Deshaker Vegas Script - back again

jimmyz wrote on 6/27/2007, 7:48 PM

WOW

That totally worked.

My first virtualdub and script

Thanks

The fishing video may be watchable after all.

Mahesh wrote on 6/28/2007, 1:09 AM

Ummm. would the script work with v6.0d?
I am still in iron-age:)

willlisub wrote on 6/28/2007, 2:31 AM

Any advice how to get the temp directory and finished video off my C Drive when using this script? I keep a small C drive partition for programs and OS only and won't be able to use it. I'm guessing I might be able to figure it out, but thought I'd ask and save myself some time and agony.

This is how good the script is. I was at a small wedding (as a guest) and my cousin (at the last minute) asked me to video take the ceremony at waters edge on Lake Michigan.

I had a small DV camcorder with me. No tripod or mics etc... Just the camera. I had just helped carry a gal in her wheelchair about 100 yards over the sand and a couple minutes later the ceremony began.

My arms were so tired, I couldn't hold the camera steady. I later told them the video was unusable. I had a little footage from before the ceremony, but that was it.

I tried this script on an embarrassingly bad 3 minute segment, (disk limitations) of the wasted video and it's now usable.

John, very nice work. You are very kind to share this with us.

Mahesh wrote on 6/28/2007, 2:48 AM

I used the Deshaker for the first time yesterday. To say I was astounded, is an understatement.
Absolutely, B****DY, marvellous.

Grazie wrote on 6/28/2007, 4:21 AM

Mahesh? .. UnF$^%&*ing-believeable huh?

Like I said - please make it Grazie-Proof! And John DID!!!

I've got stuff I NOW shoot on my SpiderBrace WITH a 2x telephoto that is just sooooooo acceptable now. The kinda work I just should NOT do without a Trip. Of course I still use a tripod - but this "package"just works! And works bleedin' well too!!

I'm very pleased for you Mahesh! You can NOW see what we've been going on about?

Regards,

Grazie

Mahesh wrote on 6/28/2007, 4:33 AM

I am getting too old to keep up with your excitement, Graham but in this case, i shall make an exception.
By gum, lad, best thing since slice bread, or rephrasing, best thing since tripod.
Anybody outthere who can point me to where the script is?

jetdv wrote on 6/28/2007, 6:15 AM

Anybody outthere who can point me to where the script is?

There's a link in the very first post of this thread.

Mahesh wrote on 6/28/2007, 6:49 AM

There's a link in the very first post of this thread.
Did not work for me, initially. I think I have more than my fair share of grey cells in my brain. File Extension was missing from the down load site. I just added .exe to deshaker file and that worked.
Thanks.

JJKizak wrote on 6/28/2007, 7:52 AM

I have some minor problems here. Which Virtualdub version should I be using? Which Deshaker version should I be using? Should the Deshaker filter be installed in Virtual Dub? I have 1.7 VD and 2.2 Deshaker. After I hit the scrip icon rendering occurrs and at the end it says really sorry but cannot find the path. Should I have debugmode frameserver installed which I have? What codec should I have selected in VD? I installed the 1.7 exe instead of the 1.618 exe in the Deshaker file but no cigar.
JJK

JJKizak wrote on 6/29/2007, 7:01 AM

OK, working just fine now. Very nice. I did notice that the take number for clip #1 was #1 but for another clip on down the timeline the first take came up as number 2. Not a big deal though.
This puts johnmeyer in the "Vegas hall of fame."
JJK

aldo12xu wrote on 6/29/2007, 8:52 AM

"Warning to all: the reason I distributed everything (VirtualDub, Deshaker, the VD script, and the Vegas script) as a package is that this is a three-cornered billiard shot. None of these programs makes any representation that the script interface will stay the same from one version to the next."

I've never used Virtual Dub and definitely want to use Deshaker. If I want to use John's script and Video Enhancer from the link below, does it matter which one I install on my computer first? I'm wondering if Video Enhancer comes bundled with a different version of Virtual Dub than Jonh's that might complicate things.

http://www.thedeemon.com/VideoEnhancer/

Mahesh wrote on 6/30/2007, 4:12 AM

Downloaded the script. Worked first time. Fantastic. Copied Deshaker parameters in the deshake.js and works very well indeed.
It would be nice to recompress to DV. I have installed Panasonic codec as suggested by JM. Works fine in VD + DS.
It must be me because when I changed the compressor line to
****** var VirtualDubCompressor = "dvsd"; // MPanasonic DV *******
I get errormessages
1*** Can not initialize due to codec error and
2*** Source image not acceptable etc.

Any ideas?
It would be nice to have DV as deshaken take but if not, I can live with uncompressed.
----------------------------------------------
Core 2 duo with XP pro.

JJKizak wrote on 6/30/2007, 6:56 AM

I love the operation of this script. Maybe there is a possibility that it could be even further inhanced to include a menu at the beginning with the selection of "manual" or "auto", manual being able to adjust the operation at each logical "auto stop point" to alter settings, save settings, and select codecs. The way it works now (auto) eliminates the mental tedium of "what combination do I do next syndrome" and condenses it to the "result is OK or the result is not ok so delete" keeping things simple.
JJK

Tim L wrote on 6/30/2007, 10:42 AM

Well, I will now add my praise to the rest of the accolades, and bump this tread up again in hopes that others will take the plunge.

John, this is just perfect for me. Thank you!

I'm just a home video hobbiest, and I guess I've been aware of the existence of VirtualDub and Deshaker, but was never interested enough (or maybe confident enough?) to download them and take the time to figure them out. It may seem silly, but it seemed like having to step outside of Vegas and into yet another application was just stepping too far out of my comfort zone.

I've only had Vegas since last Sept, and had Vegas Movie Studio for about a year and a half previous to that. Until today, I had never even run a script before.

But I finally downloaded your deshaker package today. Special thanks, by the way, for including *everything* I needed, all in one download! Installation was a breeze.

I've only tried it out on one clip, but it was a real torture test for deshaking. I was backpacking with my son's Boy Scout troop through the mountains of New Mexico (Philmont Scout Ranch) last July. I'd bought a tiny little Elura 100 camcorder for the trip. Most of the footage was great, but I shot some footage while we were actually hiking, and it was punishing -- almost nauseating -- to watch. I'm at the back of the crew, holding the tiny camcorder at arms length up over my head (pointed forward), while hiking up a rocky trail carrying a 45lb backpack. The footage not only wanders all over the place, but has *jarring* jumps with almost every step.

I downloaded your deshaker script package, threw the clip onto a Vegas timeline, and let it do its magic. Brilliant! Of course much of the credit must go to the authors of VirtualDub and the DeShaker filter, but YOU put all of that within my easy reach.

So again, thank you!

To anyone else who has never used the DeShaker filter, and is on the fence about whether or not try this out -- Go for it! It was very easy, very painless.

Tim L

Avanti wrote on 7/3/2007, 10:22 AM

I get this:
THE FILE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED..

How do I get the download?

JJKizak wrote on 7/3/2007, 1:33 PM

It was up for only 7 days. You have to wait till johnmeyer says it's up again.

JJK

michaelshive wrote on 7/4/2007, 7:00 AM

John - any chance this link can get reposted? I downloaded a previous iteration and it didn't work. Would like to try it again if possible.

Thanks!

Cliff Etzel wrote on 7/5/2007, 1:16 PM

How do I change where the deshaker rendered file is located? It keeps rendering to my C: partition and I only have my OS on this partition - is there a way to tell it to render to the project folder??? I have looked through the deshaker.js file and can't seem to find the variable that changes the rendered file path

Cliff Etzel
bluprojekt

DGrob wrote on 7/5/2007, 1:43 PM

The download includes VirtualDub with the deshaker filter as a VDub script. VDub is the program that's applying the filter and renders the project. Open the VDub instance from within the download and apply your settings. The Vegas script will then execute according to the settings you've applied, including compression et al.

Darryl

Cliff Etzel wrote on 7/5/2007, 9:14 PM

Darryl - I'm not sure what you are explaining as I opened the Vdub.exe file and it's a command line interface with no explanation of how to set various parameters

I think this is one of several of Vegas' shortcomings - having to jump through hoops to make something work. Yes I understand this is a free script, but this seems a kludge as compared to the free Steadymove plugin that comes with PPro.

Just install Steadymove and go - no need to edit the script, etc.

Again, I have become somewhat frustrated over the potential of Vegas, and I am left wanting...

Update: Ok, I was testing on a clip only without creating a project file - that was why the rendered file was saving to my C: drive. Once I created a .veg file, the rendered file was rendered to the project folder containing the project file. Go figure...

Now I'm left with these weired artefact's at the edges of the frame - especially at the left edge. Seems to me some type of edge detection or something. Any ideas how to correct it???

image here

Cliff Etzel
bluprojekt

Serena wrote on 7/6/2007, 12:31 AM

Normal. DeShaker is extracting a steady image out of a wobbly one, so around the edge of the maximum steady frame there will be a gap. As you have set the parameters you have chosen to fill in the gap by predicting what should be there, using material from 30 frames before and after the current (default). If the camera is fairly steady or moving slowly this works out remarkably well, but big changes in the scene (such as a whale entering left) can put odd stuff into the edge fill. Generally I prefer to not fill the edges (so they appear black) and crop to the maximum steady frame (you can move this around using key frames).

EDIT: You need to take the time to read this: http://www.vasst2.com/search.aspx?text=deshakerJohn Meyer Tutorial[/link]
Well written, makes it all most straight forward.

Cliff Etzel wrote on 7/6/2007, 8:07 AM

I actually did read this tutorial :-)

The challenge I'm running into is that if the script is run from within Vegas, there is no option to set parameters - Any ideas on how to change this so that I can access within Vegas the render options for a particular piece of footage?

Again, I refer to Steadymove within PPro - just add the filter and run with it - no oddball edges, etc.

Seems so close, as this about the only thing I would utilize as a third party app within Vegas.

Cliff Etzel
bluprojekt

aldo12xu wrote on 7/6/2007, 9:17 AM

I just tried out DeShaker for the first time last night. It worked great. However, I had two issues that i can't figure out:

1. At the start and end of the "deshaken" clip there's a black frame with text, something to the effect "Deshaker is delayed by 30 seconds" (I'm at work now and can't rember the actual wording).

2. I applied DeShaker to 3 clips in the timeline but when I render out to MPEG-2 two of the 3 do not get rendered (black frames are rendered in their place). All other clips rendered out ok. Everything plays fine in preview, including the DeShaker clips.

Possible factors:
- this is an HD project
- original files that I applied DeShaker to were .mt2 files not the proxy .avi files
- output DeShaker file was uncompressed .avi.
- I applied velocity envelope to "deshaken" clip

Thanks in advance,
Aldo.

Serena wrote on 7/6/2007, 6:11 PM

>>>if the script is run from within Vegas, there is no option to set parameters<<<

Usually I don't have a bunch of clips to be run through DeShaker, so have processed my material separately to Vegas. When Victor raised the need for batch processing I wasn't interested enough to download John's script within the time limit. Then I found a need for processing a lot of clips and haven't got the script! Woe! However from the comments in this thread I see that you have to go into John's script and modify the appropriate parameters (which have all been set by John); these are easily identified.
If you choose to process your clips outside of Vegas, you'll have ready access to the filter parameters.
I haven't yet tried Premiere Pro so can't comment on its ability to reinvent edge material that is seamless with the steadied material. Must be magic. The process of steadying is one of realigning frames to remove unwanted camera movement. In a finite field the extent to which frames can be re-aligned depends on the magnitude of camera movement and the final frame size. The process is one of cropping and aligning. So if you want to fill out the cropped frame to full size without enlarging you have to extend the edges in some way. Maybe Steadymove just enlarges to fill the frame? Anyway, DeShaker gives you options for filling in the missing material (or not) as you prefer.