Rick Gennaro was wondering if a combination of optical flow slo-mo combined with image stabilization could salvage an otherwise very shaky clip.
So, he experimented. In the video below, he reduced the speed by 50% with optical flow selected, then applied image stabilization to the slo-mo clip using Final Cut Pro X.
In this first example, Rick slowed the clip first, then stabilized it.
NOTE: These videos may not play inside FireFox, please use a different browser.
NOTE: The bump in the middle of the tilt was in the master file.
In this second clip, he first stabilized it in Final Cut, then reduced the speed 50% with optical flow turned on.
Then, after making these changes, in this third clip he sped it back to 100% speed to see if the overall smoothness was retained.
Clearly, the final version is much smoother than the original, though web playback seems to add a small bit of jitter.
To me, it also seems that the order these two effects are applied makes a difference. The second clip, where the image is stabilized first, then slowed, seems smoother.
Thanks, Rick, for sharing your tests with us.
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3 Responses to FCP X: Slo-mo and Image Stabilization
Doesn’t work in chrome either – can you share another way?
Hi there,
I was just wondering..
When applied the stabilization on a clip it works fine, im surprised that sometimes it does a look like the camera is on a glide-cam. But i wonder why is that sometimes you see a slight shake, like there is an additional frame. Overall i am very happy with Final Cut pro X. Just wondering how this engine works. Or if there is a way to minimize that shake. I’ll give you an example: On your first clip look at 0.21 – 0.23 sec, may not be the best example but I have edit a couple of clips on my mac and i notice that.
Thanks for your attention.
Very nice! I am nearly finished editing a short film wherein EVERY shot had to be stabilized – and several of them had to be slowed down too. Through trial and error I got results similar to these — but on a couple of occasions FCPX’s stabilizing routine didn’t make the grade. Fortunately, Coremelt’s Lock and Load usually saved the day — which is odd because at other times FCPX’s stabilizer was clearly better.
This is what makes editing so much fun!