Gyro Stabilizing A1 Video

[dclark]

I use my A1 mostly for still photos but I also do some wildlife video.  I use the free version of Catalyst Browse to use the gyro data to stabilize the video.  It works very well but the output is limited to 4:2:0 8-bit.  I normally shoot 4:2:2 10-bit, and don't want to lose the extra editing capability.  I can cough up the $150/yr Sony wants for the paid version of Catalyst Browse, but I see that there is an open source program GyroFlow that has lots of capability and it's free.  The problem seems to be that the users need to create lots of calibration data for the camera and lens combinations.  I have not spent time looking into that in detail since I am hoping that the needed data is already available for the A1 and some Sony lenses.  I shoot wildlife so most of my video is with the 600/4 and the 200-600/6.3.  Is there a source for the data to use GyroFlow?

Thanks for any help.

Edited May 23 by dclark

[DougJensen]

I also mostly use my A1 for stills,  but I shoot a fair amount of wildlife video with it too.  Have you tried stabilization in Resolve?  On the rare times I need to stabilize footage I find that it works very well, and offers a lot of customization options.  Everything I shoot gets run through Resolve for grading anyway, so adding some stabilization doesn't add any extra work.   Best of all, Resolve is free, or $300 if you want the full version.  Everyone who shoots and edits video ought to be using Resolve for grading so its something that ought to be in your tool kit  anyway.

With all that said, the best way to stabilize footage is to shoot it stable in the first place.  I very seldom need to stabilize my wildlife footage because I have a good tripod that is setup and balanced correctly for the A1 and 200-600mm.   Obviously, everyone needs to stabilize stuff occasionally, but if you find it happening regularly, maybe take another look at your tripod and/or shooting techniques.

 

Edited May 25 by DougJensen

[dclark]

On 5/25/2024 at 12:39 PM, DougJensen said:

I also mostly use my A1 for stills,  but I shoot a fair amount of wildlife video with it too.  Have you tried stabilization in Resolve?  On the rare times I need to stabilize footage I find that it works very well, and offers a lot of customization options.  Everything I shoot gets run through Resolve for grading anyway, so adding some stabilization doesn't add any extra work.   Best of all, Resolve is free, or $300 if you want the full version.  Everyone who shoots and edits video ought to be using Resolve for grading so its something that ought to be in your tool kit  anyway.

With all that said, the best way to stabilize footage is to shoot it stable in the first place.  I very seldom need to stabilize my wildlife footage because I have a good tripod that is setup and balanced correctly for the A1 and 200-600mm.   Obviously, everyone needs to stabilize stuff occasionally, but if you find it happening regularly, maybe take another look at your tripod and/or shooting techniques.

 

Thanks for your reply. 

I use Resolve Studio and see that it includes stabilization and can run Gyroflow as a plugin.  I have also used Mercalli to stabilize video. 

I shoot video of Peregrines that nest in the cliff wall along the Pacific coast.  Getting a good angle often requires shooting in the surf.  Even with my tripod as stable as possible the video still needs some stabilization.  I found that the gyro data Sony included in the video file works amazingly well with Sony Catalyst Browse and I would like to use gyro stabilization.  I am hoping someone has done a careful job of calibrating the Sony A1 + 600/4 and the A1 + 600-200/6.3 with Gyroflow and will share that data.  I will probably have to do the calibration myself, which does not look too difficult.