Question for DaVinci Resolve 15 specialists - Stuttering playback

[Lady Rover]

Hi,

first time video cutting in DaVinci Resolve 15

While I used optimized media to cut the 2.7k (2750x1530) clips, I feel some clips are still stuttering in the final 1080 HD output.
Could someone with a good knowledge of DaVinci Resolve 15 be so kind to have a look and suggest the best output settings to have a smoother playback?

I know there are still other issues (blown highlights, some pans to fast) with the video, but let's focus on smoother playback for now. Thanks.

Optimized Media Format & Render Cache are DNxHR HQX. Proxy Mode is on 1/4 Resolution, Render Cache on "User", Fusion Memory Cache on "Auto".
I used the YouTube 1080 preset with Mp4 & H. 264 when rendering. Network Optimization is on, Framerate 29.97. Quality restr to 10000Kb/s.

Here is the link:
https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.c...ample/das3Dstudio-Drone+Footage+Sample+HD.mp4

I'm on a HP Z800 workstation with Windows 10 Pro, the free version of Resolve 15.1 and the following specs:

Intel Xeon X5650 x 2. 67Ghz Dual processor with 12 cores = 24 logical processors

72GB Ram

Nvidia Quadro 5000 GPU

Hardware upgrade is unfortunately not an option at the moment.

Thanks so much!

 

[Kilrah]

Your link is to some weird russian site...

 

[Lady Rover]

Your link is to some weird russian site...

Sorry about that, corrected it. Used a URL shortener. Now I set the direct link which should work.

 

[Lady Rover]

Btw. was all shot in 4k. Will use 2.7k@60fps instead in the future.
Seems a good compromise regarding quality vs. hardware requirements.

 

[Garuda]

Looked at the footage, very nice scenary! The stuttering is VERY apparent in some of your shots. I don´t think this has anything to do with your machine (PC), you got more than enough computing capacity to this kinda workload. Instead check your shutterspeed WHILE FILMING, that could ruin some incredible shots. Especially pano shots. You know the rule. @30fps 1/60 shutterspeed, @60fps 1/120 etc. Take a day off experiment on shutterspeeds and ND-filters. I did and it was an eyeopener how good it can become. For example alot of light, tree foliage and fast panoramic shots...

 

[Goof]

Only thing I can suggest is to make sure project framerate matches the source framerate, unless you're looking for slo-mo footage it'll only look worse trying to use 60FPS source in a 29FPS render. (less motion blur due to higher shutter speed can make footage look unnatural)

It doesn't really look like a 29.97 vs 30/60fps problem though, normally when that happens you get regular, but very slight stuttering, not the complete tanking that's going on in that render.

Maybe try dropping the render speed? DaVinci can behave a bit odd when trying to render at max speed...

 

[Kilrah]

Seems like wrong project settings...
Your machine should by far not require using proxies though, so maybe start by eliminating that.

 

[Lady Rover]

@all
Hey, thanks for your thoughts!

1)
Unfortunately the shots are done. Any way to improve the stuttering for this project in post, using DaVinci?

2)
Got filters now & will use them!

3)
I note your comments on filters and framerates. While I heard about the double framerate rule and will use it in the future. Question though, how do you handle shots where you fly from very bright to fairly dark scenery?
Thats actually why I was flying with auto exposure so far.

@Goof
How do I reduce render speed?

 

[Garuda]

@all
Hey, thanks for your thoughts!

1)
Unfortunately the shots are done. Any way to improve the stuttering for this project in post, using DaVinci?

2)
Got filters now & will use them!

3)
I note your comments on filters and framerates. While I heard about the double framerate rule and will use it in the future. Question though, how do you handle shots where you fly from very bright to fairly dark scenery?
Thats actually why I was flying with auto exposure so far.

@Goof
How do I reduce render speed?

1) ALWAYS try to achieve the right shutterspeed, if not possible then land your craft and try another day.
2) Select the right ND filter for the day. May shift a bit but I have found that ND4-PL have saved my day more than once (filming in D-Cinelike).
3) NEVER use auto on anything, set your stuff up manually everytime according to your settings (light, object, flightpath etc.). Auto will ruin your photo IMO. The camera is moving and so is the light....you DO NOT want that to change during a capture.

 

[Lady Rover]

Well, but sometimes you want a smooth shot in one go from bright to dark. How else than in auto mode can this be done?

In my case above, that was for example the flightpath from panorama across the house diving into the park (actually I flew from dark to bright in that case and reversed the footage).
This was a shot I needed uninterrupted.

 

[Garuda]

Well, but sometimes you want a smooth shot in one go from bright to dark. How else than in auto mode can this be done?

In my case above, that was for example the flightpath from panorama across the house diving into the park (actually I flew from dark to bright in that case and reversed the footage).
This was a shot I needed uninterrupted.

Offcourse there are exceptions, like in your case. But overall having anything on AUTO can ruin a shot by just passing the sun or what not.

 

[Kilrah]

The issue we see here has nothing at all to do with how the footage was captured (unless the SD card was trash but it also wouldn't be that regular).

Maybe post a raw source clip for analysis.

 

[Lady Rover]

Thanks.

The SD card is a brand new 32GB SanDisk Extreme MicroSDHC from a reputable store.
Unlikely to be the cause.

Regarding the RAW footage, I'll upload some of the 4k footage in a minute. Unfortunately that is NOT the footage right out of the drone anymore though, as I trimmed off the clipends (in DaVinci) and did not keep the very RAW file ;-(

Might take a bit, I'm on a slow connection.
Still, the files are stored on an AmazonWS server with acceleration via CloudFront (US&Europe).

Btw. the 4K plays back very sluggish on my computer, thats why I use the proxies.
I think the culprit for that is the old Quadro5000....

 

[Kilrah]

Oh a 5000 from 2011, I assumed M5000 which is a beast... whole different world indeed. CPU has decent ratings but from 2010 so indeed neither will do any hardware 4K encoding or decoding.

 

[Lady Rover]

I'm looking into adding a 1050Ti instead (the powersupply can not handle bigger & I do not want to put to much money in the aging workhorse).
Still when running with proxies things are working with the 2.7k footage (apart from the stuttering of the rendered file).

While I did shot in 4k initially I did reduce that to 2.7k to work with it (see first post). So the movie was made with in 2.7k and export rendered in 1080.
Upload of a 4k clip file is in progress, 40% right now.

 

[Lady Rover]

Here is one of the 4K clips, can anyone see from this where the stuttering originates?:

https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.c...b090f7149c3594c0d7eb110fe811470502722e9349df7

 

[Goof]

@Goof
How do I reduce render speed?

It's in the delivery --> file tab, near the bottom just above where it shows current and used disk space. Think it's set in FPS, so try setting it to just below whatever FPS it was rendering at before and see what the output file looks like.

 

[Kilrah]

Here is one of the 4K clips, can anyone see from this where the stuttering originates?:

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<Code>AccessDenied</Code>
<Message>Request has expired</Message>

 

[Lady Rover]

Hey Kilrah,

guess it was a little late (or early!) last night. Here is a working link to the 4K file (its big!):

https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/das3dstudio/0157Edited00001937.mp4

Btw, do you think replacing the Quadro5000 with a 1060Ti will help and allow 4k editing?

 

[Lady Rover]

@Goof
I can not change the framerate in delivery. Only allows 29.97...
See attached.


@all
As I am a video beginner, I remember that the Mavic Air had recorded with 4k@24 fps intersting enough DaVinci offers only 29.97fps. Might that explain the stuttering?

As I want to shoot usually that i can upload to youtube, what setting should I use?
4k@24fps, 4k@25fps, 4k@30fps? Which of them forr4k
2.7k@24fps, 2.7k@25fps, 2.7k@30fps? Which of them for 2.7k
The 48fps, 50fps, 60fps are for slowmo, are they?

I understand its best to record at 4k or 2.7k and render the HD from there rather than recording in HD only.

I'd appreciate a simple answer, I am a video newbie ;-)