I'm a novice at doing this but I've done a very few using Microsoft Movie Maker. The clips below were from a memorial service for a quilt designer friend of my wife. I'm posting the clip as it came out of the camera (thus it has crap at the beginning and the end), and the same clip after editing in Movie Maker. Both clips seem blurry/jittery as you pass over the quilts, but the original seems clearer to me. I haven't seen this jitter in videos I've done previously.
I'm posting here to see if someone can help me understand what caused this jitter.
This was the first one I've made with this camera, but it has a glowing reputation for making videos.
This is the original as it came from the camera:
Here is the same clip after editing in Movie Maker:
deleted
deleted
Best guess is a mismatch in frame rates - was it shot in 30fps and then your editing software output it as 25fps? This means that every second 5 frames are thrown away, which is always obvious on pans. Without more details, that's my guess.
I also notice that your camera footage is at a higher resolution than your edited footage. The picture size difference between the videos is a giveaway. Try exporting your footage at the same resolution that you shot it at.
Sorry to be so long responding. I get spam from this site but not reply notices.
I'm too much of a novice to understand about frame rates. I shot it at whatever the camera does by default and edited it at what ever Movie Maker does by default.
The camera shoots videos at high definition and Movie Maker gives the option of exporting as high def or standard def. I did it both ways and didn't notice a difference. I posted this question almost three weeks ago and cannot remember which I uploaded to youtube.
If you tell us what camera you are using we can probably give you some help to get better results.
Wow! I got a notice of your post.
The camera is a Panasonic FZ1000
Your camera shoots 4k video. It is unclear from the limited information on the Panasonic website, whether is has an option to shoot HD. So, at 4k resolution you will get some flicker when panning, just like a movie, because of the shutter speed. Usually, 4k cameras shoot at 30 or 25 frames per second, so there will be no way of changing that. It's just the nature of the beast. I had a look at the Microsoft page for Movie Maker. Even less information there!. It does not mention 4k, so I think it may not be suitable for your needs. I looked at the choice of output resolution in Movie maker which showed a maximum of 1920 x 1080, which is HD, not 4k, so I don't think it is capable of outputting 4k whose resolution is 3840 x 2160.
If you must use Movie Maker, make sure that you set the output to the highest possible resolution. Looking at your edited clip, I would say you exported it at a resolution of 854 x 480, which would account for the smaller size picture and the loss of quality. Did you do any picture enhancement in the edit, as the lighter areas are now over exposed in the exported version.
I would suggest that you thoroughly read the FZ1000 manual and the instructions for Movie Maker. Also remember that Google is your friend. Hope this has been of some help.
As an added thought. If the FZ1000 does shoot in HD, and has the options in the menu to shoot at 1080 50p, use that setting, and set the bit rate to the highest possible (ie 24Mbps or higher). It may use more of your memory card, but the results will be so much better.
That helps a lot. I will read more carefully in the FZ1000 manual. It's touted as doing high quality high definition video and I assumed it would do that by default. Apparently not.
Yes, I increased the exposure in Movie Maker. Most of the video was too dark and MM only allows you to change the exposure of the entire thing, or that's my limited understanding.
In the 2 clips you posted in your first post the exposure of the original footage looks fine so check that your computer monitor is set up to display a good image. Yes, software like Movie Maker can be very limited in what they can do. Fine control of exposure and colour balance, etc, is what you find in professional editing software. There are quite a few consumer video editors available, both paid for and free, so it may be worth your while checking out some of the others.
I think Movie Maker is too simple a program for your camera. You need to go out buy a better video Editing Program, they can be had for about 100 bucks or so, but you need the computer that meats the specs of the Program to run it. And most, if not require a Graphics card above and beyond the motherboard's graphic card capabilities. There Coral, Pinnacle and few others are in that price range
Palladini
Ontario Canada
Thanks for your reply.
I can't justify the expense of an uptown video editing system. I do no more than 2-4 short videos a year. That one and a couple more I did at the same time were probably the most extensive videos I've done.
If you are in the UK, then shoot at 25/50fps and if you are in the US shoot at 30/60fps.Then you edit at the same setting. if you set your camera to 1080p - that will do as a screen size and just pick the frame rate for your location. Movie maker will do it fine, your problem was simply you guessed on settings and that NEVER guarantees decent video.You don't need to spend money if you don't like video maker - black magic design have a FREE professional quality editor that works brilliantly if you are looking to upgrade - BUT - at the moment you know very little so don't run before you can edit!
If you are stuck for settings - ask us.
http://adf.ly/1kaTPM Have better software to use fresh sony vegas
Charles Bennett said:
"Your camera shoots 4k video. It is unclear from the limited information on the Panasonic website, whether is has an option to shoot HD. So, at 4k resolution you will get some flicker when panning, just like a movie, because of the shutter speed. Usually, 4k cameras shoot at 30 or 25 frames per second, so there will be no way of changing that. It's just the nature of the beast. It . . . "
I didn't understand much of your message but here are settings available most of which I don't understand either. I was using the default.
http://oi68.tinypic.com/fwlhew.jpg
1920 x 1080 is the picture resolution for full HD. The number 60i next to it refers to the number of frames the camera shoots per second. In this case 60. The "i" after the 60 means "interlaced" where 30 frames or fields are added to the other 30 to give a final frame rate of 30 frames per second. You will get less flicker when panning if you use the setting above this. In this case the "p" after the 60 means "progressive" where instead of interlacing the frames they are presented one after the other giving you a frame rate of 60 frames per second (computer monitors display their pictures progressively). The bit rate of 28Mbps is the highest in available in the AVCHD format. The higher the bit rate, the more detail recorded in the image.
If you shoot using MP4, you will see that your camera can shoot in 4k resolution at 30 frames per second. You will see that the picture resolution is now 3840 x 2160 giving much more detail in the video. To edit 4k you need an edit programme that will open 4k material, and a decent computer to run it. The other possible downside to 4k is the amount of data it produces, so make sure if you use it you have some decent memory cards available for your camera.
I would seriously suggest you search You Tube and Google for some tutorials to give you an understanding of the various standards and technical terms. I say this because of your comment about not understanding much of my previous post. It will help you and make shooting videos much more pleasurable.
Thanks again for your reply. I believe I've learned from this:
1) Flicker is a common problem with videos that there are ways to combat.
2) Making good videos requires a larger investment in learning than I have use for at this time.
Thanks to all for helping.
Signing off
Jim - did you honestly expect that an expensive bit of kit and totally new software to you were going to be simple?
Flicker is NOT a common problem when people do basic research to enable them to setup their equipment, but your second comment is absolutely accurate - HUGE amounts of time in research, doing it, editing it and then going back and doing it again, and again.
That's life, I'm afraid.
As far as software, make sure you have the newest version of MovieMaker but also investigate whether Panasonic has free editing software for your camera.
One thing that will help quite a bit: Slow down your pans to very, very slow. If you watch professionally produced documentaries their pans just creep along. Also, if you want to do pans like that, you almost always need a tripod unless you have the coordination of a ballet dancer.
The alternative if you want to show a bunch of quilts would be to shoot each one individually and cut the clips together. You don't need to move the camera very much, especially if you're just starting out.
Nothing looks worse than a pan/tilt done with a rubbish head. On TV we are used to soft, gentle camera movement. No wobbles, no shakes and no jerks. If you cannot do this with your equipment, plan your shooting so as not to use it. One of the useful things about shooting in 4K is that your frame is really big, so you can divide that into four normal HD quality screen sizes, so you can pan and tilt in the software - assuming your software is better than your nasty cheap tripod and head.