Flicker problem in PE15.

[Levalt]

I have Premiere Elements 15 in Windows 10 environment.

I have Sony FDR-AX53 camcorder and shoot video in 4K XAVC-S format (MP4 File (.MP4)). Record mode 60mbps, frame rate 30p.  The system is supposed to automatically assign setting for the new project. Here what I have (EditàProject SettingàGeneral): Frame size: 3840 horizontal; 2160 vertical. Display format: 30fps non-drop-frame timecode; Title safe Area: 20% horizontal, 20% vertical. Action Safe Area: 10% horizontal, 10% vertical. Almost all video clips have a flicker effect. Also the time indicator does not move smoothly within video clips. When I play each clip in Windows Media Player I don’t have flicker and the time indicator moves smoothly.

Please help me to get rid of flicker and make time indicator move smoothly within clips in PE 15.

Thanks. Lev.

[Steve Grisetti]

When you first added a clip of your video to your timeline, did you see a yellow-orange "render" line above the clip? This render line would indicate that you haven't matched your project settings to your video specs.

Also, where and when are you seeing the flicker? And by "flicker" do you mean that it's going dark then light then dark? That's very unusual.

Meantime, right-click on the Monitor panel in Premiere Elements and make sure your Quality is set to High. Remember that this Monitor is just showing you a preview of your video. Your issue is very different if you're still seeing this "flickering" when you output your movie as a 3840x2160 MP4 and play it in VLC Media Player.

[Levalt]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your quick response.

When I added a clip to the timeline there was no render line above the clip, but the system automatically applied 2 effects:  motion and opacity. I have changed Playback quality from Automatic to High.

Unfortunately it did not make any difference. It is not going dark then light. It is like small waves on the surface.

[Steve Grisetti]

Can you post a sample of it to YouTube and then post the link to the YouTube video here?

It might help us to see what you're describing.

Assuming, of course, that you're seeing it in your output and not just when previewing it in Premiere Elements.

[Levalt]

Steve, I tried to post a little project (4 clips) a few times but every time had an error message:

Can I just email you the clips?

[Levalt]

[Steve Grisetti]

Try using Export & Share/Device/Computer 1920x1080 in the MP4 format and then post that to YouTube. (And, of course, before you do, make sure that this MP4 flickers when played on the VLC Media Player.)

[Levalt]

Steve,

Do I need to test MP4 on the VLC Media Player or I can test the file on the Windows Media Player?

I do not have VLC Media Player and need to install it.

As I mentioned before I did not have flicker when playing clips on the Windows Media Player.

[Steve Grisetti]

Windows Media Player does not play all formats and doesn't always play them at the best quality.

I've found VLC Media Player indispensable, and so does most of our Muvipix.com community. And it's free.

[Levalt]

Hi Steve,

I created file HD 1080 (1920x1080) -MP4 - H.264 that is a combination of 4 clips and published it on YouTube.

Here is the link:

TEST video - YouTube

Thanks. Lev.

[Levalt]

Steve,

You can notice that when camera moves it is foggy and slightly out of focus, when camera stops there no fog and a clear picture....

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm not seeing any flicker at all in your video, Lev. In fact, it looks great!

[Levalt]

Steve,

You can notice that when camera moves it is foggy and slightly out of focus, when camera stops there no fog and a clear picture....

[Ann Bens]

Levalt  wrote

Steve,

You can notice that when camera moves it is foggy and slightly out of focus, when camera stops there no fog and a clear picture....

That is because you are panning too fast. The camera cannot keep up. Pan at least half the speed.

Try to keep the camera still and let the scene move.

When I play each clip in Windows Media Player I don’t have flicker and the time indicator moves smoothly.

WMP is a player. PE15 is an editor. Big difference.

[Bill Sprague]

Overall, I see a video with good color, good exposure, interest, etc.  Your camera is working well. 

I am often wrong, but I think I see the effect of panning too fast with a frame rate of 30fps when shooting 4K with relatively high shutter speed.  It is not a post processing problem.   The footage seems to have some "flicker" in it.  In bright light you may need a ND filter to force the shutter speed to around 1/60th to create a little "motion blur" to make it easier on the eyes.   Most viewers will thank you if you slow down the zooms and pans.  

Good luck with your projects.  You have a great camera and good post processing software!

[Levalt]

I have Zeiss T* UV filter and I was thinking that it would solve the problem of shooting 4K video in bright light, but it seems that the problem is still there...  Each individual frozen frame looks great but when camera moves I can see it out of focus. If I apply 'Image Control' effect to the clips it does not make it look better. 'Haze Removal' may work better but there should be a solution in PE15 on how to fix it. What also bothers me is that time indicator does not move smoothly within clips and it makes editing even harder...

[Levalt]

Hi Steve and Bill,

I made some changes to the test video: set anti-flicker filter to '1' and also applied 'Image Control' to all clips. I think it made the video look a little bit better. Thank you Steve for giving me instruction on how to publish videos on YouTube. I shoot travel videos and edit them in Premiere Elements for some time. The final products are on Blu-Ray or AHCHD disks. My travel videos are pretty long: around 90 minutes. So I decided as an experiment, to publish a short video on the YouTube. It is just a glimpse of everyday life on the roads of Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a little part of my Vietnam - Cambodia - Taiwan February 2016 video. This video was shot in 1920x1080/60i format with 'Image Control' applied to all clips. Please have a look. I would appreciate your opinion.

Here is the link:

Hanoi, Vietnam. Having fun in traffic. - YouTube

Thanks. Lev.

[Steve Grisetti]

I agree with Ann. Your video looks great (although the traffic in Vietnam looks terrifying!). But at 24 frames per second (or whatever your output settings are), you will see a little bit of stuttering with some camera movements. And, if you'll watch, you'll see that this is true in older Hollywood films too! (Newer Hollywood films are shot on digital video and sometimes use faster frame rates to capture the action.)

[Levalt]

Thank you Steve and Ann,

As of now I shoot videos at 60 Mbps with frame rate 30p. It is possible to shoot at 100 Mbps with frame rate 30p. Will it make a difference if camera moves fast?

By the way, I watched Rick Steve travel movie on TV and I noticed that that the image is slightly out of focus in a panoramic view. Pretty much what I have. 🙂

Lev.

[Bill Sprague · Accepted solution]

Mbps has little or nothing to do with it.

The camera is capturing 30 images a second.  When the camera pans there are gaps between those images.  You can blur them with a slower shutter speed or make the gaps smaller with a higher frame rate.  Unfortunately, higher frame rates of 60 fps in 4K are still rare on most cameras.

Your best 4K options are to slow down the pans and/or slow down the shutter speed with a ND (neutral density) filter.  It is not uncommon to see a 3 stop or .06 ND filter used for outdoor/bright light video.  (UV filters do very little or nothing for digital.  UV filters work for film.)

An important advantage of slowing down pan rates is that viewers don't get headaches when they watch it!

Regarding the Hanoi YouTube, I was fascinated.  Part of it is the joy of seeing other cultures.  The other part is that I am a Vietnam vet and flew there as a Navy pilot who has never quite figured out how all that happened.    Thanks for sharing the clips on YouTube.  I hope you share more.

Bill

[Levalt]

Thank you Steve, Bill and Ann for comprehensive responses to my post.

I will try to move camera more slowly when shooting panoramic views and also will try

ND filter to see if it make the difference.

I will definitely continue publishing short videos on YouTube. It is fun!

They may attract 1,000,000 + viewers. Who knows? J

Lev