The hand held look

[Ramesh Jai]

SO, I shot this commercial on a tripod. After editing it I realize that it would suit the subject better if the camera had little 'shake' to it. In other words how can I achieve the hand held look in post production?

I use mostly FCP and After Effects. Thanks a lot.

 

[D Fuller]

One of the best ways is to shoot some hand-held footage with motion-tracking targets in it, take it into after effects, track it, then apply the tracking to the shot you want to add a little shake to. Shoot with a similar lens, and it'll give you about the most believable added shake you can get. Of course, you'll have to blow the frame up enough to allow for the motion.

 

[Ramesh Jai]

One of the best ways is to shoot some hand-held footage with motion-tracking targets in it, take it into after effects, track it, then apply the tracking to the shot you want to add a little shake to. Shoot with a similar lens, and it'll give you about the most believable added shake you can get. Of course, you'll have to blow the frame up enough to allow for the motion.

Wow! Never thought of that!! Brilliant suggestion. Will try that.

 

[Elmer Tenkink]

D Fuller very good advise.

You can also do that in apple motion...or shake. The apple motion tracking is based on shake, so it is kinda the same. It may be easier to stay in the same workflow.

 

[D Fuller]

You can also do that in apple motion...or shake. The apple motion tracking is based on shake, so it is kinda the same. It may be easier to stay in the same workflow.

Of corse you can. I'm sure you can do it in Flame or Smoke or Avid DS as well. It doesn't really matter what software you use (I happen to know my way around AE, and the OP mentioned that he used it as part of his workflow) it's the concept that is important. Track natural motion, and it'll look natural.

 

[Keith_D]

It is very easy to create “camera shake” in After Effects. First, import your footage into the program. Drag your footage onto the new comp icon, to create a new comp that matches your footage’s settings and length. In this new comp, set the scale of your footage to 106%. Set a position keyframe where you want the “shake” to begin and another where you want it to end. Highlight the two position keyframes. Under the window menu, select Wiggler. In the wiggler dialog box set: Apply to: Spatial Path, Noise Type: Jagged, Dimension: All Independently, Frequency 5 per second, Magnitude 3. Press the Apply button and the wiggler will generate a set of random keyframes between the two keyframes that you previously selected. Remember to apply Animation blur to the footage and enable Animation blur for the comp. Ram preview. If needed, go back and adjust the Frequency and Magnitude settings to match the look you want. Good luck.

 

[Jeff Coatney]

One of the best ways is to shoot some hand-held footage with motion-tracking targets in it, take it into after effects, track it, then apply the tracking to the shot you want to add a little shake to. Shoot with a similar lens, and it'll give you about the most believable added shake you can get. Of course, you'll have to blow the frame up enough to allow for the motion.

This is the best solution-- good idea, D. It would have an organic look that the preset plug ins lack. Also, no big moves-- keep it subtle-- real hand held shots have minor shifts between elements in the shot that are closer to camera versus ones that are farther away. A tripod shot won't have these minor spatial shifts, so large movements will telegraph that you're just moving the comp, not the camera.

 

[Kim Frank]

Yes I think you would need to build a virtual 3D plane out of the shot using the vanishing point technik with PS and AE for example, if the movement gets too shaky.
BTW great idea David!

 

[Elmer Tenkink]

Quote:
"Of corse you can. I'm sure you can do it in Flame or Smoke or Avid DS as well. It doesn't really matter what software you use (I happen to know my way around AE, and the OP mentioned that he used it as part of his workflow) it's the concept that is important. Track natural motion, and it'll look natural."

Sorry I mention workflow, i said that 'cause if you stay in FCP you don't have to render out..so no compression added.

Only what i can say on your concept is. Use a small camera and track it with that, try it to shoot stable. What you can see in films like cloverfield is that if a well trained camera operator tries to do handheld it is lot of the time over done.
An amateur tries to shoot as stable he can ..and end up with shaky footage.
(the handheld feel)

 

[Filip Vandoorne]

next time you should put your camera on one of these: http://www.airfloater.com/