Removing footstep bounce in post

Nathan Quattrini · May 28th, 2015, 11:51 AM

Last August when I bought my first gimbal I shot some footage, while it's super smooth compared to my Glidecam, I still have a slight rhythmic up and down (almost like a wave) movement in my footage from walking while holding the Besteady gimbal, it's from my arms dipping slightly with each step. I have tried warp stabilizer in Premiere CS6 with no luck of removing the up/down bounce. Any other tricks I can try?

To me it looks like a combination of the footstep forward movement having speed pulses, as well as the up/down of my arms, maybe it's throwing off the warp stabilizer?

First half of the clip is no warp stabilizer, second half with the best options I could find (pictured below)

Chris Medico · May 28th, 2015, 07:54 PM

What I can recommend moving forward is to practice and eliminate the movement the best you can as you operate. That artifact is common with many stabilizers but it can be mostly eliminated with practice and learning the correct stepping and posture.

Do some reading on how to operate a steadicam. You'll see how much the operators techniques minimize the camera movements as much as the steadcam does. The same techniques will benefit your operation.

Noa Put · May 29th, 2015, 01:12 AM

I think Nathan wants to know how to further smooth out his footage in post, that particular example he shows is virtually impossible to have a forward motion without any visible walking motion if you are not wearing a vest/arm. It's the racks left and right that are so close to him that make the bounce movement more noticeable.

I"m not a AE expert and use the warp stabiliser in AE often in it's auto settings but it must be possible to remove that bounce, I only think it will introduce other artifacts, you could make the end point (the racks at the far end) stay static so it doesn't move vertically but because the point of view changes on those side racks while walking with that up and down motion that might result in some other unwanted warping effects, where is Andrew Kramer when you need him? :)

Chris Medico · May 29th, 2015, 05:47 AM

Removing it in post will require some tweaking with a bunch of keyframes.

Unless it is a location you can't get to again I would recommend practicing more and shooting it again.

May 28th, 2015, 11:51 AM	#1
Nathan Quattrini Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Warwick, Rhode Island Posts: 740	Removing footstep bounce in post - gimbal footage Last August when I bought my first gimbal I shot some footage, while it's super smooth compared to my Glidecam, I still have a slight rhythmic up and down (almost like a wave) movement in my footage from walking while holding the Besteady gimbal, it's from my arms dipping slightly with each step. I have tried warp stabilizer in Premiere CS6 with no luck of removing the up/down bounce. Any other tricks I can try? To me it looks like a combination of the footstep forward movement having speed pulses, as well as the up/down of my arms, maybe it's throwing off the warp stabilizer? First half of the clip is no warp stabilizer, second half with the best options I could find (pictured below) gimbalbounce - YouTube Attached Thumbnails __________________ Cinematography Site

May 28th, 2015, 07:54 PM	#2
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	Re: Removing footstep bounce in post - gimbal footage What I can recommend moving forward is to practice and eliminate the movement the best you can as you operate. That artifact is common with many stabilizers but it can be mostly eliminated with practice and learning the correct stepping and posture. Do some reading on how to operate a steadicam. You'll see how much the operators techniques minimize the camera movements as much as the steadcam does. The same techniques will benefit your operation. __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

May 29th, 2015, 01:12 AM	#3
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: Removing footstep bounce in post - gimbal footage I think Nathan wants to know how to further smooth out his footage in post, that particular example he shows is virtually impossible to have a forward motion without any visible walking motion if you are not wearing a vest/arm. It's the racks left and right that are so close to him that make the bounce movement more noticeable. I"m not a AE expert and use the warp stabiliser in AE often in it's auto settings but it must be possible to remove that bounce, I only think it will introduce other artifacts, you could make the end point (the racks at the far end) stay static so it doesn't move vertically but because the point of view changes on those side racks while walking with that up and down motion that might result in some other unwanted warping effects, where is Andrew Kramer when you need him? :)

May 29th, 2015, 05:47 AM	#4
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	Re: Removing footstep bounce in post - gimbal footage Removing it in post will require some tweaking with a bunch of keyframes. Unless it is a location you can't get to again I would recommend practicing more and shooting it again. __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com