Mocha Pro allows users
to create powerful VFX
and compositing tasks inside of any host,
including your edits, through a series of Mocha modules.
Stabilizing footage is a common task for video editing,
and today I am gonna show you the stabilize module.
(upbeat music)
While most hosts have stabilizing tools,
Mocha Pro's stabilization workflow
is driven by planar tracking for advanced
and difficult to track shots.
In this video, I will show you how to take control
of your storytelling
with Mocha Pro's artistic stabilization.
Here I am using the Mocha Pro OFX plugin in Nuke,
but the general workflow will be relevant
whether you are using the Mocha standalone application
or the plugin on any host.
Mocha Pro's stabilizer gives the user more control
by expanding our tracking data
to include more than just simple points or features.
We can use Mocha to define out of focus regions
by looking at the entire texture of the background
and avoiding the foreground action.
We can also add multiple shapes using the add to X Spline
on one layer,
and then enable the surface to visually show
the track results.
In general, when stabilizing,
we want to track translation scale
and rotate only as handheld cameras
typically use this kind of movement.
This shot is actually one of the exceptions
where you do wanna track shear and perspective,
but usually you just want to use translation,
scale and rotation.
For this shot,
I will draw two shapes on the same plane on background areas
that are not occluded by the foreground.
I need to make sure both of these shapes
are on the same layer.
I'll use the add to X Spline tool to draw the second shape
and then click track forwards.
Once that track is complete and looks accurate,
I can jump over to the stabilized module.
In the stabilized module
I can choose what motion to stabilize my shot with.
This is where the artistic side of stabilization
comes into play.
For instance, if I don't want to lock my shot down entirely,
I can use the smoothing option
to reduce the jittery motion over a set range of frames.
Use higher numbers for a smoother look
and lower numbers for less smoothing.
With smoothing, our general camera motion is retained,
but the smaller jitters are removed.
If I do wanna lock my shot down,
I can enable the all motion and maximum smoothing parameters
to lock my shot into place.
This will make the shot appear as if it were filmed
from a tripod,
but beware if you have lots of focus blur
and rolling shutter from the video capture and sensor,
you will see those in the lockdown pixels.
We don't remove the blur that exists in camera.
For this shot, maximum smoothing is not the best option.
But all motion is.
However, obviously we're getting a lot of clipping.
So I'm going to use my frame list
to add full frames to my stabilization,
which means Mocha will stabilize between my full frames.
So we'll add a full frame at the beginning,
a full frame at the end,
and instead of using maximum smoothing,
we're gonna smooth over every 15 frames.
We'll use center and zoom to make sure
that our image is cropped and we don't have any edges.
Now my stabilization is much better,
and pans between my two full frames.
Once I am happy with the stabilization results,
we can export the results in various ways.
We can render the final result to file
by rendering our timeline and going to file,
export rendered clip.
We can export the tracking data.
For example, in Nuke,
we can export the stabilization data as a new corner pin,
which gives the same result,
but using the Nuke rendering engine.
Or if using the plugin,
we can also render back to the host
by checking the render checkbox
and navigating to stabilize in the dropdown menu.
Mocha Pro's stabilization module can also be used
for what we call creative or artistic stabilization.
For example, we can track and lockdown moving objects
to introduce a unique look to our edit.
You may have seen this in some famous commercials,
like the Beats commercial,
where all the athletes have been tracked
and stabilized to really show off the headphones.
Here I will track the runner in the scene
and lock down the shot
to focus on the object in the center of the screen.
This works on people and other subjects
and can help you fill your story with impactful highlights
or even a sense of dread depending on how this is used.
For example, by faking the dolly zoom effect.
While this tutorial is using the Mocha Pro plugin
inside of the latest version of Nuke,
Mocha Pro's stabilized module can be run in many hosts.
Using the plugin, I can render back to any timeline
that supports the Mocha Pro plugin.
Or I can export my tracking data
via the tracking data export inside Mocha Pro.
To learn more, please visit us online at www.borisfx.com,
where you can find tutorials, user forums, support,
and so much more.