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iStabilize 2.2.4

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Video (shaky motion) stabilizer. Demo ($59)

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Pixlock

iStabilize is a video stabilizer that removes unwanted shaky motion from movies with respect to translation, rotation, and zoom. It is a complete movie player with editing capabilities and can read and write many movie formats. iStabilize provides a preview mode, where stabilization parameters can be adjusted and their effects can be seen immediately without time consuming rendering. Stabilization can be applied to multiple temporal intervals of a movie.

What's New

Version 2.2.4:

Improved display of some kind of anamorphic video.
A few minor user interface corrections.

Requirements
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.4 or later

Smoovee

+1
Demo $36.00

Novel approach to stabilize ...

iStabilize User Discussion (Write a Review)

ver. 2.x:

(7)

Your rating: Now say why...

Overall:

(8)

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Mrcheaps reviewed on 27 Nov 2009

I'm updating my review from a couple of years ago because neither the developer or anyone else has done anything to make this software usable. There are demo videos (NOT tutorials) that show that it works, and a few users who claim great things...but many, many more people who can't make heads or tails of it.

Frankly, it doesn't matter how good a program is if you can't figure out how to use it, and if the developer refuses to respond to multiple requests (from multiple users) for clarification.

Plus, now that iMovie has stabilization, that seems a better option for Mac users. Of course, I can't compare the quality of the stabilization because I've never gotten successful results from iStabilize.

[Version 2.2.4]

3 Replies

Eammelt (developer) replied on 03 Dec 2009

Hello, here is a Quick Start instruction for iStabilize:

1. Open Movie:
Choose "Open Movie" from the "File" menu and select a movie file.

2. Specify a temporal portion to stabilize:
Move the time slider to the time, where stabilization should begin, and press Cmd + Shift + 'i' to set the in point.
Then move the time slider to the clip time, where stabilization should end, and press Cmd + Shift + 'o'.

3. Track Motion:
Choose "Track Motion" from the "Stabilizer" menu to analyze motion within the specified period of time. After completion you should see a blue line over the selected clip portion.

4. Specify Parameters for Stabilization:
First, begin a new edit session by choosing "New Edit Session…" from the stabilizer menu.
Adjust stabilization parameters in the sheet. Only the most important parameters are mentioned here.
While changing parameters, you can play the clip and preview directly the effect of parameter changes.
Adjust the "Stabilize" parameter to find a good compromise between stabilization and width of black margins.
Then, choose an appropriate zoom level from the "Zoom" popup to cover the margins by zooming.
If you decide not to fully cover the margins by zooming, you can choose among several methods ("Margin" popup) to fill the remaining margins.
When stabilization quality and zoom level are ok, you can stop editing by using "Finish Edit Session" from the "Stabilizer" menu. You should now see a green track (Control) in the time line.

5. Preview stabilized Clip:
When not in editing mode (see 4.), you can still preview stabilization by clicking on the preview button in the top right corner of the movie window.

6. Export stabilized Clip:
To make the stabilization resident, you need to export the clip. Choose "Export…" from the "File", and iStabilize will render the stabilized clip to a new QuickTime movie.

Cpr86 replied on 10 Jan 2012

I thought the same thing and initially deleted it. Then I found someone who told me how to use it. Load your video, click track motion after that click New edit session. Here you can adjust the amount of video that is chopped off. Then the big question that is really hard to find the answer to is???? How to get rid of those blacks borders. Put the video in iMovie, etc.. and then ZOOM or scale to fit. No more borders. iStabilize does a MUCH better job then the built in iMovie stabilizer. I'm just waiting for a Macupdate bundle because $70 is just too much money

Pixlock (developer) replied on 11 Jan 2012

@Cpr86:
You can zoom with iStabilize by applying one of the zoom options in the parameter panel. E.g. to get completely rid of the borders, you can choose "Full Size".

mrcheaps commented on 12 Dec 2007

Like many others, I bought iStabilize as part of the recent Mupromo bundle. I've played with the demo and read some positive reviews here, so let me ask - beg, really - that either the developer or someone who successfully uses the program write up some better documentation. The program is entirely non-intuitive, and the current documentation really doesn't help. If you try to use the "quick start" guide just to see what the program can do, you're unlikely to get any results at all (like others here, I couldn't even locate the menu choices the author was calling for...though I finally stumbled over them later). I suspect that this is a good piece of software, which is sadly almost unusable because of the baffling documentation. Please help, someone!

[Version 2.2.3]

+34

Nate Houle reviewed on 01 Dec 2007

Recently used this app to help a friend recover/fix some footage of a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. "Preview Mode" is essential for someone like myself, who doesn't do a lot of video editing. Tracking takes a while for longer clips, big deal, it's worth the wait. Reading the documentation is a must, as there are steps you need to take (ie creating "Control Tracks") before you can actually begin editing. Overall, does what it says, relatively straight forward and painless (assuming you've read the documentation). Priceless tool for someone with good footage that has been tainted by a shaky hand or shotty "built in" image stabilization. Can't wait to try it out on some snowboarding footage, if we'd ever get some SNOW!!!!! Worst winter ever :-(

[Version 2.2.2]

1 Reply

Mrcheaps replied on 27 Nov 2009

Nat, if you could share a step-by-step explanation of how you're getting the software to work, I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate it (I sure would!)

It seems that the biggest problem people have is that they finish with a video that has black bars bouncing around the sides of the frame, meaning some essential crop or zoom function isn't being activated.

I've tried going through the manual again and again, but I can't make the magic happen...

paul7 reviewed on 20 Nov 2007

I was considering buying this program because it was featured by MacUpdate Promo and the videos on their website looked awesome. Thank goodness I tested this program before buying it. I can't comment on how good of a job it does, because after numerous attempts, I could not get the program to work!

First off, the program is not easy to figure out. After playing with it for awhile, I gave up and turned to the quick start guide. Mistake. The quick start guide refers to menu items that do NOT exist! Furthermore, the help file is incorrect as carefully following its instructions does not lead you to the outcome stated in the help file. My file would initially process, but the output file could not be found anywhere, and the preview does not work. Because it takes 20 minutes to process a 2 minute clip on a Mac Pro, (which seems like a long time to me, esp. as it doesn't appear to fully utilize the CPU power) trying this software wasted a lot of my time.

If you expect a software to be intuitive to use, (especially as a mac program) then you should avoid iStabilize!

Note: This was tested on Leopard.

[Version 2.2.2]

4 Replies

DRAW replied on 20 Nov 2007

i have the same expiriences. that software sucks!

mrcheaps replied on 10 Dec 2007

Actually, the software does seem to work - but the documentation is so confusing that I initially wasn't able to get it to work either. I eventually stumbled into some successful results, but wasn't sure how. I've continued playing with it, but still don't know how to reliably get results. Since others here have reported good things, I assume it can be done...but I'm reluctant to buy the software until I can prove it to myself. It's also frightening to read that this version of the software is "much more user friendly" than the previous version.

+29

scottishwildcat replied on 12 Dec 2007

Have to agree. I've been trying to get it to do something, anything useful all morning, and so far haven't got it to do anything. The documentation, especially the Quick Start guide, is awful.

mrcheaps replied on 12 Dec 2007

In fiddling with iStabilize, I found that you need to let it analyze the footage first ("Track Motion"). AFTER that (and only after that) you can choose "New Edit Session" - which SOUNDS like you're starting something completely new, but really means you're now going to try to stabilize something. It is only at this step that some of the "Quick Start" menu options appear (like others, I couldn't find them). Fiddling around at this point has allowed me to do some stabilizing... but I still haven't figured out exactly what the controls do, how to fine tune the results, or how to adjust the picture to get rid of the resulting bars around the edges. I'm hoping that the developer - or one of the people who HAVE made the software work - can write some decent documentation for the rest of us!

Anonymous reviewed on 17 May 2005

The developer has added some new features that are extremely useful for videos that are unstable due to their age. iStabilize was originally designed for video shot with a shaky camera. The problem of jitter in old videos is related, but there are some fundamental differences.

The solution of the stabilization problem is not unique. This isn't an issue for many videos because all that really matters is to find a solution that appears smooth. One case in which it does matter is when you have an old video that has text on the screen (for example, the score of a football game). In this case, a stabilization algorithm will find a smooth solution, but the text may slowly meander around on the screen.

The new features in iStabilize take advantage of known aspects of the video to make the solution unique. One of these is to key in on the black strips on both sides of the video. These can be used to perfectly remove side-to-side shake. I have gotten amazing results using this feature. Another common problem in old videos is a small vertical vibration. This problem can also be eliminated very effectively. The other new feature allows manual adjustment of the position of an individual frame. This is useful when there are only a small number of frames out of place (sporadic jitter or bouncing).

These new features are a godsend if you are trying to restore old videos. They can turn an unwatchable video into something very nice. If you are interested in these new features, you will have to request them from the developer. They are not yet available in the regular version of iStabilize.

[Version 2.1]

Anonymous reviewed on 13 Apr 2005

This software is fantastic and the developer is very helpful and receptive to suggestions. I have used it to obtain results that are just as impressive as the samples on the iStabilize web site. I have applied it to stabilize videos that were filmed with a shaky camera and to restore videos that are jittery due to their age. The performance of iStabilize has been exceptional for both applications.

In a previous review, I posted a concern regarding problems in connection with iDVD. I have determined that the problem was system related. It went away after extensive system maintenance. It was merely a coincidence that the problem occurred when using videos processed with iStabilize.

[Version 2.0]

Anonymous reviewed on 26 Jan 2005

Wow, V2 is a whole lot more user friendly! I can now, scrub the video, use FCP JKL and io for shuttle and in out setting points.

The new tracker is very acurate and seems to be just as fast as v1.

If you need stabilization this is the easiest and cheapest solution you will find.

I am looking forward to being able to stabilize 24p 16:9 footage, but thats not my bread and butter work, 60i NTSC is, and Istab works like a charm.

I am so happy with the new user interface, it makes working in istab so much smoother.

Maybe someone at Apple ought to talk with this guy and make this built in to FCP, that would rock.

[Version 2.0]

Anonymous reviewed on 26 Jan 2005

[Version 2.0]

Anonymous reviewed on 02 Oct 2004

One thing-way too much money for this meg and a half app. WAY too much

[Version 1.2]

2 Replies

Jesse Curry replied on 05 Jan 2005

I would worry more about an application's functionality than its size when setting a price point...

Anonymous commented on 26 Jan 2005

chuckieD is clearly not aware of the value of a motion stabilizer, historically speaking.

He is also a little bit too concerned with "size" ...if you know what I mean...!

Anonymous reviewed on 28 May 2004

I was hoping and praying 2d3 would release their Steadymove for the Mac platform. At $99 I thought that the results that they were getting were really nice. But alas, they don't seem to have any plans to port their app to the mac.

I downloaded the demo for istabilize and was impressed with the speed and ease of use of this app. I could Use high end apps for stabilizing, like commotion pro or AE 6, but to do the same thing as istabilize, would take about 3 to 4x longer. Once you account for setting it up, loading the footage, manually finding tracking points, then tracking and all the rest.. for 99% of the shots it is not worth the extra effort.

The Author of this app is open to suggestions and responsive to answering email. I am looking forward to new features that will make this app better and easier to use.

Considering the competition this app is very reasonably priced. Given some time to blossom, this will be a great tool in any video editors toolkit.

[Version 1.0.1]

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