DJI Ronin 4D Series: Single Shooter Setup Guide
Welcome to the DJI Ronin 4D Series. Throughout this series, a string of industry professionals reveal how to get the most out of your Ronin 4D.
Gimbal Operator Jason Robbins considers the Ronin 4D one of the most versatile tools he’s ever worked with. In the first lesson, Jason shows you how to prepare it for single-operator mode.
You’re going to learn:
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STEP 1: ATTACH A TB-50 DJI BATTERY
First thing, Jason attaches the TB50 DJI Battery by sliding it on the back of the camera. You should hear a click when it’s secured into the lock position.
STEP 2: ATTACH DJI PROSSD, CFEXPRESS MEMORY CARD (OR EXTERNAL SSD HARD DRIVE)
Next thing Jason does is choose the format he plans to record on. He picks PROSSD made by DGI but he could also use CFExpress cards. The reason Jason goes with the PROSSD is that he wants to record 6K Raw, and that’s the only way to do it.
To do so, he first opens the hatch door at the side of the camera. Inside, he presses down on a little lever to pop it off.
Next, Jason takes the PROSSD card reader and rotates it around.
He advises taking the dummy CF card, sliding it into the slot, and pushing it all the way in until it clicks into place. Then, align the card reader in the hollow area.
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While holding the card reader in place, you will need a 1.5mm Allen tool to fasten it.
Once tightened, Jason inserts the 1 Terabyte DJI PROSSD into the channel.
To remove the card, you will need to hold the eject button while pulling the card reader out.
STEP 3: ADD THE LENS
Before anything, you must install a lens mount. For this demonstration, Jason uses the DJI proprietary DL mount adapter. There are other mount adapters you can use, such as an E, L, or M mount.
Jason centers the bracket to the top of the lens mount, lining it up with the DJI logo. Then, he rotates the locking mechanism clockwise.
Once you feel it stop, it’s nice and secure.
For this demo, Jason uses the DJI 17-28mm T3.0 ASPH PZ zoom lens which features the DL mount.
It has very little chromatic aberration and it’s a power focal zoom lens, meaning that it can focus at 17, punch in, and still be in focus at 28. Plus, it’s very smooth on the motor.
To install the lens, line up the red dot to the camera’s red dot and push in, rotate clockwise, and wait for the click.
STEP 4: ATTACH LiDAR SYSTEM
Now that the lens is installed, Jason next attaches the DJI LiDAR Range Finder. The Range Finder emits pulsed light from the sensor to bounce off an object to measure the distance.
Note the little silver knob that will slide down the little channel on top of the lens.
Tighten the knob on top of the LiDAR, take the USBC connector, and attach it to the right-hand side of the gimbal.
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Make sure it’s seated and then use the tightening screw to make sure that it’s fully secured.
STEP 5: BALANCE THE RONIN 4D
Now that the lens and LiDAR sensor are installed, Jason is going to balance the gimbal. The first thing he does is unlock the Pan, Roll, and Tilt axis.
- Unlock Pan, Roll, and Tilt axis
- Loosen right and left knobs on top to adjust Tilt balance
- Loosen the knob on the bottom to adjust the Pan balance
- Loosen the top knobs to balance the Roll axis
After loosening the knobs, it’s out of balance and front-heavy. Jason fine-tunes the tilt balance and locks it in followed by the Pan balance.
| PRO TIP: To balance the Pan, the gimbal cannot be level. You will have to unlevel to see if the Pan is out of balance. |
STEP 6: HOLD POWER BUTTON FOR ONE SECOND TO POWER ON RONIN 4D
Now that it’s fully balanced, the gimbal is unlocked, and there’s a battery-powered solution, it’s time to power up the Ronin 4D. To do so, Jason holds down the power button for one second and lets it boot up.
Jason mirrors the image from the Ronin 4D to the DJI Transmission Hybrid Monitor.
The gimbal is up and running, it’s unlocked, it’s energized, and it’s ready to go.
STEP 7: INSTALL LEFT & RIGHT HAND GRIPS
The next step to do is to install the hand grips. There’s a left and a right. So, take the male hand grip and slide it into the Cold Shoe Adapter on the left until you hear the click, and then move the black lever down to the lock position.
Make sure it’s nice and snug so it doesn’t get loose. Then, do the same thing with the right-hand grip by sliding it into the Cold Shoe and ensuring the black knob is in the lock position.
Another cool feature with the hand grips is when you press them, you can then move it into the desired position. There are almost 180 degrees of tilt ability and ease, which is fantastic for different shots.
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STEP 8: ALL CAMERA SETTINGS
Now that the hand grips are installed, next up are the project settings, and the time to ensure that the Ronin 4D is ready to shoot in your preferred mode.
With the 5-inch DJI High-Bright Remote Monitor, Jason can adjust the settings on the camera.
RECORDING SUBMENU
He next shifts over to the Audio tab to check that both left and right microphones are set to the correct settings. You can also add your own audio input.
Under the Settings tab, we can change Image Sharpness, Noise Reduction, Record Sound Alert, and Tally Light.
DISPLAY SUBMENU
Next, Jason navigates to the Display submenu and Exposure Assistant tab.
This is where you can select the type of exposure assistance you want, like Zebra Stripes, Waveform, or False Color.
Under the Focus Assistant tab, you can select the PEAK Button Functions and choose between Focus Peaking, Focus Magnification, or LiDAR Waveform.
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Jason notes how the LiDAR Waveform is one of the best features of this system. From the previous menu, he makes sure that he selected LiDAR Waveform and confirmed that it’s also toggled on, indicated by the green switch.
When Jason exits the menu and switches to the recording screen, notice the waveform on the right-hand side of the screen.
By lining up the yellow line with the waveform, you can determine whether or not you’re in focus.
USER SETTINGS SUBMENU
Under the User Settings submenu, you can customize the C1, C2, and the Right Hand Grip Trigger.
For this project, Jason loaded a user profile called FILMMAKERS_1.
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It has all of Jason’s favorite settings for the project pre-loaded. So, he can load it by navigating to FILMMAKERS_1 and then selecting Confirm.
The User Profile function is very helpful because you may require different settings for each job or for each scene. You can program them and then reload them quickly at any point in the job.
STORAGE SUBMENU
Next, Jason is going to format this PROSSD by navigating to the Storage submenu and selecting FORMAT DJI PROSSD.
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As an extra layer of protection, you must tap and hold the Format button. That way, you don’t accidentally format precious media that could cost thousands of dollars.
SYSTEM SUBMENU
After formatting the card, make sure all of your settings under the System submenu are to your preference.
If there are major issues with your gimbal, obviously you should power it on and off first to see if that solves the problem. If the issue still persists after a reboot, you will want to do a factory reset.
Fan Mode is an important setting when in an on set scenario where sound is sensitive. So, if the sound mixer asks you to handle the loud sound from the fan, select Record Low.
With Record Low, the fans will move at full tilt cooling the system when the camera is idling. Then, when you press record the fans will dial it back so the noise is not as loud.
Now, if you were to choose Low Noise, the fans would operate on low 100% of the time. Jason doesn’t recommend this option because it could overheat the camera.
However, for the sake of the demonstration, Jason keeps the fans on Normal.
LENS SUBMENU
The Lens submenu has three tabs: Focus, Calibration, and Motor. Under the Focus tab, you can select what kind of autofocus mode you want.
The two autofocus modes to choose between are AF and AMF. AF is autofocus and AMF is automated manual focus.
AF: AUTOFOCUS |
AMF: AUTOMATED MANUAL FOCUS |
AMF allows you to interact with the autofocus by inputting your own input into the dial while it autofocuses.
ROI Mode is also a region of interest because you can choose between Spot, Wide, or Smart. For the demonstration, Jason selects Spot so it’s incredibly precise when he selects an object for ActiveTrack Speed or for Autofocus.
Under the Manual Focus (MF) Mode Justin selects Distance. If you don’t select Distance, the LiDAR Range Finder will not be able to work.
The Autofocus (AFC) Sensitivity is set to High. When selecting an object in ActiveTrack mode, you can tell the system how fast to track the object. Jason selects Fast so he can push it to the limit and show what it can do.
In this section, you can also invert the Zoom and Focus directions on the right-hand knob.
Right now, the unit is set to Imperial.
STABILIZER SUBMENU
From the Stabilizer submenu, Justin navigates to the Gimbal Calibration tab and selects Auto Tune. Then, he taps Confirm.
STEP 9: AUTO TUNE THE RONIN 4D
Make sure the gimbal is on a flat surface, all accessories are unlocked, and the gimbal is energized.
Push Pan and Push Tilt are two other features Jason prefers to switch on. This allows him to force the camera and gimbal into positions by push panning and push tilting. This can help reorient the gimbal quickly without hurting the motors or messing anything up.
STEP 10: PRESS HORIZONTAL CALIBRATION
After the Auto Tune Jason next wants to perform a Horizontal Calibration.
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Justin selects Horizontal Calibration and then Confirm.
| PRO TIP: While calibrating or auto-tuning, try not to touch the gimbal. |
The only other two adjustments that Jason could make are Pan Adjustment and Roll Adjustment. The point of the Pan and Roll is to find the center.
So for Pan, Jason confirms that the X9 Gimbal is in line with the top handle of the main body. If for some reason when recentering the gimbal it’s off of that line, then you will need to perform a Pan Adjustment.
The same goes for Roll. If for some reason when the gimbal is set to center and it is not level, you will need to fine-tune the Roll Adjustment.
You can also adjust it with the joystick on the top panel controls.
Right now, it’s on tilt which is the most intuitive way to set it. You can also control Pan, Roll, or Zoom with the top-handle rocker.
Max Speeds are set at 50, Expo Curve at 25, and Smoothing is at 5.
You can also invert the joystick direction depending on how you like to fly.
LEFT HANDLE:
All of the settings are as close to the most optimum place possible. Now it’s time to focus on the left and right handles that control all of these different features and functions.
On this left-hand grip, you will find the ActiveTrack, Exposure Control joystick control, the trigger button, and a secret button inside with an M on it, which is for Mode and enables Sport Mode instantly.
SPORT MODE
Sport Mode is a really cool feature that strengthens the gimbal’s motors to the highest value to be as reactive as you possibly can. In Sport Mode, it’s almost one-to-one with your movement. If you want a buttery smooth movement, this may not be the way to operate the shot. But for certain types of shots, according to Jason, it can be the best way to get it.
MODE BUTTON
If you hold down the inside Mode button, it will enable Sport Mode and immediately engage it as soon as you release it. It will return to the buttery smooth parameters Jason set for the Follow Mode.
ACTIVETRACK
On the left thumb of the left handlebar is the ActiveTrack button. ActiveTrack allows you to select a point in space where the lens is pointed and automatically track that subject no matter where you move the gimbal.
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RIGHT HANDLE:
The right-hand grip has a Mode Selector tool that toggles you from the Zoom Control in D-Settings. ASA or ISO, Iris, Iris Control, and then Focus.
| PRO TIP: The Focus/Zoom knob also works to toggle through menus when inside the menu. |
PEAKING BUTTON
To the right of the Mode button is a Peaking button that removes the LiDAR Waveform or puts it back on the screen. You can also go into the settings and change what comes up when you tap the Peaking button. You can switch between Peaking, Focus Magnification, or the LiDAR Waveform.
START/STOP RECORD BUTTON
To the right of the Peaking button is a Start/Stop Record button. When you tap it once, it beeps and the tally light shines on to signify you’re recording. When you tap it once again, the camera cuts.
Z-AXIS
If you double-tap the right-hand trigger to engage the Z-Axis. The Z-Axis pops up and to disengage it you must double-tap the trigger again.
Before you can engage the Z-Axis out of the box, there is a locking toggle. You must unlock the bottom bracket to ensure that the Z-Axis can safely raise.
Before turning on the Z-Axis, pick the gimbal up off of whatever surface it’s on and engage it before setting it back down. Try not to block the sensors underneath because you want them to know where it is in space.
To balance the Z-Axis, use the knob on top in the middle of the Ronin 4D. There’s a plus and a minus.
Y-AXIS
When the Y-Axis is out of balance, it will display a little graph that tells you in which direction to rotate the knob. This knob adjusts the spring arm to make it perform most optimally for the payload that’s on the arm.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT LESSON…
As of now, Jason rotated the knob and tuned the Z-Axis arm. He’s now set up for success with all the right settings. Here’s a quick recap…
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| PRO TIP: If you haven’t already, bookmark this page so you can quickly return and reference it. |
Stay tuned for the next lesson where Jason operates the Ronin 4D out in the field.
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