accelerate stabilizing 4k-footage in Premiere Pro (or AE)?

Report · Jul 26, 2019

Hi,

I recently filmed with my smartphone some B-roll footage of a friends wedding, nothing too fancy but still needed because the photographer missed this stuff.

Luckily I filmed this in 4k60 (3840 × 2160) and despite my thoughts the resolution gives us atleast the possibility to pan around in the frame.

My prob: using the warp-stabilizer even the analyzing takes hours for a 3000 frames clip, what makes me wonder most: it seems to only use 1 of 4 CPU-cores and is not using the GPU at all, despite that it is one of the GPU-accelerated effects. I know, a i5 2500k@4.2GHz, 16GB RAM and a GTX970-G1 is crap today but seeing the GPU is not used at all and the CPU only using 1 core.... Premiere Pro CC should do better in 2019.

Aside from the technical question: can I use a scaled down version of the video to analyze the motion and apply the ststabilizing to the highres-footage somehow like it could be done in AE? Speaking of, I tried to import the video in AE but everytime I end up with a 10second part of the clip and I can't see what I do wrong there.... uhm.... Help?

Report · Jul 26, 2019

DelphiDelphin wrote
can I use a scaled down version of the video to analyze the motion and apply the ststabilizing to the highres-footage somehow

try proxies:

Work offline using proxy media |

Report · Jul 26, 2019

Warp Stabilizer uses the original clip and not the proxy to stabilize in the timeline.

WS is cpu intensive and also your machine is somewhat underpowered for 2019.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC System Requirements

Report · Jul 27, 2019

Honestly... this does not respond to my questions, though? Why is WS listed in the GPU-accelerated list if it is not using the GPU at all?

And there is no faster solution to track / unshake camera-shake?

The hardware-requirements are funny because Adobe does not explain why you would especially need a 6th or 7th gen Intel-CPU. Aside from my 2nd-gen i5 2500k every other recommended specifications is met. And aside from 4k-footage I never witnessed any bad lag so far. And as a company like Adobe, they should optimize the software to run on a reasonable number of different hardware-configurations.... especially since they target also the home- or pro-sumer with their "rent-a-Photoshop" program.

Report · Jul 27, 2019

Premiere Pro is not targeted for the "home" crowd. That's what Elements is for.

And they are working on gaining stability by designing for a narrower range of gear, and working better and more stable on that selection.

It is very CPU-centric, it's the heart of the processing chain. Everything else on the computer is used to feed the CPU within their design, including the GPU. So for GPU-accelerated effects like color or WS, the CPU uses the GPU for what the GPU is used for, and as the CPU is ready or that data.

A low power CPU takes a long time just to get bits of work out for the GPU to do.

Neil

Report · Jul 27, 2019

Sometime in the recent updates I swear Warp Stabilization got a fair bit slower. That said I have an 8-core (16 thread) Ryzen 7 cpu and it is currently using all 16 threads to analyze a 40 second 4k clip for me. It is actually analyzing as I type this. My GPU is at 1% utlization. I think the GPU is used for Rendering out during Export, not during analysis. But I'm just guessing off anecdotal evidence.

Report · Jul 13, 2020

Honestly... this does not respond to my questions, though? Why is WS listed in the GPU-accelerated list if it is not using the GPU at all?

Analyzing is done on the cpu, stabilizing on the gpu.

Report · Jul 28, 2019

A 3000 frame stabilization is not an easy task, even for today's most beefiest machines, especially in 4K 60fps.

Do you intend to use the clip in its entirety? If possible, cut away to other camera angles, so you can break up the required source clip, preferably covering up the parts where the movement is biggest in the clip. After cutting up the clip, stabilize the resulting cuts.

Instead of relying on Warp Stabilizer in PPro, you may also consider trying this in After Effects.

Trial & error, see what works, but don't simply blame PPro for failure of proper hardware or asking it to perform a 3000-frame miracle for you.

Report · Jul 13, 2020

Jumping back on this. I have a threadripper 3970X 32 core cpu and two 1080ti's until nvidia releases its 30 series.

Currently takes 10 minutes to analyze 25 seconds of footage. THREE percent cpu usage from after effects. There is no reason they couldn't properly split the workload tracking multiple markers on each frame across multiple cores. People saying your cpu is underpowered, try using proxies, and warp stabilizer is cpu intensive do not understand the problem. The problem is Adobe leaving themselves in their own dust as they steam ahead without giving proper thought to updating their old tools.

Report · Dec 23, 2020

Having a 3990x is useless when this feature only works with one (1) Core.

Report · Dec 23, 2020

Jaquinde,

You may want to install the beta. The upcoming version is much faster. Give it a test drive. Install it from Creative Cloud app > Beta apps.

Thanks,
Kevin

Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community & Engagement Strategist – Pro Video and Audio

Report · Dec 26, 2020

I'll try it out. Thanks!

Report · Dec 26, 2020

I'm still getting single core performance with this beta, although it does feel a bit faster.

The rest of the cores don't seem to want to participate.

Report · Dec 27, 2020

GPU is also at 1%

Report · Dec 27, 2020

one of the problems with piggybacking your issues on someone else's thread is that we can't be sure if all the parameters of the original problem match yours... The OP mentions that his footage is from a smartphone which is usually variable frame rate and there can be all sorts of unpredictable issues with vfr. Is your material vfr? if so

use mediainfo to determine whether your source is variable or constant frame rate
https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download
if it's variable use handbrake to convert to constant frame rate
https://handbrake.fr
and here's a tutorial on how to use handbrake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=xlvxgVREX-Y

If your source is not from a smartphone or screen recording, ignore this.

Report · Dec 27, 2020

I think the issues are pretty straight-forward regarding the CPU and GPU performance, regardless of VFR. I am currently stabilizing a planet in the night sky, so it's virtually a white dot on a black background, more or less. Warp Stabilizer works well using multiple cores on the CPU, but breaks constantly... and regular tracking is just slow and works with a single CPU core and 1% GPU. Single core performance, or 1% performance, for CPU/GPU operations is just very disappointing. I have to resort to alternative softeware like Syntheyes or Davinci Resolve to track things faster if I have to tackle a project with a short deadline (and I really don't like Davinci). I'm sort of surprised at the state of this tool, seems in infant stages for how much artists depend on it.

Report · Feb 22, 2021

NOOR5FBO.

Report · Feb 22, 2021

Hi,

I recently filmed with my smartphone some B-roll footage of a friends wedding, nothing too fancy but still needed because the photographer missed this stuff.

Luckily I filmed this in 4k60 (3840 × 2160) and despite my thoughts the resolution gives us atleast the possibility to pan around in the frame.

My prob: using the warp-stabilizer even the analyzing takes hours for a 3000 frames clip, what makes me wonder most: it seems to only use 1 of 4 CPU-cores and is not using the GPU at all, despite that it is one of the GPU-accelerated effects. I know, a i5 2500k@4.2GHz, 16GB RAM and a GTX970-G1 is crap today but seeing the GPU is not used at all and the CPU only using 1 core.... Premiere Pro CC should do better in 2019.

Aside from the technical question: can I use a scaled down version of the video to analyze the motion and apply the ststabilizing to the highres-footage somehow like it could be done in AE? Speaking of, I tried to import the video in AE but everytime I end up with a 10second part of the clip and I can't see what I do wrong there.... uhm.... Help?

Report · Feb 23, 2021

That 970 is near useless in the 2020 PrPro builds. Ancient kit ... had one myself. Went to a 1060 to update that machine and keep it going. Had to move to a completely new machine now, running a 2080Ti. (And other massive improvements.)

As to Warp ... the analyzation is totally on the CPU, the stabilization is split with the two working together. Warp was designed to be used rescuing short clips. Using it on long clips works, but the stabilization sucks hardware resources beyond belief. It needs a ton of RAM per core and a decent GPU for the second part.

Your RAM and GPU are simply not going to give it the power to get along fast with a long stabiliaztion process in a single go.

If you can, you might break that up into several sections, analyzing them each separately. Render/replace and then not have to deal with Warp being 'on the sequence'.

Neil

Report · Feb 23, 2021

and you might also try AfterEffects. Not sure what effect it has on the speed, but if I remember correctly you have a lot more options/controls available. And then render out your ae comp to a high quality format within AE and place it above your ae comp in the premiere timeline to keep things simple in premiere.