In motion tracking, you identify the subject you want to follow through the frame, and the software tracks it as it moves through the shot. For stabilization, it’s the opposite, you identify the spot that you want to remain centered in view, and the the whole frame moves around to compensate. The result is a non-shaky video!
I assumed that there would be a way to identify a subject in a video and have that remain centered in view as the webpage states.
I attempted 'Track Motion' and was able to track the subject in the video. However, there was no way I could find to accomplish keeping anything like 'centered in view' in either the Track Motion or overlay sections
tried looking for a filter that would accomplish this, however I could only find 'Anti-Shake' which did not offer keeping a subject centered in view
I attempted going into the 'Pan and Zoom' option and thought perhaps there would be a way to pan and zoom using the tracking completed above, but did not find an option for that
Is the webpage correct in that Corel VideoStudio Pro can identify the spot that you want to remain centered in view, and the the whole frame moves around to compensate? If so, how can this function be used?
If I understand you correctly, you'll need to apply the 'Mercalli 2.0' FX to the clip. This would allow you to stabilise the video. It won't guarantee that something will stay completely static, but it can help to improve the general stability or panning motion of a video and a few other tricks.
You would find this in the "proDAD" effects if you had the Ultimate edition. Sadly it's not available with the Pro version.
I'm not sure, but it may be available as an add-on. I would check on the Home page, under "Get More". As I have the Ultimate version I can't tell if this will be available to you.
Ok thanks, I can see that PRO doesn’t have Mercalli. That’s why I couldn’t find it. The blog I mentioned above mentions PRO having motion tracking, but then moves onto discuss stabilization without indicating that feature is only available in ULTIMATE. Web page needs an update.
It also seems strange to me that there isn’t an option to pan and zoom based on Tracker - why wouldn’t you want to utilize that for pan & zoom? Seems like a no brainer...
I've just had another look at the page you linked to above.
The article only mentions the Pro version for video tracking. When it comes to stabilisation the video could be a little misleading in the opening credits, but the audio clearly states that Mercalli comes with the Ultimate edition. Annoying, but unfortunately true.
Pan & Zoom in a video has only recently (with VS 2018) been added. Previously it was only with stills. We all use the available tools in different ways for our video projects and what we plan to do with those tools will vary hugely.
It may be a good idea to put together a suitable scenario where both stabilisation and pan & zoom would be beneficial. For me I'm not keen on the loss of resolution. Most of my recording is done in 1080 and I render in 1080. Zooming in would result is the image becoming fuzzy. This might be alright in some future project, but not most of what I am currently doing.
I am a bit confused now -- your title for this topic was about Pan and Zoom - but suddenly stabilisation came into the discussion
Pan and zoom (and fade in and fade out ) on a track was discussed in this topic here :- viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64237
Stabilising a wobbly image can be done using the Mercalli "Rock Steady Camera" filter - which comes with the Ultimate version - but like all stabilisers it has limitations - unless the object is reasonably near the centre to start with and stays within a sensible distance of it (if keeping it in the centre is what you want ) the stabilser will zoom in so much to crop the edges of the video as to make it unwatchable - but if you just want to hold the whole video stable then you can achieve that
if you just have some hand held maybe long zoom images which wobble a little then the Rock Steady Camera will meet your needs
Thanks BrianCee. I mentioned pan & zoom because I was out of options for keeping an object 'centered in view' and thought perhaps this was supposed to be an option through pan & zoom.
Now it was mentioned that this function was available through Mercalli, and that is not available in PRO only ultimate. That's why I couldn't find it.
Scubbie wrote:
The article only mentions the Pro version for video tracking. When it comes to stabilisation the video could be a little misleading in the opening credits, but the audio clearly states that Mercalli comes with the Ultimate edition. Annoying, but unfortunately true.
Yes I didn't watch the video. I was going on the text of the article which only referred to the PRO version so assumed PRO referred to everything in the page.
This seems the most appropriate place to post this, rather than starting a new thread:
I've successfully been using the Track Motion feature to successfully stabilise videos which have very large camera movements, which the anti-shake feature isn't able deal with (VideoStudio X9.5).
1. I find it best to divide the video into short clips, depending on how much movement there is.
2. Insert the video clip you want to stabilise into the library.
3. Drag the video clip from the library to the timeline, making sure it is selected.
4. Because the final output has to compensate in the OPPOSITE direction to the original movement, you need to work on a video that has been both flipped and inverted - in other words rotated by 180 degrees (this is counter-intuitive, but it works). After selecting the clip > Options > 90 deg rotation twice. The video is now upside down and backwards in the timeline.
5. Go to Track Video, select a point on the image that will become your stable reference point, using either a point or an area. Set the Matched Object frame to the FULL image area.
6. Track that point (at this stage, the tracker can sometimes lose its reference point, which is why its a good idea to use fairly short segement of video).
7. If the track has been completed successfully, click OK, and go back to the Timeline View. A placeholder will appear in the overlay channel.
8. Drag the original (unrotated) clip from the library onto the placeholder, and press Ctrl to place it on the placeholder. You need to drag the clip from the library, not from an external source. This video will now be stable. You need to leave the original rotated video in place, otherwise the tracking path gets deleted.
9. Render the video.
10. The edges of the video where the placeholder has moved around will show the underlying rotated video. Either mask those areas out, or magnify the video as an overlay in another rendering, so that they are off the edges of the video.
11. It is possible to repeat the process more than once on the same clip - because the movement is reduced each time, each successive time the tracker can track more accurately. If there are remaining small vibrations, shakes, etc, they can be removed with the anti-shake feature.
12. Because of the multiple stages of rendering and the magnification (if that is used) there will be some loss of resolution, so it is better to start with a higher resolution video than you want to finish with.
This sounds complex but isnt once you get used to it. The main issue is choosing a good point to track so that it doesn't get lost when the camera makes a large movement. It can also be used to keep a tracked object (e.g. a racer you are following) in the centre of the frame. I've been experimenting with different types of video - at the moment I'm using it to stabilise videos of performers on a stage taken with an unsteady hand-held camera. One day I may make a video to show the method.
The reason for posting it here is to see if anyone else has been doing this - I couldnt find it with a search of the site.
Jim.
Jim Pickles wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:18 pm
The reason for posting it here is to see if anyone else has been doing this - I couldnt find it with a search of the site.
Jim.
