panning

Panning is a term with several related meanings across different fields, generally involving horizontal movement or distribution. It commonly refers to camera movement, audio channel placement, and the activity of extracting gold from sediment using a pan.

In photography and filmmaking, panning is a horizontal camera movement around a vertical axis, used to follow action or reveal a scene. The camera is usually mounted on a tripod or stabilizer; a smooth pan preserves spatial continuity and can convey motion. Speed is important: too fast can blur or destabilize the shot. In video editing, panning also describes sliding a still image within a frame to imply motion.

In audio engineering, panning places a sound in the left-right field of stereo or multichannel playback. A pan control shifts the signal between channels, enabling width and depth; left, right, or center. In surround setups, panning defines azimuth positions. Panning is often automated in mixers, and pan laws affect how levels sum when signals are moved away from center.

Gold panning is a manual prospecting technique in which rough ore is placed in a shallow pan and washed with water. Swirling the pan allows lighter material to wash away while denser gold settles at the bottom. Techniques vary with water flow, sediment, and particle size, and experienced panners look for subtle differences in density, color, and texture.