MotionCrop: Stabilizing Aircraft Video Footage
If you’ve ever tried to film aircraft, you know the challenge: no matter how steady you think you’re holding the camera, the footage comes out shaky. That’s why I built MotionCrop.
The Problem with Aircraft Footage
During my time flying with the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team, we captured a lot of formation footage. The flying was beautiful, but the videos were often hard to watch. The camera would bounce and shake, making it difficult to appreciate the precision of the maneuvers.
Traditional video stabilization software didn’t work well for this use case. These tools are designed for handheld footage where the subject moves around the frame. But in air-to-air footage, we want the opposite: keep the aircraft locked in place while letting the background move naturally.
A Different Approach
MotionCrop takes a specialized approach to this problem. Instead of trying to stabilize the entire frame, it tracks the aircraft and crops each frame to keep the plane centered. The result is footage where the aircraft stays steady while the sky moves behind it.
The tool is built with C++ and OpenCV, analyzing footage frame-by-frame to:
- Identify trackable features (usually the aircraft against the sky)
- Calculate how those features move between frames
- Determine the optimal crop window to stabilize the subject
- Output a new video with smooth, stabilized footage
When It Works Best
MotionCrop shines with clear sky backgrounds and a well-defined aircraft as the subject. Air-to-air formation footage is ideal. The tool struggles more when there’s ground in the frame, clouds creating false tracking points, or debris on the lens.
It’s worth noting that this is alpha-state software. You’ll need to be comfortable with command-line tools, and results will vary depending on your footage. But when it works, the improvement can be dramatic.
Try It Yourself
If you have aircraft footage that could use some stabilization, give MotionCrop a try. It’s a free download and available on the MotionCrop page along with usage instructions and parameter documentation.
The tool won’t fix every video, but for the right footage, it can transform unwatchable shaky clips into smooth, enjoyable content.
