iPhone 7/Plus iPhone 7 filming problem

[Ting-Ting]

Hi everyone,

It's my first time posting anything here, so forgive me if I am not aware of certain rules and conditions...

For a project of mine, I need to use my iPhone 7 as the camera filming while walking down the street. I noticed that there is something wrong with the footage I made. This is the first attempt -

I was using iPhone 7 (10.1) with a cheap selfie stick holding in my hand, 1080p 30 frames/sec. As you can see, it's a bit 'jumpy'? Not sure how to describe it. It seems like there is a beat that makes the camera shake?
So I tested again around where I live, but this time I changed from 30 frames/sec to 60 frames/sec -

It didn't get better. The beats were even more obvious. I wonder could it be the selfie stick I used, so I made another one with hand held -

I feel it gets a bit better, but I am still not sure what was the reason causing the weird beats at the first place.

Does anyone have any idea what could it be? Would a stabilizer like this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0113KBLBW/ref=pe_3187911_185740111_TE_item) help? Or could it be any other reason?

Thank you so much!

Ting

 

[ed.]

the jumps are your steps: your brain does a lot of work not to make you feel it, but when we're walking we are basically stomping the ground all the time.
If you hold your phone with your arm or a stick, that acts like a magnifier of the jumps, so the movement is even more when you film with a very light handheld device: heavy cameras are actually better if you want stabilised footage.
Optical stabilisation helps a lot, but doesn't make the cameraman hover on the ground. There's a reason Steadicam rigs cost tens of thousands of dollars, and those allow you to have the 'gliding' effect of a first person filming.
You might get good results using a smartphone gimbal - and we're talking hundreds of dollars, plus you have to get good at using it - being a good cameraman is actually a tough job : )
[doublepost=1511802428][/doublepost]also, if you have no money at all, you can try skates or a skateboard and a friend manoeuvring you around!

 

[Ting-Ting]

Hi Ed, thank you so much for the clear explanation! It is very helpful. Currently I don't have too much budget, but I will definitely try some affordable stabilizers first to see if there is any help. Thanks again

 

[ed.]

You're welcome!
I forgot to add that there are some things you can do software wise to reduce the effect: one is to use apps like Hyperlapse to capture videos: they have a stabilisation algorithm that is designed to produce smooth high speed time lapsevideos, but you can set it to 1x speed to get simple software stabilisation for free. it does reduce the resolution a bit, but you might get something good out of it.
Another post production effect that's quite powerful is in professional software like Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects (which you can get as part of the Creative Suite for a monthly fee), and it's a more complete stabilisation engine that requires some work to understand but can produce very good results.

 

[Ting-Ting]

Thanks Ed, will look into those too