Cropping to a fast moving object in a video.

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Level 1

8 points

Cropping to a fast moving object in a video.

Hi. Hopefully my question isn't too confusing, but I want to shoot video of a small, fast moving object (an RC airplane) on my iPhone 6S in 4K, then "crop" the video to enlarge the object. Recording an RC airplane zoomed in on a camcorder can be extremely difficult which is why I want to try cropping. I've already tried cropping videos in iMovie, but it doesn't achieve the desired effect as the airplane doesn't always stay in one place even on the zoomed out video.

Is it possible to crop a video, then move the "crop" around smoothly to track an object so it doesn't leave the frame? I've always have had problems recording fast moving objects zoomed in as I always loose track of them so I'm hoping someone here has done this before and knows how to do it.

I just got my first Mac and I'm really enjoying the free programs that come installed.

Thanks,

Adam

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 25, 2016 7:33 PM

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Answer 1

GeeD

Level 6

9,179 points

Aug 26, 2016 3:29 PM in response to FoamFlip

This is not really practicable to do with iMovie and difficult even with professional video editors.

I would put the 4k clip in the timeline as the first clip in order to set the project to 4k. I would try stabilising it but this will most likely stabilise the background rather than the position of the plane in the frame. You can crop the clip but the only way to move its position is by using the Ken Burns effect but it doesn't seem to be possible to use keyframes to make it follow the plane (like you can with picture in picture). You could split the clip into parts and apply individual Ken Burns effects to each but it will be horrendously tedious if the movement of the plane is fast and jerky.

To do this you need to use a professional editor like FCPX, for which there are third party plugins which can follow an object in a frame. Even then it is not easy to achieve a good result.

Geoff.

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Answer 2

FoamFlip Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 26, 2016 3:33 PM in response to GeeD

Thank you very much for your advice Geoff. I can imagine it would be quite difficult the more I think about it but I will definitely try stabilizing in iMovie. I'll also take a look at FCPX.

Adam

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