(4/13/2018. Work in progress: a downloadable, zipped v8.85 MC Bin showing a multi-track FX Sequence template, available shortly.)

Sometimes you want to add a little motion to a still, a lock-down shot, or even to a boring, robotic Pan & Zoom move. There may be plenty of plugins and 3rd party software available, but here’s how to do it in a stock MC...

First, the Trick:

A short, steady, handheld iPhone movie of a window frame was recorded and imported into MC into a 1080p/30 Project. (30p chosen to match the iPhone movie app's framerate).

The movie clip was edited onto the timeline, then MC was switched to Effects Mode.

Next, from the Effects Palette, the Image > Stabilize FX was applied to that 14 second  movie clip on the timeline.

Opening the Effects Editor, the Tracking icon (circled in red) was pressed, revealing the Tracking Window:

From the "Choose Tracking Engine" drop-down menu, the Fluid Stabilizer option was selected and immediately, a calculation began which resulted in a stabilization improvement of the window frame shot.

Finally, the Stabilize FX icon (upper left corner of the Effects Editor ) was saved by dragging it into to a bin.

-------

Next Step:

A variety of Importable graphics, were brought into the project.

A mult-track (9 layer) timeline was made, including Pan & Zooms on some of the imported stills.

That saved Stabilize FX was added onto each track's clip.

Magically, the original movie clip’s subtle handheld motion was now ADDED to the stills and Pan & Zoom shots on the timeline. 

The concept for this was originally presented by community members in these Forum threads:

http://c2.avid.com/forums/t/135853.aspx
http://community.avid.com/forums/p/132734/757216.aspx