Trying to make a video, can't get camera to do what I want

[Tienshinhan]

Hey Folks,

I'm trying to make a few scenes in the sequencer but I'm encountering an issue with moving the camera around. It seems like I am missing something simple but when I try and get panning shots suing the free camera the scene instead jumps to either the default location on playback or the last position of the camera. Does anyone have any tips for getting the camera to follow the path correctly?

[Bbird]

Set your view to the desired angle

Drag camera icon to the timeline (set camera with right click : 'Disable movement' to prevent panning from the camera before.)

Advance some steps on the timeline

Chose new viewing angle and place next free camer there.

Select one of the 3 movement options with rightcklick (smooth/linear/flat).

Flat works best with straight panning shots. Smooth is natural movement, but a bit random.

Add new cameras further on.

When starting a new shot, select 'Disable movement' to start without transition.

 

[Tienshinhan]

Thank you, I was getting frustrated with this.

[MrOllyK]

In Sequencer "Extras" window, the "Free Camera" looks black.  It's pretty jittery when panning and moving.  You can use the other camera in the same way as @Bbird suggested for smoother movement, but it's a bit harder to control.

For panning shots I always use a spare character, the other camera in Sequencer and on her use "Look through My Eyes".  You have to set up her motions in Pose Edit, but she's a much more controllable form of smooth camera.

[Springbok]

Personally I try to avoid any other than free camera as it never works for me the way I expected. Probably just me being a numpty. Once placing the free camera in the timeline, I disable camera movement and when I require a dramatic pan (say from feet to head to take in the view of a beautiful specimen) I'll use the slider at the bottom to adjust the speed. Another trick I use between poses requires 3 time blocks; 1st I put the Fade out arrow (red arrow), next I put the desired pose, the camera angle (movement disabled), any clothing changes, emotes, etc, and in the 3rd it's Fade in time (green arrow). This eliminates that jarring "jerk" movement between poses. 

Just a useless little nugget of info from  me.

[McKeu]

There is also the workaround of adding an extra character to the pose itself and have it act as camera. Use the chars first person view and move the "camera model" around as required. The engine interpolation does the rest.

I do not really use that workaround myself a lot, but I have seen it executed quite well in some instances.

Disadvantage: You cannot override that camera by using a 3rd person cam, or you will see the camera character floating around. And if you are like me and don't really know yet (on a pose edit level) what angle you want to view of your pose later on in the sequencer, this might bite you in the ass.

[MrOllyK]

4 hours ago, McKeu said:

Disadvantage: You cannot override that camera by using a 3rd person cam, or you will see the camera character floating around.

Make her invisible using Customizer Body options.  Can save it as an Outfit to use in Sequencer.  I believe female models have some problems with invisibility so I prepared one earlier: