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Hyperlapse, Instagram's new video stabilization app
- dpflan 12y agoHm, Instagram a little quicker on the draw than Microsoft? http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hyperlapse/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hype...
- rtkwe 12y agoThis seems like a simpler version of what Microsoft demonstrated in the paper. Between the final and original shots in Instigram's demos you can still see much of the original motion. This is especially apparent in the car clip. What it looks like the Instagram app is doing is selecting and stabilizing individual frames instead of the full 3D scene reconstruction that the MSFT paper described. EG there's no pop in and out of details like the MSFT demos and there's still a small but noticeable judder in some of the videos.
- 1wheel 12y agoThe initial paper demonstrating using gyroscopes to deblur images also came out of MSR 4 years ago: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/imudeblurring/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/im...
- steven2012 12y agoIs this a surprise? Microsoft had the Surface like a decade before Apple had the iPhone or iPad, and nothing came of it. Another stupid mistake by not focussing on innovation but instead focusing on how to preserve their Windows monopoly.
- simonw 12y agoThe approaches are completely different. Microsoft: "Our algorithm first reconstructs the 3D input camera path as well as dense, per-frame proxy geometries. We then optimize a novel camera path for the output video (shown in red) that is smooth and passes near the input cameras while ensuring that the virtual camera looks in directions that can be rendered well from the input." Instagram: "... Smartphones didn’t have nearly enough power to replicate video-editing software, but they did have built-in gyroscopes. On a smartphone, instead of using power-hungry algorithms to model the camera’s movement, he could measure it directly. And he could funnel those measurements through a simpler algorithm that could map one frame to the next, giving the illusion that the camera was being held steady"
- phirschybar 12y agoWow. I would never have guessed that this would be possible to do by analyzing the gyroscope data. It must be sensitive enough to detect small / tiny jerks in your phone as those seemingly tiny jerks can often translate into enormous motion in your camera lens especially if a subject is far away.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- StavrosK 12y agoWell, you can do stabilization as well for those, I guess.
- davidu 12y agoIt's weird that they called it Hyperlapse two weeks after Microsoft Research published a paper on the exact same topic, with the exact same name: PDF here: https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hyperlapse/paper/hyperlapse.pdf https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hyp... Examples here: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hyperlapse/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hype... It's even more weird that the WIRED writer didn't mention this. It was major news all over the place two weeks ago. Good PR folks at Instagram / FB.
- MRSallee 12y agoMicrosoft did not coin the term. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlapse http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlapse
- coldtea 12y agoApple did not coin the term Yosemite either, but if a new product from Google came and was called "Yosemite" (and it was also an OS) it would be a little awkward and worthy of a mention.
- Crito 12y agoDon't be obtuse. "Hyperlapse" is an established and accepted industry term. "Yosemite" is not. This is more comparable to if Apple made an application called "Camera" and then Google did the same.
- donkeyd 12y agoI see what you did there!
- MRSallee 12y agoIt's not just that "hyperlapse" is a pre-existing word (despite my spell-check underlining it right now), but that "hyperlapse" is exactly what this app does. Microsoft did not invent hyperlapse last week. They showed off a method of producing a hyperlapse. Instagram now has another method of producing a hyperlapse. Here's a video that, coincidentally, was also published last week about shooing a hyperlapse with a DSLR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcylVx2ex78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcylVx2ex78
- jrlocke 12y agoCool project, but if you want the same cinematic smoothing without the time lapse effect, I highly recommend Steady[1]. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8048413 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8048413 Edit: Hyperlapse can do this too. Thank you Wang.
- mark2456 12y agoIt's 2014, can we get Android and iOS versions at the same time? Starting to feel tired of all this "Android soon".
- DEinspanjer 12y agoIn this particular case, they specifically say it is because they are waiting for certain Camera API changes. I suspect it is probably related to the need to gather gyroscope / accelerometer data that is keyed to the individual frames of the video. Instagram is certainly capable of putting out apps for both platforms simultaneously. I don't think they wouldn't fail on that without a good reason.
- jp555 12y agoThere's an easy fix; get an iPhone. If you find yourself constantly feeling this... that may be a sign you're not in the most suitable walled garden.
- paulhodge 12y agoiOS version isn't available yet, if that makes you feel better.
- noinput 12y agoI get this complaint all the time and it's getting old. What's clear to developers is usually not to the user, that the combination of device + hardware + os makes developing "an Android version" a royal pain in the app store.
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- DEinspanjer 12y agoI think that the MS Research project probably has a few advantages over this although I've only looked at Instagram's example videos on Vimeo so far. The main advantage I see for MS Research is that they enable the full dropping of multiple frames to remove large camera motions such as having a head mounted camera and briefly looking from side to side. In the Instagram examples, the camera stays on a fixed subject and their Hyperlapse algorithm reduces the shake. I suspect that if there were large camera motions, they would be translated into the final product which could detract a lot from the appeal of that video.
- colinbartlett 12y agoFor me the biggest advantage of the Microsoft project is that it has the potential to be stand-alone software. I'm not interested in using something that's a part of Facebook's ecosystem or sharing it with my friends on Facebook.
- mikeyk 12y agoHi Colin, all Hyperlapse videos get saved out to your Camera Roll, and no FB or IG account is needed to use the app (there are sharing options for those two in the app, but they aren't a requirement to using it)
- asadotzler 12y agoyet?
- Kayou 12y agoWow, so does all the processing happen on the phone itself? That's impressive! I thought it was sent on a server to be processed.
- georgemcbay 12y agoYeah, for me the biggest advantage of the Microsoft project is I don't have an iPhone and even if the Instagram software ran on my Nexus 5, I'm still primarily interested in using this with video from non-phone cameras (specifically my Canon 70D and my Sony A7).
- thisjepisje 12y agoThe tech demo from a few weeks ago was much more impressive.
- ceejayoz 12y agoThe ability for the general public to use this today without weeks of rendering time is pretty impressive in my book.
- bobbyi_settv 12y ago"soon, but that will require changes to the camera and gyroscope APIs on Android phones" is not nearly the same as "can use this today".
- gfodor 12y agocomment best spoken aloud in the voice of "The Comic Book Guy"
- sp332 12y agoAre you really surprised that a tech demo is more impressive than a polished app you can run on your smartphone right now?
- ctdonath 12y agoThere's a difference between gyroscopic adjustment at/near real-time, vs multi-frame interpolation for generation of a path view outside the camera frame/path requiring hours/weeks of processing time.
- mikeyk 12y agoMike from IG here. Here's the direct App Store link while it propagates: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id740146917 https://itunes.apple.com/app/id740146917
- Albuca 12y agoThanks for the link Mike! I wasn't able to search for it on the App Store yet, but it is currently live on the Instagram, Inc. app page. Cheers!
- philip1209 12y agoI wish there was a native or web app for this - I'd love to throw some GoPro videos through the algorithm without trying to load them on my phone.
- vitamen 12y agoLooks like it depends on gyroscope data gathered while capturing video in this case. But I agree that a solution like Microsoft's not commercially available Hyperlapse solution is more ideal when you have another camera or footage already shot.
- lechevalierd3on 12y agoI had hope for my way too long and boring gopro videos...
- roberto 12y agoSomebody could make a GoPro mount that attaches to an iPhone, plus an app that records the gyroscope data in sync with the video.
- coldtea 12y agoOr GoPro could go make a GoPro camera with a gyroscope sensor. Seriously, it's a shame DSLR etc manufactures don't offer an open API.
- nkozyra 12y agoGetting a bit of hyperbole out of this (shocking, I know). Stabilization is not something that costs $15k, at least at this quality. Yes, it's interesting on a technical level (both with Instagram and MS), but there are low-tech solutions that handle this aptly. So in essence we're talking about a video accelerator (and presumably decelerator)? This doesn't exactly wow me, but then again Instagram was founded on applying filters to photos, so I should recognize the value of hype (and subsequent audience size).
- theworst 12y agoI think the $15k references a gyro stabilized camera rig. The stabilization is the hard/novel/neat part, not the playback speed. Playback speed is the UI feature people notice, but it wouldn't be interesting if the image weren't stabilized.
- nkozyra 12y agoUm, that's what I was saying. Stabilization (at least at this level) is still not a $15,000 investment. Prosumer ones start in the $500 range. Software stabilization obviously also supplants hardware cost, which makes even that # moot. Then there's the acceleration, which can be done by low-level video prod software already. I'm seriously not trying to just poo-poo this, it's just very underwhelming as a total package.
- anentropic 12y agobut with this you don't have to fit your phone into a rig, you can just keep it in your pocket
- nkozyra 12y agoSure, but this is sort of like saying adaptive blurring replaces a $2,000 SLR lens.
- dang 12y agoOk, we changed "$15,000" to "stabilizing". Let us know if something else would be more accurate.
- omarish 12y agoIt looks like the Midnox team (YC W12) has been busy at Facebook! http://midlux.us/ http://midlux.us/. Great work.
- dharma1 12y agoNice! Non-timelapse but related - I wonder how long until mobile phone manufacturers start using in something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VphxfCXu984 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VphxfCXu984 Post stabilisation is good but it's so much better to get it right in-camera
- smackfu 12y agoNokia's higher end phones include optical image stabilization. It adds thickness which is probably why iPhones don't have it yet.
- dharma1 12y agoAh of course, Nokia, should have guessed. Interesting video on their stabilisation technology - on the 925 it doesn't seem to add that much thickness, that one is only 8.8mm thick, vs 7.7mm for iPhone 5. They should have licensed their camera tech to all manufacturers. Wonder how much of it will pop up in iPhone 6 now that they snagged one of the main PureView engineers. http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/09/25/how-nokia-lumia-optical-image-stabilisation-is-revolutionising-imaging/ http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/09/25/how-nokia-lumia-op... I think the earlier 1020 etc were thick because of huge sensor size. I have OIS dSLR lenses but none of them are quite as good as that Sony's Optical Steady Shot linked above - it's almost as good as some brushless gimbals I'm using on drones, which are rock steady. Sony claim it's 13 times more effective than their previous stabilisation.
- netcan 12y agoI have a category in the back of my mind labeled 'Stuff Apple should do to prove that they can do it without Jobs." Top of that list is an iOS laptop. But just below that is getting back to their tradition of being a popular easier to use option for professional and prosumer media/art. Stuff like this should be coming from Apple. For example, it would be awesome if they created prosumer software for filming with a wireless multi-camera setup and edit it all live on a macbook. would love it if upstart young-Turks like web shows could get closer to the production quality of TV talk shows. Something that makes the right people go wow.
- nezza-_- 12y agoI think (and naturally don't have a source) that most people would say "Oh god that would never happened with Jobs" if they launched an iOS laptop...
- ericras 12y agoApple seems to not want to get into the prosumer market because it is a tiny fraction of the size of the general iPhone/iPad/Beats consumer market. The buzz about future Apple products seems to be about things that could achieve that sort of scale. (TV, watch, something video game related, etc)
- dublinben 12y agoTheir prosumer computers essentially only exist so that developers can enrich their mobile platform. Growth is essentially flat on the Mac line, whereas iPhone sales have grown steadily since launch.
- cpr 12y agoApple's consumer apps do have image stabilization options. Wait, is iMovie still a thing?
- Terretta 12y ago> “‘Stuff Apple should do to prove that they can do it without Jobs.’ Top of that list is an iOS laptop.” You can get an iOS laptop today, basically an ASUS Transformer: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/ultrathin-keyboard-cover-ipad-5 http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/ultrathin-keyboard-cov...
- seeingfurther 12y agoIt's available in the app store. You find it by searching Instagram then clicking 'related'. I couldn't find it with normal search.
- giarc 12y agohttps://itunes.apple.com/app/id740146917 https://itunes.apple.com/app/id740146917
- giovannibajo1 12y agoFor the curious, this is a video rendered with my iPhone 4S, and the road was very very bumpy. This is the quality you get with an old phone and with zero setup / art direction. https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2w18xh31aixmhv/Video%2026-08-14%2019%2000%2046.mov?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2w18xh31aixmhv/Video%2026-08-14%2...
- heyheyhey 12y agoSome things I noticed 1) Video is pretty smooth 2) So many hatchback cars 3) You traveled pretty far without running into a single light.
- giovannibajo1 12y agoI think all cars are hatchback in Italy (Europe too I would say, but I'm totally not into cars so I tend not to pay attention to them when I travel). I drove one way and back so it's not that much road; plus I was in a countryside area that doesn't have many lights.
- dntrkv 12y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA
- giovannibajo1 12y agoLol sorry i totally didn't think of it while shooting
- johnpowell 12y agoI had worse luck while trying to walk with it. I didn't want to be that guy recording people so I just dangled the iPhone in my arm. And yeah. I was worried I was recording the pavement and adjusted to much. http://stfudamnit.com/ryan/store.mp4 http://stfudamnit.com/ryan/store.mp4
- seivan 12y agoI might be wrong here but I thought 'Hyperlapse' (functionality) was builtin on the iOS 8 Camera app? Am I missing something here?
- mattkirman 12y agoiOS 8 has timelapse, implemented as a series of photos taken a few seconds apart and then stitched together. This appears to be a video stream that is then smoothed and then (optionally) sped up.
- nkg 12y agoI just tried it. The result is really better than an un-stabilized video. But I found it a bit blurry. I can't wait until someone copies it on Android.
- chrischen 12y ago"What was once only possible with a Steadicam or a $15,000 tracking rig is now possible on your iPhone, for free." This statement is undeniably false.
- djfumberger 12y agoGreat app. On a side not it's kind of depressing / scary / crazy that it's now just common place to release these apps for free. Indie development if not suffocated already on the App Store has little hope competing going forward.
- prawn 12y agoWonder if they considered charging for this? Looks impressive enough that people would pay for a quality app.
- hagope 12y agoI was excited to download and try it, but honestly it didn't seem like it was stabilizing the frame at all...the camera shaking was still in the video...
- qzervaas 12y agoLooks like it only has native share options for Instagram and Facebook. Seems a bit petty not to offer Twitter. How about let me decide where I want to share? From an implementation point of view, this app doesn't use UIActivityViewController, but instead one they've rolled themselves. They could in fact have added Instagram to the built-in share view controller but decided not to. This also takes away options of Twitter, SMS, email.
- corobo 12y agoIt saves to your video roll, use any number of apps to upload from your video roll. The decision is yours!
- ghshephard 12y agoThis is one of the first major reasons why the 128 GB iPhone will be important.
- kazinator 12y agoI would be surprised if this couldn't be done with FFMpeg. Google for "ffmpeg" "image stabilization".
- vardump 12y agoInteresting it can be done real time on the phone (I assume). Personally I've been using free video stabilizer Deshaker for 10 years with similar (or better) results. The downside is two-pass rendering. Upside is that it is fairly configurable and can stabilize existing videos. You can get ok results with fairly terrible source video. http://www.guthspot.se/video/deshaker.htm http://www.guthspot.se/video/deshaker.htm
- duncans 12y agoSo it's basically a very simplified Luma Camera (acquired by Instagram a year ago) with a speed slider? http://vimeo.com/lumacam http://vimeo.com/lumacam