Stabilisation

What this is about

The software tracks features in the frame, calculates how the camera moved and shifts every frame to compensate. That shifting only works if there is image outside the visible area, which is why stabilisation always crops. Rolling shutter distortion, motion blur baked into individual frames and sudden hard bumps are the limits: none of them can be undone. A shot with too much correction develops a floating, rubbery motion that most viewers find more distracting than the original shake, so the honest answer is often a tripod on set.

A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.

What runs differently here

In planning terms, that means:

• Every stabilisation costs image area; leave crop reserve when the shot is planned handheld
• Motion blur cannot be removed — a blurred frame stays blurred after stabilisation
• Over-correction produces a floating look that disturbs more than moderate handheld movement

With TillyGen

When the plan says a scene is handheld, that note reaches post as an expectation instead of arriving as a surprise in the first review round.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.