Version 1.0.10 of Mercalli released.

[RJ Johnston]

ProDAD released an update for the Mercalli stabilizer plug-in. It's now up to version 1.0.10.

http://www.prodad.de

[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks, Robert.

I assume this is a better package than the stabilizer included with version 4 of Premiere Elements.

Any chance you can post a before and after clip?

[RJ Johnston]

The plug-in can be used with other video applications besides Premiere Elements. It will also work in Premiere Elements 3.0.

It's hard to judge the effectiveness just by looking at one example, but here is one. Video came from a VHS-C camcorder recording taken in 1993. The left side is the "before," of course.

[wmvvideo]http://muvipix.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10181/Rock_Climber.wmv[/wmvvideo]

[Steve Grisetti]

Yeow! That's amazing! (All the more so if that's you climbing that rock!)

[RJ Johnston]

Nope. That's not me climbing the rock. That's not even me taking the video.

[jackfalbey]

I assume this is a better package than the stabilizer included with version 4 of Premiere Elements.

I'd like to know if Steve's assumption is correct... should I buy PE4 just for the stabilizer or go right to Mercalli for a better result?

Also, is it correct to assume that this software works by enlarging the video frame and then shifting the image to keep it centered? This would, of course, result in some cropping of the sides on the original image...

[Briantho]

... is it correct to assume that this software works by enlarging the video frame and then shifting the image to keep it centered? This would, of course, result in some cropping of the sides on the original image...

I'm thinking hard but I can't imagine another way in which this might be achieved...

[Paul LS]

From reading about it over on the Sony Vegas forum I believe it can enlarge it, leave a black border or keep the same size but "smear" the edges to fill the border.

[RJ Johnston]

There are a variety of options for handling the border. What I like to do is use the "dynamic border" option, then put the crop effect on with 5 percent edges. That way there is no enlarging, and the edges are hidden most of the time by the crop effect. On standard television, the crop is outside the safe areas, so you wouldn't notice it anyway.

Where you would have difficulty is trying to make a pan shot into a static shot. ProDAD warns you against trying to do that, as the borders would be very large.

The stabilizer effect that comes with version 4 is okay for occasional use. If you have lots of footage that needs stabilizing, then Mercalli is the way to go.