How do you stabilize video footage?

[VideoMan]

I have a video source that is very jumpy-vertically. The clarity is ok, its just that the picture keeps jerking up and down as you watch it.

Does anyone know of a good program that can stabilize/filter/average out or whatever so that the video is smooth again and doesn't keep on jumping? Or is there no solution to this problem.

Any help and/or suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

[kmorger]

What you are describing is field reversal.

You don't want to Stablize it, filter it, or average it. Just try switching field order.

Unless you have a drunken camcorder operator... Then get Commotion Pro or A.E. Pro.

[VideoMan]

Sorry, but could you explain what field reversal is? I haven't heard of that term before.

Furthermore, the video that I am trying to fix was not captured by a videocam. It was recorded by a VHS recorder. But my suspicions lead me to think that it is the tape that is the cause of it. (Perhaps it is old, or dusty. Maybe its recording capabilities might be failing when I used it to record?)

Once again, I would be very grateful if you could elaborate on what field reversal is and it might also shed some light on the link between the video problem and the tape I used.

Thanks in advance.

[kmorger]

NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color) has a frame rate of 29.97Fps, double that for the number of fields. Temporly one field comes after the next, and spatially one field is lower than the next by one scan line. In other words:

AAAAAAAA
BBBBBBBB
AAAAAAAA
BBBBBBBB

If the fields are spatially reversed, it will look like it is bouncing up and down. If it is temporly reversed, it will look pretty strange, and if it is both temporly and spatially reversed, it's gonna look REAL BAD.

I strongly suggest looking for the words "Interlace", "Field", "Reversal", etc. in the FAQ section on this site, or in www.dogpile.com (a web search engine).

TMpgEnc includes (as does most software) the ability to select which field comes first. It's set under Settings.