To make cinematic camera motion in a video, set up camera keyframes at different points in the show. The camera moves smoothly from keyframe to keyframe. A keyframe is a camera frame of reference (point of view) at a point in time.
Figure 1 – Camera keyframes are the vertical bars that are not cue flags.
In the figure, you can see two vertical bars on the timeline that are not cue flags, representing two keyframes. To setup a simple camera animation for a video, insert a keyframe at the beginning of the show. Then add another keyframe with the camera at a different position at the end of the show. The camera will move smoothly between them during the video. Follow these steps:
- Move the playhead on the timeline to 0.0 (the beginning of the show).
- Orient the view (camera) the way you want it to look at the beginning of the video.
- Do the menu item, “Camera > Add camera keyframe”.
- Move the playhead on the timeline to the end of the show, or some time in between (example, 00:30.00).
- Re-orient the view the way you want it to look at this point in time.
- Do the menu item, “Camera > Add camera keyframe”.
- Play the show and watch the camera move.
- You can turn on/off the camera movement with the menu item “Camera > Turn on camera motion”.