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Image Stabilization in CS5 (no Mercalli Support)

Explorer ,
Apr 16, 2010 Apr 16, 2010

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I have preordered CS5, and currently make use of the mercalli FX plugin to stabilize shaky video clips.  It doesn't appear that mercalli will be compatible with CS5 for a while, is there some other plug in I can use to provide high quality image stabilization?

Has anyone used motion stabilization in After effects and compared it to what Mercalli does?

For now I guess I will stabilize clips in Premiere Elements, export them, then use the pre-stabilized clips in CS5 but that will get cumbersome fast.

Are there any really high quality motion stabilization plug ins that will be compatible with CS5?  Has anyone here compared Mercalli to other solutions, and found one that's better?

-Roger Uzun

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

LEGEND , Apr 16, 2010 Apr 16, 2010

Roger,

Until ProDAD updates Mercalli, I would think strongly at using a good head and set of legs. If one needs to do tracking shots, off of a head & legs, I'd think about renting a steady-cam rig.

In most cases, Mercalli does a pretty good job, but will never compare to a stable base for the camera.

Have not heard any schedule for ProDAD, but would assume that they will have something soon.

Good luck,

Hunt

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LEGEND ,
Apr 16, 2010 Apr 16, 2010

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Roger,

Until ProDAD updates Mercalli, I would think strongly at using a good head and set of legs. If one needs to do tracking shots, off of a head & legs, I'd think about renting a steady-cam rig.

In most cases, Mercalli does a pretty good job, but will never compare to a stable base for the camera.

Have not heard any schedule for ProDAD, but would assume that they will have something soon.

Good luck,

Hunt

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Explorer ,
Apr 16, 2010 Apr 16, 2010

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I do primarily UW videography of fast moving, active subject matter in the wild.  A tripod is not feasible in most circumstances.  Even in photographing nature above water there are often circumstances when you are seeking predation shots etc where a tripod is simply not feasible.

I need to use post processing on some scenes, period, I'm not shooting human beings who respond to direction nor am I able to choose when/where I start / end a scene.

I think NewBlueFX has an image stabilizer that is compatible, or will be compatible in May, with CS5.

Does anyone know if the NewBlueFX image stabilizer compares well to Mercalli?

-Roger Uzun

UW Videos -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYHx4FXVBo4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5sUoNQRivY

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Advisor ,
Apr 16, 2010 Apr 16, 2010

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Very nice work!

I would suspect that 3rd parties will start talking about their plans for 64 bit drivers for CS5 soon.  That have been muted by NDA until recently.

One 3rd party plugin that I know of has publickly released drivers is Neat Video for noise reduction.

http://www.neatvideo.com/

I know that is not what you are looking for, but its a good sign.

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Explorer ,
Apr 16, 2010 Apr 16, 2010

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I think mercalli will support CS5, just not in the very near future.  As I said there is a company called newBlueFX that says their image stabilization plugin will support CS5 sometime in May, so I will try theirs since it's not real expensive.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried the NewBlueFX Image stabilization plugin, and could contrast it to Mercalli's.

I saw another package called Boris FX that claims support for CS5, but it costs a lot more and it doesn't seem to be a plugin.

Does anyone have any experience with the Borix FX package for image stabilization?

-Roger Uzun

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LEGEND ,
Apr 17, 2010 Apr 17, 2010

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Roger,

You might want to ask that question on Muvipix. I believe that the NewBlueFX stabilization plugin is to one included in PrE. I also know that many users on Muvipix have Mercalli. Some should be able to give you a side-by-side on those two plug-ins, albeit the 32-bit versions.

Good luck, and yes, I see where a tripod might get in the way with UW material.

Hunt

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Explorer ,
Apr 17, 2010 Apr 17, 2010

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Oh boy, I've used the one that comes with PrE and it's basically useless.  I hope it's not the same as their commercial product, or that they've improved it a lot since including it in PrE.

My experience with the one that comes with PrE is that it almost never improves anything, and it's very very slow.

-Roger Uzun

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Guest
Apr 17, 2010 Apr 17, 2010

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In the meantime all the 3rd Parties are saying they support or will support CS5, But we will have to do without them for a while.  Start planning a workaround or better yet have CS4 and 5 doing the job side by side as usual.

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Explorer ,
Apr 17, 2010 Apr 17, 2010

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Well in my case I will have Premiere Elements 7, 8 and CS5 working side by side.  I will probably end up doing all my stabilization on clips in PrE, then exporting them as high bitrate MPEG-2 files and importing those stabilized MPEG-2 clips into CS5, but that gets pretty cumbersome and if you decide to use more of the clip you have to redo the process etc.  It will work but it will be a lot clumsier than having a plug in that works in the CS5 timeline.

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Participant ,
Apr 17, 2010 Apr 17, 2010

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Thanks for the Neat video update. Besides Red Giant Looks, Colorista I was worried about Neat video the most. That program is worth every penny.

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Participant ,
Apr 17, 2010 Apr 17, 2010

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Looks like Neat video in AE is now 32 bit float, but doesn't render any faster being 64 bit native. At least not on DVCproHD footage. Most likely it's gonna be faster on bigger, more uncompressed stuff and 4k red.

Neat had been slow with new updates so I'm really glad to see it's the first 64 bit plug-in out. Too bad you have to buy 2 licenses if you want to use it on Premiere and After Effects. It's the only plug-in out there that has those restrictions.

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Explorer ,
Apr 18, 2010 Apr 18, 2010

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I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that After Effects CS5 continues to have a version of Mocha AE included. Maybe someone from Adobe could confirm that.

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Participant ,
Apr 18, 2010 Apr 18, 2010

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Yeah, it also comes with Mocha Shape and Freeform. Pretty cool.

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Explorer ,
Apr 18, 2010 Apr 18, 2010

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CS5 Mocha AE & Mocha Shape plugin

Yep, it's there. It's not clear if Mocha AE is 64 bit, though, since it's a stand alone program,  The Mocha shape plugin is 64 bit, obviously. The full version of Mocha 2 (not the one included with CS5) is 64 bit, though.

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Participant ,
Apr 18, 2010 Apr 18, 2010

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I have the full v 2 of Mocha, and I must say it does an awesome job of image stabilization with significantly less image softening than Mercalli.

Mercalli is very quick & easy. Mocha is a little more time consuming, but once you learn the workflow, not too bad. Since Mocha ships with Production Studio, IMO it's sure worth checking it out.

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New Here ,
Jul 26, 2010 Jul 26, 2010

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Is Mercalli v2 available now ?

Is this sample really Mercalli v2 ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E80bJapOP3w

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Participant ,
Jul 26, 2010 Jul 26, 2010

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Mercalli 2 BETA was tested from the German magazine Videoaktiv Digital this weekend,

link --> http://www.videoaktiv.de/201007244594/News/Editing/Prodad-Mercalli-2-Bildstabilisierung-und-verbesse...

price are preliminary, start with 149 EURO for standalone version

I hope that all the CS4 (especially 4.0.1) issues are now history.

HB

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New Here ,
Aug 08, 2010 Aug 08, 2010

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I am a user of Premiere Pro CS5. I have tested both NewBlue and Boris and they do a fair job. Before making a decision I would like to try Mercalli V2. It has not been released yet but you can BUY a beta version with upgrade when released. As far as I can tell from them, the Pro version has a stand alone version and all plugins and is $249. Or you can purchase the stand alone for $149

I would love to try it but have a problem purchasing the software without seeing how it performs first. It is more expensive than the competition so It would have to clearly be superior.

My guess is when it is officially released they will have to offer a trial. Release was supposed to be May, then June, July, and now they are saying August.

So we will see.

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Advocate ,
Aug 08, 2010 Aug 08, 2010

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I have purchased this beta version, which comes with a hefty discount.  You get three versions: 32-bit, and 64-bit plug-ins, and a stand-alone version.  It is at least as effective as version 1, and is easier to use.  You no longer have to select a suitable preset, this seems to be done automatically as part of the initial analysis.

I have not tried the new 64-bit version yet, as I am waiting for drivers from Matrox before moving to CS5, so I have mostly used the SAL version.  I like this - you get a mini-timeline of the clip with the areas which need excessive correction highlighted.  I have found this useful as it permits selection of a section of the clip which requires the least stabilisation.  They seem to have messed up the edge treatment though - none of the three options seem to give a constant zoom, or black border, if that is your choice.

There are no help files as yet, and activation has been simplified.

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New Here ,
Aug 08, 2010 Aug 08, 2010

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Allen, thanks for the reply. I wonder if anyone has tried the V2 with Premiere Pro CS5? Or if anyone has compaired Mercalli with Boris or NewBlue?

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New Here ,
Aug 11, 2010 Aug 11, 2010

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Alan, If I were to breakdown and purchase the Mercalli V2 now, never having used it before, would I be able to use it without manual or help? In other words do you think it is intutive? My gut feel is Mercalli has had a good reputation and may be the best long term solution. would value your opinion.

Thanks.

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Advocate ,
Aug 11, 2010 Aug 11, 2010

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Using the new version is far easier than the old, as you no longer have to select the best preset - the software now does this automatically in the initial analysis.  It is still possible to tweak the various individual settings manually.  With the old version you had to buy the expensive "Expert" version for this feature, but this time around there is only the one version - the expensive one of course!

As far as I know, the new version is available to existing users only, on special request.  It is expected to be generally available at the end of this month, and the help files will be with it then.

You do have to watch for a number of potential pitfalls:

field order - Mercalli is not good at detecting this automatically when used as a Premiere plug-in;

treatment of borders - an inevitable consequence of all stabilisation is that the area of video moves within the frame, leaving blank areas at the edges.  these vary from frame to frame and there are three alternative ways of handling this.  the new version is less clear in this, to me at least.  I normally zoom the video to eliminate the black borders.

transitions - if you apply Mercalli to a clip in your timeline and then apply transitions to the end(s) of the clip, the analysis will have to be done again, as you have introduced previously unconsidered areas to the clip.  I normally apply Mercalli to the clip on a second timeline, render and export the clip, making sure that I include all the material that I may want to use, if I apply transitions.  I generally apply colour correction, etc before exporting to avoid as far as possible quality loss due to repeat rendering.  I usually apply 10% sharpen filter at this stage too.  The new version offers a stand-alone version, which I like very much as it marks in red areas of the video in which extreme correction has to be applied, opening up scope for selecting the "less-unstable areas of video for use.

I have never used either After Effects or Mocha, but I have used all the other commercially available stabilisation software, and Mercalli gives by far the best results of the half dozen or so.  I have tried  the New Blue stabilisert, but I could not get on with it.Most of the others I have used are no longer available.  You could try SteadyHand from Gooder Video.

Message was edited by: Alan Craven

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New Here ,
Aug 11, 2010 Aug 11, 2010

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Alan, thanks for taking the time. I have inquired and they offered to sell me the current version at a discount with upgrade to final version. I an tempted to try it.

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New Here ,
Aug 12, 2010 Aug 12, 2010

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Hi,

I just bought t the Mercalli v2, and I wasn't a previous user.  The plugin works fine with my CS5.  I tried the trial versions of Mercalli and NewBlue Stabilizer.  I thought Mercalli produced the best results.  Also, I was able to get the NewBlue Stabilizer plug in to work with CS4, but not with CS5.

Most of the time, the stabilization is amazing.   I mainly got it for my helicopter footage of Kauai.  It was a doors off flight so I didn't have to shoot through Plexiglass.  Unfortunately, my camera was getting a lot of buffeting from the air stream.   Mercalli did a great job.   Occasionally, it will distort the image (a rubber band stretching).

I wasn't able to find a manual for v2, only for v1.  Right now, I am using the default settings and the results are very good.

ProDAD is having a sale on the new v2.  It is 20% off for a net cost of $200.  Also, they will include the stand alone version (now beta, but they will give the production version later on).  I don't understand why I would use the stand alone version if I can get a plug in to work with my CS5.

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New Here ,
Aug 12, 2010 Aug 12, 2010

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Good feedback. Thanks for taking the time. I will probably go ahead and get it.

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