HDV to SD workflow with Stabilization at DVinfo.net

Ryan Hansen · March 24th, 2010, 04:44 PM

Hey Guys and Gals

I've got an edit to do as a promo for yachting club, the footage was shot in HDV 720p. The final copy will probably web web H.264 and PAL SD.

The footage is really shaky, and my thinking is I can somehow put the 720p footage into motion or similar and use it to stabilize the footage in on a SD canvas... If that makes sense - This way I won't lose any quality other than HD to SD...

Any suggestions / "yes I've done that" / "no that's a stupid idea will never work..." :-)

Thanks
Ryan

Alan Craven · April 5th, 2010, 09:15 AM

If you use Premiere for editing, try ProDad Mercalli for the stabilisation - it has a preset for boat motion correction. You can download a trial version frre of charge.

To downscale, I use VirtualDub, using a method based on that described on Anton's video site. I then use Procoder 3 to create DVD compatible files. I find this gives far superior results to using Adobe Media Encoder, which is notorious for low quality down-scaling.

Sareesh Sudhakaran · April 5th, 2010, 09:32 PM

if it's really shaky there's no low-end software that can bail you out. Slo-mo perhaps?

Ian Newland · April 6th, 2010, 02:23 AM

'Ryan, if it was shot at a slow shutter speed (1/50 0r even 1/100) Mercalli or similar will probably blur it more as the frames are repositioned. It's worth a try though being progressive footage, at least you won't have to worry about deinterlacing. Mercalli plugs in to Sony Vegas and is very quick to process, give that a try if you have it. NewBlue just released a stabilizer too, similar to Mercalli $70.

Cheers Ian

Ervin Farkas · April 7th, 2010, 09:54 PM

VirtualDub has a very good (although time consuming to set up) plugin for stabilization.

See http://www.guthspot.se/video/deshaker.htm

You could also use VDub for resizing, it is one of the best if not THE best methods for making SD out of HD.

Ryan Hansen · April 7th, 2010, 10:20 PM

thanks all for your replies

I have FCP studio - probably should have mentioned that - probably using motion's stabilize or smooth-cam in FCP. but I'm trying to work out the best format. My raw footage is HDV, I the final product will be in SD, how can I get the best results & quailtiy in motion / smooth cam by putting HDV into it and exporting as SD... hopefully that make some sense... :-)

March 24th, 2010, 04:44 PM	#1
Ryan Hansen Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 82	HDV to SD workflow with Stabilization Hey Guys and Gals I've got an edit to do as a promo for yachting club, the footage was shot in HDV 720p. The final copy will probably web web H.264 and PAL SD. The footage is really shaky, and my thinking is I can somehow put the 720p footage into motion or similar and use it to stabilize the footage in on a SD canvas... If that makes sense - This way I won't lose any quality other than HD to SD... Any suggestions / "yes I've done that" / "no that's a stupid idea will never work..." :-) Thanks Ryan

April 5th, 2010, 09:32 PM	#3
Sareesh Sudhakaran Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 1,385	if it's really shaky there's no low-end software that can bail you out. Slo-mo perhaps? __________________ Get the Free Comprehensive Guide to Rigging ANY Camera - one guide to rig them all - DSLRs to the Arri Alexa.

April 7th, 2010, 09:54 PM	#5
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	VirtualDub has a very good (although time consuming to set up) plugin for stabilization. See http://www.guthspot.se/video/deshaker.htm You could also use VDub for resizing, it is one of the best if not THE best methods for making SD out of HD. __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

April 5th, 2010, 09:15 AM	#2
Alan Craven Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: York, England Posts: 518	If you use Premiere for editing, try ProDad Mercalli for the stabilisation - it has a preset for boat motion correction. You can download a trial version frre of charge. To downscale, I use VirtualDub, using a method based on that described on Anton's video site. I then use Procoder 3 to create DVD compatible files. I find this gives far superior results to using Adobe Media Encoder, which is notorious for low quality down-scaling.

April 6th, 2010, 02:23 AM	#4
Ian Newland Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 319	'Ryan, if it was shot at a slow shutter speed (1/50 0r even 1/100) Mercalli or similar will probably blur it more as the frames are repositioned. It's worth a try though being progressive footage, at least you won't have to worry about deinterlacing. Mercalli plugs in to Sony Vegas and is very quick to process, give that a try if you have it. NewBlue just released a stabilizer too, similar to Mercalli $70. Cheers Ian

April 7th, 2010, 10:20 PM	#6
Ryan Hansen Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 82	thanks all for your replies I have FCP studio - probably should have mentioned that - probably using motion's stabilize or smooth-cam in FCP. but I'm trying to work out the best format. My raw footage is HDV, I the final product will be in SD, how can I get the best results & quailtiy in motion / smooth cam by putting HDV into it and exporting as SD... hopefully that make some sense... :-)