Why is my 4K videos stuttering?

[Gouaill]

Hi All,

First month with the MA2 after a year of Yuneec Mantis Q: I did very good photos with the Mantis but now I'm learning with good quality (4K) videos.

Most of my shots in 4K are stuttering.
Not in all plans but where there are a lot of light and objects moving close to the camera, and for left-right or up-dowm movements.

I noted that the first time I open the video on the memory card from my PC, there is less stuttering...(strange. Any reason?)

I take my shots in auto mode, 30 fps. I need to test manual mode 100 ISO, 30 fps, shutter speed 60 as I read it could help. However, it requires playing with ND filters and guessing exposure. I'm getting familiar with filters in auto mode however to control over exposure.

I first though my laptop was not enough fast but I doubt it is the case : Icore I7 1.88 Ghz, 32 G RAM, NVIDIA Gforce MX130. Viewing my videos on last version of VLC.

Once edited and compiled with a video editor (kdenlive), I don't see any improvement. It is some time worst.

Acceptable results are on less quality format (1080p etc).

Any reason for this ?

Examples of some shots:

This VW van shot is just not usable: Carl. Volk_0222.MP4

The lighthouse is stuttering then the landscape is fine:
Carl. Phare_0225.MP4

Thanks in advance !

G

 

[Deleted member 103366]

My first thought would be the laptop too.
Strangely Windows 7 on my laptop can not play the videos from an M2P but Windows 10 on the same laptop can..

 

[Recoveryone]

What type of SD card are you using? U4/U8 you should be using a V30 or higher.

 

[Gouaill]

My first thought would be the laptop too.
Strangely Windows 7 on my laptop can not play the videos from an M2P but Windows 10 on the same laptop can..

Using W10

 

[Gouaill]

What type of SD card are you using? U4/U8 you should be using a V30 or higher.

Its a Kingston Micro SD V30 64g

...Thinking I could try a shot with the internal memory of the drone to exclude SD card issue.

 

[Gouaill]

Its a Kingston Micro SD V30 64g

...Thinking I could try a shot with the internal memory of the drone to exclude SD card issue.

I just tested with the internal memory of the drone and it is stuttering too.

 

[dawgpilot]

Most of my shots in 4K are stuttering.
Not in all plans but where there are a lot of light and objects moving close to the camera, and for left-right or up-dowm movements.

This is almost certainly due to the camera using a fast shutter speed when you are in bright light. It will result in video footage that isn't smooth.

The solution is to learn how to use ND filters so you can manually set the camera shutter speed to double the frame rate. (for example, if shooting 30 FPS video, set the shutter speed to 60 (30 times 2) and place the appropriate ND filter on so that the video isn't too bright)

 

[Gouaill]

This is almost certainly due to the camera using a fast shutter speed when you are in bright light. It will result in video footage that isn't smooth.

The solution is to learn how to use ND filters so you can manually set the camera shutter speed to double the frame rate. (for example, if shooting 30 FPS video, set the shutter speed to 60 (30 times 2) and place the appropriate ND filter on so that the video isn't too bright)

Thanks Dawgpilot. This is was my main suspect. I tested this a few times. I find it hard to manage when I pass from low light (forest) to bright light (sky above the woods). The exposure must change but cannot with this fixed shutter speed.

I also compared two videos of the same subject this afternoon, one on auto mode, the other on manual with 30 fps and shutter speed at 60 and frankly, I haven’t seen much more smootness.

I will for sure do some more tests with manual mode.

 

[Dave Maine]

The issue is likely to be the 4K footage recorded with the h265 codec. Only the most beefy new computers play this well.

 

[dawgpilot]

The issue is likely to be the 4K footage recorded with the h265 codec. Only the most beefy new computers play this well.

I disagree. His symptoms (mainly affecting videos recorded in bright sunlight, or filming things close up) sound much more like a high shutter speed issue than a codec program.

 

[bmwbob]

Time for a faster computer or maybe video card upgrade! I have a i7 4 core processor, 16 mb and AMD R9 380 8mb graphics card. 4K 60fps stutters too. Memory card is the fastest too so might be time for an upgrade!

 

[rhberg]

In my Mac Pro the stuttering is due to the movie's HEVC codec (also known as H.265). I can stop the stuttering by saving it as 4k H.264 using Quicktime..

 

[Gouaill]

In my Mac Pro the stuttering is due to the movie's HEVC codec (also known as H.265). I can stop the stuttering by saving it as 4k H.264 using Quicktime..

Interesting. I could do some tests in H264.

 

[Gouaill]

Anyone has donwloaded my videos and seen no stuttering in it? It could link the fault to the computer...

 

[Harro]

I viewed the video's and could see no stuttering. Pretty smooth on my PC. I do agree that stuttering could be caused by a slow PC and that H265 is a difficult codec to work with. H264 should work well,

 

[Tufargon]

If it's just happening in playback on your pc then try Home · MPC-HC
Can download it here Media Player Classic Home Cinema: MPC-HC

 

[Harro]

I agree MPC-HC is a far superior player plays pretty well everything.

 

[DanMan32]

There's a difference between stuttering/frame hesitation and too sharp of motion. The latter could be explained by too fast of a shutter speed, but not latter. Too fast of a shutter speed can also show up as horizontal bands when angled ambient light from say the sun gets chopped up and detected by the camera with the shutter speed near a low multiple of the prop RPM.

Stuttering is usually caused by a graphics card/chip unable to cope with the large volume of video data. I've encountered that at even 1080p from my Phantom when I had an older, inexpensive video card. Cleared up when I upgraded my card.

 

[Gouaill]

There's a difference between stuttering/frame hesitation and too sharp of motion. The latter could be explained by too fast of a shutter speed, but not latter. Too fast of a shutter speed can also show up as horizontal bands when angled ambient light from say the sun gets chopped up and detected by the camera with the shutter speed near a low multiple of the prop RPM.

Stuttering is usually caused by a graphics card/chip unable to cope with the large volume of video data. I've encountered that at even 1080p from my Phantom when I had an older, inexpensive video card. Cleared up when I upgraded my card.

Thanks DanMan32.
I searched about my video card and its bad rated so I suspect that even on my I7 (which is a caracteristic that I tough could help enough), the rendering is hard for the laptop with 4K. My principal clue is that the same videos on auto and manual mode (30 fps / 60 shutter) look chopy (I will try to post the two videos comparison).

 

[Gouaill]

I viewed the video's and could see no stuttering. Pretty smooth on my PC. I do agree that stuttering could be caused by a slow PC and that H265 is a difficult codec to work with. H264 should work well,

Thanks for taking the time! Great to know it works well somewhere else!