Auto-align

Hi guys,

My first post here

I would like to be able to center my movie around a by me chosen structure. To give you some background, I'm working with electron microscopes and I've a movie of a small tip consisting of some thousands of atoms. There is some movement of the tip, which is what I would like to get rid of. If there is a way to do this, the edges of the movie would be uneven (since the frames would be centered slightly differently), but this is not a problem.

I've spent a couple of days looking for a solution. I've tried exporting every frame and using Photoshops "Auto-Align Layers" function but it only works for smaller movement. Not being able to find a solution, I turn to you. Any ideas?

Edit: I forgot to say that I've tried FCP's Stabilisation using SmoothCam with Translation Smooth at maximum, but it didn't help. Neither did the Rolling Shutter function.

Thanks in advance!
Ludvig

You're looking for Stabilization. Only issue is if there is too much movement, you won't get super stability.
help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.2/#/verbacf92b

have a look at Lock'n Load
coremelt.com/products/lock-and-load-x.html
(offers a free, time limited trial)

The difference to FCPX' own stabilizer is, you can define a tracking zone.
So, you can lock your point of interest and the rest of the frame 'dances around' it ... :lol:

Hi BenB,

Thanks a lot for your answer. Although I'd forgotten to say that I'd tried that I've edited my post with this info now…

I just tested it and it works really well. Thank you thank you thank you!

Yes, Karsten. Can't believe I didn't mention Lock & Load, the best stabilizer for FCPX around.

You might also look at another Core Melt plug-in: TrackX which has Track and LockDown as an effects template. (See www.coremelt.com/products/trackx-powered-by-mocha.html .) This was originally designed to keep a presenter centered in a frame but it should work well for you needs. It can lock down your point of interest in both x and y. You can accomplish the same thing with tracking in Motion, but Track and LockDown is much easier and faster.

rgilman, this add-on did the trick. The C2 Lock & Load was good, but since I had a lot of movement and there were no object that remained in sight throughout the video, I still had movement (although a lot less). But, with the C2 TrackX (track and lockdown) it worked absolutely perfectly. I needed to do some manual fine-adjustment, but the results are perfect! And finished just in time for a presentation tomorrow morning

Thanks guys!!