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Bad Horizon Level & App Feature Requests

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

  1. Nguyen Nguyen

    Nguyen Nguyen New Member

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    My iPhone X will not return to horizon in the Movi — it’s always leaning a little to the left. Checked with the level in the compass app and everything.

    Also tried using roll lock, but no success. The only way I’ve found the Movi usable is if I have the X set with most of its weight to the right — purposefully making sure it’s offbalance before turning the Movi on just so that it doesn’t lean left. Kind of bummed out as horizon level isn’t something I expected to have with a gimbal 2-3x the price of other smartphone gimbals.

    Also, I have a few features that I think would improve the app a lot, as right now it feels a bit handicapping.
    - Bitrate settings
    - Shutter speed, ISO control
    - Should be a double tap function to return to horizon regardless of whether or not you have roll lock as the button
    - Anamorphic squeezing
    - Maybe a mode where the buttons can control turn/tilt manually. I know there’s been talk about this as it’s a button and you couldn’t do it gradually, but if you just set a medium speed, that’d be nice. I need to adjust the angle of my phone more than I ever need to switch to the front facing camera or go to my gallery.
     
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  2. Simon Hughes

    Simon Hughes Member

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    +1000!
     
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  3. Nguyen Nguyen

    Nguyen Nguyen New Member

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    Developers, is there any update on the horizon level issue? Just had every single shot in majestic from a holiday trip come out with a crooked horizon.
     
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  4. Leong Kok Fei

    Leong Kok Fei New Member

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    I also facing the same problem using counterweight and moment lens. i wonder why is this happening ? is this normal?
    u can check the pic i uploaded. Is leaning to the left side.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Robert Kadelka

    Robert Kadelka New Member

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    Hi,
    I also have the same issue. My Movi came out of the box with a crooked horizon, and it' leaning to the left just as yours @Leong. This is issue is present with perfectly balanced phones. I tried the Movi with my PixelXL and my Note9, both have exhibit the issue. Also done a test with the Moment Wide on the PixelXL and added counterweights, and the crooked horizon is still there.
    I followed the instructions to the t in the tutorials, the balance was there every time.

    It seems to me that there's something not right with the MCR's internal leveling. It would be nice if this could be somehow set, or re-set. Maybe a level calibration feature or something.

    I found a "roll trim" option in the settings, figured that that would be the solution but it didn't work
     
  6. Simon Hughes

    Simon Hughes Member

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    $300 US and it won't maintain a level!? Come on Freefly, this seems to be endemic with this product, and yet you are silent on the issue? Not impressed.
     
  7. Robert Kadelka

    Robert Kadelka New Member

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    Don't diss Freefly! I'll tel you why...

    I wrote to support and they got back to me within an hour or so. I call that great customer support.
    There was a detailed tutorial in the email how to fix the issue. It worked on the most part and I'm happy with it for the moment. Also there is a manual setting coming to the app, that's there already as a placeholder. The "Roll Trim" when enabled will be there to correct these kinds of horizon issues
     
  8. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    While Freefly staff occasionally pops in to help out or comment on a conversation, this forum not a platform for Freefly Support, it is a public forum for the sharing of ideas. If you have something you want to submit or discuss with Freefly, please submit it directly:

    https://freeflysystems.com/contact

    There are dozen or so people discussing this in half a dozen threads but I know this has been mentioned in one of the threads about this issues: Roll trim is coming to an app near you.
     
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  9. Simon Hughes

    Simon Hughes Member

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    Perhaps, for the benefit of the rest of us, you could post this tutorial?
     
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  10. Robert Kadelka

    Robert Kadelka New Member

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    Yeah fair enough :D I was getting around to doing it...

    Here's the letter (Bryan thanks again for the level of detail):
    (note: the links in the letter don't work here, but they probably don't need to)



    Robert,
    Thank you for contacting Freefly Support. I'm sorry to hear that you're having a roll issue with your Movi, but I have good news!

    As you've seen on the forum, you're not the only one that has run into this. If it's not something you are doing in how you mount and balance your phone in the Movi, then it's just a calibration issue. Early on, the fixtures we used for calibration were not as good as they could have been, so there was a greater risk of a Movi slipping through with a roll calibration that was 1-2 degrees off from level.

    There are a couple of things that can affect the heading and horizon of the camera. The steps below will walk you through how to determine what is causing the behavior you are seeing.

    The first part of this is how the phone is mounted and balanced in the Movi clamp.

    1. Strip the any accessories (Counterweights and/or lenses) from the setup and balance just your phone.
    2. Make sure that your phone is clamped squarely in the Movi.
      • Because the clamp opens to accommodate a variety of phones, it's possible to clamp it down with the phone skewed. We included some reference marks on the sleeping screen that you can use to line up the phone with the marks on the clamp. To see the sleeping screen, balance the Movi in the clamp, open the app and power on the Movi. Then tap the power button on the Movi. Now you can slide the graphic to the right, to align the white marks with the divots in the center of the clamp. To see this process in action, head over here.
    Once you have balance dialed in, we'll take a look at the app.

    1. Open the app on your phone and power the Movi on.
    2. After you connect to the app, please reset the robot: Menu (upper left screen)>Robot>Main Settings>Reset Robot Settings
    3. After it resets, you will have to reconnect the app to the Movi (future firmware versions will not disconnect Bluetooth, but for now, it disconnects).
    4. Navigate back to the main capture screen and adjust the following settings by tapping through the options:
      • Response: Fast.
      • Window: No orange bars (smallest possible window).
      • Tilt should be unlocked, but keep roll locked.
    5. Set Movi on a table or other flat surface and rotate it such that one side of the display lines up with a vertical object near you. This could be a door jamb, corner of the room, window frame, etc.
    6. The edge of your frame, as seen through the phone, should align (parallel) with the vertical line in your environment.
    If not, you might have received a Movi that was produced with the original calibration fixture, and the calibration is off by a degree or two.

    To help with this, we're adding a functioning roll trim option to the app. There is one buried in the developer settings of the iOS app right now, but it wasn't actually developed, it was just a placeholder. This function should be coming out soon to iOS, as well as Android.

    Alternately, if it doesn't get released on a time-frame you are comfortable with, I would be happy to replace your Movi. Costs to ship it back to us would be your responsibility, but we'll cover the replacement, shipping and any applicable duties that are due for you to import it.

    Thank you,
    Bryan

    Chief MōVI Whisperer
     
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  11. Simon Hughes

    Simon Hughes Member

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    Interesting read, but since I obviously have an affected unit, ultimately useless. We're still awaiting an update that is, as far as I'm concerned, overdue.
     
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  12. John Chu

    John Chu Active Member

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    Hmmmm.....

    I wonder if a future software or firmware fix be as good as sending it back to Freefly for replacement?

    I got mine from B&H just before Memorial Day (so I assume I have a unit with this calibration issue) and I have gone nuts trying to figure out why my horizons are crooked. (Not always, but a portion of the clips).

    Update: I contacted support and opened a ticket.

    This morning, I had to do another sanity check for myself with the iPhone's built in Compass and Level app and it seems to be fine.

    Update: I did get a response from support and a beta update of the Movi app should be inbound in 2 weeks.

     
    #12 John Chu, Sep 12, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2018
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  13. Nguyen Nguyen

    Nguyen Nguyen New Member

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    Kind of annoyed that we have to pay to ship back a defective product for a non-defective one, but I think that's the route I'm going to take. I'll keep you guys posted when I get the new one as to whether or not I have any issues with it.
     
  14. Christian_delRosario

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    It seems I have the same issue. Out of the box, my MCR won't maintain a level horizon. Will monitor this thread and see if Nguyen's replacement resolves the issue. If so I guess I'll need to shop mine back too :(
     
  15. Simon Hughes

    Simon Hughes Member

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    I'm REALLY hoping this is fixable via a firmware/app update. If we can balance our phones with the unit off, then it has to be a calibration issue.
     
  16. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    Roll trim is live in the beta app. If you haven't already signed up, you are missing out!
    How to use Roll Trim (v1.3.x):
    1. To properly trim your roll, make sure you start by setting your Movi to default settings (Menu>Robot>Main Settings).
    2. Then navigate to the roll trim menu (Settings > Robot > Main > Roll Trim).
    3. You'll see an option for both Landscape and Vertical orientation, because you calibrate them separately.
    4. Tap the + or - buttons of the orientation you are wanting to adjust until the top of the phone clamp is level.

    Worth noting:
    • This roll trim affects all methods of operation, when Roll is locked.
    • If you reset your Robot Settings in the future, it will default your roll trim adjustments.
     
  17. John Chu

    John Chu Active Member

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    Thanks Bryan. I've been running the Movi with the latest betas with a Moment Wide Lens and the adjustable weights on my iPhone 6s and the heavier package seems to have fixed my concerns about the horizon occasionally being crooked. I'm thinking the heavier payload helps.

    I'm also very happy that the roll trim feature has been released but have been leaving it on default (maybe I don't need it after all.)

    Things have improved tremendously (including the frame rate issue I had before and the Echo mode works much better for me).

    Great work!
     
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  18. michael cahn

    michael cahn New Member

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    Hi all! I'd like to install the beta version but when I tried to use Testflight it said I need an email invite code. Can someone help me get this please? Thank you so much!!
     
  19. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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  20. DavidARogers

    DavidARogers New Member

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    @michael cahn unless things have changed since yesterday you don't need a code. I was having a similar problem following the instructions. the problem was the instructions assumed I was on a mobile device. I wasn't so when I clicked the link I was simply sent to the same page each time.

    Only when I clicking this link on a mobile device (with TestFlight installed) was I able to get the beta.
     
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