Stabilizing and Destabilizing

You can use the Tracking operator to stabilize or destabilize images.

Stabilizing an image removes unwanted camera movement, like shakes and jitters, from a sequence. When a sequence is stabilized, the tracked region(s) is forced to remain in the same place for the duration of the sequence. This can also be useful when you wish to apply an effect to a sequence with a lot of camera shaking because you can stabilize the sequence first and then apply the effect.
Destabilizing a sequence restores camera movement to a previously stabilized sequence. This useful for matching 3D elements into a live-action sequence with a lot of camera movement. For example, you can use a Tracking operator to stabilize the live-action sequence, and then use the same operator to destabilize the 3D sequence. When you composite the latter over the former, the camera movement matches.

To stabilize an image

Insert a Tracking Operator into the FxTree.
Connect the image you wish to stabilize to the operator's input.
Set up the trackers as described in Setting Up the Trackers. The track points should be positioned at the locations where you want to pin the foreground image's corners.
Create the motion paths, as described in Creating Motion Paths.
From the Tracking property editor, click the Trackers button to display the Trackers page.
On the Mode tab, set the Track Mode to Stabilize.
If you are doing a one-point stabilization, you may want to activate the Wrap Transform option on the Rendering tab of the Transform page.

When Wrap Transform is activated, the edges of the image that would otherwise be lost during stabilization wrap themselves around that gaps in the image that are created during the stabilization, meaning that you lose none of the image area.
Play back the sequence to process the stabilization.

Stabilize an image, as described in the previous procedure.
In the Fx Tree, disconnect the stabilized image from the Tracking operator and connect the image that you wish to destabilize to the operator's input.
Double-click the Tracking operator to open its property editor and preview it in the Fx Viewer.
From the Tracking property editor, click the Trackers button to display the Trackers page.
On the Mode tab, set the Track Mode to Destabilize.
Play back the sequence to process the destabilization.

TipAlternatively, you can copy the Tracking operator used to stabilize the image, and use the copy to destabilize another image.

To copy an operator, right-click it in the FxTree and choose Copy from the menu. Then right-click an empty area of the FxTree and choose Paste from the menu.

A copy of the Tracking operator is created, containing all of the same motion path information as the original.