Question about using the DeShaker plug-in for VirtualDub

Question

I've been using my Canon 7D primarily for photography and am starting to get into the video realm with it.

I tried using the Deshaker plug-in for VirtualDub on some of my shaky/not usable footage. I like the program but want to have as little quality loss as possible. Does anyone have suggested settings to use?

Also has anyone tried "streaming" the output of Deshaker into something like Sony Vegas?

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Edit:

Although, I am still curious about this question I have since moved on to Sony Vegas 11. Wow this version is vastly superior to 9, especially for those using HD content... It also does include a built-in stabilizer. I am much happier with it and can work with files from a Canon 7D as well as an HD Sony Camcorder natively instead of having to pre-render everything.

Answer 1

The built-in stabilizer in Vegas Pro is very convenient, but some may still want to use Deshaker because it is more flexible.

It is available as an FX plug-in for Vegas Pro:

http://www.vegasvideo.de/plugins/104-deshaker-interface-for-sony-vegas-pro.html

Some people report having problems getting the plug-in to work, and continue to use the very handy script that calls out to VirtualDub:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.edmiston/deshaker.htm

Some settings that are useful to fiddle with:

• Remove pan/crop prior to rendering - unclick this if there are a lot of index marks in pan/crop and you want to smooth them out
• Block size and scale - needs to be finer if there is a lot of black or walls or lack of things for Deshaker to lock onto.
• Ignore pixels inside/outside - allows you to eliminate the moving things so that the whole smoothed video doesn't bounce up and down with the moving things.
• Edge compensation: None
• Yes to Use prev and future frames to fill borders
• Yes to soft borders
• Yes to Extrapolate colors into borders
• Motion smoothness - all appropriate ones at 3000. Include Zoom only when appropriate (1500). Zero for Rotation if using a tripod.
• Correction limits - all appropriate ones at 99. Zoom at 50 only when using.