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4k stabilization only works sometimes, part two
I raised this issue in an earlier thread and no one had an explanation or a solution. I have done further testing and it seems that the problem fcpx has with stabilizing 4k doesn’t have to do with frame rates or downscaling vs. not. For example, I just tried stabilizing a 4K shot that has a lot of movement and the stabilization worked great, but with another shot with less movement that would seem to be easier to stabilize, the results are bad no matter what scaling or frame rate o stabilization method I try. This is really frustrating since I was expecting to be able to shoot 4k handheld at least as much as I do with 1080p 60 fps, since I thought I could max out the stabilization settings and still get sharp footage even with a substantial zoom in applied by the stabilizer. If I can’t solve this problem my 4k shooting will have to be restricted to tripod shots.
Please, has anyone else experienced this problem? Has anyone found stabilization software that works especially well with 4k footage? -
6 Replies
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Show an example shot- nothing beats a tripod or shoulder mount if you expect steady looking shots.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
Call Box Training -
I will provide samples later, but my main question is why does an ALMOST IDENTICAL shot usually (but not always) stabilize much better, if shot in 1080p 60fps. I have done multiple tests shooting the same handheld dollying or tracking shot, once in 4k and once in 1080p 60fps, and the 4k will usually not be adequately stabilized even at max settings, while the 1080p usually comes out silky smooth at default settings. If it’s simply that 60fps footage can be more easily stabilized (more frames to work with), then why do SOME of my 4k, 30fps shots stabilize quite well, even when there is a lot of camera movement? This issue of stabilization SOMETIMES working well but most of the time not is what is driving me crazy. With 1080p, I can almost always predict whether a shot can be decently stabilized, but not at all with 4k.
Of course getting the most stable footage possible to begin with is important, but again, using the same handheld shooting style that I’ve always used with 1080p 60fps, 90% of my shots are successfully stabilized. With 4k, less than 25% are successfully stabilized, and the percentage doesn’t seem to improve much even when I try to be much more careful and deliberate with my movements.
Also, I wonder why I haven’t found anyone else at all talking about this problem. Some weird quirk with my particular copy of fcpx?
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1080p 60fps is AVCHD, MTS files that use a directory in a folder called “private”. Panasonic GH3 and LX100.
4K 30fps is mp4 files that can stand alone without a directory, Panasonic LX100.
Hmm, I didn’t test avchd vs mp4 to see if one stabilizes better than the other…. -
Stabilization, and the analyzation that a program like FCPX does, is context dependent. Sometimes, it’s going to work better than other times.
Lock and Load is a third party stabilizer, if you have Adobe CC, warp stabilizer is available in Pr or Ae. Motion has some different settings.
There may be shots were an analysis based stabilize isn’t going to work well enough, and you may have to do it the old fashioned way of tracking, and reversing that tracking motion to stabilize in a program like Ae.
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I’d also try optimizing to ProRes first- temporal frame analysis and long gop AVCHD/MTS are not always a good mix.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
Call Box Training
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