Deshaker for VirtualDub by Gunnar Thalin

I have used this for years.  Here are some things I learnt and re-learnt today, about and around it:

  • Deshaker’s main forum is http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1418923
  • Deshaker is used as a plugin to VirtualDub.
  • VirtualDub can’t directly read XDCAM-EX files.
    • One way round this is to transcode to an AVI format.
      • I traditionally use Cineform (CFHD).  In Sony Vegas, when rendering-out to this from a 720p50 Project single XDCAM-EX .mxf file of 720p50 footage, the result when viewed in the original project has a weird effect where the image only advances every two frames.
        • This does not occur for larger Projects, reason unknown (need to experiment, but maybe ? it’s because because larger projects tend also to contain media in other formats?).
      • So instead on this occasion I render to HuffYuv.  Larger but lossless and no (obvious) issues.
      • After every such render, check for the “doubled-up frames” issue, e.g. in case accidentally rendered to unintended format.  Mistakes happen, especially when under pressure of long hours…
  • The result, from VirtualDub, can be saved to AVI formats e.g. Cineform (CFHD).
    • If saving to CFHD then be sure to specify RGB mode (in the codec’s dialog), this preserves the levels in 0..255 (“Computer”) range, otherwise (default non-RGB) it scales to 16..235, giving a washed-out appearance when viewed back in Sony Vegas.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.