Add a shake effect with Premiere Pro.
Need to add a little impact to your video? Learn how to bring the audience closer to the action with the shake effect in Adobe Premiere Pro.
What is a “shake effect”?
In film editing, a shake effect basically reproduces what would happen if you decided to shake the camera in the middle of a scene. It’s used to add energy to a shot. Put it behind a punch, crash, or other action event to increase the impact and boost viewer engagement.
How to add a shake effect in Premiere Pro.
When you want to put a little extra oomph behind the action events in your video, here’s how to add a shake effect:
- Create a copy of the clip you want to add the shake effect to. Hold down the alt key and drag the clip into a new layer.
- Use the Razor tool to trim the copied clip to only the part where you want to add shake.
- Follow Effects > Distort > Transform and apply the effect to the trimmed clip on the top layer.
- In the Effects Controls panel, search for the Transform effect.
- Create a keyframe using the Position panel immediately before and after the points where you want to add the shake effect.
- Move the scene position slightly between the keyframes. The more you move, the harsher the shake effect will be. You can also zoom in slightly, instead of moving the frame’s position side to side or up and down.
- Create another series of keyframes after the action is complete and reset the parameters to original.
- Apply Motion Blur to smooth out the frame movement.
- Repeat as needed.
The idea is to create a duplicate of your clip that goes slightly off-center from the original when the impact occurs, creating what appears to be camera shake.
Want additional video tips and tricks? Discover what more you can do with Premiere Pro to add professional-level effects to your video footage.