Getting smooth videos is a great challenge when you are work with just your DSLR cameras. Most of the modern DSLR’s stabilize the video to some extent but often it’s not enough. But the possibility of getting smooth videos with just your DSLR cannot be totally eliminated. Here I would like to share some techniques which I have used over the years to improve my video quality.
Use Gimbal/ Video Stabilizers where you must:
This article is all about tips that will improve your video but to get you must always have in mind that for shooting buttery smooth cinematic quality videos, gimbals and stabilizers must be used. Its role in film making cannot be outplayed. Here is a video which I have made on importance on shooting smooth videos with stabilizers. Hope you will find it useful.
Let’s cut the chase and see what the DIY techniques are!
Hold the camera close to your body at 90º:
This might sound too generic but most of us hold the camera with elbows stretched out from our body. This may feel comfortable but it won’t help you to keep your hands steady for long duration. This is highly essential when shooting videos.
Holding the camera at 90 angle will keep the camera stable and helps you to retain the stability. Remember to keep the camera as close as possible to your body. This will help you to avoid draining your arms out and eliminate the shakes in your footage.
Use Your Camera Strap:
The reason we experience shakes in our hand while shooting a footage is due to the fact our hand will not have any support and will worn out quickly than we realize. In those cases your Camera strap can be a real life saver. Attach the strap to your camera, put it on your neck and hold the camera in such a way that the strap is tightly wrapped over your neck. Doing so you are actually supporting your hands with neck which will result in smooth clips.
Walk With Your Knee Bent:
Normally we all tend to walk with maximum impact on to the ground. While shooting your video this tend to add great deal shakiness to the video. Eliminating these shakiness is highly impossible with DIY tips however you can minimize them by changing the way you walk while shooting.
While shooting keep your knee bent in such a manner the impact on the ground is very minimal. This in turn will tend to reduce the shakiness and you can later stabilized your video further using video editing software. Remember you may find doing this difficult initially but once you get used practice you will find this technique very useful.
Use Your Towel for Sliding Effect:
I have been in situations where I need to create sliding movement to my clip but couldn’t afford any cinematic sliders or rails to shoot that. In those cases I tend to use a wet towel over any smooth surface to achieve this.
Choose a smooth surface and wet your towel and place your camera above them with any support for the camera. The friction should be minimal between the towel and the surface do that when pull or push it the movement should be smooth and give some good result.
Use Your Tripod:
No, am talking about not using your tripod in a fixed position. Place the camera over your tripod hold it in such a way the legs are held together. This will be particularly useful while shooting videos while walking. Holding the tripod will minimize the contact point with the camera while shooting, therefore the frames in the video will experience minimal shake.
Hope these tips will help you to shoot some smooth videos. Do you have any tips of your own, comment them below 🙂