Jerry, is there a way I can export the files from the project media explorer straight to a new location or do I have to do it by hand?
edit - done by hand...strange there's no such function as "export / copy selected to new archive "

"Jerry, is there a way I can export the files from the project media explorer straight to a new location or do I have to do it by hand?"Not quite understanding? Export? And which files are you referring to? What are you trying to accomplish?

...Jerry

I was trying to zip all the single clips and upload them...silly me. I just take them apart on the timeline and render without transitions

Well, I cannot explain why it worked this time, but I followed Jerry's steps exactly as written, and this time the stabilization worked wonderfully well, and I got results that were as good as his. I'm sure I tried the Glide Camera settings. The one thing that WAS different from what I was doing is that Jerry set the project settings before dropping the media onto the timeline. I can't believe that would make a difference ...

BTW, if you want to see a short clip of the Deshaker result, then download this 13 MB file:

Deshaker Sample

I used a rolling shutter of 66% (which is what the 550 apparently measures, according to Gunnar Thalin, the Deshaker creator). I'd say that the result is not quite as steady as the Mercali result, BUT it has the big advantage that you get to use the entire original video because of Deshaker's excellent border reconstruction algorithms. By contrast, the Mercali result is zoomed in quite a bit, so you are only getting about 70-80% of the original frame, and obviously you are therefore also losing quite a bit of resolution.

Thanks John!

they look indeed a bit wobblier than the mercalli, but the full size surely is an asset.

Jerry, or John, here's the file without the fades:

http://claudepauly.net/claudeftp/naturpark-nofades.avc


Give it another 40 min to upload...I'm off to bed soon. Talk to y'all tomorrow and thanks again for all your trouble!

cheers
Claude

@johnmeyer,

I got your 16mm clip (so you can remove the link).

I struggled with this for quite some time. Getting the same error you got. Then I closed and reopened Vegas and the stabilization worked fine using the following Render template: proDAD-Mercalli NTSC DV custom - johnmeyer.sft2


See if this works for you.

...Jerry

Edit: One more thing. Here are my Project Settings:

@johnmeyer,

Here's my render. Left borders in - just so you could see what was done:

16mmStabilized.zip

...Jerry

Jerry,

Ah, that was very helpful. It all makes sense now, but there is a LOT more to the story ...

I used your template and followed your steps, and everything worked. I scratched my head because I had done the same thing, but it didn't work. I won't tell you how I killed twenty minutes figuring this out, but I finally realized that the notes in the render template actually matter !!!!

Yes, in the render template, if you have the notes as follows:

Fps = 16.0000
PAR = 0.909
Field = LowerFieldFirst

it works, but if you have anything else for these three, then Mercalli will not run, even though these notes have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual settings in the template.

I wish I knew where else to post this, because I know that lots of people have had problems with this template matching.

Now I need to figure out how to get Mercalli to treat this file as progressive (it is encoded as DV, but the upper and lower fields are from the same moment in time). That's a special problem to my workflow and most other people won't have to deal with this.

Thanks!!!

Ah, I figured out how to get Mercalli to stabilize the clip as a progressive clip:

1. Set the media properties to Progressive (i.e., "lie" about the field order because the clip really is progressive even though the DV flag says lower field first).

2. Set the project properties to Progressive.

3. Change the ProDad custom render template to progressive AND also change that silly "notes" section to look like this:

Fps = 16.0000
PAR = 0.909
Field = ProgressiveScan

That last line was the hangup.

I just looked at the result and, unlike the result you just posted -- and also the one I was getting using the lower-field-first template you sent -- this is stabilized correctly, without strange jumps from field-to-field (if you separate the stabilized video into fields, there was some very bad stuff happening).

Once again, thanks!

johnmeyer,

This is what I love about this forum. Users helping users and advancing our collective knowledge. Glad you've got it figured out.

...Jerry

+1

/jerry

>This is what I love about this forum. Users helping users and advancing our collective knowledge. Glad you've got it figured out

Yeah - this Forum has always amazed me with its members' friendliness and helpfulness towards one another:)

One thing caught my attention in one of the posts here: it appears to be a difference between:

- matching a project props to a selected clip, and ONLY then dropping the latter on the timeline

- doing it in any other way (like matching the project properties to a clip ALREADY on the T/L)

Can anyone comment on this further? What kind of difference does this make, and is it documented anywhere?

Thanks all,

Piotr

@Mindmatter,

Okay, Here's what I came up with: NatureParkStabilized.zip Note: over 300MB!

While Mercalli V2 did a very good job (IMHO) of stabilization, I am somewhat disappointed in the final footage. You will notice periodic blurs, wobbles & glitches in the resultant renders. IMHO, it still looks more visually pleasing than the original footage. I believe this is a result of the problem johnmeyer indentified several posts up: "However, if you didn't use a high shutter speed (at least 1/250) while filming, I think you are going to be disappointed with the results. Aerial footage from a low-level airplane or helicopter usually has some fairly abrupt bumps, and even if the stabilizer can handle it, the "bumped" frames will be blurred because the motion exceeds what the normal 1/60 (or 1/50 for PAL) shutter can sharply capture."

I'd love to take another shot at stabilizing similar aerial footage shot at 720 50p, 1/250 or higher shutter speed.

Hope this helps,
...Jerry

Jerry,
thanks ever so much for doing this, it really saved the project! Hope it did not take too much of your time!
Yes there is some blurr etc, but it's no comparison to the original footage, which was as good as unusable. IU tried to check the exact settings used in the clips, but the Canon zoom browser only shows some pretty irrelevant metadata, not the speed etc.
I'll apply some Sony sharpness plug to get it a bit crisper.
Next step is to find the right codec to render for the Linux based google chrome in best possible quality, I'll try all the suggestions from the other thread I opened for that subject and experiment.

If I can ever make it up to you, maybe with some music you need for a project or whatever, please let me know.

To everyone, I really appreciate the help and friendliness on this forum, it's a continous source of knowledge and information.
Thanks again,
Claude

One other thing to add to all the great suggestions and help above is that if you do this again, in addition to filming at a higher shutter speed, try to get a camera with a CCD sensor instead of CMOS. This is getting very hard to do, unfortunately.

The reason for this recommendation is that even if you use a high shutter speed, you are still going to have some residual artifacts because of the CMOS jello/wobble effects from the airplane vibrations. Mercalli does the best job of removing these artifacts (compared to other stabilizing apps), but there is still some residual. CCD sensors don't have these artifacts, and therefore if you use a high speed shutter and don't hit too many bumps, your final footage can look almost perfect.

Thanks for the hint John,
not sure though when or if I'll ever have to do aerial views again...

Claude,

Just glad to help. I'm sure sometime, someday I'll post a question for which you have a special expertise and you can repay the favor.

Good Luck with your project!
...Jerry

Hey everyone,
just thought I'd let you see the final result... some unavoidable artifacts but at least it's watchable, unlike the original footage. My thanks once more go out to Jerry for the stabilizing.
Thanks!

Mindmatter,

Some spectacular views there!

If I might make a suggestion: On YouTube, if you click the "Edit" button and go to the "Audio Swap" tab, I'll bet you can find some nice "soaring" music to go with those spectacular views.

...Jerry

Ok great idea Jerry...I had totally forgotten about the music as they ordered the clip without music...I initially was supposed to do it myself but that got cancelled...I'll choose something or eventually write it myself.