--- title: "Warp Stabilizer: Best Settings and Fixes | stabilize.video" description: "Warp Stabilizer settings explained by symptom: wobble, jelly, heavy crop, slow analysis and errors, the best settings to start with, and an alternative." url: https://stabilize.video/warp-stabilizer --- 1. [Home](https://stabilize.video/) 2. [Stabilisation software](https://stabilize.video/video-stabilization-software) 3. Warp Stabilizer Guide · free tool included # Warp Stabilizer: the best settings, and fixes when it fails What each setting in Adobe’s stabiliser really does, which one to change for wobble, jelly or a heavy crop, why it sometimes refuses to work, and how its controls map onto a browser alternative. Warp Stabilizer is the stabilising effect in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. Its best settings are usually its defaults: **Result** at **Smooth Motion**, **Smoothness** at 50%, **Method** at **Subspace Warp** and **Framing** at **Stabilize, Crop, Auto-scale**. Change one setting only when you see a specific problem: **Position, Scale, Rotation** when the picture bends, **Enhanced Reduction** for rolling-shutter ripples, and a lower **Smoothness** or **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More** when it zooms in too far. This page explains each setting by the symptom it fixes, the reasons the effect refuses to run, and what decides how long it takes. For the steps to apply it, see [stabilising video in Premiere Pro](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-premiere-pro) or the [After Effects guide](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-after-effects), which also covers the effect’s extra options there. The stabiliser at the top of this page has the same kinds of controls, live, in your browser. ## How to tune Warp Stabilizer, step by step Start from the defaults, then work down this list and stop as soon as the clip looks right. 1. ### Let the first pass finish Apply the effect and wait for both phases, analysing and then stabilising, before judging anything. You can adjust settings or edit elsewhere while it works. 2. ### Pick the result you want Keep **Smooth Motion** for a shot that moves on purpose. Choose **No Motion** for a shot meant to be still, as long as part of the subject stays in frame throughout. 3. ### Set how smooth Raise **Smoothness** for a floatier camera, lower it to follow the original movement more closely. Values above 100 crop noticeably more. 4. ### Fix what looks wrong Bending or swimming: **Method** to **Position, Scale, Rotation**. Ripples: **Rolling Shutter Ripple** to **Enhanced Reduction**. Lost track on a moving subject: **Detailed Analysis**. 5. ### Control the crop last Lower **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More** for a wider picture, or set **Framing** to **Stabilize, Synthesize Edges** to fill the gaps instead of zooming. Check the whole clip for edge artefacts afterwards. ## Every Warp Stabilizer setting, explained __Warp Stabilizer settings in Premiere Pro and After Effects__ | Setting | Choices | Change it when | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Result** | **Smooth Motion** (default) or **No Motion** | The shot should look as if it were on a tripod: choose **No Motion**. | | **Smoothness** | A percentage; only with **Smooth Motion** | Small jitters remain (raise it) or the camera drifts and crops too much (lower it). | | **Method** | **Position**; **Position, Scale, Rotation**; **Perspective**; **Subspace Warp** (default) | The picture bends or keystones. Each method falls back to the simpler one on frames without enough detail to track. | | **Preserve Scale** | On or off | You zoomed in or out on purpose, or walked towards the subject, and it is being undone. | | **Framing** | **Stabilize Only**; **Stabilize, Crop**; **Stabilize, Crop, Auto-scale** (default); **Stabilize, Synthesize Edges** | You want to see the raw correction, avoid scaling up, or fill the gaps from nearby frames. | | **Auto-scale** | **Maximum Scale**, **Action-Safe Margin** | You need to cap the zoom, or a border will be hidden later anyway. | | **Additional Scale** | A percentage | You want extra zoom without a second resampling of the picture. | | **Detailed Analysis** | Off by default | Tracking fails on fine detail or a busy scene. The next analysis is slower and stores much more data. | | **Fast Analysis** | On by default (in Premiere) | Rarely; Adobe says it speeds up the analysis without changing the stabilisation. | | **Rolling Shutter Ripple** | **Automatic Reduction** (default) or **Enhanced Reduction** | Ripples remain from a phone, drone or DSLR sensor. Needs **Subspace Warp** or **Perspective**. | | **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More** | A percentage; with the crop framings only | The picture is too zoomed in. Lower values show more of the frame and respond without stabilising again. | | **Synthesis Input Range**, **Synthesis Edge Feather**, **Synthesis Edge Cropping** | Seconds, feather, pixels per edge | You use **Stabilize, Synthesize Edges**: how far it looks for filler, how softly it blends, and dirty edges to trim first. | | **Hide Warning Banner** | On or off | You want to keep the current result even though a banner asks for a new analysis. | ## Settings by symptom ### It wobbles, bends or looks like jelly **Subspace Warp** stabilises by bending small regions of the frame differently, and on shots with strong depth, close objects or plain surfaces that bending becomes visible. Adobe’s own advice is to choose a simpler **Method**: **Position, Scale, Rotation** first, **Position** if that still distorts. **Perspective** can add keystoning, where the frame’s edges seem to tilt towards you and away. ### Ripples from the camera’s sensor Fast shake on a rolling-shutter sensor makes each frame slightly bent, and stabilising can expose it as a ripple. Set **Rolling Shutter Ripple** to **Enhanced Reduction**. If you only need to straighten leaning verticals without stabilising, After Effects and Premiere both have a separate **Rolling Shutter Repair** effect; [rolling shutter, explained](https://stabilize.video/rolling-shutter) shows what causes it. ### It crops too much * Lower **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More**: the quickest fix, and it needs no new stabilising pass. * Lower **Smoothness**, so the virtual camera stays closer to the real one. * Choose **Stabilize, Synthesize Edges** to fill the gaps with picture from earlier and later frames. Adobe warns of artefacts when something moves at the edge of the frame. * In After Effects, a red banner suggesting **Stabilize Only** means the crop has become extreme; take it as a sign the shot may be too shaky for a clean result. For the general trade-off between steadiness and crop, and ways to keep the whole frame, see [stabilising without cropping](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-without-cropping). ### It follows a person instead of the background Warp Stabilizer tracks points all over the frame, so someone large walking through it can drag the result along. Try **Detailed Analysis**, trim the clip around the moment, or in After Effects delete the track points on the subject so the effect stabilises again without them. ## Why Warp Stabilizer isn’t working * In Premiere, the clip’s frame size must match the sequence. Nest the clip and stabilise the nest. * In Premiere, it can’t share a clip with a speed change. Change the speed, nest, then stabilise. * The analysis ignores effects and masks on the same clip or layer. Nest the clip, or pre-compose the layer in After Effects, so it sees what you see. * After trimming the clip’s In or Out points, a banner asks for a new analysis. Press the analysis button in the effect’s controls, or turn on **Hide Warning Banner** to keep the old result. * Footage with very little detail (sky, water, fog, a white wall) or heavy motion blur gives it too few points to follow, and it falls back to simpler methods frame by frame. ## How long does Warp Stabilizer take? It works in two phases: an analysis that tracks the whole clip, then a stabilising pass that works out the steadied result. Both run in the background, so you can keep editing. The time depends on the clip’s length and resolution and on your computer. **Detailed Analysis** makes the first phase slower; in Premiere, **Fast Analysis** (on by default) speeds it up. Changing **Smoothness** runs the stabilising phase again, while **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More** updates at once. Trimming the clip needs a fresh analysis. To save time, trim to the part you will use before you apply the effect. ## Is there a Warp Stabilizer in DaVinci Resolve? Not by that name. Resolve’s equivalent is the **Stabilization** section of the Inspector on the Edit and Cut pages, also on the **Color** page’s **Tracker** palette. Its **Perspective**, **Similarity** and **Translation** modes play the role of **Method**, **Camera Lock** matches **No Motion**, and **Cropping Ratio** limits the zoom. It has no rolling-shutter setting and no way to fill the edges from nearby frames, and changing the mode, **Cropping Ratio** or **Smooth** means pressing **Stabilize** again. The [DaVinci Resolve guide](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-davinci-resolve) has the steps. ## Warp Stabilizer settings and their equivalents here The stabiliser at the top of this page is built on the same ideas: track points, plan a calmer camera path, then move, rotate and slightly zoom each frame. Its controls map onto Warp Stabilizer’s like this, and all of them except **Analysis** and **Ignore an area** update the preview at once. __Warp Stabilizer setting and the matching control on this page__ | Warp Stabilizer | Here | | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Smooth Motion** | **Camera**: **Smooth**. **Cinematic** is an extra style that holds still, then glides in straight lines. | | **No Motion** | **Camera**: **Locked**, or the **Tripod** preset | | **Smoothness** | **Smoothness** | | **Method**: **Position** | **Correction**: **Shift only** | | **Method**: **Position, Scale, Rotation** | **Correction**: **Shift and rotate** | | **Method**: **Perspective** | **Correction**: **Perspective** | | **Method**: **Subspace Warp** | **Correction**: **Warp** | | **Preserve Scale** | **Steady these**: turn off **Zoom** | | **Stabilize, Crop, Auto-scale** | **Framing**: **Crop to fit** (one zoom for the clip) or **Smart zoom** (zooms only where needed) | | **Maximum Scale** and **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More** | **Zoom limit**: the path follows the camera more closely wherever the shake won’t fit | | **Additional Scale** | **Extra zoom** | | **Stabilize Only** or **Stabilize, Synthesize Edges** | **Framing**: **Full frame**, with **Edges** set to **Blurred**, **Mirrored**, **Repeat edge** or **Black** | | **Rolling Shutter Ripple** | **Rolling shutter**: **Auto**, or **Manual** with **Strength** | | **Detailed Analysis** | **Analysis**: **Precise** | | Deleting track points (After Effects) | **Ignore an area** | Where they differ: the edges here are filled from the frame’s own border, not from nearby frames, so a **Full frame** result shows soft or mirrored edges rather than real picture. In return there is no frame-size rule, no speed-change error, and the shot is checked in **Side by side** or **Split** view before you press **Export video**. Nothing is uploaded. ## Warp Stabilizer questions ### What are the best Warp Stabilizer settings? Start with the defaults: **Smooth Motion**, **Smoothness** 50%, **Subspace Warp** and **Stabilize, Crop, Auto-scale**. Then change only what the clip needs: a simpler **Method** for bending, **Enhanced Reduction** for ripples, lower **Smoothness** or **Crop Less ↔ Smooth More** for a tighter crop than you want. ### Should I choose Smooth Motion or No Motion? **Smooth Motion** for anything that moves on purpose: a walk, a pan, a follow shot. **No Motion** for a shot meant to be still, such as an interview or a landmark, provided part of the subject stays in frame the whole time. **No Motion** usually crops more. ### Why is Warp Stabilizer not working? In Premiere the usual causes are a clip that doesn’t match the sequence’s frame size and a clip with a speed change; nest it to fix both. Elsewhere it is usually a trimmed clip waiting for a new analysis, or footage with too little detail to track. ### How long does Warp Stabilizer take? It depends on the clip’s length, its resolution and the computer. It analyses, then stabilises, both in the background. **Detailed Analysis** slows the first phase; trimming the clip before applying the effect saves the most time. ### What does Subspace Warp do? It stabilises different parts of the frame separately, bending the picture slightly so near and far areas both stay still. That handles more kinds of shake than moving the whole frame, but it is also why some shots end up looking like jelly. ### Is there a Warp Stabilizer in DaVinci Resolve? No. Resolve has its own stabiliser in the Inspector, with **Perspective**, **Similarity** and **Translation** modes and **Camera Lock**, and it’s in the free version. It has no rolling-shutter setting and doesn’t fill the edges from nearby frames. ### Is there a Warp Stabilizer alternative that works online? The tool at the top of this page works in your browser and never uploads the clip. It has the same kinds of choices (camera style, smoothness, correction type, framing, rolling shutter) and shows the result next to the original as you change them. ## 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 Premiere Pro Warp Stabilizer step by step, and what to do when it refuses or wobbles. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-premiere-pro) * [ Stabilize footage in After Effects Warp Stabilizer, point tracking with Stabilize Motion, and Rolling Shutter Repair. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-after-effects) * [ 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) * [ Stabilize video without cropping Keep the whole frame and fill the edges, or zoom only where the shake needs it. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-without-cropping) * [ 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)