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Stabilizing motion (PB only)


    If you shoot with a handheld or airborne camera, or bump a camera during shooting, you may need to stabilize footage. The Stabilizer controls track the specified range of bumpy motion and then adjust the layer's anchor point or rotation. When played back, the motion appears smooth because the layer itself moves incrementally to offset the unwanted motion.

    Track a bright, stationary object in the range of footage you are stabilizing, to ensure that you are stabilizing only unwanted motion. If the size of your motion footage layer is the same as or smaller than the size of the composition, frame the layer to hide its edges by precomposing it. Otherwise, the offset motion that the Stabilizer controls create for the layer will be visible.

    Like the Tracker, the Stabilizer tracks position, rotation, or both. If you track position, the Stabilizer controls generate keyframes for the layer's anchor point, offsetting the position of the object you tracked. If you track rotation, the Stabilizer controls generate rotation keyframes for the layer, offsetting the rotation you tracked.

To stabilize motion:

  1. Select the motion footage layer you want to stabilize and open it in a Layer window.
  2. In the Layer window menu, choose Tracker/Stabilizer Controls.
  3. In the Track and Stabilize section, click the Type menu and choose Stabilize.
  4. Next to the Type menu, choose the motion that you want to stabilize.
  5. Specify the work area you want to track by moving the current-time marker and using the In and Out buttons to set In and Out points. Make sure that the first frame you track is stable. Position and rotation in subsequent frames will be adjusted relative to the first frame.
  6. Define the feature region, search region, and track point, as described in Defining tracking regions (PB only).
  7. Click Options to define other tracking settings, as described in Tracking a moving region or object (PB only).
  8. In the Motion Stabilizer panel, click Analyze. Watch the tracking to make sure it is accurate. If not, press any key to stop tracking, adjust the settings, and begin again. Keyframes are not generated until you click Apply.
  9. When you are satisfied with the track, click Apply to copy keyframes to the layer.
  10. To stabilize one or more additional time ranges in the layer, follow the steps for tracking multiple areas, as described in Tracking a moving region or object (PB only). You can stabilize as many ranges as you need.
  11. Tip iconIf the image creeps in from the margins of the action-safe zone, increase the scale just enough to extend past the margins. Find the frame that creeps in the most, and then nudge the scale (in the Composition window) using the Alt + + (plus) and Alt + - (minus) keys on the numeric keypad (Windows), or the Option + + (plus) and Option + - (minus) keys on the numeric keypad (Mac OS). This technique adjusts the scale for the duration of the footage.