Zooming

Now that I've lectured on the evils of moving your camera, let's get into the realities of the types of motion you'll encounter. To start, let's look at one of the most common troublemakers, the zoom control.

When you bought your camera, the first thing you probably did was play with the zoom control. It's usually a rocker switch that moves between W (wide) and T (telephoto), and enables you to view distant objects. Combined with a camera's automatic focus feature, especially when shooting in the field, zooming can get you closer to your subject (Figure 3.2).

Figure 3.2. Optical zoom and automatic focus can be a great combination when you're shooting something from far away.

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However, the control can be sensitive, leading to abrupt or too-quick zooms in and out. A better approach is to smoothly zoom in on your subject, hold for a bit, then slowly zoom out (Figure 3.3). Practice with the control to get a feel for how much pressure is needed, and try to run through the shot a few times before you actually record it.

Figure 3.3. Quick zooms in and out are effective ways to instill headaches in your viewers. Instead, slowly zoom in, hold, then slowly zoom out. This technique gives you good, clear footage at several distances.

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graphics/tick.gif Tips

  • If you missed the memo in Chapter 1: turn off the digital zoom feature of your camera. The camera tries to enlarge the pixels, thereby appearing to zoom beyond its optical limit. All you really end up with is large blocky pixels.

  • Sometimes you want an abrupt zoom, either because it enhances the action or because you don't have time to shoot, stop recording, zoom in, then begin recording again. In the latter case, zoom quickly and hold onto the shot you can edit out the actual zoom later in iMovie.

  • A good zoom is handy when you're not recording. If you're not toting a pair of binoculars, your camcorder will help you see objects in the distance.




iMovie 3 for MAC OS X. Visual QuickStart Guide
iMovie 3 for Mac OS X (Visual QuickStart Guide)
ISBN: 0321193970
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 125
Authors: Jeff Carlson

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