MRCHEAPS  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)

NATE HOULE  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)

PAUL7  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)

MIKE COLLINS  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)

MIKE COLLINS  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)

BENA  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)

BENA  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)

CHUCKIED  One thing-way too much money for this meg and a half app. WAY too much  
(Version 1.2)

BENA  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)