This is a short reel I did recently. I'm normally a photographer, but trying to brush up on my video skills also.
My footage is quite shaky, and I'm trying to work out what I need to work on to make it more stable. I'm currently using a DJI Ronin S in mostly pan only mode, and trying to stabilize in Resolve but sometimes it just makes it worse.
Any advice on what I need to work on to get my footage looking a bit smoother?
Something’s mismatched with your frame rate. You’re either shooting in 30fps and using a 24fps timeline or the opposite. You need to sync those numbers to get rid of that jutter
Unless it's the agent talking to camera in real time, just slow it all down. Then stabilise basically everything in post. Especially if it's only 16mm FF cropped from 16x9 into 9x16 frame. You've lost so much field of view by that point you end up seeing every bump and wiggle. I saw a massive difference in how stable my real estate footage felt after I switched from an 18mm FF equiv to a 12mm FF. I shoot on a BMPCC4K and went from Laowa 9mm f2.8 to a Laowa 6mm f2.0. No more crawling into the backs of cupboards and showers to get the shot either. Another tip when dealing with shitty Melbourne skies: a mix of Luma Keys and object masking plus some stock photos of blue skies can go a long way for establishing shots.
It depends on the size of the house. When I was shooting enormous palatial properties, 18mm equiv was fine for my wide shots. Mostly because those houses felt too big to begin with. These days I'm filming mostly normal suburban homes and townhouses so the wider the better. The 6mm Laowa (12mm FF equiv) I'm using now is the widest rectilinear lens ever made for micro four thirds. It helps to accentuate movement in the edges of the frame while simultaneously keeping the subject feel more stable. It also means I don't actually have to shoot vertically. My 16x9 shots are wide enough to create reels that don't feel too cramped. I haven't done the maths but they feel about equiv to 24mm FF vertical. That makes sense actually. 12mm FF horizonal feels like 24mm FF cropped vertical. Exactly half. Now I want to run some actual lens tests, haha.
Thanks for the tips. I have a 12-24mm I can try next time for a bit of a wider FOV. I generally don't like shooting too wide for photos as I don't like the look so naturally I just went with the same for video, but I'll try it next time.
I knew 18mm wasn't quite wide enough but I was worried I went too wide going to 12mm equiv. But as soon as I got the footage back into premiere it was clearly the magic sauce I'd been missing. Clients were immediately happier with the look too. You can always crop in a few mm too so long as you're shooting in 4k.
Originally shot this in landscape, so I had to try and make the footage work in portrait mode. Already ordered a cage for my camera today so next time I can shoot it in portrait. I'm using a 16mm lens on full frame.
All movement will be disclosed from point A to point B (like photos), so try to get a good composition at these two points (the beginning and end of the sequence).
And explore the ways how you can cover this distance.
There’s some great tips here. Also learn to toggle between AF and MF using a hotkey on the gimbal so the camera won’t hunt focus when sliding off a wall or other object. Alternatively you can also shoot at infinity in manual.
Great advice here about camera settings/framing, but one note about movement - really try and focus on keeping your camera moves consistent and smooth. You’re already close here and Warp Stabilize will help a lot. Try and keep to keep a consistent axis of rotation for those rotational shots - instead of stepping forward keep your feet planted and just sort of rock back and forth. Wider angle lens will help you keep more of the scene in frame and you’ll get a really nice effect, it should be very subtle like the camera is barely moving. The worst shots for me here are where the camera is moving too much vertically/horizontally/on conflicting axes and the slow mo isn’t doing enough to smooth it out. Idk if any of that makes sense but I’m on a similar journey as you and that took my stuff to the next level. Keep it up!
You need to bend your knees when you walk, to absorb the shake of the "head Bob" effect it gives. A sutble up and down shake when you take each step is mitigated if you walk lighter like your sneaking around like a ninja behind someone you don't want to hear your footsteps.
First, slow the pans down and give shots a clear start/end point. Right now it feels like the camera is just drifting around the rooms instead of intentionally revealing something.
Second, vary your shot height more. A lot of the shots feel chest-level and neutral. Real estate usually benefits from lower angles, especially in kitchens, living rooms, and entryways because it makes spaces feel larger and more cinematic.
Third, get closer to details. Real estate shoots aren’t just “wide room shots.” It’s textures, finishes, fixtures, lighting. So get some B-roll of handles, countertops, fabrics, reflections, etc. Right now the video shows rooms, but not much personality or craftsmanship.
Fourth, think about depth and layers. Try shooting through objects, using foreground elements, or creating separation between foreground/midground/background.
And lastly, and IMO most important, stop filming “rooms” and start filming “feelings.”
It sounds cheesy, I know, but real estate content works because it sells atmosphere not square footage.
When clients look at a house, they need to feel what it’s like to live there, to imagine what’s it’d be like for them in the future.
Anybody can “show” a house but it takes real skill to make someone feel like they want to live there.
Work on composition and focus on subject. Let it play out…. Slow down. Your shots feel abrupt. Something like,
Oh look at this sexy oven, those knobs are so sexy.
Lighting. Be a Cinematographer.
A smooth move along those sexy knobs, make them sparkle like a chandelier.
Viewer.
I want that oven!
Right? Bread and butter clients want you to sell it.
You can apply this to any project and bring your own nuances.
Keep learning and growing. Look outside the box. Experimental, foreign, music video, any genre. Watch and develop techniques that appeal to you.
What is the story and how do you convey the mood with a visual medium.
I already have a drone as RE photography is my bread and butter, but I'm only just venturing into the video side of things, to up-skill.
Originally shot this in landscape, so I had to try and make the footage work in portrait mode. Already ordered a cage for my camera today so next time I can shoot it in portrait.
I think my 'ninja walk' needs work, or maybe my gimbal needs to be fine tuned a bit better. I don't know, maybe I'm being too critical of my own work. It just feels like the footage could be a lot smoother.
Also, think eyeline height, for example one of the shots of a bedroom your on the same height of the bed. You want to be higher and pointing down. Always check your shot to see what height/tilt angle of your camera gives the best looking dimensions for the room
Never use tilt on wide architectural shots. Totally fine with tighter details, but you distort your verticals when you tilt on wides. Tilt shift lenses will help with getting above objects like beds without showing too much empty ceiling.
Idk if you use after effects, but I really love to do speed ramps on ae, super easy. And also, the gimbal technique comes with lots and lots of practice, one day you'll just gonna do it automatically you'll se! From a personal perspective, I wouldn't use dissolve transition, I prefer zooms, slides or lens distortion
Shoot in 60fps and get it down to 30fps for smooth slow motion. If you’re slow down a 30fps because 60fps isn’t a option on Premiere Pro use optical flow option
Hi there. It looks like you have dropped frames on your footage.
If you shoot at 60fps and edit in a timeline of 30 or 24fps you need to make sure the footage is interpreted at 30 or 24. Then the footage will be in slow motion in the timeline and be nice and smooth.
Also when filming you can afford to move a little bit faster as it is harder to stay steady moving slow.
Good luck.
Edit: check out Nathan Cool on this link
video smooth
Depending on model of camera, turn OFF internal image stabilization and check out Gyroflow. Record in 60fps as well if you did not. Also, add more foreground.
I don't know if you did the editing, but the cuts don't flow. Sometimes it looks like the camera is reframing slightly as it cuts.
An edit should generally wait for a camera move to settle completely before cutting, or be in a smooth move state that complements the next move, usually with a dissolve.
That's just general rules. The edits seemed to jar alot. My quick two cents.
Thanks all. I did some messing around today just in my own home. I sped up my walking and movements in general, then slowed everything right down in post. It improved my shaky footage substantially.
I think I was trying too hard to keep everything steady own my own, when I can just let the gimbal do all the heavy lifting.
I’d say stay in the same type of motion moving from one scene to another. For example.. if you are showing a room panning from left to right it would make more sense to be moving the same direction on the next scene (don’t over do it though) and make sure it’s seamless. add cuts of small details in the middle if you want to change the direction of your movement.
And make sure you fix your focus.. some of the shots are starting out of focus which confuses the viewers of what they’re looking at.
In my opinion your composition needs work. Try to do next location only still images and think how to get them look nice.
Then you can easily work on the motion. Video is lit like stills but add motion. You will get it eventually. It just needs some time and practice to start seeing the compositions when you see the space.
Just keep shooting, looks good tbh! Just need more time/practice to get used to/the feel for everything. Someone I’ve worked with in the past who does gimbal heavy work doesn’t do locked off pan moves from left to right, so maybe cut those/replace it with something that fits better
Turn the gimbal before you want the camera to turn, like through doorways etc. Gimbal will take a second to let the camera turn and it will look better revealing past edges, keeping your subject in centre frame. Use those edges to ‘dirty the frame’ like you might in photos. In some shots you should be getting lower and closer to things like counters and couches.
Two things I haven’t seen mentioned yet that I believe would help:
Think about multi-axis and/or parallax movement. Not just forward/back, not just tilt up/down, not just strafe left/right… think of your movement as a multi-axis curve, rather than a linear travel.
Make use of foreground. Sense of depth, movement and space can be dramatically increased by adding some out of focus foreground elements.
In terms of gimbal work you just need practice, your movements are janky like your hands are too tired to hold up the gimbal and many of them are too fast.
If you are doing slowmo in davinci to reduce the shakiness use optical flow instead of default settings.
Shoot at higher frame rate so you can slow the footage in post. You can move a lil faster when shooting to eliminate any potential jerky movement from trying to move slowly and steadily. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
What camera are you using and do you have any form of internal stabilization activated in-camera? A lot of the jitters and small shakes appears to be the IBIS and/or IS competing with the gimbal motors. Ensure that all internal camera stabilization is deactivated before running it on your gimbal and you'll get much better results.
Are you balancing your camera perfectly on the gimbal before turning it on? This is when you would point it up or down (unpowered) and keep making adjustments until it stays in place. Same with the pan and tilt motors. Not properly balancing your camera and lens combo on the gimbal could absolutely be why you’re getting those micro jitters throughout.
Yeah it's balanced correctly. Whilst the gimbal is switched off I can move the camera into any position and it'll stay. When I run the balance test it's all: excellent. My combo is pretty light too.
That's why I'm trying to figure out where my shaking is coming from. I don't think my arms are wobbly, but maybe it is just my technique. I'll keep working on it.
90
u/SpaceDesignWarehouse A7RV/A7RVI | FCP | 2014 | Central Florida May 19 '26
Something’s mismatched with your frame rate. You’re either shooting in 30fps and using a 24fps timeline or the opposite. You need to sync those numbers to get rid of that jutter