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Sony 4K Ultra HD Handhelds
Pro and consumer versions including PXW-Z150, PXW-Z100, PXW-X70 / FDR-AX100

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Old November 25th, 2015, 12:07 PM   #1
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I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

Thought I would add a stabilization filter to a 1080p30 35Mbps story I shot overnight. Turned out really sweet, using FCPX's built in "tripod mode" stabilizer. I will do some testing Thursday night in 4kp30 mode, so there will be no resolution loss when the stabilization crops in for HD export. Still doesn't look half bad for no grading, 35Mbps, and PP4 with my custom color correction modifications. I tried bringing up the mids in post, but they got way too noisy. I was underexposing a bit to protect highlights. Will post another test video shot in 4K, but I am anticipating that the filter will add several hours to my export times!

Everything was shot handheld in Active SteadyShot mode.

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Old November 25th, 2015, 04:35 PM   #2
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

Thanks for that. It would be interesting to see before and after stabilization.
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Old November 27th, 2015, 01:13 AM   #3
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

The Active Steadyshot does a really good job of stabilizing things, good enough for FCPX's "tripod" option to become enabled. It is basically only meant to show up when FCPX thinks your footage was on a tripod, but may have some button pushing or such jiggle in it. I am just really impressed with how it picks out objects and LOCKS them in place, really does look tripod shot except when you see DOP objects moving a bit.....heh.

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Old November 27th, 2015, 10:09 PM   #4
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

Paul - Looks really good! Actually … correction, makes that look impressive!

I’ve used it a lot on many of my handheld shots and I thought I was pretty steady but yours looks a lot steadier. One good test is when there is motion in the foreground like at ~ 1:00 when the officer walks in front of the car and the stabilization doesn’t even wavier.

Wonder if they improved the stabilization in any of the recent updates?

When you say “tripod mode”, does that mean there is another stabilization setting in X?

A couple years ago, one place where I had a jello problem was when sailing close by a buoy that was moving around in the waves and the one thing that was not moving in the picture was land way off in the background. The stabilization tried to work but the nearby moving buoy wound up looking like jello. Since then I’ve noticed that if someone or some object was moving in the near foreground it would create a jello effect.

FCP X’s Stabilization option combined with the AX100 stabilization really does help the handheld, and monopod, shots a lot.
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Old November 28th, 2015, 01:07 AM   #5
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

X has a few options, smooth cam and inertia. Inertia is the one that will allow the "tripod mode" check box, if it determines enough of the subject matter is lockable in place, and can be made to look like it was shot on a tripod. Smooth cam is meant to operate more like the in camera stabilization, to add some friction to the motion. Inertia won't really give you jello, but it will be more likely to give you snap changes in framing.

I am uploading another file fully stabilized, this time with a companion 4K unstabilized raw version to compare. Maybe I can just combine them and put the unstabilized clip adjacent to each stabilized one?

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Old November 28th, 2015, 11:41 AM   #6
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

Well! Never noticed those options before. Don’t remember seeing the “Hide” part before.
Hit the down arrow and bingo, there was “Method” and another (up, down) arrow that provided further options (Automatic, InertiaCam, and SmoothCam). In this case “Tripod Mode” is greyed, probably because it decided it wasn’t capable of being stabilized to that degree, or maybe because it had been previously Stabilized.

This particular clip where the screen shots are from had a fair amout of wave action in about half of the clip so perhaps it didn’t know what to do with all that action.

VERY interesting. Thanks for sharing.

On another note,
As Steven Davis posted a week or two earlier, dvinfo.net…530263-shaking-purpose.html?highlight=shake there are quite a few videos now where it seems camera shake is intentional, or almost so. One astute reply by Noa Put stated that there can be instances where some shake can add to the message (or words to that effect). Hadn’t thought about that before but it’s true. Could this actually have an application in news reporting where there’s a clip of the EMTs wheeling the injured person along in a gurney?

That TV series called something like “The Amazing Race” where couples race around the world in competition, I don’t think a tripod was ever used and also don’t think they knew the video could be stabilized. We also watched a movie a few months back where the whole thing looked like it was shot handheld. Don’t remember if we watched it to the end or not.

So, there’s more options available in editing now. That’s good. I’ll have to go back to the one with the swinging buoy and see if it can be fixed. It’s a good thing I never “throw anything away!"
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Old November 28th, 2015, 12:55 PM   #7
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

There is a "handheld" option (filter/effect) in FCPX, to shake a tripod shot! Sort of an anti-stabilization filter.....gives that moving around intentionally look people seem to like. :-D

My chief photographer is not a fan of handheld video, but I think that nicely (BOSS) stabilized in camera footage has a look of it's own, after seeing ENG shoulder wander for so long. My 4K stabilized shots look really solid. I shot in 4K so that there were plenty of extra pixels to work with when planning an HD output, and it was a good idea. It is important to shoot for this effect, as any wander you introduce will impede FCPX's ability to do the tripod option. In 4K mode, the X70 keeps recording for a second after you hit stop, so I had to trim that off each clip before applying stabilization! Also a very good idea to stay a bit wider than you would normally, to give crop room for the effect.......90% safety works in most cases.

Paul
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Old March 4th, 2016, 07:21 AM   #8
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Re: I don't need a tripod, I have FCPX

So, I have begun stabilizing EVERYTHING!! For fast paced ENG work the little X70 kicks butt handheld, with the help of a little grading and stabilization in FCPX. I really don't think this little toy looks like a $2000 camera......it really impresses me more all the time. Can't wait to get the Z150!

Here is a recent story shot on the X70 with stabilization filter in FCPX.

Drunk Uber driver slams into empty tour bus in Gaslamp - 10News.com KGTV ABC10 San Diego
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