Transform your shaky, handheld footage into smooth, professional-looking video with DaVinci Resolve's powerful built-in stabilization tool. This guide will walk you through the simple steps to fix unsteady clips directly on the Edit page.
On the Edit page, click on the shaky video clip in your timeline that you want to stabilize. The selected clip will be highlighted.
With the clip selected, open the Inspector panel in the top-right corner of the screen. If it's not visible, click the 'Inspector' button.
In the Inspector panel, scroll down until you find the Stabilization section. You may need to click on it to expand the options.
Click the Stabilize button. DaVinci Resolve will automatically analyze the motion in your clip and apply stabilization. A progress bar will appear during the analysis.
Once the analysis is complete, play back your clip to see the results. If needed, you can adjust settings like Mode, Cropping Ratio, and Smooth to fine-tune the effect.
Pro Tips for Better Stabilization
Experiment with different stabilization modes. Perspective is the default and works for most shots. Similarity is good for zoom/rotation, and Translation handles simple pan/tilt movements.
Stabilization works by zooming in slightly and moving the frame. The Cropping Ratio slider controls how much the image is cropped. A higher value gives more room for stabilization but reduces resolution.
For advanced options, go to the Color page, open the Tracker palette, and select the Stabilizer tab. This gives you more precise control over the tracking and stabilization process.
Over-stabilizing can create an unnatural, 'floaty' look. Sometimes, a little bit of natural camera shake is desirable, especially for action scenes or documentary-style footage.
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