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How to add camera shake in Premiere Pro.

Camera shake gives a locked-off shot a handheld feel, or adds impact to a hit. Premiere Pro has no built-in shake button; you build the effect by giving position and rotation small, irregular keyframes.

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1. By hand: shake with the Transform effect2. In one click: Sylba's Shake toolWhich way should you choose?Using shake well

1. By hand: shake with the Transform effect

  1. Add the Transform effectDrag Transform from the Distort folder in the Effects panel onto the clip.
  2. Scale the picture up a littleSet Transform's Scale to 105-110 so no black edges show while the picture moves.
  3. Add irregular keyframesPress the stopwatch for Position. Step forward two or three frames at a time and nudge the value a few pixels left, right, up and down. For rotation, add half-degree nudges to Rotation as well.
  4. Turn on motion blurUncheck Use Composition's Shutter Angle and set Shutter Angle to 180. The shake blurs the way a real camera does.

To use the same shake on several clips, put the effect on an Adjustment Layer and stretch that layer over the clips.

2. In one click: Sylba's Shake tool

The Shake tool in Sylba's Studio section gives a clip a handheld feel: it builds the vibration in position and rotation by itself, and you choose the intensity. The result stays on the timeline as keyframes, so you can fix any part afterwards.

Which way should you choose?

For a short jolt on a single hit, three or four hand-set keyframes are enough. A handheld feel across a whole clip takes dozens of keyframes; a ready-made tool saves time there.

Using shake well

Keep the intensity low; viewers should feel the shake, not notice it. Long shake on a talking face is tiring. In a music edit, land the strongest moment of the shake on the beat.

Feature page

Beat markers and Studio toolsPRO

Finds the beats of your music and lays them out as sequence markers. No more marking by hand to cut to the rhythm. Zoom ramps and shake in the same section.

Learn more ›

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