Almost everyone now makes videos. From business presentations to fun gatherings, video making is trending, but it is not without its troubles. You have to be an alien to make flawless videos. That’s precisely why we have video stabilizers. Yay! With a video stabilizer, you have less to worry about when editing your videos for whatever purpose. You can learn how to stabilize videos in elementary steps. A video stabilizer improves video quality by significantly reducing unwanted camera shakes and jitters that could arise from holding a phone while videoing or not placing the camera correctly. Whatever the case, a video stabilizer works just fine. There are lots of free video stabilization software available with which you can comfortably stabilize videos.
Now that we told you, “what does stabilize mean?” let’s learn how to stabilize video.
Part 1: What is the Role of the Video Stabilizer?
Some of the roles of the video stabilizer include the following:
- Ensuring that the video has high visual quality
- Providing video footages that are stable in non-optimal conditions
- Elimination of camera shakiness due to hand jitters.
- Stabilizing camera rotation during filming.
- Correcting distorted images arising from too much movement of the camera during filming.
- Correcting fast motions that appear unsafe.
Part 2: Best Video Stabilizer Software of 2021
1. Filmora Wondershare
Filmora is a cross-platform video editing software that allows you to edit videos quickly. It is one of the best video stabilizer software. With its user-friendly interface, it offers itself as a handy tool for amateurs and pros alike. It provides the option to stabilize video footages that are shaky while also allowing you to export them in different formats such as MP4, WMV, etc. Filmora also comes with over 300 overlays and filters that allow for smooth transition effects while editing your video footage.
Step 1: Import the video by opening Filmora and hitting Full Feature. Click import to select files or drag and drop them to the media library.
Step 2: Drag the video into the Timeline, and on the toolbar, click Edit to open the editing panel from where you can select Stabilization. The footage will get stabilized automatically.
Step 3: Preview the video by clicking Play on the preview window. To achieve better results, adjust the Stabilization Smooth level during the preview.
Step 4: Finally, click OK to stabilize the video in the timeline. Save the result to your preferred location.
2. Vegas Pro
Vegas pro is another free video stabilization software with which you can stabilize videos and have excellent results. With Vegas Pro, you can stabilize video at two levels: media and entry, each process with its advantages and disadvantages. At the entry level, the video stabilization will only affect the portion of the clip within the event. On the other hand, applying the video stabilization effect at the media level saves you the stress of reapplying the effect anytime you drag your clip to the Timeline.
We’d be discussing how to use the media level to stabilize video since it saves time and offers better results. To apply, right-click the clip in the Project Media window and hit FX Media from the pop-up menu. On the list of effects in the plug-in chooser, select Vegas Video Stabilization. Click Add, then hit OK.
There are three available user views in Vegas Pro: Basic, Professional, and Expert. To stabilize the video in Basic, click Stabilize to stabilize the video automatically. You can also use the smoothing slider to get optimum results.
Step 1: Select Professional from the user view drop-down list.
Step 2: Click the drop-down list on Method and choose Fast Stabilization (to stabilize the video quickly) or Accurate Stabilization (for better but longer Stabilization).
Step 3: Select the Motion Compensation type (that suits your project) from the drop-down menu. Select Translation for video footage shot using a tripod, Translation + Rotation if there was a bump on the camera while on the tripod, and Translation + Rotation + Scale if you want to stabilize everything.
Step 4: Click Analyze Motion from the drop-down menu on Method. You can still finetune the video further by using controls such as Smoothing or Additional Zoom.
3. iMovie
This powerful free video stabilization software allows you to edit your videos on macOS and iOS. iMovie also comes with a video stabilization feature to help you correct shakiness and jitters during video recording. You can also add transitions, modify speed, resize and crop videos, adjust color, etc. Its simple-to-use interface makes it easy for just anyone to edit and stabilize videos.
The simple steps below would help you stabilize video in iMovie:
Step 1: Select the video shot you want to stabilize in your Timeline. Double click on the video to reveal a row of icons on the viewer window.
Step 2: Click Stabilization.
Step 3: A Stabilize Shaky Video setting that has a checkbox close to it pops up.
Step 4: Check the Stabilize Shaky Video so that your clip would automatically get analyzed. To the right of the Stabilize Shaky Video is a percentage indicator slider that allows you to choose how much stabilization effect you want your clip to have, depending on how shaky it is. Play the clip to see the result.
4. DaVinci Resolve
Davinci Resolve is an easy-to-use free video stabilization software that is a good tool for video editing, allowing you to add filters, transitions, audio effects, color adjustments, and a host of other editing features. It also comes with a feature that will enable you to stabilize videos if they appear shaky or wobbly. Its different video stabilizer modes allow you to choose which works best for you.
Step 1: Select the video clip to be stabilized and click on Inspector. Scroll down to Stabilization.
Step 2: Adjust the customization settings using the three stabilization modes that the software provides: Perspective, Similarity, and Translation. Click the drop-down arrow to reveal these modes.
Step 3: Select Translation to reveal controls like:
- Zoom- which tries to remove black bars around the video edges
- Camera Lock- which attempts to remove movements in the clip
- Cropping Ratio- that crops the clip
- Smooth- that adjusts the camera moves
- Strength- that determines how strong you want your video to stabilize.
Step 4: Select Perspective mode and hit Stabilize. If you’re not comfortable with the results, change the mode to Translation. Increase the value for Smooth by dragging the smooth slider to the right. Then click Stabilize.
5. Movavi
Movavi is our following free video stabilization software compatible with Windows and Mac. With Movavi, amateurs and professionals alike can create stunning videos within a concise time frame. It is user-friendly and supports over 90 video and audio tracks. Movavi has a feature that allows you to correct shakiness in videos. As a result, Movavi is a great tool for video stabilization.
Step 1: Select the video you want to stabilize on the Timeline. Click Stabilization on the left sidebar. Click More if you do not see Stabilization and select Stabilization from the pop-up menu.
Step 2: To open the stabilization window, hit Stabilize.
Step 3: Depending on the shakiness of the video, set up the following parameters to achieve video stabilization:
- Shaking describes how visible the vibration is on the clip
- Accuracy determines the clip’s analysis precision
- Smoothing reduces camera speed
- Edge Cropping fixes the edges after motion compensation.
Step 4: Hit Stabilize to start the video stabilization process. The time for this would be dependent on the length of the video clip and the set parameters.
Step 5: View the preview in the player, then hit Apply if you’re comfortable with the results. If not, carry out steps 3 and 4 again.
Conclusion
Thus, you can see that you do not have to be a pro to stabilize videos and have fantastic footage with the above information. The best video stabilization software we have discussed above is all you need to correct shakiness and jitters that usually occur during recording. Pick any of these tools, and you will be well on your way to video stabilization.
