Good vibrations…not !!

[rbc.video]

Ever had a problem with tripod vibration resulting in camera vibrations and, guest what ? Image vibration. Can I fix it in the editing process (image stabilization plug-ins) ? Or start from scratch a multicam shoot of a live band that I thought was great, but not anymore with one of the camera giving me that kind of image. The vibration was due to low frequency (bass guitar and kick drum) hiting the riser, the tripod, etc…Help !

[Anonymous]

Two factors:
1- Tripod weight
2- Length and type sticks

Obviously, the heavier the tripod, the better. Fix: Hang a "sandbag" from the center column to increase mass loading on the tripod sticks. The type of tripod makes a big difference here. The ones with a mid-point speader will help. You can add weight on the spreader. I used to bungee my 3/4" deck on top of the mid-point spreader! Long, single tube sticks may actually develope a sympathetic resonant frequency that can make the tripod "walk"!
*The above comes from experience shooting Drag racing and my clients jet car. Vibration when 20 to 50 feet from these cars is beyond comprehension. I’ve actually had the tape vibrate of the head drum!!!

[rbc.video]

Thanks ! You are certainly right. Since I did use a rather lightweight tripod with a lightweight camera (Sony PD-170), well, the result is there. Won’t happen again, for sure (still learning). Thank you again.

P.S. I will try to find a way to fix it in post. (I heard that you can fix everything in post…)

[Anonymous]

Yeah, you technically "can" fix everything in post, but for some fixes, that requires years of repair. imagine going into every frame and manually repositioning them. Yep – that would take a while.

Honestly, you can fix a lot of small stuff in post, but there are just some battles that aren’t worth fighting. For this one, you may have to try it this way, but next time, think about the cost of a nice heavy tripod versus the value of the countless hours you’re going to spend fixing a few minutes worth of footage. In the end, it’s a better investment to start out right.

[Anonymous]

Google Video has an excellent example of Blaupunkt Woofers making the subjects move "on stage" 😉 Didn’t see any tripod shaking though.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=433051408923354409&q=blaupunkt

[Anonymous]

You can use the plugin from 2d3 for Adobe Premiere Pro. It is called SteadyMove and works very well. Check their site for examples and how it works.

http://www.2d3.com

[rbc.video]

Thanks for the advices. In a few words : weight does matter…obviously. I’m going to New York soon, so I’ll stop by the greatest store on Earth to check out for a good tripod. Since I use Premiere Pro, I will check the SteadyMove plug-in (or find someone who own it) , just in case.

P.S. Don’t think I would have that problem with a good old 2 tons Betacam…

[Author]

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