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SteadXP - Do You Have One?


BTM_Pix
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I know people waited an age for it to be finally released so just wondering whether anyone on here actually ended up getting a SteadXP and curious to know how you are getting on with it, particularly in how it compares to software only post products.

Some interesting real world example videos floating around (no pun intended) from people who have got it but the calibration and overall workflow might be a bit too much of a pain in the arse?

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

I will have one on my hands along this week, I hope.

There are also other threads open on topic:

 

With absolutely zero input for a year and without any user experiences, hence the question.

Particularly as we have had a surge in members since then but hey ho.

Though it looks serendipitous to have asked so soon to someone on here actually having one.

56 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Wow that is damn impressive! Now do you have to stabilize nearly ever frame, or just calibrate it for a particular camera and lens combo and save it??

As I understand it they have selectable camera/lens presets but you can also make your own profiles with a test chart.

 

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30 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Absolutely. I find this test sample much more interesting though, apart the subject : -)

 

It looks so promising and really could be a huge thing for X-T3,GH5s and Pocket4K but the workflow in having to render it first in their software rather than it be a plug in for NLE's is a drawback.

I've also noticed a few instances in videos where its run out of road and left some black areas.

The video I posted at the top has a couple and this one has one at 0:28 which I've highlighted here

I think thats an area where if it was a plug in and you were doing it on a clip by clip basis you could fix small glitches like that. It would be a pain to render the entire thing out in their app and then have to either re-do it all or take it into an NLE and just fix it manually.

SteadXP.thumb.jpg.3da966d8c23698b0281230b03f41b34e.jpg

 

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9 minutes ago, UncleBobsPhotography said:

I'm pretty sure they're using crazy fast shutter speed to get it to work. That doesn't mean that it's not useful, but it's simply not possible to make shaky 30p shot at 180 degrees good.

I don't have any real proof, but I would have guessed her hair would usually have been more blurry in windy weather than this:

Indeed.

Looking at this review, it has comments from SteadXP themselves regarding shutter speed.

"...we recommend around 1/200 sec shutter speeds, but experienced user can go as low as 1/100. It's a small limitation with very high contrast scenes, but you can get perfect cinematic look in a lot of situations!"

Mmm....

https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/24/steadxp-s-dslr-stabilizer-impressions/

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3 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I know people waited an age for it to be finally released so just wondering whether anyone on here actually ended up getting a SteadXP and curious to know how you are getting on with it, particularly in how it compares to software only post products.

Some interesting real world example videos floating around (no pun intended) from people who have got it but the calibration and overall workflow might be a bit too much of a pain in the arse?

 

 

Is it only me or the footage from the SteadXP+ looks terrible soft?

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8 minutes ago, hijodeibn said:

Is it only me or the footage from the SteadXP+ looks terrible soft?

From his notes on YouTube, he was using a 5DMk3 so its going to be tough from an HD source with the radical amount of correction the clip needed for the final clip to not suffer.

The other example that @Emanuel posted is from a 4K source and does seem to fair better though, again, the shooter was doing some deliberately extreme moves to torture test it so I would suspect that in more realistic usage it would hold up even better as it was cutting into the image less.

Difficult to know with these things though without real hands on.

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4 hours ago, UncleBobsPhotography said:

I'm pretty sure they're using crazy fast shutter speed to get it to work. That doesn't mean that it's not useful, but it's simply not possible to make shaky 30p shot at 180 degrees good.

I don't have any real proof, but I would have guessed her hair would usually have been more blurry in windy weather than this:

 

You are right, and there is proof. GoPro 7 is doing the same thing SteadXP does, internally in camera (which is the future and I wonder why the camera companies dont do it themselves). And the GoPro does not work well with slow shutter speed. Not so much a problem with FF in my opinion when one knows how high ISO you can go. 

4 hours ago, Emanuel said:

In fact, these torture tests don't reflect a realistic use. Seems a great tool. I hope to have it between the end of week and the beginning of next one. Let's wait and see.

You are right too. Shaking the camera like crazy is not real use. I think if you use your camera steadily like you would do let's say with a GH5 that has IBIS, you will get insane result with Stead XP. In fact better results than IBIS. 
The only pain is post processing and why not include a FCPX / Adobe plug in that does everything in one clip for the clips that you select..... 

Excited to see your review
 

5 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

 It was designed and produced in France so that might explain why it is "Different" LoL. Probably used some past Citroen engineers. ☺️

Careful what you say on the French ;) 

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15 minutes ago, wolf33d said:

Careful what you say on the French ;) 

It would be a boring world without them.

 

 

This video tells a lot about how it works. I am not sure if Emmanuel Pampuri helped develop it, or is sort of a marketing guy with them? He does some crazy electronic wiz stuff I know that.

 

 

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Another info: for people wondering about those shutter speed and the look it will create: 

Can I add Motion Blur before rendering my video ?

Yes, SteadXP software allows you to add Motion Blur to your output video.
In preview tab advanced section, choose a type of Motion Blur and its intensity, from 1° to 720°. 180° being equivalent to cinematic standard (recommended value). The higher the value, the longer the processing.

From a cinematic point of vue, the rotational blur is accurate since the parameters of the virtual camera are taken into account.

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I have the SteadXP (DSLR version)  and it is impressive for sure.

Seems like it was unfortunate timing for the company since during the time they announced and raised their funds from kickstarter , and started actually shipping the product - many cameras were appearing onto the market with improved internal stabilisation support....not to mention the shit tone of affordable gimbals available now.

SteadXP works great for cameras that do not have IBIS, yet can shoot higher than HD resolution - so that the inevitable post cropping of the software will not impact to drastically on the final image quality. The SteadXP software is surprisingly featured and efficient at processing footage and has a hidden bonus option of being able to export prores output on a windows pc.

SteadXP blows away any consumer grade post-stabilisation software, as it will never exhibit the same warped artefacts from being confused by trying to correct the visual input only, but instead it applies a corrected distortion mesh from the accelerometer data...much more accurate.

It could be considered a slight PITA to setup these days, but I still have my SteadXP to hand for if I need to mount or use in a vehicle, where my Ronin-s is not practical or has to have a small enough footprint to fit somewhere hidden or confined. 

Higher shutter speeds are a must (as with every optical-flow based post-stabilisation software)..but post motion blur can easily be reintroduced with the SteadXP software or later on using RSMB plugin or similar. No big deal.

They are going pretty cheap on Ebay right now...but if you buy one make sure the seller includes login registration details to activate the software. Very short sighted idea that SteadXP had that owners might one day want to sell on to another user. But I suspect it could be a condition of having the prores licence. 

Looking at the footage of the most recent GoPro model, it appears that GoPro have either collaborated with the SteadXP guys to endorse the Gopro SteadXP add-on tech - and miniaturised it within the camera body...or GoPro have straight up copied the idea from them. The stabilised results look identical to what the SteadXP can do to the earlier GoPro models when using the SteadXP add-on pack. 

 

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Just now, webrunner5 said:

Do you use it on an Apple or a PC?

Windows PC - but the software is available on mac (and I think Linux can be requested).

To be clear the SteadXP is a half hardware, half software solution. The little SteadXP box attaches to your camera and records accelerometer data via one channel of the audio track of the recorded video from the camera. Once auto-synced and processed through the SteadXP software, the decoded data (recorded as telemetry audio pulses) is translated into a corrected displacement mesh for the video footage to be displaced by. The end result is a corrected video that can be exported from the software at various codecs for ingest to your NLE of choice.

https://steadxp.com/

 

 

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