---
title: "How to Stabilize Video in Final Cut Pro | stabilize.video"
description: "Stabilize video in Final Cut Pro: the Video inspector steps, Automatic vs InertiaCam vs SmoothCam, Tripod Mode, the Rolling Shutter fix and avoiding black bars."
url: https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-final-cut-pro
---

1. [Home](https://stabilize.video/)
2. [Stabilisation software](https://stabilize.video/video-stabilization-software)
3. Final Cut Pro

Guide · free tool included

# How to stabilize video in Final Cut Pro

Turn on the stabiliser in the Video inspector, choose between InertiaCam and SmoothCam, find Tripod Mode, and fix the jelly of a rolling shutter, with the black-bar problem solved.

To stabilise a clip in Final Cut Pro, select it in the timeline, open the inspector (Command-4) and click the **Video** button at the top. Scroll down to the **Stabilization** and **Rolling Shutter** sections and select the **Stabilization** checkbox. Its checkbox turns blue while Final Cut Pro analyses the clip, and the **Method** pop-up stays on **Automatic**, which picks **InertiaCam** or **SmoothCam** for you. Play the clip to check it.

If the picture also leans or wobbles in fast moves, select the **Rolling Shutter** checkbox as well. Both corrections work on whole clips, not on a range, so blade the shaky section off first if the rest of the clip is fine. The steps below follow Apple’s guide for Final Cut Pro 12.4.

## Stabilise a clip in Final Cut Pro

1. ### Isolate the shaky part
**Stabilization** and **Rolling Shutter** apply to whole clips. If only part of a clip is shaky, cut it with the **Blade** tool so the correction covers just that piece.
2. ### Open the Video inspector
Select the clip, choose **Window › Show in Workspace › Inspector** (or press Command-4), then click the **Video** button at the top of the inspector.
3. ### Turn on the stabiliser
Scroll to the **Stabilization** section and select its checkbox. It turns blue and Final Cut Pro analyses the clip to choose the best method.
4. ### Choose a method and amount
Leave **Method** on **Automatic**, or pick **InertiaCam** and drag **Smoothing**, or **SmoothCam** and set **Translation Smooth**, **Rotation Smooth** and **Scale Smooth**. A value of 0.0 turns that part off.
5. ### Fix rolling shutter if needed
If verticals lean or the frame wobbles like jelly, select the **Rolling Shutter** checkbox and pick a stronger amount from its pop-up menu if the effect remains.

## Automatic, InertiaCam or SmoothCam?

* **Automatic** (the default) lets Final Cut Pro choose **InertiaCam** or **SmoothCam** from its analysis. Keep it unless the result looks wrong.
* **InertiaCam** is tuned for footage with deliberate camera moves such as pans and zooms. One **Smoothing** slider sets its strength. After analysing, it may offer **Tripod Mode** (see below).
* **SmoothCam** gives you a slider for each kind of movement: **Translation Smooth** for left, right, up and down, **Rotation Smooth** for turning around the centre of the picture, and **Scale Smooth** for moving towards or away from the subject. Set one to 0.0 to leave that movement as filmed, for example **Scale Smooth** when you walked towards the subject on purpose.

Higher values compensate for more camera movement, and so crop more. Apple suggests experimenting: for horizontal, vertical and rotational shake, for instance, set **Translation Smooth** and **Rotation Smooth** above 0.

## Tripod Mode: holding the shot still

**Tripod Mode** makes the shot look as if the camera were on a tripod. It only appears with **InertiaCam**, and only when Final Cut Pro’s analysis decides the clip suits it, so a walking shot or a big pan won’t offer it. If the checkbox is missing, the clip moves too much to be locked; a steady but moving result from **SmoothCam** is the alternative. [Making handheld footage look locked off](https://stabilize.video/locked-off-shot) explains the limits of any tripod effect.

## Black bars, and what Rolling Shutter does

When a clip moves too much, stabilising it can leave black bars at the edges. Apple’s guide offers three fixes:

* Lower **Translation Smooth**, **Rotation Smooth** and **Scale Smooth**.
* Trim away the shakiest sections. The **Excessive Shake** tags in the **Tags** pane of the timeline index select those ranges for you.
* Crop the edges of the stabilised picture.

The **Rolling Shutter** correction deals with a different fault. Most video sensors expose the picture line by line, so fast camera moves make the picture look wobbly or skewed. Selecting the checkbox reduces that distortion; it doesn’t steady the shot, and the two corrections can be used together. [The rolling shutter effect](https://stabilize.video/rolling-shutter) shows what it looks like and why it happens.

## Final Cut Pro’s settings in the browser stabiliser

The stabiliser at the top of this page is an alternative when you are away from your Mac, when you want to see the original and the result side by side as you change things, or when **Tripod Mode** won’t appear. It runs in the browser and the clip is never uploaded.

__Final Cut Pro stabilisation settings and the matching controls here__
| Final Cut Pro                          | Here                                                                                                      |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Method**: **Automatic**              | The **Suggested** card under **How was it filmed?**, picked from the measured shake                       |
| **InertiaCam** with **Smoothing**      | **Camera**: **Smooth** with **Smoothness**                                                                |
| **Tripod Mode**                        | **Camera**: **Locked**, or the **Tripod** preset, offered for any clip                                    |
| **SmoothCam**: **Translation Smooth**  | **Steady these**: **Left–right** and **Up–down**                                                          |
| **SmoothCam**: **Rotation Smooth**     | **Steady these**: **Rotation**                                                                            |
| **SmoothCam**: **Scale Smooth** at 0.0 | **Steady these**: turn off **Zoom**                                                                       |
| **Rolling Shutter** and its amount     | **Rolling shutter**: **Auto**, or **Manual** with **Strength**                                            |
| Cropping away black bars               | **Framing** (**Crop to fit**, **Smart zoom**) and **Zoom limit**, or **Full frame** with filled **Edges** |
| **Excessive Shake** tags               | The **Motion graph**, which shows the original and the steadied camera path over time                     |

Press **Export video**, choose **MP4** and press **Export video** again in the sheet. The **Codec** list shows only what your browser can encode; **H.264** is the safe choice for any editor. The frame size and frame rate stay the same, so the clip slots back into your project.

## Final Cut Pro stabilisation questions

### What does Rolling Shutter do in Final Cut Pro?

It reduces the skew and wobble that appear when a camera with a line-by-line sensor moves fast: leaning verticals in a pan, or a jelly-like ripple from shake. It doesn’t stabilise the shot; turn on **Stabilization** for that.

### Why can’t I find Tripod Mode?

It appears only when **Method** is **InertiaCam** and only if the analysis finds the clip suitable. Clips with a lot of movement don’t get it.

### Why are there black bars after stabilising in Final Cut Pro?

The stabiliser moves each frame to cancel the shake, and when the shake is large the moved frame no longer covers the screen. Lower the smoothing values, trim the shakiest parts, or crop the picture.

### Can I stabilise only part of a clip?

Not with a range selection: the corrections apply to whole clips. Blade the clip at the start and end of the shaky part and stabilise that piece alone.

### Is SmoothCam or InertiaCam better?

**InertiaCam** suits shots with deliberate pans and zooms and can offer **Tripod Mode**. **SmoothCam** gives finer control, with a separate slider for each kind of movement. **Automatic** chooses between them and is the right first try.

### Is Final Cut Pro better than iMovie for stabilising?

It has more control: a choice of method, separate sliders and **Tripod Mode**. iMovie for Mac has one strength slider and a rolling-shutter fix; the [iMovie guide](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-imovie) shows where they are.

## More on stabilising in other apps

* [ Stabilize a video online Smooth out shaky footage in your browser, with nothing uploaded. ](https://stabilize.video/)
* [ Compare video stabilisation software Free and paid stabilisers side by side, from Resolve and Warp Stabilizer to Gyroflow and FFmpeg. ](https://stabilize.video/video-stabilization-software)
* [ Stabilize video in iMovie The Mac’s Stabilize Shaky Video setting, and the workaround on iPhone and iPad. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-imovie)
* [ Fix the rolling shutter (jello) effect Straighten leaning lines and stop the wobble phones and drones add to fast movement. ](https://stabilize.video/rolling-shutter)
* [ Make handheld footage look locked off Hold the frame completely still, like a tripod shot, instead of just smoothing it. ](https://stabilize.video/locked-off-shot)
* [ Stabilize video in DaVinci Resolve The Inspector’s stabiliser, its three modes, Camera Lock and the black-edge fix. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-davinci-resolve)