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They knew name of car owner before they stopped (that big laptop in the front seat tells all), and that there weren't any warrants out on the owner. But you were acting weird, so probably working on the assumption that you might be either a carjacker or really f'ed up on drugs - both things that would make you suspicious for weapons or stupid runaway behavior. Nowadays, they also probably worry when people are super-careful (the hands thing), fearing that you are another BLM-videographer who is looking to catch them out in something. Unless things have changed, it is more typical to just keep them on the wheel, so they may be thinking 'this guy has been pulled over way too many times' - but I'd defer to any of the LEO's on the board about that.
My wife still kids me about the time during a stop that they asked about weapons and I said 'well.....' and as both cops put hands to guns I finish with 'I do have this Buck knife in the glovebox' - producing sighs of relief and laughing 'that's not a weapon, we meant guns'. When they saw my 6-cell Maglight it elevated up to buddy status and we ended up talking cars while they failed to see anything else in the 'search'. Politeness and consideration will definitely get you a break - sometimes hard to keep in mind that the cops are feeling more anxious than you are as they walk up (unless you have a body in the trunk).
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