as well. Open a test clip and check Contains gyro in Video information.

What the file gives you

  • Camera orientation, aligned with the frames. DJI records the orientation the camera computed (as quaternions), not raw gyro samples, and it is already in sync with the video. FPVFlow collapses the Synchronization panel for these clips. If you add sync points anyway, it warns that they are not needed and can make the output look worse.
  • The lens profile. It is built from the calibration stored in the clip, so there is nothing to pick in Lens profile.
  • The frame readout time, used for rolling shutter correction.

In Motion data, Integration method is set to None, which means “use the built-in quaternions”. Keep it that way for DJI clips.

Recording settings

  • RockSteady off and HorizonSteady off. With either one on, the camera stabilizes and crops the image itself, and the clip is not suitable for gyro stabilization.
  • Widest field of view. Use the wide FOV setting, and 4:3 where your unit offers it, to keep the most margin for the crop.
  • Colour. D-Log M keeps more highlight and shadow detail. Grade it in FPVFlow with a .cube LUT, see Colour grading.

O4 Air Unit and O4 Air Unit Pro

Some O4 units record false rotations in their motion data under vibration (the “Gyrogate” problem): the stabilized video jerks and then slowly sways, although the raw footage looks fine. FPVFlow detects this when you open the clip and repairs the motion data. See DJI O4 Gyrogate repair.

The repair needs the 1 kHz attitude track that the O4 records only with RockSteady and HorizonSteady both off. One more reason to fly with them off.

Vibration

The motion data comes from a gyro inside the camera module. On a drone, motor and prop vibration reaches it through the frame. If the stabilized video shows fine jitter that is not in the raw footage, isolate the camera from the frame (a TPU mount instead of a hard plate) and check the flight controller’s filtering. Smooth motors and clean props help the footage as much as the flight.

Long recordings

DJI Action cameras split long recordings into several files. When you open the first part of a recording with a name of the form DJI_xxxx_yyy.MP4, FPVFlow looks for the following parts and offers to join them (“Split recording has been detected”). Files named in other patterns are not detected; open them one at a time.

Answering Yes writes a new, joined file next to the parts, with _joined added to the name, and opens it. Make sure the drive has room for a second copy of the recording.

Using DJI motion data for another camera

Because a DJI clip carries the camera orientation, a DJI action camera or air unit can serve as the motion logger for a second camera mounted rigidly next to it:

  1. Open the video of the other camera.
  2. In Motion data, click Open file and choose the DJI clip.
  3. Keep Integration method on None.
  4. Load a lens profile for the other camera.
  5. Run Auto sync. This time sync is needed, because the two cameras do not share a clock. If it fails, increase Sync search size so the search covers the real start offset.

To see the orientation data in the timeline, right-click the chart and choose Quaternions in Chart display mode.