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Tips and tricks

Use these four tricks for cinematic dolly shots on the cheap

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Dolly shots are among the basics when it comes to cinematic camera movement. But if you’re just starting out, buying a proper camera dolly could be a bit of an overkill. So, why not turn to cheap, even free options, at least for a start? Caleb of Wondershare Filmora has a few ideas how to do it and still get those sweet, cinematic shots in your video.

The goal is not only to have your camera slide in different directions but also to minimize camera shake while doing so. Caleb proposes a few options that could do the trick, and you already have at least one of them at home.

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Watch these 7 filmmaking hacks to get pro results for as little money as possible

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Who doesn’t love saving money? We sure do, and these seven filmmaking hacks from the team at Cinecom.net are going to help you do exactly that. In this video, we see a bunch of great filmmaking hacks to help you get consistent and reliable results while also saving you some money.

Sure, you might eventually want to replace some of these hacks with the proper gear, but when you’re just starting out, you don’t really want to invest a lot of money. You still want to get the best possible results that you can, though. So, why not give a few of these a try?

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Five tips to get the best video results from low budget 8-bit cameras

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We all have to start somewhere and for those who wish to learn how to shoot video, that usually means some pretty low-budget (and often old) equipment. Those newcomers are often teased on social media for not having the latest and greatest gear and made to feel bad about what they own, but don’t let those types of people get to you. You can do some great stuff with some very inexpensive equipment!

Sure, the older and low-budget gear may have some limitations that more expensive or newer gear might not, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get the shot. You just maybe have to work a little harder for it. And in this video, Nigel Barros walks us through his five gotcha mistakes that often trip up new filmmakers and how to avoid them to get the best video you can from low-budget cameras.

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Five video editing tips in five minutes to work smarter, faster and tell a better story

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For anybody who edits video, it’s a process that constantly changes and evolves. We’re always learning new things, new and better (sometimes worse) ways to do things than we did before. There are always new techniques to experiment with to see if they fit our style, our workflow and the videos we’re trying to create. But it can be a slow and inefficient process sometimes.

But in this video, Mark Bone gives us five great tips to not only work a little smarter and faster but to also help us tell better stories with our edits. And while he touches on some topics that have been covered before, like shortcut keys, Mark takes things a step further to tell you which shortcut keys specifically are the most advantageous to learn and remember while you’re editing to speed up your workflow.

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50 drone tips for beginners and pros to take your footage up to the next level

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No matter how long we’ve been flying drones or how much experience we have, there always seems to be more ways to improve with new techniques to learn, refine or build upon. And with that in mind, YouTuber and filmmaker Jeven Dovey has put together this fantastic video showing off 50 of his top drone tips for both beginners and pros.

And it’s not all about flying technique, either. Some of the 31-minute video is simply about workflow and planning to make sure you’re safe and legal. But there are some great drone moves and shot ideas in there, too to help ensure that you come home with the best footage possible.

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Ten top tips to help speed up your video editing workflow

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Video editing is one of those things that you either love or you hate. For some people, it’s the most enjoyable part of the whole filmmaking process. For others, it’s just a means to an end and a bit of a chore. Either way, though, speeding up certain parts of the workflow to be able to get to the things you enjoy the most is definitely a bonus.

In this video, Film Riot walks us through 10 great tips to help us speed up our video editing workflows. It covers a range of topics from organising your files and your timeline for more efficiency on the actual edit to optimising your files so your system can zip through them more quickly.

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Five tips to step up your portrait game without buying new gear

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If you’re new to portrait photography or it’s simply not your area, it may be overwhelming to start. I know it’s always been one of the most challenging genres for me. In this video, Derrel Ho-Shing gives you five quick tips that will help you to step up your portrait game. And you don’t need any new gear for this. You won’t invest any money in these improvements, or even your time – it only takes some of your creativity.

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5 useful gear and camera tricks to get difficult shots the easy way

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There are certain techniques that ubiquitous to commercials we often see on TV. But achieving some of them can be quite tricky and/or expensive to achieve. They often utilise difficult-to-master techniques or require expensive equipment like motorised camera sliders.

Well, in this video, commercial filmmaker Joris Hermans blasts through five camera and gear tricks that he uses on actual shoots. Tricks that let us get some of those shots without requiring any extra gear. Well, maybe just a little cardboard and some gaffer tape.

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Quick tip: Use tent pegs to stop your light stands falling over on location

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One of the most common questions I see on social media, especially just after somebody’s posted an image shot on location with flash, is “How do you stop your light stands from falling over?” – which isn’t an unreasonable question to expect. When it’s just you and your subject, how do people stop their light stands from falling over?

Well, you could carry a bunch of heavy sandbags around with you, or make sure to hire an assistant for all of your location shoots, but photographer Wayne Speer has another idea – especially when shooting in locations with soft ground. He uses tent pegs and rope.

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Here are 40 hints and tips to help you get the most out of Lightroom

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I have used Lightroom for a number of years now for everything from my wedding photography to commercial work to portraits to landscapes. I use it alongside Photoshop, but for the average photographer, Lightroom will be able to handle the bulk of the work.

In this article, we are going to go through 40 ways to speed up your editing and make the most of this powerful tool.

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