Smoothing Out Camera Motion

Use the Average curve options to smooth out uneven camera motion. For example, if the camera moves at a certain rate and suddenly drops or increases in speed, the Average option can stabilize the camera motion.

The Average curve smooths out camera motion over a group of keyframes, by affecting the Stabilizer's Shift values. The Shift values represent the amount of movement in a clip. Use the Curve Value field to determine how much stabilizing is applied to the clip. A larger value averages camera motion over more keyframes and increases camera smoothness. This is largely a process of trial and error.

Analyze your clip to generate the initial channel data, then select the channel to apply the average to.

To smooth out camera motion:

  1. Position the tracker(s) on your image and click Analyse.
  2. Click Animation to open the Channel Editor and expand the Shift folder for the track(s).
  3. Do one of the following:
    • To affect the the X and Y Shift values simultaneously, select the Shift folder.
    • To affect the X Shift value, select the X parameter.
    • To affect the Y Shift value, select the Y parameter.
  4. Select the Keyframe tab from the Animation Controls tabs
  5. Select Average from the Curve option box.

    (a) Keyframe tab(b) Curve option box  (c) Curve Value field  

  6. Enter an average value in the Curve Value field.

    The transformation is applied to the curves. The Curve Value field defaults back to 0, where 0 always represents the average of the current curve.