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Movi Noise?

Discussion in 'Movi Technical' started by Ronny Heredia, Aug 24, 2018.

  1. Every time I record on the Movi I hear what sounds like the motors in the video. At first I thought that it might be that I didnt balance it well since I have the moment lens and counter weight system. But then I removed it and recorded again with just the phone (no lens or counter weights) and I still hear it. Next I tried all of the "tuning settings" all of these still produced the sound including the autotune option. What should I do?

    Below is a link to a video with the sound in it. In this video there is absolutely no soundcmoing from anything other than the Movi in other words the small clicking you hear panning left and right is from the Movi and the loud clunk when moving up and down is also from the Movi. This happens with and without the counter weight but is more noticeable with the counter weights and lens.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/3tHyHRwd1oYAYpEM6

    Thanks
    Ronny
     
  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Ronny:
    That's very odd....I don't think anyone's reported this problem before. Just to eliminate one thing, can you shoot a similar shot with the same camera motions, but without the Movi CR -- just hand-hold the iPhone. I'd like to eliminate that the noise is coming from the iPhone itself.

    If you've already done this, then I'd open up a ticket by sending an email to Freefly Support (support@freeflysystems.com) and include a link to this thread to save having to type the whole story over again.

    Cheers
    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
  3. Thanks yeah I had already submitted a ticket, but hadn’t heard back so wanted to try here to see if anyone else had similar issues. Thanks for your help!
     
  4. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Please post again once this is resolved so that other forum members who experience the same problem can know what causes it!

    Thanks
    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
  5. Dave Johns

    Dave Johns New Member

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    I have heard motors in my video before. I noticed it more when I had a Moment lens and counterweight attached. Not so much when it was iPhone X only. When I have a chance, I'll set it up to that configuration and see if it happens.
     
  6. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    I've only tried with an iPhone 6 with the wide and the tele Moment lenses -- but not motor noise that I could hear.

    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
  7. Ralph Nudo

    Ralph Nudo New Member

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    I have the same issue with motor noise. I’ve used an iPhone 6 with no problem but I recently got an iPhone XR and I definitely hear a constant whirring sound and clicking during panning. I’ve found I need to use counterweights on the XR with or without the Moment Anamorphic or Wide Angle lenses. The motor noise is a problem with or without lenses. I can actually hear it if I place my ear close to Movi while moving it. I’m careful to balance correctly. I’ve placed a support request with Freefly today.
     
  8. Terrence Bibb

    Terrence Bibb New Member

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    I also experienced the noise issue will using echo mode with my iphone 8 plus and moment case, moment wide/58mm and NDR filter and attachment!! It's rather loud!
     
  9. Ralph Nudo

    Ralph Nudo New Member

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    It apparently has to do with the iPhone audio gain self adjusting which causes it to ramp up during quiet scenes. With my iPhone 6 motor noise is very subtle but with my iPhone XR, with or without Moment lenses, the noise is considerable. Both are in Moment cases. Because of this, XR footage shot with just normal conversation is unusable. It seems the answer is to simply use an external mic. Unfortunately this complicates even simple shots. I have a Zoom h1n that does a fine job but I'd rather not have to use it all the time. I don't have Filmic Pro but I understand it does have a manual gain control for audio and that should help things. I'd like to know from Filmic users if that's been working well for them.
     
  10. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    You're correct Ralph. The issue is the automatic gain control (AGC) on the iPhone that, during quiet times, adjusts the gain up thinking it's being helpful, when it's actually making matters worse. I'm speculating here, but I suspect many/most Movi users will edit the resulting video that they get on some form of post-production system. If that is the case, then, of course, it's relatively easy to duck the audio down to quieten any "natural sound" (aka "nat sound") that you might be picking up that you don't want. Added to which (literally and metaphorically) one has the option of laying down a music bed that will tend to obscure the mechanical sounds.

    For me (and it's a personal preference) the external mic is the way to go -- even when recording with a cam corder, the so-called "nose mic" (built-in to the camera) is not my first choice because of the extraneous nat sounds it picks up garbage nat sound (camera handling etc.) Mind you, with those kinds of cameras you often do have a means for switching off AGC.

    Cheers
    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
  11. Mary Ulsamer

    Mary Ulsamer New Member

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    I received my Movi last week and I’m having the same audio issues described here when using Moment’s 18mm with Photo case on iPhone XS Max. I’m using 2 large, 2 medium and 1 small counterweights. I don’t think I could balance any better. With this configuration there is no audible hiss or grinding sound when I put my ear up against the motors and my Movi is not jittery –– clips are super smooth. The bad background sound is only heard when I play back the clip, worst with Movi app, a bit less with FilmicPro, Moment and native Apple Camera apps. It doesn’t matter if the Movi is moving or stationary. If I strip down to just the iPhone XS Max, no case, no lens and one small counterweight there is no hissing audio. I am worried that this sound is indicating too much stress on the motors and if that’s the case I have to return my Movi and dust off my Osmo M2. Freefly, please let us know what’s going on with this! Thanks!
     
  12. Hi all,

    The noise cause is stated above by the administrator, I never actually got an answer from the Movi ticket I submitted. They basically just told me I was the only one having this problem, but at least this forum was able to provide answers. I just use an external mic to eliminate the noise. Thanks for all your help and hope you all make some great videos!
     
  13. Marc Smith

    Marc Smith New Member

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    I noticed it with my set up as well. I have the Xs with moment wide and wood case. I never heard the noise until I added the extra weight.
     
  14. Ralph Nudo

    Ralph Nudo New Member

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    I’ve had this problem too and I got into some detailed discussion with Bryan at Freefly regarding it. I uploaded video with the motor noise and he did the same. A big issue is the iPhone automatic gain control ramping up the audio when it’s a quiet scene. Android phones may have the same issue. I haven’t used FilmicPro but I understand it has some manual control over audio gain.

    Some friends of mine play in a jazz group and I shot some video of them at a club. This was a low-volume simple 5-piece group. I had an iPhone XR with the Moment anamorphic lens counterweighted on the Movi, another person had an iPhone 6 handheld with the Moment Wide Angle lens, and there was a GoPro on a tripod. Separately I used a Zoom h1n recorder as the main source for audio. The footage was all put together with Final Cut Pro X.

    It all came together decently and when isolating the audio from the iPhone XR on the Movi I noticed that the audio had no motor noise at all. It was very clean. It sounded pretty great actually.

    So I’ve come to the realization that if you’re recording a very quiet scene with Movi that contains only dialogue and you’re using supplemental lenses and counterweights, expect some motor noise. The best thing to do in these cases is to use an external mic.
     
    Bryan Edmonds likes this.
  15. Eric Bergez

    Eric Bergez New Member

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    This is an excellent thread. I just experienced this last night for the first time and will try the same scenes with an external mic.
     
  16. Stephen Hart

    Stephen Hart Active Member

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    I don't understand why an iPhone XR would need counterweights. I need none for my iPhone XS, and it rebalances excellently just lining up the center marks with the white lines in the app.
    Here's the difference between the XR and XS:
    XR is 0.29 inches taller, 0.19 inches wider, 0.03 inches thicker and 0.6 ounces heavier.

    As to noise, I've done a short bit of video using Majestic in the Movi app in a very quiet forest path (absolutely no traffic or city noise), with no external mic, and picked up voices from more than 10 feet away and crunching sounds from the camera operator stepping on leaves. The audio was crystal clear and there was no other noise. Is it possible that there's a setting in iOS that affects this?

    This is a world apart from the constant lens motor noise my Panasonic Lumix FZ cameras record when using the built-in mics.
     
  17. ELLIOT

    ELLIOT New Member

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  18. ELLIOT

    ELLIOT New Member

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    And I thought I was going crazy. I took possession of mine two days ago after only owning a smooth 4 for a couple of months. I thought how great this was going to be. I love the design, the feel, and the capability.

    After hours of video and many failed attempts I think I finally got it balanced with two large, two medium weights and no pan weight so far. I have the Iphone xr, a wood Moment case and the lens on the case is the 18mm v2 Moment.

    With all of that said, I cannot believe the amount of noise being recorded from the motors. It sort of devalues the Gimbal over all. I understand from this thread that the problem seems to be the Iphone itself with its autogain feature. If that is the case then why is there no noise when using a Smooth 4. Just a question and not a knock on the Movi. But I am curious.

    So in order to eliminate the noise from the motor I am using Filmic with the sound levels turned down to zero and the playback is dead silent. As my shooting is more documentary, adding music and voice is done in post process.

    But this problem with the sound from the motors should not exist, especially in a 300.00 base price Gimbal, before accessories.

    Just to be sure I did footage with the Smooth 4 and the Movi of the same subject matter. Same phone, same lens, same case. The smooth 4 was counter balanced with the Moment weights. No noise on the Smooth 4, lots of noise on the Movi. Both gimbals were used with the apps made by each manufaturer.

    One quick note: I thought of returning the Movi but it really produces such smooth filming. So I am going to use my Beats Airpods with Filmic pro which allows for wireless bluetooth pod microphone when needed and perhaps that will solve the problem like others here have suggested. More to follow.
     
    #18 ELLIOT, Jun 23, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2019
  19. ELLIOT

    ELLIOT New Member

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    It worked, it worked, it worked. In filmic Pro, I went to the audio set up and chose bluetooth microphone. I then paired my Beats Bluetooth Head set with the Iphone and Filmic Pro picked it up right away.

    I was also able to shut off auto gain in Filmic Pro. My tests recording recorded great voice and background noise and there was absolutely no sound from the motors.

    Best of all because I was using the Beats and they were in my ears I was also able to hear exactly the sound being recorded. H a p p y. C a m p e r——-am I.
     
  20. Stephen Hart

    Stephen Hart Active Member

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