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Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       01-07-2015, 8:44 AM Reply   
I'm looking for help on how I can stabilize my camera better on a moving boat to get smoother footage. Are there any devices that a DSLR can be mounted to or other methods that you guys use? Does a tripod help? Thanks!
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       01-08-2015, 10:54 AM Reply   
no replies

Going to give this a try and see how the videos come out, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Old     (garveyj)      Join Date: Sep 2009       02-04-2015, 1:36 PM Reply   
That probably won't work very well - boats are especially tough to get smooth footage on. I would look at software to smooth it out. Adobe Premiere has an add on that smooths the video out - it works really well but it takes a long time to render it.

You can look at an image stablizing lens, but I am guessing that since you already have a DSLR that you probably already have one of those.
Old     (brinks)      Join Date: Mar 2002       02-06-2015, 10:11 AM Reply   
This will help smooth out the harsh jerky movement on your video but def takes some practice getting used to. The video won't be stable but the movement will be a lot smoother. It basically takes out all the shakes from your hand.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details

Or if you are serious about filming and don't mind spending a little more money, take a look at these or something similar
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...575+4047623981

These are amazing as well especially for still photography.
http://www.gyroscope.com/d.asp?product=GYROSTABILIZER
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-06-2015, 10:27 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by garveyj View Post
That probably won't work very well - boats are especially tough to get smooth footage on. I would look at software to smooth it out. Adobe Premiere has an add on that smooths the video out - it works really well but it takes a long time to render it.

You can look at an image stablizing lens, but I am guessing that since you already have a DSLR that you probably already have one of those.
Yeah, I absolutely have Adobe Premiere. I've used the image stabilization on it before and found that it improved the video a lot. (I actually put a video link at the bottom of this post where I used this feature) I also found that when you slow down the footage, that helps too (which is obviously also done to improve watchability).

I do have a VR lens (Nikkor), but I'm not sure if I am activating the image stabilization at record time. Need to look into that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by brinks View Post
This will help smooth out the harsh jerky movement on your video but def takes some practice getting used to. The video won't be stable but the movement will be a lot smoother. It basically takes out all the shakes from your hand.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details

Or if you are serious about filming and don't mind spending a little more money, take a look at these or something similar
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...575+4047623981

These are amazing as well especially for still photography.
http://www.gyroscope.com/d.asp?product=GYROSTABILIZER
Yeah, since I'm not a professional and have no desire to get THAT good, I think I'll be sticking with the less expensive options. The glidecam or similar products seem to be the obvious next step in this venture, so I'll probably end up going that route eventually.

Definitely not spending the coin on the 3-axis gimbal.

I think for the most part here, I'm going to rely on basic inexpensive tools and rely on recording in smooth conditions from a stable spot in the boat. Then post-process it and do the best I can to get it stable.

The following video was just holding the camera in my hand (and recorded at 1080p/30fps, next time I'll use 720p/60fps).



Plans for next edit are to use the handle I bought, and get a chase boat out to mix up the angles a bit. Also as stated will shoot at 720p/60fps (camera only supports 30fps @ 1080p) to smoothen out the motion. Will also try and improve on the focus situation.

Last edited by boardjnky4; 02-06-2015 at 10:32 AM.
Old     (rasorjb)      Join Date: Nov 2011       02-08-2015, 7:57 AM Reply   
Another good way to stabilize is capture at a higher resolution then you plan to do your final render with (if possible). This gives the image stabilization software larger margins to work with while simultaneously not reducing image quality.
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-08-2015, 8:28 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by rasorjb View Post
Another good way to stabilize is capture at a higher resolution then you plan to do your final render with (if possible). This gives the image stabilization software larger margins to work with while simultaneously not reducing image quality.

Good to know. I wish I had a camera that could do 1080p at 60fps. Then I could render at 720p.
Old     (rasorjb)      Join Date: Nov 2011       02-08-2015, 8:31 AM Reply   
Get a GoPro and film at 4k/30 or 2.7k/60... Then you can have smooth 1080p
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-08-2015, 2:24 PM Reply   
I have a hero4 black, but recording from a distance is not possible.
Old     (Midnightv10)      Join Date: Feb 2012       02-09-2015, 10:56 AM Reply   
Check this out.
gives you the ability to modify your go pro with aftermarket lenses


http://www.back-bone.ca/
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-09-2015, 1:15 PM Reply   
interesting product for sure

I don't mean to nitpick every suggestion made, but that product appears to require manual focus, which would be a huge pain in the ass.
Old     (Midnightv10)      Join Date: Feb 2012       02-09-2015, 1:51 PM Reply   
Tom,

true that it would require manual focus but if you are videoing someone tracking back and forth across the wake and as long as you don't do a lot of zooming in and out you would probably set the focus appropriate for the length of rope and frame size you are looking for and not mess with it much after that while shooting.

That back bone device looks interesting (I have never tried it by the way just looking into it) because it would allow you to use a zoom-able lens attached to a camera capable of up to 4K resolution.

this probably does not help you much with stabilizing the video while shooting but might help in post production.

Im kind of thinking using this back bone thing on a gopro 4 black with a zoom-able lens attached to a tower mount similar to the ones discussed in this thread might be a good option.

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=321479
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-09-2015, 5:38 PM Reply   
Yeah that's a cool idea for sure.
Old     (PureWakesurfing1)      Join Date: Sep 2012       02-20-2015, 12:06 AM Reply   
These are the best, hands down for image stabilization for DLSR video. Hold it in your hand, you can walk up and down the middle of the boat, hop up on the tower, jump on the swim platform, and your shot will always be smooth. SteadyCam makes a bunch of stabilizers as well.

http://www.amazon.com/DSLR-DIGITAL-C.../dp/B006VSQYUA
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-20-2015, 6:07 AM Reply   
What about this one? It's cheaper and looks to be very adjustable.

http://www.amazon.com/IMAGE%C2%AE-Ha...slr+stabilizer
Old     (garveyj)      Join Date: Sep 2009       02-20-2015, 11:16 AM Reply   
I would think my DSLR would get pretty heavy with one of those contraptions...just my thoughts though.
Old     (boardjnky4)      Join Date: Dec 2011       02-20-2015, 1:02 PM Reply   
I don't think it'd be that bad since you can put it down during falls/rider changes.

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