proDAD, 2008 liability whatsoever for the consequences of any incorrect statements or information which the documentation or translation may contain. Subject to technical and optical modifications. Information regarding any inaccuracies is always welcome. Copyright The software and the individual components of this product are the property of proDAD GmbH. By installing this product, the licensee agrees to refrain from unauthorized use and duplication. proDAD GmbH does not accept any responsibility for the usage of this program and the publication of its contents and data that has been created with this program.
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General information

What is Mercalli? Mercalli lets you remove the effects of camera shake, jolts and trembling from recorded video sequences, to enhance the quality of important footage. Mercalli also improves your material by smoothing irregular pan or zoom shots. Whenever a tripod is not to hand or would be impractical to use, an unwanted effect of agitation results. This is usually the case with unexpected events, which you have to film quickly and without any preparation, to capture a unique situation. Or whenever you can't use the full range of video equipment, because it would be impractical. Where such footage is generally well shot but contains some camera shake, and it is of quite some value to the whole video, Mercalli can save the day. Mercalli can rescue and optimise this footage almost fully automatically! This makes Mercalli a highly valuable tool that'll rescue and optimise crucial video clips. Why the name "Mercalli"? The Italian volcanologist Giuseppe Mercalli created the Mercalli scale, which is used to assess and categorise the intensity of an earthquake, ranging from "instrumental" to "catastrophic". Mercalli created this scale based on an assessment of the degree of damage that results from a quake. That's exactly what it has in common with our program Mercalli: Mercalli also assesses shocks, shakes and distortions. Using very complex mathematical operations, it detects irregularities and removes them from a video clip. In a very intricate procedure, it assesses which movements are intended (e.g. zoom, panning), and which ones are not (e.g. shakes, shocks to the tripod, vibrations). You are then prompted to remove the unwanted movements.
proDAD, 2008 Why choose Mercalli rather than another stabilisation program? What is certainly special about Mercalli is its fully automatic analysis feature. You don't have to do anything such as configure complex parameter settings, which makes Mercalli extremely easy to use. What's more, Mercalli completes its complex analyses so quickly and efficiently that DV material is "scanned", i.e. analysed, on a Pentium 4 in real time. Mercalli manages this thanks to its state-of-the art design and approach, which gives it an edge over older solutions and applications. And last but not least, the optimised images are far superior to the results achieved with other solutions which are often much more expensive. In addition to the fully automatic movement detection feature, you have a number of options for optimising footage, based on your subjective assessment. Ranging from easy-to-use profiles to very detailed options, these will allow you to make the most out of any shaky clip. Innovation unseen Compared to many other solutions, Mercalli is a state-of-the-art, innovative product that boasts the following features: Multicore support for maximum rendering speed with the latest processor systems Clearly structured user interface Direct plugin support for major video editing programs Fully automatic movement and object tracing Complex mathematical procedures for maximum quality stabilisation Rendering for all resolutions (Mercalli Expert) Pioneering and extensible technology

proDAD, 2008 What Mercalli can do and what it can't do? Mercalli will improve any shaky original. It can produce amazing and even perfect results. However, you shouldn't expect miracles! A video sequence that has been filmed from a vehicle wildly lurching over rough terrain cannot be transformed into one that looks as though it was shot using a tripod. But Mercalli can further enhance footage that was smoothed during filming using mechanical tools such as a dolly or steadicam by "simply" balancing out tilt movements or smoothing even the slightest interference, e.g. by harmonising the effect of large camera zoom steps. But although Mercalli is an all-rounder, its most important area of application is definitely the smoothing of footage taken with a handheld camera or even a tripod. Here, you will always notice an improvement. Differences between the Mercalli Light and Mercalli Expert user interfaces Mercalli Light offers the common capabilities for quick stabilisation. Mercalli Expert offers the same, plus many detailed settings options to achieve perfect image stabilisation during video editing. Differences between the Mercalli Light and Mercalli Expert user interfaces: 1. Mercalli Light
proDAD, 2008 2. Mercalli Expert
proDAD, 2008 Video-Shaker There have been requests, especially from professional Mercalli test users, for a tool that can quickly and easily shake relatively calm sequences, e.g. to create an earthquake atmosphere.
Cue Video-Shaker Mercalli's counterpart, which creates a shake effect in videos at the editing stage. Sounds odd, but the effects are quite interesting Video-Energy ? Mercalli and Video-Shaker are the first two plugins in the Video-Energy range of tools for improving and optimising your video footage. We will continuously expand and further develop this range. More plugins are to follow. For details, please visit www.prodad.com.
Installing, Registration & starting Mercalli
Installing & starting Mercalli To start the installation, double-click the setup file. By installing the program, you agree to the terms and conditions in the "Legal notice" section above and to the licence terms. If you have downloaded Mercalli, the archive file will first be decompressed and then the installation will start. You can only use Mercalli as a plugin. Please refer to the section "Using Mercalli with different video editing programs / plugin support" for information.

proDAD, 2008 Registration / licence key Please note: the registration function is available in purchased and not yet registered full versions only, not in demo versions.
Click "Register". In the next dialog, enter your data. You can find the registration number on the second cover page of your user guide. If you have purchased the product from the proDAD online shop, you will find the number in the order confirmation e-mail.
Click "Next" to choose the type of data transfer. Data transfer via e-mail is the easiest and quickest option. However, if you don't have e-mail access, use the print option to print out your data and send them to us. Please do NOT send us manually created or handwritten letters or fax messages. What to do when you receive the licence key: You should normally be sent an e-mail containing a link for downloading your key. Download the licence key file and save it to a directory of your choice. Double-click this.exe file to execute it. This activates the key in Mercalli and you can now use Mercalli without a time limit. If you make changes to your system, you may need to contact proDAD and request a new licence key. Please use one of the above contact options and send your new PID code to proDAD. The PID code contains no information about your system. A licence key is simply a technical way of protecting software against illegal use. This helps avoid costs that would result from illegal copying, which would affect upgrade prices in future. It benefits all users who have paid to use the software legally, as well as retailers and the makers of the software.
proDAD, 2008 Help function Pressing the F1 key opens the Help function.
The user guide is also available in PDF format directly from the Programs menu. Go to Windows Start menu Programs proDAD Manual-Mercalli You can also use the Search function to quickly find specific terms or topics in the user guide.
Using Mercalli with different video editing programs / plugin support
Adobe Premiere Pro, CS und Elements When you install Mercalli, the Premiere plugin is automatically installed. In Premiere, you can find the plugin in the video effects:
proDAD, 2008 This is what you do: 1. Go to the video filters and double-click the proDAD directory to open it. 2. Click the item "Mercalli" and drag it onto the required clip in the timeline. 3. To start Mercalli, click the item "Mercalli" in the Premiere effect settings. 4. Configure the settings in Mercalli (e.g. choose a suitable profile) and click OK to return to Premiere. Please refer to the introduction to working with Mercalli in the next section for more information. Avid Liquid When you install Mercalli, the Avid Liquid plugin is automatically installed. In Avid Liquid, you can find the plugin in the video effects:

Settings dialog

This is where you configure the settings for general removal of camera shake.
The Mercalli Expert version provides more advanced effects to remove camera shake (-> Expert mode). For a quick start and for a first test editing of your video footage, we recommend using profiles.
Profiles What are profiles? A profile comprises suitable settings for specific tasks. Put differently, the settings needed to complete a specific task are combined in a profile. The name of each profile in the drop-down list describes its use. Working with profiles To keep things simple, you should start any process of removing camera shake with a suitable profile. Example: to quickly and efficiently edit footage of a flying eagle, use the profile "Special
proDAD, 2008 application: track a flying object in the sky". Once you have applied a profile, you can configure additional settings. Depending on the video footage, the default settings may be entirely suitable, or not quite suitable. A profile is therefore always a first step towards the perfect result. Please refer to the section "Profiles for specific tasks" for a detailed description of the individual profiles.
Mercalli Light for first tests and quick results
Even the Mercalli Light version offers efficient mechanisms to remove camera shake. The Mercalli Expert version in Expert mode offers additional capabilities. First read here how you to significantly improve your footage in no time at all.
Running a quick test 1. Assign a plugin and start the program 1.1 Assign Mercalli as a video filter or video effect in your video editing software. (Please refer to the section "Using Mercalli with different video editing programs" for information about how to do this in your specific program.) 1.2 Start Mercalli (some programs will start it automatically). 2. Select a profile 1. Select a profile from the drop-down list.
If your system has a fast processor unit (CPU), select "Versatile: precise image stabilisation (intensive rendering)". As the profile name says, the settings in this profile allow very precise movement detection, but this is a compute-intensive process. However, it ensures unwanted movements are detected and removed with great accuracy.
proDAD, 2008 If your system has an older processor unit (CPU), select the profile "Versatile: fastest image stabilisation" or "Versatile: reliable image stabilisation". This will smooth the video considerably, but not as precisely as the previous profile. This is all you need to do in the first step towards optimising your video by removing unwanted movement. To return to the video editing program, click "Close". Mercalli automatically starts the video analysis.
Once this is complete, you can preview the result in your video editing program. To make further changes, restart Mercalli from your video editing program. The advanced settings options are listed below. Advanced settings (in Standard mode) 1. Compare view Select the split screen to directly compare the original with the stabilised image. You can also display an evaluation grid, which gives you additional checkpoints for visual analysis.

2. Camera stabilisation Lets you specify whether the stabilised image should rather look "static", i.e. as though filmed using a tripod, or if the shakes in the original should only be reduced so that abrupt movements are changed to soft movements. This is a decision only a person can take, based on the video footage being edited, which is why you have this control option.
3. Camera balance Lets you specify whether the camera should be held "in balance", or whether effects such as a certain inertia as is achieved with use of a steadicam should be simulated. This option also lets you smooth tilt movements that may or may not be unintended.
4. Border area When unwanted movements are compensated, the frame is shifted. This will result in borders, which can be compensated in different ways. Borders that are thick throughout the original sequence due to strong shakes are undesirable. You can either change the setting to "Static border (upscaled)", or colour in the border, a good option when the border colours are largely uniform.
Expert mode for manual optimisation
The Mercalli Expert version offers the so-called expert mode. Clicking "Expert mode" expands the dialog to provide settings options that go far beyond those of the Light version not necessarily their number, but certainly their effect With Expert mode active, the Mercalli interface has three sections:
Left This is where you find the compare view. Centre This section contains the movement detection parameters. It's where you set the properties to be included or ignored during movement detection. Right The camera stabilisation section lets you specify the type and extent of stabilisation you require. Bottom right This is where you specify how to fill the frame border. Image stabilisation thus comprises four tasks: Compare view (split screen) + movement detection + camera stabilisation + border compensation The purpose of the compare view is just for you to visually assess the stabilised footage. The border area settings can be specified according to taste or application. The key stages of stabilisation are movement detection (= basis for stabilisation) and camera stabilisation (= what stabilisation should involve). The basics are explained below.

Movement detection

Slider control Lets you specify how accurate movement detection should generally be. You may wonder what this setting is for after all, precise detection is always the goal. However, very precise detection also requires maximum processing capacity. And maximum detail is necessary in only up to 50% of all cases, because of the way in which Mercalli works. Consequently, you should only increase this effect (= detail precision) whenever the result of the previous stabilisation attempt is not yet satisfactory.

proDAD, 2008 Important picture area Lets you specify where in an image movement should be detected. Or at least it lets you shift the focus from the edge of an image to its centre. Imagine a beam of light illuminating an entire image area. This would correspond to the setting "neutral". Now imagine a spotlight illuminating only the centre of the image area. This would correspond to the setting "centre". Any movement in the area that is not illuminated would be ignored. With the setting "border", on the other hand, only the border area would be illuminated. Any movement in the centre of the image would be ignored. Are you wondering what this is for? You might think that movement detection should always include all available information to achieve the best possible result. That is how many other stabilisation solutions work. Mercalli offers a small but significant difference. Imagine that the filmed object you want the viewer to focus on is a duck, swimming in the centre of the screen. This duck would therefore be the object that needs to be stabilised. However, the waves around the duck also create movement, which would interfere with the stabilisation of the duck. If movement analysis focuses on the duck (and therefore ignores the waves), the stabilisation result will simply be much better!
Special video analysis Detect shapeless contents Mercalli generally tries to include the high-contrast contents of an image in the movement analysis. But what if there is no high-contrast content? In such a case, you could include, for instance, clouds in the analysis, which would serve as fixed points for detection of movement. To do that, select this checkbox. Detect fast motions In action-filled video sequences, certain fast movements during filming may be unavoidable. Such movements are not generally included in the analysis. Depending on the effect you are aiming for, you may wish to select this checkbox to compensate fast movements.
proDAD, 2008 Detect micro motions Again, you may wonder why this is not selected by default. Here's the simple answer: because the detection of slight movements may sometimes be useful, but at other times distracting. Example: Imagine you have filmed a scene with low lighting. The camera has been relatively steady, but the footage is a little grainy. This image noise could be misinterpreted during the movement detection. To ignore such minimal movement, you could select this checkbox. By contrast, with super slow motion sequences, selecting the checkbox could even further improve the result. Please note that selecting this option considerably increases the rendering time!
Detectable features Detect silhouette only With this mode selected, the movement detection feature uses all the rough structures of an object to detect movement. Also detect object contours With this mode selected, object outlines are also detected and included in the movement analysis. Also detect details With this mode selected, not only silhouettes and contours, but also the details of an object are included in the movement analysis.

allow for inclination compensation only Reduces only unwanted camera movements ("camera shake") in the original footage. also tilt compensation Reduces both unwanted camera movements ("camera shake") and distracting camera tilt. also tilt and zoom compensation Reduces unwanted camera movements, distracting camera tilt and unwanted zoom effects.
proDAD, 2008 Border settings The compensation of movements in an image results in borders. For instance, when an image is repositioned 10 pixels to the left to compensate for camera shake to the right, a border or rather a gap in the data will appear on the right of the image. This will generally be shown as no content, or a black image area. In this section of the Mercalli dialog, you can decide how to deal with the border data, so you can optimise the stabilised video footage for further use.
Without border (upscaled) With this setting selected, Mercalli will first stabilise the image and then upscale it as much as is required by all the stabilisation movements and the resulting borders, to generally avoid the border effect. Advantage: the border is still, without any movement. Disadvantage: depending on the level of stabilisation, you may have to upscale the image a lot, which will result in a loss of focus. Static border With this setting selected, Mercalli will create a static border around the image. The border width is as large as required by all the stabilisation movements to avoid a flickering border. Advantage: very still border, no scaling (you can add scaling later in your video editing program) Disadvantage: if a lot of movement has to be compensated, the border may be quite wide. Dynamic border With this setting selected, Mercalli adapts the border for each frame of a video sequence. Advantage: the border can be generally less wide, only strong movement compensation will require wider borders. Disadvantage: the border may appear to flicker, particularly with more intense stabilisation. Additional parameters
Level of scaling Use the slider control to set a level of scaling for a - "static border" - "dynamic border" This lets you slightly reduce the border effect (optional). Fill up border area With this checkbox selected, the black borders are coloured in. The colour used depends on the image content of the original video signal. To reduce strong
proDAD, 2008 image noise in the border area, the image is blurred towards the video border area. You should select this option whenever the pixels closest to the border area have a relatively uniform colouring, such as in footage of water or the sky (e.g. when filming animals in water or planes in the sky; these would generally be in the centre of an image).

proDAD, 2008 Tripod Tripod: harmonise camera zoom (intensive rendering) Use this profile to smooth footage containing shaky or irregular zoom movements. Examples: irregular use of zoom, or footage filmed using cameras with large zoom steps Tripod: harmonise camera pan shot (intensive rendering) Use this profile to smooth footage containing shaky or irregular pan movements. Examples: irregular panning speed, or footage filmed using a tripod with poor-quality bearings Tripod: simulate almost stationary camera (intensive rendering) Use this profile to create footage containing almost no camera shake. Examples: all types of footage that should appear much calmer, almost as though filmed using a tripod Tripod: simulate Tripod (possible tilt effect) (intensive rendering) Use this profile to completely stabilise footage. It will then look as though it had been filmed using a tripod. Important: this may result in a complete tilt effect. If this occurs, reduce the camera stabilisation setting from "static" towards "steady", or change the camera balance setting from "Tending to tilt" to "Inertia effect". Any panning or zooming may also result in an exaggerated border effect. If this is the case, choose either of these profiles: "Tripod: harmonise pan shot (intensive rendering)" or "Tripod: harmonise camera zoom (intensive rendering)". Rescue Rescue: improve highly shook or jittery record Use this profile to be able to use footage filmed spontaneously and with very shaky or nervous camera movements. Examples: footage of unique moments, e.g., sudden events, which can only be captured with great haste. Rescue: smooth highly shook or jittery record Use this profile to smooth footage filmed with shaky or nervous camera movements, to create a calm effect. Examples: footage of unique moments, e.g., sudden events, which can only be captured with great haste. Rescue: improve low-contrast or lack of detail shook record Use this profile to optimise shaky footage with image content that is relatively uniform in colour or lacks clear outlines. With this profile, content that lacks contrast is also used for movement detection, which can result in a vast improvement. Examples: a slightly overcast sky or a foggy landscape Rescue: smooth low-contrast or lack of detail shook record Use this profile to smooth the effect of camera movements in shaky footage with image content that is relatively uniform in colour or lacks clear outlines. With this profile, content that lacks

proDAD, 2008 contrast is also used for movement detection, which can result in a vast improvement. Examples: a slightly overcast sky or a foggy landscape In Practice In Practice : Tracking a flying object in the sky Use this profile to stabilise objects filmed with a high zoom factor against a neutral background. This profile tracks and stabilises the object, while filling in the border area. You could use this profile, e.g., to stabilise a macro shot of a small insect against a neutral background. Examples: planes, birds In Practice : Tracking a flying object on a background Use this profile to smooth footage of a flying object against a background scenery. With this profile, the setting "Important image area" (Expert version only) is particularly useful, as it can significantly improve object tracking. Examples: eagle flying across a mountain landscape, air show, animal shots filmed during a safari In Practice : Capture a slow object in the sky Use this profile to optimise footage of an object moving slowly against a neutral background, where the camera work is not perfect. Examples: helicopter, macro shots In Practice : Smooth tracking shot from a car drive Use this profile for footage filmed from a moving object. Examples: helmet cam for a skier or cyclist, camera mounted on a remote-controlled model aeroplane In Practice : Smooth a tracking shot from a bumpy car drive Use this profile for extremely shaky moving footage. Examples: footage taken during an off-road ride, helmet cam for a mountain biker In Practice : Improve helmetcam while unhurried drive Use this profile for slow-moving footage filmed with a helmet cam or similar camera. Examples: helmet cam for cyclist, camera mounted on vehicle, underwater footage In Practice : Improve helmetcam while racy drive Use this profile for high-speed footage or sequences containing fast movements, filmed with a helmet cam or another mounted camera. Examples: helmet cam for sports, camera mounted on a remote-controlled model aeroplane In Practice : Improve record from a wavering ship Use this profile for footage you have filmed standing on moving ground. This profile reduces general camera shake. In Practice : Smooth record from a wavering ship Use this profile for footage you have filmed standing on moving ground.

proDAD, 2008 This profile reduces general camera shake and smoothes the camera movement. In Practice : Harmonise record from a wavering ship Use this profile for footage you have filmed standing on moving ground. This profile smoothes all movements, creating a calmer overall effect.
Tips & tricks & more Mobile/HD/SD/HDV/HDTV
Mercalli is designed for easy editing of HD/HDTV material certainly the Mercalli Expert version. Here is some basic information about sensitivity and rendering speed: Sensitivity Resolution: theory and practice Compared to HD/SD material, HDTV footage has a much higher resolution and therefore contains far more data. These finer nuances in movement allow much greater precision in stabilisation. Consequently, it should theoretically not be possible to stabilise a VGA sequence with a resolution of 640x480 px as well as an HDTV sequence. Moreover, a clip in progressive mode can always be analysed better than an interlaced clip. This means that HD not only provides the best possible image; its potential regarding the removal of camera shake is also better. This can be measured and formally shown. However, in practice a stabilised standard DV clip shown in interlaced mode on a TV screen may subjectively appear to be much calmer than a DV clip viewed on a computer monitor. To sum up: although theoretically there may be factors that enhance movement analysis, the subjective impression of a result is ultimately what counts. Which is why Mercalli lets you set some options according to your personal tastes Rendering speed The rendering speed depends on a number of factors. The design of a video editing program's plugin interface may either allow high-speed processing by Mercalli, or it may restrict the speed. For instance, you can currently render/analyse a DV sequence (720x576) on a Pentium4 (Duocore) processor at 120 frames per second provided you are using Canopus Edius. Other video editing programs may allow the processing of a maximum of 35 frames per second, even though only a small part of the processor capacity is used. Such an interface has clearly not been optimised to perfection. The dimensions of a video signal are also crucial in assessing the rendering speed. For instance, an SD/DV signal with a resolution of 720x576 can be rendered about five times faster than a comparable HDTV signal with 1920x1080 pixels. This is to be expected, because HDTV simply contains five times as much data that need to be taken into account. Another factor can be use of a codec, which is always a "bottleneck" for data flows and subsequent processing. For the sake of completeness, other factors that affect rendering should also be mentioned: the CPU used, the available RAM (the more there is, the better), and the bus system, which must be not be too small for the other hardware components. But this concerns all processing-intensive programs that also move large amounts of data within the memory which includes the video editing program itself.

What can interfere with stabilisation?
Image noise The more image noise a video sequence contains, the harder it is for Mercalli to distinguish between intended and unintended movements. As for any other video editing work, the footage should therefore be as free from image noise as possible. However, Mercalli can ignore image noise up to a certain level. Compressed video Compressing video generally results in digital artifacts, which can interfere with movement analysis. You should therefore aim for maximum-quality compression. Unused image areas For instance, black bars at the top and bottom of a video clip will be included in the rendering process. This also happens, e.g. if you are using HD material in SD projects, and the video editing program passes video data to the Mercalli plugin that are not based on the original HD footage but on the downscaled version. Such a clip will also have black bars at the top and bottom. An easy solution: simply slide the "Important image area" control (for assessing camera shake) from the "neutral" setting towards "centre". The border areas will then be ignored and stabilisation will focus on the actual important image areas, which, however, will also be reduced on the left and right.
Application to individual clip sections
In some cases you may wish to stabilise only parts of a scene, rather than the complete video clip. Simply partition a clip in the timeline of your video editing program: | untouched area | area for stabilisation | untouched area | The area for stabilisation is then stabilised using the Mercalli plugin. This ultimately cuts rendering time.
Video-Shaker / add camera shake!
While we were developing Mercalli, our enthusiastic test users sent us an increasing number of requests for a product that would have the opposite effect. This may initially sound odd, but the request was voiced (independently) mainly by our professional users, and is therefore clearly founded in practice. Our users' wishes were remarkably similar: "Although it is useful to stabilise footage during post processing, in some cases it would also be good to add a bit more life, or even an action atmosphere, to computer-generated scenes or footage that's just "too smooth."" This is why Mercalli now includes the "Video-Shaker", which lets you add camera shake to your footage. Use of the product is exactly the same as with Mercalli itself. Simply assign the "Video-Shaker" to a video clip, select a parameter or profile, and start the analysis. 1. Video-Shaker

proDAD, 2008 Extended Video-Shaker Expert mode with advanced settings Movement detection Detection area Special video analysis modes Special camera movement modes Format-independent rendering, incl. SD/DV, HD/HDTV etc. *Please note: the optional "Mercalli for Studio" version offers the same features as Mercalli Light, but it does not include any plugins for additional video editing programs. This version has to be activated by Pinnacle. You can upgrade to Mercalli Expert in the proDAD online shop at any time. This will not require a new activation by Pinnacle.

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