SmoothCam not enough for rapid camera vibration

Griffinity

Griffinity

Active member
I'm wrapping up production of a new student orientation video for a community college, and I shot some exterior, dolly-looking shots using my Glidecam HD2000, while riding around in a Bobcat utility vehicle (sample below). The Glidecam removed most of the camera shake, and FCP's SmoothCam filter removed most of the wind-induced rocking that affected the Glidecam.

But here's my question: I also attempted a tripod shot from the bed of the Bobcat, which didn't turn out well (also in the clip below). The vibration from the Bobcat engine was rough, and SmoothCam doesn't appear to be designed to remove this kind of rapid vertical vibration. Is there anything that can handle it? (I haven't tried Motion, yet. Does it's Stabilize function work any differently than SmoothCam?)

I plan to speed up these shots anyway, so I almost wonder if I could remove all the vibrated-up frames and keep all the vibrated-down frames, but I doubt they're evenly distributed, and I'm not looking for more work. I may simply scrap the bad shots, but I figured it was worth checking. Thanks!

 
For me, SmoothCam is only useful for tiny jitters in handheld / tripod shots. There are plenty of times when SmoothCam cannot solve the problems. When SmoothCam is failing, you will start to see distortion in the image (like bending of lines) which I see occuring in the right to left tracking shots (as opposed to the forward tracking shots) on your video

I believe the Stabilize feature in Motion is basically the same as SmoothCam (from what I remember, I generally don't use motion)

But yeah, SmoothCam either works perfectly, or it doesn't work at all in my experience with it

I'd love to hear if you figure out a way to save the shot though
 
Griffinity said:
I'm wrapping up production of a new student orientation video for a community college, and I shot some exterior, dolly-looking shots using my Glidecam HD2000, while riding around in a Bobcat utility vehicle (sample below). The Glidecam removed most of the camera shake, and FCP's SmoothCam filter removed most of the wind-induced rocking that affected the Glidecam.

But here's my question: I also attempted a tripod shot from the bed of the Bobcat, which didn't turn out well (also in the clip below). The vibration from the Bobcat engine was rough, and SmoothCam doesn't appear to be designed to remove this kind of rapid vertical vibration. Is there anything that can handle it? (I haven't tried Motion, yet. Does it's Stabilize function work any differently than SmoothCam?)

I plan to speed up these shots anyway, so I almost wonder if I could remove all the vibrated-up frames and keep all the vibrated-down frames, but I doubt they're evenly distributed, and I'm not looking for more work. I may simply scrap the bad shots, but I figured it was worth checking. Thanks!

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What lens did you use for the shoot? Seems like it's a very easy reshoot and just stabilized your camera better and you should be good. IMO some shake is fine as it looks very natural
 
vision_filmz said:
What lens did you use for the shoot? Seems like it's a very easy reshoot and just stabilized your camera better and you should be good.
Click to expand...
I used the Vario 14-140mm on my Panasonic GH2. Yeah, if the shot was super important to me, I'd go back and do it again with my Glidecam rather than my tripod, but I can make due without it if I have to.

alaskacameradude said:
Stabilize in Motion seems to be better if you make sure to set it to
'optical flow'.
Click to expand...
I'll have to try that and see if it handles the vibration any better.
 
You'd need to isolate the vibration during the shoot. I've done a webinar on stabilization plugins, used them all, and they all only work up to a point. Fast machine vibration like this is beyond the range of everything I've tested. Reshoot, and use a car, a bobcat is a very poor choice of vehicle for shooting out of. Or maybe a golf cart.
 
BenB said:
You'd need to isolate the vibration during the shoot. I've done a webinar on stabilization plugins, used them all, and they all only work up to a point. Fast machine vibration like this is beyond the range of everything I've tested. Reshoot, and use a car, a bobcat is a very poor choice of vehicle for shooting out of. Or maybe a golf cart.
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I dunno about a golf cart. I think it would cause more issues since the suspension on them is pretty crappy.

Here is a fun tip...if you ever need to use a vehicle as a tracking shot, let air out of the tires. It will let them deform around any objects that will cause the vehicle to bump up and down. It just allows the tires to absorb more of the shocks, which in turn means you get a bit smoother of a ride.

That's if they will let you let air out of their tires haha
 
I must have just ridden in some real beater golf carts then. I always remember them as spine jarring good fun
 
Griffinity said:
Update: Motion also has no success with the clip, as BenB suggested would be the case. I appreciate everyone's suggestions, and it's no big deal that I can't use this clip. I have alternate shots that will work.
Click to expand...

Well, motion is definitely not going to work miracles, I have had better success
with it than with smoothcam. The best smoothing plug in I've used is
Mercalli's ProDad. Again it won't fix everything, but it's worth a shot.
There's a free trial download you can try and see how it works on your clip.
 
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