I think that it is best use manual camera movements.  It's pretty easy to tell when the movements are postproduction.  If you need to know more about manual camera movements, check out Squid's tutorial.

Youtube
Facebook The Screenplay Challenge

It's always best to do things in-camera. (Ask Squid. ) The reason that panning and such looks bad in post-production is because the perspective does not change. If you pan your camera, things in the foreground will move faster than things in the background. This is called parallax. In post, everything moves the same speed. Super Mario Kart uses a parallax effect. In this video, you'll notice the different speeds of background and foreground objects, this is what I'm referring to by parallax. Often times, post-production camera movements can be done badly, producing a worse looking effect that if the camera was held still. Sure, in-camera is harder, but it is so worth it.

EDIT: Wow, everyone explained everything while I was typing before I even got this thing posted.

YouTube • Website

"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

Real.

I use software controls for small camera shake for close up action but very sparingly.  Sometimes if im panning left/right and i need to do a little up/down at the same time (2 axis)  then the left/right will be manual and the up/down will be software controlled, but not at the expense of quality film making.

Ive made technic cranes especially to provide manual movement because the software controls didnt look good.

In my signature is my "Conflicted" trailer.  It has a pan at the start but then in the fight scene at the end I used software for camera shake.  It worked well and was actually faster to film as the camera was static but that diorsnt mean it eill work everytime.

Last edited by togfox (September 19, 2014 (04:27pm))