Video Camera Stabilisation
In this filmmaking class, Karl and Ben introduce you to different methods of camera stabilisation to help you enhance the quality of your videos.
You’ll cover everything from in-camera stabilisation settings to tripods, gimbals and sliders.
You’ll even see Karl getting put through his paces as the boys head out on location to test out various stabilisation tools, with fascinating results.
In this class:
- Camera stabilisation for filmmaking and videography
- Image stabilisation settings
- Tripods and fluid heads
- How gimbals work
- Camera stabilisation when filming on location
- Filming with manual and electronic sliders
Questions? Please post them in the comments section below.
Comments
I need steady footage of building exteriors and interiors to document tall industrial doors. Would you recommend using a drone to shoot smooth footage over getting a gimbal for this use case? What factors would steer you in the gimbal direction vs the drone option?
It’s hard to say without knowing what the exact shot needed is but generally I would prefer to use a camera on a gimbal if its doable and the speed isn’t an issue as you generally have more control and higher quality from a camera on a gimbal, for example focal length, any tilting or panning in the shots is usually easier and smoother with a camera and gimbal and also health and safety and permissions maybe become an issue if there are people around when using a drone, for a recent real estate type video I did (interior and exteriors) I filmed the majority of it at 100fps slow mo on a gimbal to give make it even smoother and give a luxurious feel how ever some shots required a drone (of course for aerial clips) but also a shot coming out the front door was required, going all the way back to reveal the entirety of the front of the house (it was a large chateau), I had to use a drone as walking with a gimbal simply wasn’t feasible with the speed I needed to go for this to be one complete shot in the final short video and if I ran it wouldn’t have been as stable as a drone so that was the better option, you can see the shot im discussing in the video here (its the final shot) https://chateaubelvedere.fr/
I enjoyed this, thanks! A quick question: I know you’ve another class on lenses for filmmaking where you talk about autofocus vs manual lens pulling but in these sequences running along beach, walking along pontoon, circling around a stationary subject etc, was Ben using manual or auto focus? And does he have any guidance on when to use which? Thanks!
Hi James, yes as the camera is on a gimbal manual focus is pretty much impossible if you are changing distance to your subject which I was doing in a couple of these shots (unless you have a focus pull that connects to the gimbal) so I was mostly using auto focus, I had it set to eye tracking auto focus wide so when Karls head/face was in the shot I knew it would lock on to that, for some of the shots where I stayed parallel to Karl I used manual focus especially if his head wasn’t in it like the legs running along the pebbles to avoid the focus trying to shift to the fore or background. The same with the pontoon, I had that in manual focus and just pre focused to an approximate distance in front of me that seemed appropriate and then as I walked the same distance in front of me would stay sharp. In the real estate video as there was no subject and nothing was moving except the camera I would move into roughly the centre of the shot/movement I was doing and pre manual focus at that spot and then carry out shot/movement (trying to stay at a reasonable aperture to keep the majority of the rooms sharp), if you are revealing from behind a wall or similar then manual focus is a must as you don’t want the foreground you are revealing from behind to be sharp or shift as more of the room is visible.
So it changes depending on different scenarios, hope this helps, Ben
Thanks Ben. That’s really helpful. Best wishes. James.
It would be good to list some of the equipment featured off on the side like you have done in other classes.. things you have used .. I’m interested in getting a glider and I’m facing a cost versus quality decision without any hands on experience with them. Thinking of renting perhaps to get some experience.
Whoops.. I intended a say slider.. I’ve been looking at Neewer brands although I’m concerned that the brands you can easily purchase on amazon.. depending on slider length, can be about $300-500 Can.. Those Rhino sliders are quite a bit more.. ranging upwards of $1500. Just concerned about bang for buck and not being let down by the motor or the smoothness of the slide rails.
Hi Gary, yes we’ll look at getting that done. Cheers Karl.
Love this series, Karl, as I’m just making the move into video. How about a class on the Steadicam?
Hi Scott, thank you. The steadicam is usually reserved for bigger heavier cameras used in live broadcast or cinema films and is a little beyond what we’d expect photographers venturing into film-making to use. The models we’ve shown here handle the type of camera that is usually the first type of entry or transition for stills to moving images. I’ll keep it in mind though as I know someone who has one so maybe we can add it in the future. Thanks for watching this class though, all the best Karl.