SteadXP and SteadXP +

[sidd finch]

It never ceases to amaze me at how fast the technology moves in the camera world. This Kickstarter campaign is a prime example.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPAjd0STnRs[/youtube]

A crowdfunding campaign to produce a combined hardware and software solution that comes in 2 versions: the SteadXP is for use solely with GoPro cameras while the SteadXP+ is compatible with any camera with a standard cold shoe, stereo microphone input and a clean video output (AV Out or HDMI) including DSLRs and cinema cameras.

Powered by a 32 bit ARM processor, the custom SteadXP hardware incorporates both a 3 axis gyroscope and 3 axis accelerometer. The hardware is mounted on your camera to record its movements while the camera records unstabilized video as usual.

In post production the SteadXP software uses the camera movement data to build new “virtual camera trajectories” to stabilize your footage, removing geometrical distortion, vibration and rolling shutter artifacts. The software allows you to choose stabilization profiles such as horizon lock to keep the horizon level in your corrected footage or to reframe to follow the subject.

The SteadXP software also includes algorithms to create parts of the image from past and future frames where excessive movement in a sequence results in the edge of the image frame being revealed.

From what I have read it looks like the software does some major cropping so maybe recording in 4k so that you still get a nice clean 1080p output is key.

Sidd

[Steve Grisetti]

Wow! Nice!

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

On my wishlist.

[_Paz_]

Looks cool.

[sidd finch]

I wonder what the difference between using this device and using after effects. It seems like after effects is doing just about the same thing.

Sidd

[Bob]

Software stabilization can be tricky. Software has to track multiple features in the image and try to calculate how the image is being transformed in order to apply a correction to neutralize the motion. If the camera moves too fast, the features may be too blurred to recognize. The tracked features can go outside the image frame. The subject or some of the background objects can be moving -- potentially blocking some of the tracked points, or maybe they contain some tracked points. Lots of things can affect how good of a job can be done. With this product, the actual motion of the camera is captured. Knowing how the camera moved, you can simply reverse the motion to stabilize the video. It's a much simpler process and theoretically more accurate.

After Effects uses software stabilization and is subject to the limitations of that process. But, stabilization is often not the main issue in After Effects. More often than not, you need to track objects in order to do compositing. This is a much more difficult problem than stabilization as you need to track what objects within the field of view are doing independently of other objects. You need to know more than just how the camera is moving. You need to also know how the subject is moving with respect to the camera. SteadXP doesn't do that.

[sidd finch]

Knowing how the camera moved, you can simply reverse the motion to stabilize the video. It's a much simpler process and theoretically more accurate

It sounds like the combination of SteadXP and a brushless gimbal could make from some pretty smooth video. Just have to wait and see if this will be cost prohibitive.

Sidd

[_Paz_]

Knowing how the camera moved, you can simply reverse the motion to stabilize the video. It's a much simpler process and theoretically more accurate.

In ProDad's Mercalli Stabilizer software there is a setting for 'rock still'. The results can be dramatic, but when I've tested it seems to try to make every moving thing in the video remain in one spot. If I'm trying to get stabilized footage of a bee that is hovering over a flower that is blowing in a breeze, the program seems to want to stop all motion and significantly crops to do so. It seems to me that removing only the camera shake might work out better.