Amplify Tool

The Amplify tool magnifies small periodic motions so that they are more obvious to the eye. To enable Amplify select the Amplify tab and check Enable. Once the image settles, press Play to view the amplified motion.

The Gain slider may be used to vary the amount of amplification applied. It is best to keep the gain conservative since too much amplification can result in image distortion and noise enhancement.

The Lowpass filter can be used to reduce the noise in the image. Set the level to a compromise between satisfactory noise reduction and retaining visibility of the highest frequency motion.

If there is some bulk slow background movement in the clip the Highpass filter can be used to reduce amplification of this motion while retaining visibility of the higher frequency periodic vibrations. This can be effective if the camera was handheld when producing the clip.

The Levels steppers can sometimes be helpful in improving the visibility of certain scales of motion in the image, for instance by reducing the blurring on large objects in motion when the area of interest is a small object. In general leaving the values at their defaults provides best results.

For export purposes, the Amplify parameters can be included as an overlay on the exported clip. Select the parameters to overlay by checking the appropriate text overlay. The overlay can be dragged with the mouse (ensure clip is Stopped or Playing) and the size can be changed with the Size stepper.