Stabilizing a part of a clip

[Nationalsolo]

Hi Woodsy

".. I don't use the mouse.  Typing numbers into the Scale - popup window - small slider number windows - I find quick, precise, and repeatable.  Am I just an awkward person .... ? ..."

No. Not at all!.        (I prefer to change values with the up/down arrows)

Note:  To remove any borders left after stabilizing use Crop and Zoom. Add the effect and scrub through the clip and alter the crop if borders are still seen. The zoom will keep the frame filled. The internal parameters for stabilizing with the VDub add-on actually include a border adjustment but these are somewhat mind boggling to follow . VP has a setting  but it's related to the Quality of the output I think.

Even using the original VDub program from the site, it took time to do the stabilizing  but it was fun watching each frame being examined where movement and direction of pixel blocks were marked with arrows and values stored during the first pass of the program. The second pass showed each frame being shifted......

Of course if you had used a tripod..................

Nat

[Woodsy]

Mr NationalSolo,

Thanx 4 yr reply. 

1.  I'm a beginner, & don't know what  'scrub thro the clip'  means.  As for 'Crop and Zoom'  ... using the 'Scale' button, & typing numbers into the sliders, seems very easy & quick, so I'm not keen to try any other method.

2.  Using a tripod ??  Most of my vids are when I'm walking, or holding the cam whilst driving a Salang  (motorcycle/ sidecar combo)  about in Thailand.  Holding the tripod as well as the camera migh have been even more difficult.

Keith

[Nationalsolo]

Hi Woodsy

".... I'm a beginner, & don't know what  'scrub thro the clip'  means.  ..."

It's just a phrase which means grabbing the red cursor line on the timeline and dragging it left or right so the clip/project can be viewed more rapidly than by simply playing it.

In the context of the discussion re. Stabilization, the process of adjusting each video frame so it lines up with the next frame and so on, (which is basically what the stabilization plug-in does) can leave variable borders to all four sides of the resulting clip. For a nice smooth edge to the video these borders need to be removed. The plug-in can do this but the settings are a little complicated. So once you have stabilized a clip you can Crop the borders off. As the borders can vary in width  throughout the clip depending on how much shake there has been when the clip was filmed, you can crop a little, guessing the amount required and then "scrub through the clip" with the red cursor line. Any borders still visible can then be eliminated by increasing the cropped area. (It's quicker than playing the clip) Once you have eliminated all the borders the frame will be smaller than normal so by using the Zoom effect you can bring it back to full frame again.  Normally the stabilization is very good and borders are in most cases are entirely eliminated without the need to crop.

".... Using a tripod ??  Most of my vids are when I'm walking, or holding the cam whilst driving a Salang  (motorcycle/ sidecar combo)  about in Thailand.  Holding the tripod as well as the camera might have been even more difficult. ..."

I was being a bit facetious      I filmed some sailing from my dinghy some years ago......didn't work then either!

Nat

[Woodsy]

Ha ha ha.  U got me !   I was halfway through strapping a tripod to my wrist ...

But ... yr method of clipping seems more complicated than just applying a little zoom straight off.  Am I missing something ?

Keith

[Nationalsolo]

Hi Keith

No,  you are not missing anything.  Zoom on its own will work just fine.

Nat

[mx1001]

I do something more time saving:

1) Before starting editing , I start stabilizing all videos with a stand alone stabilizer (i prefer ffmpeg) . Stabilized files get a new name / folder. I prefer ffmpeg than the build in deshaker . I prefer ffmpeg even over Mercalli 4 . FFmpeg have less borders and better results from both of them (Deshaker 2.4 / Mercalli 4) .

2) At the same time or later or next day or whenever I want I start editing the whole project .

3) If I chose to replace some sections with stabilized ones , I isolate them in a separate clip , and I chose 'Replace Clip File' and I replace them whith the stabilized ones. If the stabilized files are not ready yet I save the project and continue replacing files later or tomorrow ...

4) (Optionally) FFmpeg batch files writen like a watchfolder so they can be run in a separate machine in my LAN , so I got 0% CPU consumption in my PC during stabilization when they run from another PC .

So I never wait for stabilization .

 

[Woodsy]

Thanx,

But I'm a beginner.  I bought VideoPad because it said, 'Easy to use, intuitive, drag & drop ...' etc etc - which is just what I need.    I had a quick look at 'HowTo Install ffmpg' on Google,  and it gave a load of instructons that were all Greek to me, and looked like a mini-nightmare all of its own.

Keith