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PD newbie: how do I apply video stabilization to all of the clips on my timeline?
fishtop_records
Newbie Location: Wayne, PA Joined: May 12, 2016 02:02 Messages: 39 Offline
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I'm new to using PowerDirector, so please excuse what has to be an obvious question. I shoot a lot of GoPro video from a motorcycle mounted camera while riding trails. There is lots of vibration from the engine, rocks, ruts, roots, etc.

I want to apply the video stabilzation tool in the Action Camera Center to all of the videos/clips in my timeline.

So far, the only way I can find to make it happen is to, in turn, manually select a segment, apply the tool, set the options, and then repeat.


There has to be a faster and easier way.


Can some nice person enlighten this rookie?

Thanks
Pat
Anonymous [Avatar]
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Hi, Fishtop Records!

About the only idea I can think of at this instant is to edit all your clips together, render(produce) them, then apply the stabiliser to that "rendered" item. An alternative is, if you have, say 15 clips, edit five at a time, render them, apply the stabiliser to that render, then do likewise for the second and third set of clips, then edit the lot together. The alternative is given because, I've sometimes noticed, that the stabilisation effect doesn't seem to "carry on" for very long. Applying to short sections might well be the way to go.

Cheers!

Neil.
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online
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Hi Pat -

It sounds like you need to apply the same level of stabilisation to each clip - shot on the same camera on the same trip - so the simplest thing to do is set the stabiliser for the first clip then... Apply to All



That option may be hidden on your screen - just resize the windows and it'll be there laughing

Cheers - Tony
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BarryTheCrab
Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline
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Quote: Hi, Fishtop Records!
I've sometimes noticed, that the stabilisation effect doesn't seem to "carry on" for very long. Applying to short sections might well be the way to go.
Cheers!
Neil.


This puzzles me. I don't wish to hijack this thread, but it has been "solved", so if you would care to clarify this "carry on" issue regarding the Stabilizer, please do, because I have never seen the Stabie act in the way you indicate, ever. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online
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I've never seen that either, not that I've ever need to use stabilisation for clips longer than a couple of minutes.

Just retested a series of clips I shot bushwalking on a pretty rough track, ranging in duration from 45sec to 2:10. Set the stabiliser to 40, checked enhanced stabiliser & applied to all. The same level of zoom/stabilisation was applied for the whole duration (just under 15 minutes). So, I guess you could say it "carried on".

Cheers - Tony
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fishtop_records
Newbie Location: Wayne, PA Joined: May 12, 2016 02:02 Messages: 39 Offline
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Quote: Apply to All[/b]
That option may be hidden on your screen - just resize the windows and it'll be there


You are correct, I just want a global setting of the stabilization function.

I'll try this.

Thanks
Anonymous [Avatar]
[Post New]
Hi, Barry & Tony!

Some years back(using a Hi-8 camera) I shot some video content but wasn't using a tripod, so the video was quite shaky as you could imagine it would be. A little while ago I'd taken some of that old content and, for my own amusement, thought I'd try "cleaning it up a bit". I applied CLPV to convert its aspect ratio, used a bit of image sharpening(a little tweaking of brightness & contrast) and apply video denoise, which really cleaned up those clips, but on applying stabiliser, I noted that, while it "fixed" the first few minutes or so of the clip(the edge[borders] of the video shook while the image itself appeared stable, I was ready for that, I made up some masking to hide the shaky borders), as I played further along, I noticed a severe side-to-side jitter of the image. I had applied the stabiliser across the entire clip(apply to all), after editing, snipping out unwanted bits and dropping in some transitions, but it was that side-to-side jitter which threw me! I thought the stabiliser was supposed to remove shakiness in clips, not add some of its own! That's what I meant by "carrying on". That's why I suggested to Fishtop Records to edit shorter sections together, render them, THEN apply the stabiliser to each short section, joining those sections together to form his movie only after he's satisfied the stabiliser has done its job properly on those shorter sections. I've based this entirely on my own experiences, needless to say, I try to use a tripod these days at all times(except where sometimes it's impossible - crowds of people bumping the tripod can be a problem).

Cheers!

Neil.
fishtop_records
Newbie Location: Wayne, PA Joined: May 12, 2016 02:02 Messages: 39 Offline
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Quote: I try to use a tripod these days at all times(except where sometimes it's impossible - crowds of people bumping the tripod can be a problem).


I have a couple of tripods from my photo days, but that doesn't work well for the "live capture" of a speeding dirt bike.

Based on the answers here, I setup "use enhanced stabilizer" on the whole video. Bad idea. I'll have to play with it more to see what is causing it, but there is a very strange ultra-fluid look in sections. Its very disorienting. Hard to describe exactly, but in places where the bike (and thus the GoPro) turn on a narrow trail, the world (all the trees in the forest) slowly flow as if the world were embedded in jello, and the camera physically can't turn quickly. Of course, sometimes the dirt bike really does turn quickly.

Pat
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online
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Neil -

I'd humbly suggest that you were asking a lot of your PC in applying:


  • CLPV to convert its aspect ratio

  • image sharpening

  • brightness & contrast

  • video denoise

  • stabiliser


to your Hi-8 footage. That's a LOT of processing to be done, even on (very) SD clips. I hope you're sitting behind a capable setup.

In your case, with all that adjustment being processed at once, it's illogical to attribute "blame" to one particular thing (i.e. the stabiliser).

Just like your suggestion to edit with the stabiliser in short sections, you could have avoided the jittery behaviour by pre-producing after each set of adjustments.

Cheers - Tony
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ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online
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Hi Pat -

I've found that some clips don't respond well using the "Enhanced Stabiliser". Have you tried it again with that option unchecked?

What settings did you use?

Cheers - Tony
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Anonymous [Avatar]
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Hello Tony(Ynotfish) and Pat(Fishtop Records),

Firstly to Tony, admittedly the computer sometimes "cacks" itself, but overall the processes I applied work okay, so, overall, the computer "handles" what I'm doing okay, but I'm only processing old Hi-8 or VHS stuff on the odd occasion these days, most of my editing time is in digitally-shot content that doesn't need all that much "processing".

And to Pat, those old tripods(I suspect) that you tried, may have been for "stills" cameras, thus no provision for pan and tilt. The screw-in bolt will have fitted your camera but that's about the only real compatibility those old tripods had. There would have been no ability to "track" that dirt-bike as it roared past your camera position. Tripods for video cameras would have that little grip-handle which allowed panning a full 360 degrees and tilting as well, and, with whatever "knobs" on the tripod, you could "lock" in your desired angle of shot. That would help with stabilising your shots, though, in a crowd of people, someone's going to bump your tripod while you're recording a scene. That's happened to me a few times while standing on a crowded platform at Maitland Railway Station last April while shooting clips of vintage steam locos. The video stabilisation in Power Director is mainly intended to smooth out shaky hand-held shots, as you know, but I suspect it ain't-a gonna cope with severely shaky stuff. As it happens modern digital cameras do have in-built compensation shaky hand-held shots. Basically it comes down to trying to avoid any real need to apply the stabilisation in PD. A thought that just occurred to me, how close to your subject matter(the dirt-bike) were you when shooting the video? Were you close enough to get a reasonable shot as it flew past, without having to "zoom" in(telephoto)? I asked because the telephoto(zoom in) has a tendency to severely exaggerate the shakiness in a hand-held camera shot., Telephoto shots really "scream out" for the necessity of a tripod!

Cheers!

Neil.

(P.S., while writing the above, I had notice of, downloaded and installed an Apple Software Update, presumably for QuickTime, just thought I'd mention it).
fishtop_records
Newbie Location: Wayne, PA Joined: May 12, 2016 02:02 Messages: 39 Offline
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Quote: those old tripods(I suspect) that you tried, may have been for "stills" cameras, thus no provision for pan and tilt.


Hi Neil,

One small detail, I"m not shooting bikes that are going past me and the camera, which is where a pan/tilt head is important.

The camera is mounted on the bike, or on the helmet of the bike's rider.

Motion stabilization in this case is probably incapable of making it look like the forest speeder sequence in Revenge of the Jedi. But it would be nice if the software can take the edge off.
Anonymous [Avatar]
[Post New]
Quote:
Quote: those old tripods(I suspect) that you tried, may have been for "stills" cameras, thus no provision for pan and tilt.


Hi Neil,

One small detail, I"m not shooting bikes that are going past me and the camera, which is where a pan/tilt head is important.

The camera is mounted on the bike, or on the helmet of the bike's rider.

Motion stabilization in this case is probably incapable of making it look like the forest speeder sequence in Revenge of the Jedi. But it would be nice if the software can take the edge off.


Hi, Pat!

Ah, now I get it! Either you, as the rider, or another person who rode this dirt-bike, has shot the sequence from the "rider's view". I can imagine this is going to result in shaky video of "earthquake" proportions(and yes, I have experienced an earthquake). PD's image stabiliser may be somewhat "out of its depth, trying to stabilise such shots. You might get a reasonable degree of stabilisation for a helmet-mounted camera-shot, but if the camera was on the bike.... that's gonna tax the stabilisation to the enth degree! As for the enhanced stabiliser, it might tend to "overdo" the stabilisation, resulting in what you described in your earlier post. Getting back to my earlier post, cameras having in-built compensation for shakiness, that should also apply to these GoPro models as well, so activating such an in-camera feature, might act as an "assist" to the stabilisation process in Power Director. Just a thought!

Cheers!

Neil.
tomasc [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline
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Quote: Based on the answers here, I setup "use enhanced stabilizer" on the whole video. Bad idea. I'll have to play with it more to see what is causing it, but there is a very strange ultra-fluid look in sections. Its very disorienting. Hard to describe exactly, but in places where the bike (and thus the GoPro) turn on a narrow trail, the world (all the trees in the forest) slowly flow as if the world were embedded in jello, and the camera physically can't turn quickly. Of course, sometimes the dirt bike really does turn quickly.

Pat


You are describing the rolling shutter artifact seen in consumer camera cmos sensors. Jello is here to stay. Stabilization won’t correct it. You need other software and lots of time to correct it in small sections at a time. See this link for an explanation: http://www.qimaging.com/ccdorscmos/pdfs/RollingvsGlobalShutter.pdf . This video show that stabilization at the video source is best however you achieve it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj4e1maVDF8 .

There are many good GoPro bike videos on YouTube.
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