NewBlue Stabilizer on Sale Today

Laurence wrote on 8/23/2013, 11:20 AM

Mercalli is miles better. I have (and love) lots of NewBlueFX plugins, but I would let this one slide.

Arthur.S wrote on 8/23/2013, 2:19 PM

just as an aside; I've totally given up on the Vegas stabiliser. Total poo. I still use the free deshaker. Works as well as any. I struggle with the concept that a multi-national company like SCC can't produce either a stabiliser, or an HDV capture programme to rival even FREE software. Sigh....

PEDmedia wrote on 8/23/2013, 2:44 PM

First post. Been scouring this forum on/off for months hoping to find a solution to Vegas' nonfunctional stabilizer. I tried a couple of free downloads that didn't integrate with version 11 like they were supposed to...

Today I happened upon a link while googling for a free download of Mercalli's Easy Video Stabilizer in this article: http://www.mostiwant.com/blog/mercalli-easy-video-stabilizer-free-download-serial-number/

The download is from a German Mercalli site (google translate it) and may only be free for a limited time. But it does NOT seem to be a trial version. Followed the article's instructions and everything worked as promised.

I've just stabilized two videos I shot with a handheld while four-wheeling through the desert...

Blown away with how well this works. But I'm easily impressed compared to how well NOT Sony's onboard stabilizer works.

Just thought I'd share.

Kimberly wrote on 8/23/2013, 3:12 PM

Hello PED and welcome!

I'm glad that download is working well for you. It may well be legit -- perhaps a promotion in German speaking countries to increase awareness of Mercalli products? Keep us posted if you notice anything weird such as malware, etc., creeping in. I'm very curious.

In any event, I've been keeping an eye on Mercalli these past few years so one day might just buy it : )

Regards,

Kimberly

Gene Aum wrote on 8/23/2013, 5:54 PM

proDAD's ProDrenalin is on sale today at 25% off - Just got it and works as advertised (which is amazing these days).

It states that stabilization is included although haven't tried this yet.

Edit: Nowhere in the offer or Sony ordering did it state that the DeFisher (remove fisheye) was extra. Turns out this feature is $99 (minus 20%). Kind of bate-and-switch.

Steve

flyingski wrote on 8/23/2013, 6:06 PM

I've been using Mercalli for the past couple of years and my only regret is I didn't buy it sooner. It's quick, easy and works perfectly with Vegas. After you've used it on a long, hand-held project you'll forget the high price. Deshaker can do an excellent job but it's not as simple to operate.

DeadRadioStar wrote on 8/24/2013, 1:58 PM

@PEDMedia, just took your advice on Mercalli Easy .... and I'm blown away! Many thanks for the tip!

Kimberly wrote on 8/24/2013, 5:13 PM

Here is the Mercalli link in English:
http://www.mercallieasy.com/

It certainly looks legit!

Edit:
More importantly, it might be a way to save $$$ upgrading to [I]Mercalli PRO
V2 Plug-Ins + V2 SAL[/I]. Once you own [I]Mercalli Easy[/I], you can upgrade to [I]Mercalli V2 SAL[/I] for $99. Haven't found a link yet that shows whether there is a discount on the PRO upgrade.

Andrew B wrote on 8/25/2013, 2:55 PM

For some reason I thought Mercalli was the plug in included with a previous version of Vegas. It was quick and totally functional.
When the stabilizer changed to its current form in Vegas I purchased Mercalli and have been very happy since.

Andrew

John222 wrote on 8/27/2013, 7:07 AM

How does Mercalli easy work? Is it a plugin or stand alone?

CJB wrote on 8/27/2013, 10:13 AM

It is a standalone.

TeetimeNC wrote on 8/27/2013, 10:54 AM

I have Mercalli Pro and like it. One thing to be aware of though - it requires the project video settings be set to match the output rather than the source. This can be a problem if you wish to render to multiple resolutions and/or frame rates (e.g., web, DVD and Blu-ray).

/jerry

Kimberly wrote on 8/27/2013, 11:33 AM

[I]This can be a problem if you wish to render to multiple resolutions and/or frame rates (e.g., web, DVD and Blu-ray). [/I]

Ouch! That could be a deal breaker for me as I currently deliver on DVD and will offer both DVD and BD starting in December.

Thank you so kindly for mentioning that.

amendegw wrote on 8/27/2013, 11:52 AM

"This can be a problem if you wish to render to multiple resolutions and/or frame rates (e.g., web, DVD and Blu-ray)."Workaround: Tools->Render to New Track (make sure your project properties match your video event match the render template. Once the new event is rendered you can reset any temporary changes to your project settings).

...(the other) Jerry

Dan Sherman wrote on 8/27/2013, 7:17 PM

Already have tripod.
Works well as a stablizer.

Julius_ wrote on 8/27/2013, 8:24 PM

Just downloaded the Mercali Easy....the only output is to WMV??
I tried "Video for Windows" and it crashed.

I also noticed that the first time I loaded Mercali Easy, I saw a message about FFshow can't be loaded....or something like that, I had 10 seconds to act before it disappeared...tried re-running and I don't get that message anymore..

PEDmedia wrote on 8/27/2013, 9:26 PM

I've noticed the output issue as well, so I'd correct my previous posting to say maybe it IS a trial version. No time limit, but only renders in WMV. The output file sizes are huge (about 5-6 times larger than the AVCHD input file) and slow Vegas noticeable for me. I workaround with a proxy file. Still a bargain for the price, and no malware...yet.

amendegw wrote on 8/28/2013, 4:23 AM

For those installing the Mercalli Easy product (or full Mercalli, for that matter), I would suggest reading the following thread: Stabilization Bargain? Mercalli Easy

Pay particular note to the discussion about the K-Lite, ffdshow & Matroska Spliter.

...Jerry

Kimberly wrote on 8/29/2013, 7:40 AM

Hello All:

NewBlue is recapping Awesome August by offering each day's item at the sale price again today, including their Stabilizer . . .

Can someone point me to the best source for the Deshaker and/or the New Deshaker? I have yet to give that a try and I want to do a side by side with the NewBlue trial.

Regards,

Kimberly

riredale wrote on 8/29/2013, 10:57 AM

Here. Don't know if it's the latest version, but it installed easily and works well.

I don't care to "lock down" all random motion, just reduce it significantly. This also makes the edge interpolation done by DeShaker less noticeable (I don't like hiding edge motion by zooming in, since it reduces sharpness overall). I typically use values of 500 in the Pass2 motion smoothness boxes.

markymarkNY wrote on 9/1/2013, 7:54 AM

I was able to upgrade from the free "Mercalli Easy" version to the V2 Plug-In for $119 ($149 plus they give you a 20% discount code). Better than the $249 retail! Thanks for the tip! I've been eyeing this software but haven't pulled the trigger.

Arthur.S wrote on 9/1/2013, 8:00 AM

I've been using 'new deshaker' for a long time now with the default settings (PAL HDV footage). Curious what settings other folks use to tweak it?

Kimberly wrote on 9/1/2013, 8:30 AM

@marky:

I too have been considering Mercalli Easy as a gateway upgrade to the Vegas plug-in. Mercalli Easy didn't meet my needs, nor did NewBlue (although I do have other NewBlue products that are great for me).

I was poking around on the Mercalli site and noticed this in their list of supported plug-ins:

So I guess this means I'll have to load Vegas 10 after all and see how that compares to Mercalli and the Deshakers old and new.

Regards,

Kimberly

PS. Also going to wait on spending any $$$ until after Vegas Pro 13 or XIII or whatever it's called is announced. Maybe the onboard stabilization will revert to being at least as good as VP10 . . . hey, it's okay to dream!

riredale wrote on 9/1/2013, 5:40 PM

Arthur:

Some years back I really got into all the settings. You can, for example, have DeShaker look at only a portion of the image when doing calculations for steadying. But now I pretty much just leave things alone.

I tend to prefer to have the smoothness settings on Pass 2 at around 500. Increase the number to make things steadier (but with larger boundary issues). There is also a setting for rolling shutter, which I use when the footage is shot with a CMOS camera.

Finally, I should mention that DeShaker produces an intermediate file. I think the default setting was for uncompressed, which creates some amazingly large files and slows things down. I've told my DeShaker to render to an Mjpeg intermediate which is a much smaller file even with low compression parameters.