Warp Stabilizer Test Shots in Premiere Pro / After Effects
A quick test of a warp stabilizer plugin in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. This plugin helps to eliminate or stabilize shaky video in post production. We applied this stabilization effect to handheld footage and footage shot with a shoulder rig, steadicam, and glidecam for you to compare the results.
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The video stabilization plugin that we used is called Mercalli V2 by Prodad. It’s a 3D video stabilizer that independently stabilizes the X, Y, and Z camera axis. It has rolling-shutter correction and a Smartborder option that reduces the need to zoom in during the stabilization process This helps to keep more of your original video intact. This plugin is available as a stand alone application (SAL), or as a plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. You can purchase the product here:
http://www.prodad.com/home,l-us.html
We stabilized footage from various short films and equipment reviews that we’ve filmed over the years. We tried to include a wide range of test scenarios: From very shaky handheld footage to smoother (but still imperfect) video shot with a shoulder rig, steadicam, and glidecam. With this test video, you can compare how a warp stabilizer, like Mercalli, will perform when applied to handheld, shoulder rig, and steadicam footage.
This warp stabilizer plugin (Prodad Mercalli V2) is extremely easy to use. While running Premiere or After Effects, just launch the Mercalli plugin and select from four different “virtual” camera types: Universal Camera, Glide Camera, Rock-Steady Camera, and Alternative Camera. Then, select the level of zoom that you want (the more steady the footage, the more zoom the plugin will apply to your original footage). Once the plugin has rendered your clip, you can play the stabilized clip in your timeline and see the results immediately.
More often than not, the warp stabilizer did a nice job of smoothing out our shots (even the most shaky ones). It’s not perfect, of course -- you can still see microshakes and weird “mirage” effects in the footage -- especially in the corners. But overall, we were happy with the results. In some cases, we were able to achieve smooth, tracking shots without the hassle or time setting up a glidecam, slider, or dolly.
All footage in this video was shot with:
Canon Rebel T4i / 650D
Canon 18-135mm STM lens
edited with Adobe Premiere Pro
no color correction
Music soundtrack “Only Time” from http://stereobot.com