GH2 How to get smoother video?

G

gutterball321

Well-known member
https://vimeo.com/57555695

Here is a video I just made using my panasonic GH2. I used a shoulder rig and tried to keep pans and tilts slow. I shot at 24p and with a shutter speed of 1/50th. The video is very choppy and looks like it skips frames randomly. Is there a way to get this camera smoother? I have read all the techniques but dont know what I am doing wrong, I dont see how I could film a short film using this camera, even if the camera is still on a tripod and the subject moves they look choppy and just not right.
 
Is it possible that the graphics card on your computer is making the playback choppy? Does it look that way when you are editing? Because the Vimeo version looked similar to lots of GH2 footage to me. My computer has problems viewing 1080p footage online and makes playback look choppy sometimes. The "non-HD" version of your video on Vimeo looks perfectly smooth.
I will say some of your pans still look too fast, especially the ones early in the video. And your exposure is a tad hot in quite a few shots by maybe 1/3 to 2/3 stops...lots of white T-shirts overexposing. Honestly, a rig helps stablize the camera but isn't the best for standing in one place and panning. If your style is more about panning and tilting, perhaps a monopod would be best....lightweight, easy to carry, and provides perhaps more stability than your shoulder.
 
A lot of them were, but other videos where the camera is still on a tripod and the subject moves at any speed it looks choppy. I just realized this footage is choppier than footage I have shot with other lenses, does the lens make a difference on this? If so, what are some good low light lenses to get smooth images for short films?
 
Looks fine to me - it's just the panning is too erratic and quick, 24p footage will always judder when moved that quick.

Just hold the shot for longer or pan slower.

Apart from the exposure problem, I'd take the 2.40:1 crop off - it feels claustrophobic as it wasn't framed that way.
 
1- Shoot 24p with a 1/40th sec shutter speed : The extra motion blur helps with the GH2.

2- Slower camera movements : The old motion picture rule of thumb for panning at 24 fps is that it should take 7 seconds for anything to cross from one side of the frame to the other if you want smooth movement and more recorded detail.
 
gutterball321 said:
https://vimeo.com/57555695

Here is a video I just made using my panasonic GH2. I used a shoulder rig and tried to keep pans and tilts slow. I shot at 24p and with a shutter speed of 1/50th. The video is very choppy and looks like it skips frames randomly. Is there a way to get this camera smoother? I have read all the techniques but dont know what I am doing wrong, I dont see how I could film a short film using this camera, even if the camera is still on a tripod and the subject moves they look choppy and just not right.
Click to expand...

You are Panning WAY TO FAST, slow down partner...... Also use a Tripod fluid head and be gentle.
 
I see the "skipping frames randomly" part. That is not a function of anything to do with your camera. The only thing your camera will do at 1/50 of a second with a fast move is to blur the action. The frame skipping (which I see in the first pan) is just your computer trying to catch up. Try this: after you watch the first few seconds where the skipping occurs, quickly click back earlier in the action so it plays again and then do it again and then do it again. You'll see that, since your computer has had a chance to run through it once, you will get the skipping in different parts of the pan and sometimes not at all. This doesn't take away form the comments that you are panning way too fast - it results in blurry swish pans. I apologize if this is addressing the wrong thing in your video, but it is what I picked out when you said "skipping frames."
 
I'm wondering why you are shooting an event in 24p in the first place. But this is something I noticed recently that separates film from digital 24p(at least the gh2). Although film has blur, digital seems to have a characteristic motion judder that differentiates itself from the former. I did see a gh2 test that looked remarkably like film and I realized there was very little judder. It looked like smooth full frame goodness. I noticed many comments saying how film like it looked, asking about the color grade and everything else, but I think it had to do with the lack of judder. It was a test with a guy driving around in a car. Some of you might know what video I'm talking about. I'm trying to figure out this magic formula. Anyways...why shoot an event in 24p?
 
STYLZ said:
I'm wondering why you are shooting an event in 24p in the first place. But this is something I noticed recently that separates film from digital 24p(at least the gh2). Although film has blur, digital seems to have a characteristic motion judder that differentiates itself from the former. I did see a gh2 test that looked remarkably like film and I realized there was very little judder. It looked like smooth full frame goodness. I noticed many comments saying how film like it looked, asking about the color grade and everything else, but I think it had to do with the lack of judder. It was a test with a guy driving around in a car. Some of you might know what video I'm talking about. I'm trying to figure out this magic formula. Anyways...why shoot an event in 24p?
Click to expand...


From all the posts i read, the GH2 shoots much better quality in Cinema mode, which is only 24p mode. I will test out the manual movie mode. Well not 720p b/c thats still progressive. If I use the 1080i mode, how should I go about deinterlacing the footage in premiere pro, according to posts I have read you dont need to deinterlace HD footage?
 
gutterball321 said:
From all the posts i read, the GH2 shoots much better quality in Cinema mode, which is only 24p mode. I will test out the manual movie mode. Well not 720p b/c thats still progressive. If I use the 1080i mode, how should I go about deinterlacing the footage in premiere pro, according to posts I have read you dont need to deinterlace HD footage?
Click to expand...
Try out HBR mode. That is 30p. Maybe 1/60th shutter. But yeah in PPro CS6 you can deinterlace by selecting the settings on the program window and checking "display both fields". That is for editing purposes. If your sequence is set up for video that is already progressive then it should be set automatically. If you shoot 60i you will have to select it. Than on export just make sure you check progressive in the export settings.
 
gutterball321 said:
From all the posts i read, the GH2 shoots much better quality in Cinema mode, which is only 24p mode. I will test out the manual movie mode. Well not 720p b/c thats still progressive. If I use the 1080i mode, how should I go about deinterlacing the footage in premiere pro, according to posts I have read you dont need to deinterlace HD footage?
Click to expand...

You don't need to deinterlace, the gh2 has a 30p mode, make sure you have the latest firmware.
 
Don't use the Manual Mode. That's just asking for extra headaches. The bit rate is lower and the footage is interlaced, which unless you remove the pull-down frames to get it back to 24p, is going to look terrible playing back on the internet or any computer monitor. There's nothing inherently wrong with recording an event in 24p. I'd say since the debut of the DVX100 in 2004, any stigma against 24p for video has vanished. I mean...EVERYTHING is shot at 24p (or 25p in Europe) these days.

Just slow those pans down. And honestly, sometimes you don't need to pan at all. If there's lots of movement in the frame already (like the crowds of people at your event), just find a nice composition and keep the shot steady. I honestly think camera movements are best when they are motivated by something in the frame, e.g. following somebody walking. Or if you need to reveal something that's too large for your camera to take in without panning. But otherwise, too much panning starts to feel like we're watching a surveillance camera panning back and forth. :-)
 
gutterball321 said:
Where is hbr mode?
Click to expand...

High Bit Rate.

Higher bit rates render motion smoother. HBR mode is 30p but still encoded in a 60i stream so you may have to de-interlace at some point. 24p is an "archaic holdover" from film days and by itself does little to provide a "flimlike" look except for the motion blur aspect. Attention to composition, lighting, proper use of Depth Of Field control, set design, and costume go much further to achieve a "filmic" look.
 
In PPRO CS6...you just drag 30p into timeline and it will ask to change your settings. Just click yes. Then on export make sure you select progressive. Simple as that. Looks good on the web no problem. Some people say it isn't as clear as 24p though soo...looked fine to me. Might as well try it for yourself and decide.
 
Okay, I'm ducking out of this conversation, if the opinion is that 24p is "an archaic holdover" from film days (which, guess what, are still here), and has little to do with the "filmic look". BTW, isn't saying that a holdover from film is not filmic a contradiction?
Frame rate has very much to do with the film look. Certainly, it's subjective, but make no mistake, 30p and 60i do not look filmic. But this is not the forum to beat that horse. That's over on the "Hobbit 48fps" thread.
 
gutterball321 said:
https://vimeo.com/57555695

Here is a video I just made using my panasonic GH2. I used a shoulder rig and tried to keep pans and tilts slow. I shot at 24p and with a shutter speed of 1/50th. The video is very choppy and looks like it skips frames randomly. Is there a way to get this camera smoother? I have read all the techniques but dont know what I am doing wrong, I dont see how I could film a short film using this camera, even if the camera is still on a tripod and the subject moves they look choppy and just not right.
Click to expand...

At least i dont see the moire and alising problems i get,same greens i dont like though,played direct from camera to tv are the files choppy like in the film,if not its in the editing but as others have said any panning with these cameras need to be slow,my GH2 never had HBR 50P pal 30P NTSC until i put the 1.1 update on it.
 
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