Some issues I have experienced, and some answers from various sources:
- At least when played on a laptop, motion seems juddery. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s as if the frame rate is uneven.
- Appears to be due to playing a 25 fps video on a 60Hz refresh-rate display device (my laptop’s screen).
- I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
- Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31929495 (30 fps) and http://vimeo.com/31930183 (25 fps)
- The version filmed at 30 fps plays far more smoothly, presumably because no frames are dropped due to the screen refresh-rate.
- Conclusion: for online viewing of naturally-lit pans, 30 fps is best (consistent: record, edit and display) , even in PAL regions.
- I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
- Try increasing the shutter-time.
- I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
- Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31929495 (30 fps) and http://vimeo.com/31930183 (25 fps)
- Slowing the shutter from 180 degrees (1/60 sec) to 360 degrees (1/30 sec) did not affect the smoothness of the pan, however it did cause an irritating blur to the (panning) image.
- So when the background is the subject, don’t do that !
- On the other hand, when following a moving object, holding it stationary in-frame, long shutter time can produce a pleasing background motion blur, diminishing background clutter and suggesting speed. Might be a problem (I guess) if object includes movement such as flapping wings.
- I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
- Appears to be due to playing a 25 fps video on a 60Hz refresh-rate display device (my laptop’s screen).
- What’s the best speed for a pan?
- Typically 3 to 5 seconds
- Don’t pan over too great an area, especially of a nearby object, especially if the middle portion is uninteresting.
- Begin and end with a few seconds of static (static shots i.e. locked-off camera).
- Cutting from a static sometimes better when first few frames up to half a second are static (pre-pan)
- Tip:
- For a stills camera: “Use a shutter speed between 1/8sec and 1/125sec depending on the subject’s speed and distance,”
- For a video camera, I tried a range of shutter speeds from 1/25 to 1/60 and it made little difference to motion smoothness, the main factor was the chosen fps (on a laptop, 30 fps recording gave better smoothness than 25 fps recording)
References:
- Den Lennie’s “Inner Circle” of F-Stop Academy
- http://www.ehow.com/how_5957601_pan-camera.html
- My experiments
- I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
- Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31929495 (30 fps) and http://vimeo.com/31930183 (25 fps)
- Discussed at http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=786668
- I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
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