Vegas Pro 8c and Mercalli

Harold Brown · February 28th, 2009, 08:19 AM

Once installed Deshaker is no more work than Mercalli.

Richard Jones · March 1st, 2009, 04:50 AM

Harold,

I'm not sure that's right.

Mercalli is a proper FX within Vegas itself which you drop directly on the clip. This then opens a diaogue box in which you make your selections from the various alternatives on offer with these then being applied by Mercalli very quickly indeed. With DeShaker you have to render out the selected clip, import, apply DeShaker, export and then input into Vegas which is a cumbersome process even though the results are usually excellent (and it's an even more time consuming process if you're unlucky enough to have quite a few clips to be treated in this way).

Of course, ideally we should ensure that everything is right at the taking stage but it's not always possible as we all know!

Richard

Edward Troxel · March 1st, 2009, 07:10 AM

Richard, the script he's talking about automates the process of rendering out the clip, automatically starting VirtualDub and running the deshaker script on the exported clip, and then bringing the adjusted clip back in. So while the steps are correct, they have been automated so you don't have to manually do them all.

Richard Jones · March 1st, 2009, 09:02 AM

Many thanks Edward. I hadn't realised that and it certainly makes a difference to what I said. But I should guess its still a longer process

Richard

Harold Brown · March 2nd, 2009, 08:19 PM

I'm done. Do what you want.

Rick Diaz · March 2nd, 2009, 11:27 PM

I have hundreds of clips to deal with and would prefer to remain in Vegas Pro rather than bouncing back and forth between programs.

And Harold, no need to get all bothered. ;)

Richard Iredale · March 8th, 2009, 09:14 PM

Rick, I faced the same issue last year on a documentary project. In the past, I've used DeShaker manually, which involves a lot of steps for each and every clip. It worked great, but was a pain to deal with.

John Meyer's script now resides on my toolbar. In my last project, I decided it would be nice to have dozens of clips DeShaken. All I had to do was (a) highlight the specific clips on the timeline, (b) click once on the John Meyer script icon, and (c) walk away from the PC and go to bed. In the morning, the dozens of clips had been replaced by their DeShaken versions as new takes. I could go back to an original clip by just highlighting it and hitting the "T" key. Sweet.

John's script makes working with DeShaker a no-brainer. I had looked at the Mercalli product last year, but concluded that it was a poor competitor to DeShaker in how it dealt with black frame boundaries (as you probably know, DeShaker has the option to fill in the black frames edges with close-matching succeeding or prior frames, and most of the time this trick works very well). I should also mention that I throw on a 3% or 4% coocke-cutter black border on all my work. The border hides any leftover edge artifacts and is still small enough to be unnoticeable to the viewer.

Richard Jones · March 10th, 2009, 06:38 AM

Richard,

I've found the "Border Settings" Tab in Mercalli to be effective in dealing with the black frame boundaries - normally i would use 'Without Border (Upscaled)" or occasionally "Dynamic Border." Apart from this, the thought of having to wait overnight or even for a couple of hours for the outcome doesn't appeal too much no matter how excellent the result (and I do know that DeShaker is very good).

Jist a passing observation.

Richard

February 28th, 2009, 08:19 AM	#16
Harold Brown Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: North East Ohio Posts: 84	Once installed Deshaker is no more work than Mercalli. __________________ Harold BhagaVideo.com

March 1st, 2009, 04:50 AM	#17
Richard Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Woking, England Posts: 116	Vegas Pro 8c and Mercalli Harold, I'm not sure that's right. Mercalli is a proper FX within Vegas itself which you drop directly on the clip. This then opens a diaogue box in which you make your selections from the various alternatives on offer with these then being applied by Mercalli very quickly indeed. With DeShaker you have to render out the selected clip, import, apply DeShaker, export and then input into Vegas which is a cumbersome process even though the results are usually excellent (and it's an even more time consuming process if you're unlucky enough to have quite a few clips to be treated in this way). Of course, ideally we should ensure that everything is right at the taking stage but it's not always possible as we all know! Richard

March 1st, 2009, 07:10 AM	#18
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Richard, the script he's talking about automates the process of rendering out the clip, automatically starting VirtualDub and running the deshaker script on the exported clip, and then bringing the adjusted clip back in. So while the steps are correct, they have been automated so you don't have to manually do them all. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

March 1st, 2009, 09:02 AM	#19
Richard Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Woking, England Posts: 116	Vegas Pro 8c and Mercalli Many thanks Edward. I hadn't realised that and it certainly makes a difference to what I said. But I should guess its still a longer process Richard

March 2nd, 2009, 08:19 PM	#20
Harold Brown Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: North East Ohio Posts: 84	I'm done. Do what you want. __________________ Harold BhagaVideo.com

March 2nd, 2009, 11:27 PM	#21
Rick Diaz Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 146	I have hundreds of clips to deal with and would prefer to remain in Vegas Pro rather than bouncing back and forth between programs. And Harold, no need to get all bothered. ;)

March 8th, 2009, 09:14 PM	#22
Richard Iredale Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 67	Try the automated DeShaker Rick, I faced the same issue last year on a documentary project. In the past, I've used DeShaker manually, which involves a lot of steps for each and every clip. It worked great, but was a pain to deal with. John Meyer's script now resides on my toolbar. In my last project, I decided it would be nice to have dozens of clips DeShaken. All I had to do was (a) highlight the specific clips on the timeline, (b) click once on the John Meyer script icon, and (c) walk away from the PC and go to bed. In the morning, the dozens of clips had been replaced by their DeShaken versions as new takes. I could go back to an original clip by just highlighting it and hitting the "T" key. Sweet. John's script makes working with DeShaker a no-brainer. I had looked at the Mercalli product last year, but concluded that it was a poor competitor to DeShaker in how it dealt with black frame boundaries (as you probably know, DeShaker has the option to fill in the black frames edges with close-matching succeeding or prior frames, and most of the time this trick works very well). I should also mention that I throw on a 3% or 4% coocke-cutter black border on all my work. The border hides any leftover edge artifacts and is still small enough to be unnoticeable to the viewer.

March 10th, 2009, 06:38 AM	#23
Richard Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Woking, England Posts: 116	Vegas Pro 8c and Mercalli Richard, I've found the "Border Settings" Tab in Mercalli to be effective in dealing with the black frame boundaries - normally i would use 'Without Border (Upscaled)" or occasionally "Dynamic Border." Apart from this, the thought of having to wait overnight or even for a couple of hours for the outcome doesn't appeal too much no matter how excellent the result (and I do know that DeShaker is very good). Jist a passing observation. Richard