Making a shakey video steady
Brian
camera. I need to remove the shake in the video. With a video editor I
zooming into the frame tried moving the video frame using the motion
effect option. Is there some way I can use a reference line or object
to the subject in the frame so I can line up the subject with a
reference line? I tried using the dotted lines that are used as a
guide when creating text to make sure non of the text is cut off but
it's a problem if the subject is in the middle of the frame.
It would be nice if Adobe Premiere Elements 7 had reference lines that
you could turn off and on. I thought superimposing a video of lines on
another video track to use as reference, but I'm hoping that someone
has a better idea.
Regards Brian
ushere
there are a number of plugins available, those that i've worked with are
mercali (prodad), and deshake. both do a fairly good job. mercalli is a
paid plugin, deshake is a freebie.
HerHusband
I have used several stabilizing utilities over the years including Mercali,
SteadyHand, and Deshaker. I find the Deshaker plug-in for VirtualDub gives
the best results by far. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you
find the right settings the results are impressive.
Deshaker and VirtualDub are both free, the only real downside being the
need to convert your video to a format VirtualDub can read, then back to
whatever format you edit with afterwards.
Of course, some footage is just too shaky to salvage, and you should film
in progressive mode to eliminate the changes between interlaced frames.
Stabilize the raw footage, then cut out anything that is too far gone...
You can see some examples of video I have stabilized with Deshaker at:
www.mountain-software.com/videos.htm
Take care,
Anthony
Brian
Thanks Anthony for the information. Is there any particular video that
had a very bad shake problem that you want me to look at?
What format does VirtualDub accept?
Regards Brian
HerHusband
> Thanks Anthony for the information. Is there any particular video that
> had a very bad shake problem that you want me to look at?
No, there's no particular video that was worse than the others, though I
hope the newer ones look more stable than older ones as I've learned new
techniques. Generally, the shakiness varies within each video, from barely
detectable to so bad I had to cut it out. :) I stabilize what I can, then
edit out what isn't worth keeping (unless it's something very valuable to
me like the shot of the bear in the Canada video).
> What format does VirtualDub accept?
Basically just AVI, though there is a modified version that can load MPEG2
files directly.
I usually load my video as MPEG2, then save it out as an x264 encoded video
after stabilizing. With a little searching online, you can find the x264
vfw encoder. Barring that, the Divx codec also works well if you set the
bit rates high enough.
Another approach is to "frame serve" and avoid the extra conversions, but
I've never figured out an easy way to do that.
Anthony
Gavino
news:Xns9CD55676EE...@188.40.43.213...
> > What format does VirtualDub accept?
>
> Basically just AVI, though there is a modified version that can load MPEG2
> files directly.
That's a very old version now.
The latest proper version accepts AVI.
It also accepts Avisynth scripts, so you can process anything that Avisynth
can read (ie just about anything).
And there are VirtualDub source plugins for MPEG2, MOV, FLV and general
DirectShow input.
Brian
I took a look at the first video on your site. I had to download it to
view it as the internet connection was slow and I don't like seeing a
bit of the video at a time. For a video that was shakey then it's
certainly rock steady at the moment.
Comments on your video.
It has an artistic relaxing look, which is good at the start but after
a while it seems very much the same, so I found myself skipping
onwards in the video. It would be nice after a while to have some
commentry or some human voices such as the girls talking in the
background. The scenery is nice and flows well but with the gentle
music it can cause a viewer to fall asleep after a while. Maybe a
change of pace every now and then would have helped.
Regards Brian
HerHusband
> For a video that was shakey then it's
> certainly rock steady at the moment.
Anything you can do to reduce the shake BEFORE stabilizing helps a lot. I
used a monopod almost exclusively for the Canada video, except for a few
shots from the car. The monopod doesn't completely eliminate movement, but
it makes a big difference and is a lot more portable and flexible than a
full tripod.
> It has an artistic relaxing look, which is good at the start but after
> a while it seems very much the same, so I found myself skipping
> onwards in the video. It would be nice after a while to have some
> commentry or some human voices such as the girls talking in the
> background. The scenery is nice and flows well but with the gentle
> music it can cause a viewer to fall asleep after a while. Maybe a
> change of pace every now and then would have helped.
Thanks for the feedback on the video, I appreciate the outside viewpoint.
It will help me improve my videos in the future.
I generally try to match music in my videos with whatever the overall
"feel" was at the time. When we watch our home movies, it helps to have
music that helps us relive the moment. Since most of our vacation videos
are about relaxing, that's usually the tone of the soundtrack also. We
really enjoy them, but clearly they lose something in translation to an
outside viewer... :)
There's also the logistical realities of using the original sound when
you're standing 20 feet from a person next to roaring waterfalls, a busy
highway, or crowds of people talking. It's a very rare situation when I
actually capture a usable voice on film.
In any case, some of my other videos have more upbeat soundtracks, if
that's what you're after, though I'm pretty mellow overall anyway... :)
Anthony
Brian
I enjoy watching other people's videos as it's interesting how a video
is put together. When I suggested having voices I was thinking of
bringing the movie from a dream like feeling back to reality. Maybe
your daughter could add some narration and say for example the
location is her favourite place. Voices could be added later if it's
not possible due to the noise of a waterfall. Having music is nice and
sets the mood but there are times when it's also nice to hear nature
such as the sound of birds or a waterfall as it makes the experience
more real. Often in nature films the volume of the music is dropped in
parts of the movie so the viewer can hear other sounds or the sound of
the narrator.
Having people in your movie adds interest like you did with
having your daughters in the movie but in some parts of the movie they
were small and hard to see, maybe if you started as a mid shot of your
daughters then zoomed back to show the landscape then this would help
add more interest for a outside viewer. If there is something small
moving in the picture I like to have a better view of it even if it's
a cutaway shot.
What your movie is successful in doing is to show to others
that Canada is a beauiful place.
Regards Brian