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Warp Stabilized footage shot using Z-Axis Stabilizer
2844 13 2016-10-27
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marjamar
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United States
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Here's some footage I shot testing my Osmo+ bike mount setup.  I plan on doing some extended bicycle trekking and will be taking videos of the places I go.  Figured I had better spend some time working out the wrinkles before hand, so I'm doing some testing of a number of things, video being one of them.  Anyways, here's some footage shot going from my house to a small lake a couple miles down the road.  Shot late in the afternoon with the sun low, there's some nice color to see.  No color correction added, just the raw footage from the camera that I used to do a split screen.  As captured footge and warp stabilized footage using Adobe's Warp Stabilizer -- Standard settings.

Take a look if you are interested in seeing how stable footage can be shot while riding on a bike, and how much it can be improved in post.

Hope you like it.

-Rodger


2016-10-27
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Sky-way
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Wow, warp really stabilized that footage well!  Good video!
2016-10-27
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Matt-and-Riley
First Officer
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good test, it looks to have a lot of vibration even through the z-axis which is a shame. Maybe some sort of dampener / padding on the bike mount?
2016-10-27
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marjamar
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Messed with video editing since Premiere came out and this is the best stabilizing I have done in an uncontrolled shooting environment. I don't take credit for it though, I have to give that to the camera maker dji.  Gonna be a nice camera setup to have along as I travel around to see the sights.
2016-10-27
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marjamar
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Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2016-10-27 15:45
good test, it looks to have a lot of vibration even through the z-axis which is a shame. M ...

This was the reason I replace the spring damper on the dji bicycle mount with an RC shock, hoping it would stop a bit more vibration, but don't think it helped.  What would help is a new full suspension bike, but I already have too much money spent on this one -- electrified and all.  I think warp stabilizing will be in my future more prominently before long.

Still want to do a test without the z-axis stabilizer to see if it helps or hurts the process.

-Rodger
2016-10-27
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Sky-way
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You should also do one with the stock spring on the dji bike mount.  Back to back comparison of the rc shock to see if there was any difference.
2016-10-27
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marjamar
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Sky-way Posted at 2016-10-27 20:02
You should also do one with the stock spring on the dji bike mount.  Back to back comparison of the  ...

Sounds like a good idea.  Just need to find some time in the next few days, which might be a bit tight as I have an older brother coming in from Minnesota for a visit tomorrow for a few days.  He's bring his new Harley, so I think it will be a different bike I'll be on while he's here, HA!
2016-10-27
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DJI-Thor
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Wow ,the  Adobe Warp really made a difference.  
2016-10-27
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ari_za
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It seems Z-Axis introduced more vibrations on a moving platform compared to just walking/running, as opposed to without it. There was another video of a guy using the Z-axis on a boat and had similar vibrations until he removed the z-axis. I think it's good but not on a moving platform e.g. car, boat, bike etc.
2016-10-28
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marjamar
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ari_za Posted at 2016-10-28 05:07
It seems Z-Axis introduced more vibrations on a moving platform compared to just walking/running, as ...

The problem with just about every benefit is the costs.  Using the Z-Axis is what gives the floating look to shots, but it has always come at a cost of limited movement.  Gravity is hard to overcome in the real world, but just like in the real world, when you do it right, it is fun and very entertaining in those shots that it works in.  Understanding the limits that allow any type of glidecam/steadicam device to work in is pretty much true for using this Z-Axis device as well.  For me, that means a good deal of trial and error.  I haven't owned any of the body mount z-axis stabilization rigs, but I have sure bought a bunch of lesser types over the years.  In just about all of them, learning their "tweaks" almost invariably forced me to find my "tweaks" in tern.  Without z-axis stabilization in the mix, it forced me to learn how to walk in a "gliding" manner instead of the hip-hop way most of us do.  But, by having something help with tilt, and rotation, it did make quite a bit of difference in many of my shots.  Now that I have a rig that does have z-axis, I am enjoying the effort in finding the best ways to make use of it.  On a bike, bumps are best absorbed by z-axis isolation, but you can still get harmonic effects where instead of damping you see more of an oscillating up and down effect happen.  This is why I wish I had a bike with full suspension, to catch some of the ups and downs in that suspension before it gets to the bike camera mount.  

Even though I have used the camera mounted to the bike without the z-axis, I don't have a good feel for how well it worked.  This is because the mounting point was to an extension mount which added it's own set of vibrations to contend with.  Now that I am firmly mounted direct to the handlebar, I need to revisit shooting without the z-axis to see if it is generally better or worse.  Which I plan to do, but not sure how soon that will be with a heavy workload coming up right now.

It is fun to experiment, and finding things that help make better looks to my videography efforts are always appreciated, at least by me, even if by no one else.  More video clips will come I'm sure.

-Rodger
2016-10-28
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Nicodema
Second Officer
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Interesting how much wobble you are getting with the unprocessed footage. Makes me think there is some more work to do on getting that reduced.

I notice you are getting quite a bit of "image lurch" (my term) on the Warp Stab footage. I assume you can see it also. It happens when the algorithm snaps from one set of tracking points to another and warps harshly to fill in the gaps. It's sometimes worth stopping the processor from using warp and only allowing zoom and translate (can't remember the exact setting names).

Your "gliding manner" is the Steadicam Operator's Coffee Walk. Imagine you have a very full mug of very hot coffee. Now walk with it
2016-10-28
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marjamar
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Well, reviewing some of the many video's shot, I came across the very first one I shot when I first got this camera.  It is very blurry, so I never even watched it, just a minute maybe.  Watched it just now and although it's blurry, it is far more stable then my current setup.  So, I have to test without the Z-Axis Stabilizer again.  And then test without the RC shock, both with and without the Z-Axis Stabilizer attached.  Something smells fishy here and it ain't me.

-Rodger

Here's the Youtube link -- Still rendering at this time, but most likely be done in a few minutes.  Short, about 4 minutes long.

2016-10-28
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Sky-way
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Looks a lot smoother than your first video.  Personally I think it was the RC shock that added the extra vibration, it's probably too stiff for stabilizing a camera.
2016-10-28
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Rodger Marjama
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Well did about all the testing I will do.  I have found that my shock .vs the stock spring helps to hold the camera and z-axis stabilizer in a more "forgiving" posture.  On hard bumps, the shock compresses well, but does not "spring up" with the same kind of force the spring setup does.  This allows the z-axis stabilizer to actually counter bad bumps better and there is less noticeable jaring in the footage.  It is tricky to get everything working though.  I will use this setup for a while and see if I do like it.  What I mostly don't like is, all edited footage will need to be warp stabilized, or the contributed raw footage will need to be, before using it in edits.  This is the slow part, but depending on which workflow I choose, it can be pretty painless if I just open the raw footage in After Effects to stabilize it, then send it into Premiere Pro directly for editing.  I sorta prefer it that way, as I will actually see the full frame I have to work if stabilized first, rather then just guessing what I will have if stabilizing after edits.

To my eye, it looks good enough for my purpose and I hope to enjoy my adventures AND shoot some nice footage while I'm at it.

Here's a very short clip.

-Rodger

2016-11-7
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