Gimbal technology and the endless push for innovation – Screen Africa

As a powerful tool for aerial photography and videography, drones garnermuch of their attention for their camera and flight capabilities. But the truthis, the gimbal is probably the most critical factor in ensuring smooth,high-quality footage.

DJIs gimbal the motorised part where the camera is mounted, whichserves to eliminate unwanted movements to produce smooth, professional-qualityfootage has come quite a long way over the years. What started as hobbyistpursuit has grown into a thriving product type that covers both the air andground. As technology advances, gimbals are becoming smaller and more capableof stabilising increasingly large cameras and payloads. As a result, morepeople than ever before can now tell stories with smooth, stable video. But howdo these devices work and how did they come about? We asked some of DJIs topengineers about the long journey towards gimbal perfection.

Among the array of equipment on a film set, camera stabilisers areperhaps the most critical, as stable footage is essential for cinematography.Most people shoot videos on consumer cameras or mobile devices. This exposesthe problem of shaky footage caused by walking, moving the arms, or even thesimple act of breathing. Gimbals solve this issue, which is why youll findthem being used by professionals on almost every film set these days.

The Pursuit of Exceeding User Needs

For small and large-budget productions, professionals have embracedDJIs Ronin series of handheld gimbals, compatible with full camera rigs toachieve blockbuster shots. The latest of these, Ronin-S, came in 2018 as themost user-friendly, being made specifically for smaller consumer cameras like aDSLR. What inspired the DJI gimbal department to develop the Ronin-S? Wewanted to allow more people to shoot professional-looking videos, explained anengineer.

As the product team explains, the Ronin-S is not only a precise handheldgimbal but a versatile tool that can adapt to a variety of filming scenarios.

Among the considerations for Ronin-S was making the cameras built-indisplay still visible to the user. For this, engineers constructed the gimbalso that the camera would sit above an angled roll motor. This created an addedbenefit of providing more space for larger camera setups, but it also createdan unintended challenge to overcome.

This structural change raised the requirement for motion control.Carrying the Ronin name meant that this new addition would have to live up tothe stability and precision of previous models. Engineers overcame this bydiving deeper into control algorithms, solving major logistical issues alongthe way.

As the first Ronin made specifically for single-handed operation,Ronin-S also required engineers to come up with design aspects to accommodatefor it. For grip, the team modelled the handle after a tennis racket,incorporating a thick rubber surface and a flared end for better friction. Theyalso placed the buttons to be easily reachable with the same single hand,giving access to preset parameters with the M button.

Among more creative additions, the engineering team was particularlyproud of the gimbals 360 roll feature, which offered new possibilities forfilming techniques and effects. Its like a brand-new camera language, saidone engineer, demonstrating the roll feature.

From the Ground Up

Ronin-S embodies one of the latest steps in DJIs evolution of camerastabilisation technology.

It has been almost a decade since the idea of designing a gimbal firstemerged at DJI. On a whim, a DJI engineer had the idea of using brushlessmotors to power gimbals directly. However, this concept was new to theindustry, and the requirements for control precision were so high that mostthought it was impossible to achieve.

That sentiment was true for several years, but tremendous breakthroughs were made and in 2012 DJI officially launched the Zenmuse Z15. This was the worlds first gimbal that was driven by brushless motors and stabilised with gyroscopes, and the first high-precision gimbal for consumer use.

When we introduced the Ronin in 2014, this marked the first time DJIapplied gimbal technology from an aerial to a ground-based product. Tostabilise large cinema cameras, our team needed to develop larger motors thanever to achieve the level of professional stabilisation necessary for featurefilms.

Alongside the development of our professional handheld gimbal line,engineers continued to explore the possibilities for drone-mounted camerastabilisation. While the original Phantom and the subsequent Phantom 2revolutionized the consumer drone industry as the first advanced ready-to-flydrones on the market, they were missing one critical component a camera. Thisall changed with the Phantom 2 Vision.

Released in the fall of 2013, the Phantom 2 Vision was the worlds firstintegrated aerial photography drone. It broke through a technologicalbottleneck, unlocking a new era of gimbal technology for extensive use inaerial photography. It also had the effect of making drones a game-changingtool for the industry, almost overnight.

Smaller. Better.

Pushing innovation further, it took less than one year for engineers todevelop their first 3-axis aerial gimbal, the Phantom 2 Vision Plus. Thisstarted a tradition of making stabilisation technology smarter and morecompact, both for aerial and handheld use.

Taking advantage of the portability and lightweight design of integrated gimbal cameras, DJI launched the Osmo Series in 2015. As the first integrated handheld gimbal, the original Osmo laid the foundation for practically all handheld gimbals on the market in terms of basic structure and operating principles. Its no coincidence that almost every handheld camera gimbal looks similar to the Osmo.

At that point, two gimbal product lines were developed to target twodistinct user groups: the Ronin Series for professional photographers and theOsmo Series for casual consumers. As short videos and vlogs skyrocketed inpopularity, DJI launched the Osmo Mobile in September of 2016, the firsthandheld smartphone stabiliser.

That same year, DJI set a new benchmark for onboard gimbal cameras by launching the Mavic Pro. This would be the worlds smallest consumer-level 3-axis motorised gimbal that could be mass-produced. As the team found out, reducing the size of a gimbal was no easy task.

Small gimbals are difficult to design for many reasons, explained theengineer. At such a compact form factor, they need to allow for quick heatdissipation. Theyre also hard to assemble and significantly more sensitive tofriction and dramatic movements.

After several rounds of trial and error, the Mavic Pro came to themarket with not only the smallest 3-axis gimbal but with the first foldablebody and remote controller, allowing users to bring their drone and captureamazing photos and videos from any part of the world.

In April 2017, DJI upgraded its professional camera stabiliser series toinclude Ronin 2. Taking feedback from the filmmaking industry, DJI equippedRonin 2 with a higher payload capacity, along with added power and stability tomeet the needs of professional cinematographers.

When DJI introduced Ronin-S in 2018, we also offered Osmo Mobile 2,replacing the magnesium alloy construction from the original Osmo Mobile to ahigh-strength composite to reduce weight and cost.

As the gimbals and products overall became smaller, engineersnevertheless paid attention to performance. With Mavic Air, engineers were ableto achieve gimbal movement precision of up to 0.005, which amounts to the sizeof half a pixel of footage. Why the need for this level of performance?

In reality, this tiny degree range is significant to the capturedfootage. Anything over 0.005 and the viewer will start to notice a sense ofjitter in the video.

2018 ended with DJIs smallest handheld 3-axis motorised gimbal, Osmo Pocket, a culmination of all the effort our engineering team undertook to make our technologies smaller and better so that the possibilities of creating incredible moments would find no limit.

Gimbal technology has undergone rapid advancements in both handheld andaerial equipment. But it is important to remember that these achievements dontcome overnight. There is no silver bullet, just the steady march of hard workand innovation, step by step.

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Gimbal technology and the endless push for innovation - Screen Africa