jitter free panning

[mikecox_]

How can I create smooth, jitter-free, pans? 

I'm shooting 4k with a gimble stabilizer and yet my exported panning shots don't play back smoothly. 

I can't change the speed, but would a higher ISO help? Should I invest in a "high-end" camera?

Can someone link me to a resource that would clear this frustrating issue up for me?

[Peru Bob]

Try updating or rolling back your graphics driver directly from the video card manufacturer’s site. If NVIDIA, do a clean installation of the latest Studio Driver (NOT the Game Driver).

You can also try turning off Hardware Encoding in the export settings.

[mikecox_]

Good idea. 

With NVIDIA it's a complicated process and I've been putting it off.

[R Neil Haugen · Accepted solution]

I'm a bit puzzled about the Nvidia driver change comment. You go to the Nvidia driver support page, set the options so you get the driver list, pick one, say do clean install ... wait a minute or two for it to finish, move on.  Doesn't seem particularly complicated ... so are you getting that driver from somewhere else?

And pans have always been an issue. Search the web for "video rolling shutter" and you'll get millions of hits.

With film, there was a chart put out by one of the top movie trade organizations concerning max pan speed at various shutter speeds, and that was for film. Which had typically a 'global' shutter. Meaning (in practical terms) that the vast majority of the image circle was covered the vast majority of the shutter 'time'.

"Rolling shutter" is produced by either the vertical shutter curtains of cameras that still have physical shutters, or by the process of reading the data from sensor to card that starts at the top or bottom of the sensor and goes to the other side. This is listed as the shutter readout on some sites. Typically in milliseconds.

The longer the readout, the slower you must pan to avoid the "jello" effect or jitter.

So ... changing shutter speeds is one way of trying to control this. Raising reduces jitter/rolling shutter, lowering increases the same. The motion overall may look better, or just ... differently not quite good.

And it takes experience and practice to get to the right panning speed for your camera, the ISO/shutter speed, the distance to any significant detail (which is a big factor in how obvious this is), and how smoothly you move the pan.

And this is also why motorized pan heads, sliders, and such things are so prevalent on video production sets.

[mikecox_]

re Update drivers: I recall getting a step-by-step from NVIDIA on how to update the driver.  The first step was to back up everything; just in case.  That unnerved me, but that was followed by a number of steps, at which point I quit.  I put the issue to my IT service and they couldn't sort it out.  But... I just learned that the graphics error I was getting from Pr, on startup, had to do with a monitor incompatibility. I'll go to the website as you suggested.

I am encouraged by your post; and thanks for sorting it out so well for me.'

I was thinking about increasing the ISO; because didn't think you could change the shutter speed; at least not on my camera, and I was told it wouldn't help. But it appears that my logic was that far off.  but that would only improve the image, not the motion.  So it's moot. 

But your comments on pan speed make this a "user error", which is why I'm encouraged; that and that it's such a common problem.

I was panning with a stabilizer, but "manually"; instead of using the pan option, which you mentioned.  

Today I received my new, Canon XA60 Pro.  I will take it out and practice panning, using that pan option.

[Peru Bob]

Does it happen with both direct export and exporting through Media Encoder?

[mikecox_]

At this point, I only export from Pre Pr.

Are high-end cameras better at panning or is this strictly an editor issue?

[Remote Index]

Hello mikecox_,

Some more information would help.

When you say "my exported panning shots don't play back smoothly" does that mean that your source material plays back smoothly but your exports don't?

How are you monitoring while you edit?

Are they slow pans or quick pans?

Is your source material crisp (quick exposure time) or motion blurred (more traditional exposure time)?

R.

[mikecox_]

"my exported panning shots ..." 

I meant that I expected the mp4 output to be smoother than what I see on the timeline.

How are you monitoring while you edit?

I have 2 monitors plus the Lenovo screen.  

Are they slow pans or quick pans?

Slow. But not slow-slow

Is your source material crisp (quick exposure time) or motion blurred (more traditional exposure time)?

I wondered about that and asked if it would help to increase my ISO and was told no.  But I'm not so worried about the image I am with how smooth the pan is.

I have a pan option on my Stabilizer, which allows the camera to rotate on a tripod and provide a smooth pan to test against.  That will tell me if it's a user issue. 

[Remote Index]

"I expected the mp4 output to be smoother than what I see on the timeline."

The ideal is to work with an editing set-up where you can trust the timeline monitoring (in all respects that matter to you - colour, audio, etc.).

I asked the questions I did because slow, smooth pans can be a challenge to the typical 'computer monitor' set up (as opposed to proper broadcast video monitoring). Premiere Pro does not deliver exact frame rate playback to computer monitors. (This will be apparent to you if you consider for a moment how Premiere Pro can precisely display 29.97fps material on a monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate - it can't.) In practice, the speed variation is not noticeable on the vast majority of footage. However, slow precise pans or moves are the one case where I personally see this issue.

It's not clear to me from your description that you're encountering a monitoring issue (as opposed to recording or simple media playback issues) - but it's possible.

However, I would consider monitoring your timeline as a broadcast signal instead of computer monitor signal. This is acheived via something the like the blackmagic ultrastudio boxes (cheapest one is around $150.00 US) and monitor that can display your chosen frame rate (29.97fps, 60fps, etc.) A box like this outputs a video signal which conforms to strict video standards (including the timing of the framerate).

Alternately, if you can't set up such a system, you could at least try to get on another system with proper video monitoring just to check your footage and eliminate or confirm this consideration in relation to the issue you are seeing.

R.

[Richard van den Boogaard]

Before we can help you find a solution to your problem, we need to know more.

Was the footage shot with on auto shutter or a fixed shutter? Normal shutter is 2x the framerate for smooth panning. So: 1/50th of a second for 25fps; 1/60th of a second for 29,97fps.

ISO will only help in terms of how sensitive the sensor is towards light, so it will do nothing for camera movement.

If the source footage looks OK, but your exports don't the issue could be something different:

- mismatch between footage and sequence settings

- the codec chosen and its settings

- your computer system (GPU) not able to handle the movement

Please help us help you.

[mikecox_]

thanks for responding. 

Was the footage shot with on auto shutter or a fixed shutter?

Fixed at 29.9 and 60. 

If the source footage looks OK, but your exports don't

The reason I referenced the exported playback was that I noticed that sometimes the exported version plays back better. So When I want to rest an edit I export it. But it didn't.   

- the codec chosen and its settings

I don't know anything about codec options, I just use whatever the default is. 

- your computer system (GPU) not able to handle the movement

I think I'm OK with Win 11, an i9 CPU and a NVIDIA quadro  RTX 3000 GPU