Better image stabilisation in Final Cut Pro using Object Tracking

This is basically a short written set of instructions derived from Cody Wanner‘s YouTube video on the topic, refined a little for simplicity and updated for the newer GUI in more recent versions of Final Cut Pro. So feel free to view that video if you prefer that medium. I just find I need to reference this sporadically and it’s easier to just re-read written instructions that re-watch a whole video.

Background: Final Cut Pro’s built-in image stabilisation is a bit unreliable. Sometimes it works perfectly, just like you’d expect. Most of the time it requires manual tweaking and futzing in order to get good-enough results. And sometimes it just does not work, no matter what you do, for reasons that are beyond me. The technique shown here is annoyingly laborious to execute, but it works not just more reliably but also often just better (if your objective is complete stabilisation, at least).

Steps:

1. Duplicate the clip (option-drag it in the timeline view) and place the duplicate above1 the original. Ensure it’s perfectly aligned on the timeline’s X (time) axis, otherwise it won’t show up as a tracking source in step 3.2.
2. On the duplicate clip (make sure it’s selected and your playback position is within it so that you can see what you’re doing!):
   1. Invert the scale (e.g. make it -100% instead of the default 100%).
   2. Invert the X & Y offsets (if necessary – if they were non-zero beforehand).
   3. Add an Object Tracker (the + icon to the right of the “Tracker” titlebar at the bottom of the Video Inspector (right-hand pane)).
   4. A white grid – your anchor section – should appear over your clip. Move and resize it to have it cover an appropriate part of the clip (a subsection that’s contrasty and contains object(s) that are stable – in appearance and position – within the world space of the scene, and ideally are never obscured by anything during the clip).
      • ☝️ You can adjust the timeline position of the clip to find the optimum frame in which to identify your anchor section.
      …