To Stabilize Or Not To Stabilize? | That Is The Question

[OOmpiMoto]

I was just going through some of my raw footage looking for content to put in my next motovlog.
What I noticed is that footage seems a little rough from the road conditions. eg. bumps are beign transfered too much for my liking.

I have previewed the auto video stabilization of YouTube, but it just makes it look like crap to me.

What is everyone's preference for stabilizing their footage?
Is there anything you do while riding to minimise unwanted jerky movement?

 

[lupin]

Do not under any circumstances use YouTube stabilisation.

 

[Lurch]

Nononono. It's not that good, and if you use any text as it stabilises, it'll look really poor.

Sony cams do stabilisation, and they do it better than most, but if you side mount your helmet wobbles about and as you look left it suddenly moves left. I'd say using a Sony as a steady cam would work, but only if filming ahead, nothing too dynamic

 

[OOmpiMoto]

Do not under any circumstances use YouTube stabilisation.

I have not used it............. and don't intend to.

 

[Captain]

I've gotten used to using my arms to cushion my ride. If I ride with stiff arms then the footage from the Fireblade is unwatchable.

I have a home made chest harness for the drift ghost which doesn't really record all that well as I can't use my body to absorb the bumps.

 

[OOmpiMoto]

I've gotten used to using my arms to cushion my ride. If I ride with stiff arms then the footage from the Fireblade is unwatchable.

I have a home made chest harness for the drift ghost which doesn't really record all that well as I can't use my body to absorb the bumps.

I guess it really comes down to learning to compensate with your body more while vlogging.

Has anyone tried stabilising during edit where you have more control?

 

[CodeNameAB]

Like others said YouTube stabilization is useless. Adobe softwares have stabilization, you could give it a try if you have it.

You are using the chin mount isnt it? Then some shakes are unavoidable. I too use chin mount but that view compensates for any shake in my opinion.
You can try using the helmet side mount which can result in a smoother video.

 

[Marbro_za]

If its really bad, no software will help you
scrap the vlog and redo it

However, some shaking etc is managable

 

[OOmpiMoto]

Like others said YouTube stabilization is useless. Adobe softwares have stabilization, you could give it a try if you have it.

You are using the chin mount isnt it? Then some shakes are unavoidable. I too use chin mount but that view compensates for any shake in my opinion.
You can try using the helmet side mount which can result in a smoother video.

Yeah chin mount......... i like that it gives a full view.
I have used side mount and it definitely has a smoother video, but personally i think it does not show enough.
It would probably be ok if your are using multi-cam to give different views.

I have not tried stabilisation in Premier yet.

 

[OOmpiMoto]

If its really bad, no software will help you
scrap the vlog and redo it

However, some shaking etc is managable

It's not too bad..... was just disappointed enough that I will have to re-do it.
Fortunately it is more about the road than the crap i was rambling on about.

 

[Captain]

Maybe a daft thing to say but is your chin strap tight enough to stop the helmet wobbling even if your head/body isn't?

 

[OOmpiMoto]

Maybe a daft thing to say but is your chin strap tight enough to stop the helmet wobbling even if your head/body isn't?

Ummm ........ chin strap??? what is that????

My helmet is very fitting to accentuate my lovely head shape and put it on show for everyone to see (just like a tight dress).
That should be good enough right?







Joking aside, yes it is and my helmet literally does not move on my head.
I have to actively and move it if i need to.

 

[Arctic Pride]

the big thing now is the 3 axis steady cam footage...for me its too much of a rig

 

[Captain]

Ummm ........ chin strap??? what is that????

My helmet is very fitting to accentuate my lovely head shape and put it on show for everyone to see (just like a tight dress).
That should be good enough right?







Joking aside, yes it is and my helmet literally does not move on my head.
I have to actively and move it if i need to.

I just have a very fat, chubby, empty shell.

 

[AdydasNZ]

the big thing now is the 3 axis steady cam footage...for me its too much of a rig

I agree and see why its going to be a future (maybe more so than 360) but the equipment mounting required is MASSIVE and super un functional, the new Hero 5 and Karma Grip + backpack with mounts on the bag its self may be a path worth going down..

But Mic isnt going to be reaching well so its a fail for me - they need Sena Bluetooth integration to really kick it off.

 

[scooterwuf]

I tried a few things to compensate for the shakes. One is to select a lower resetting. Rather than shooting at 1080p try 960p (if possible). On a GoPro camera this will provide 25% more vertical viewing area, and helps to stabilize the shakes. The aspect ration is 1280 x 960 and is closer to a 4:3 aspect ration look.

If you are looking at a fix in post-production I’ve used the Stabilization effect in Adobe After Effects, and if it’s really bad, then a tracking stabizing effect can be done as well. Both take time. On a 15 minute clip I broke it down to 2 minute segments and depending on which computer I was on (laptop or desk) it took anywhere from 1-3 hours. Worth it, though.

Wuf

 

[KittenMeat]

I'm really excited by the new generation of stabilization tech. The gopro one is software stabilization, but the sony stabilizer tech is amazing. they've used it for a long time on their DSLR so you can shoot at a smaller FStop in low light without shaking the camera. It at least gives you an extra stop in photography, and in videography it makes action videos a lot better and less nauseating to watch.


I really hate that the hero5 doesn't have a nice stealth mic adapter yet though. Major bummer.
Probably will go Sony on my next action cam!

 

[Superballs]

Stabilization is a tricky thing.

There is digital stabilization, which is garbage more times than not. This is where the camera has a gyro in it and will crop your footage and use a pan/scan algorithm to keep it more or less in place. It reduces your video quality and when you do turn your head, it makes it look really weird.

Optical stabilization is where it's at. This is where the lens optics are actually shifted in real-time to keep the image still. The only downside is that like digital stabilization, if you move your head, it will also make the motion look weird.

To describe the motion thing, at first it will keep the image still, then will kind of snap to place, then move at a normal speed. That still-snap-normal seem awkward.

A lot of optical stabilization also can only work on one axis at a time as well.

 

[Panotaker]

The optical stabilization on the new Sony FDR-X3000 is amazing, but you have to mount the camera in the right place. I have seen others mount it on the side of their helmet, but like others said, it acts weird. The video looks smooth, but the little bit of the helmet that is visible, moves all over the place. I mounted mine at first on my handle bars, so you could see the speedometer. The speedometer was rock steady, but everything else in the video was shaking all over the place, and the video was unusable. I ended up mounting it on top of my helmet where it works great. On my latest video, I hit a rough section on the road I was on, and the bike bounced all over the place. I even commented in the video that the road wasn't the smoothest road in the world. When I got home, I played the video back, and the optical image stabilization on the Sony, smooth the footage out so good, that you can't even tell that the road was rough.

 

[Superballs]

The optical stabilization on the new Sony FDR-X3000 is amazing, but you have to mount the camera in the right place. I have seen others mount it on the side of their helmet, but like others said, it acts weird. The video looks smooth, but the little bit of the helmet that is visible, moves all over the place. I mounted mine at first on my handle bars, so you could see the speedometer. The speedometer was rock steady, but everything else in the video was shaking all over the place, and the video was unusable. I ended up mounting it on top of my helmet where it works great. On my latest video, I hit a rough section on the road I was on, and the bike bounced all over the place. I even commented in the video that the road wasn't the smoothest road in the world. When I got home, I played the video back, and the optical image stabilization on the Sony, smooth the footage out so good, that you can't even tell that the road was rough.

There's something special about our heads and how well they actually stablilize themselves.

If you take a look at my videos, you can see my bike bouncing around in the frame like crazy sometimes, but the road tends to stay still (relatively) in the frame. Now, I more than compensate that because I look around at everything.