Hacker News Reader

Comment by IgorPartola | Hacker News Reader

Does GoPro do any kind of video stabilization? I am a bit worried about getting one of these and having a video that's completely unusable (I am thinking about taking it for some trail running).

Also, are things like Gear Pro and other knock-offs worth anything?

View on HN

I don't think so (I have a Hero 3+ Silver). Lots of folks use post-processing software to stabilize it or you can look at a stabilizing mechanism to mount the GoPro on like (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/48127572/easygimbal-an-...)

EasyGimbal looks fine but pretty expensive; the Tarot, which is designed for quadcopters, can be fitted on pretty much anything, is of super high build quality and costs around $200:

http://www.helipal.com/tarot-t-2d-brushless-gimbal-for-gopro...

It's only 2D whereas the EasyGimbal is 3D but I don't think pan stabilization is much useful, except maybe when filming with the camera in hand. When attached to something (a bike, a motorbike, etc.) 2D stab is more than enough.

There is plenty of postprocessing you can do that really cleans up the video. Even Youtube these days offers automatic video stabilization.

Now, if you start doing dive rolls on your trail runs the postprocessing may not be enough, but it's been plenty for my bicycling & dirtbiking.

The wide lens helps, since vibrations will shake the subject proportionally less distance across the frame. It's not stabilization, but it's not as bad as you'd think from shaking a normal camera.

How you mount it is the biggest influence on shake. I think it's pretty decent, especially if you head mount it. [1] is a good sample.

I've never heard of the Gear Pro. Some of the Go Pro alternative are pretty decent, though. The Garmin Vibe has some nice features, but the form factor might not be great for running (no chest mount). Take a look at [2] for some things to think about (read the comments, too)

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_iU8rRGBQE

[2] http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/12/garmin-depth-review.html

Yes the GoPro has stabilization, but it can result in undesirable footage when shaking heavily under bright light (search for "jello effect").

One way to correct the jello effect is to add ND filters before the lens to reduce the amount of light and therefore slow the shutter (since you can't otherwise control the aperture). There are filter holders that can be screwed on top of the box, or attached directly to the lens when the GoPro isn't in its box.

The other way is to re-stablilize in post-processing; results can be good to very good depending on the source footage. Heavy shaking and big jello can't really be corrected, but slow shake can be made to disappear completely.

This was shot with a Tarot gimbal attached to a bike, and no software stabilization: http://footage.shutterstock.com/clip-5460407.html

This was also shot with a gimbal but (re-)stabilized in post: http://footage.shutterstock.com/clip-5317121.html

both with a GoPro 3 Black Ed.

Because of the "fish-eye" effect of the lens, it is hard to use stabilization plugins for editing purposes. In After Effects CS6 by Adobe they have a plugin called "Warp Stabilizer" that is pretty good but again it's not perfect.

I wonder why they (and any lens manufacturer for that matter) don't provide a radial distortion correction parameters.

Googling yields some advice on how to correct the distortion, but nobody seems to provide exact settings. I wonder how much a demand is there for a one-click rectification app for any fisheye.

Also, are things like Gear Pro and other knock-offs worth anything?

There are loads of other "action cameras" and they're all quite good. I have a Drift Innovation and am quite happy with it.

I can't answer your question but I think iMovie added one click video stabilisation a few years ago that's pretty decent if you're on a Mac.

VirtualDub+Deshaker.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com