Best Tool For Stabilizing Video?

[Makosuke]

I did a search and didn't come up with any other threads, so...

I'm in the process of digitizing some old 8mm camcorder tapes to clean up a bit in iMovie and dump them on DVD. My old camera didn't have an auto-stabilizer, so not wanting my old family videos to make me any more nauseous than necessary, I went looking at stabilization plug-ins.

I'm in the process of testing, but I'm wondering which ones people like? The three I've found are fxStabilizer, piStabilize, and iStabilize. The former two are iMovie plug-ins, the latter a stand-alone program.

So far I really like how fast iStabilize is and how easy previews are (realtime once it's processed a motion track), but I'm worried that it won't produce good enough quality compared to the other sub-pixel rendering programs. Having to movie DV clips in and out of iMovie is a hassle, too.

 

[Lacero]

Unfortunately, all stabilizers will blown up and image to stabilize and image and depending on the level of shake in the video, the quality will not vary too much between the different programs.

I personally use Shake and After Effects to perform stabilization and most of the time, even a slight blow-up of the video to 110% causes noticeable degradation. You also have to contend with field artifacts in interlaced 60i video that will cause further degradation.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​

 

[virus1]

final cut's stabilizer doesn't work for me.. works for a few frames and then jumps way out then comes back. anyone else have this prob? i am on 4.5..

 

[skimaxpower]

After Effects video tracker/stabalizer works well, but takes time and patience. I always seem to end up having to re-do a few frames.

Afterward you'll get black space around the edges where the frames were moved. It's usually best to just use FCP to add a 10% border around the frame. This will be hidden by the frame of a standard TV - so no one will notice.

Alternatively, you can expand your stabalized image to something like 110% size, but you'll lose quality this way.