If you’re an aerial filmmaker, you’re likely constantly seeking to enhance the quality of your shots. One technique that can help you achieve this is orbiting, which is a simple yet effective way to elevate your cinematography from a novice to an expert level. Cinematic Orbital Shots with its powerful visual impact, orbiting can be a valuable addition to your filmmaking repertoire.

What is an Orbit?

As the name implies, an orbit involves moving in a circular path around a focal point of interest. To achieve this cinematic shot, the camera circles around the subject while keeping it in the same position within the frame, causing the background to change.

Cinematic Orbital Shots technique can add a sense of dynamism to your shots, as the movement between subject and background enhances the perception of distance and environment. While the basic orbit path is fairly straightforward, you can get creative by adding extra movements and functions, such as a fade-in or fade-out effect.

For aerial photography, you can lock the gimbal to your subject, descend or ascend in orbit, and change the angle of view to enhance the sense of depth. Perhaps the most amazing use of Orbit is in combination with Timelapse. As you can see above, the results are astonishing. 

But orbital shots aren’t just for drones. You can also use a handheld stabilizer (Osmo Pocket, Ronin-S, etc.) to walk around and shoot your subject. Try tilting your camera up to create unique cinematic angles.

Orbit Skills

“Orbit skills” likely refers to the ability to perform an orbit shot using a drone or other camera equipment. To master this technique, you’ll need to have a solid understanding of drone or camera operation, as well as an ability to control and manipulate movement to create the desired circular path.

It also involves knowing how to frame your shot effectively and make adjustments as needed, such as adjusting altitude or camera angle to maintain a consistent distance between the subject and background. With practice and dedication, you can develop the necessary skills to execute stunning orbit shots that add a professional touch to your aerial filmmaking projects.

I want to orbit an object using a drone. First, if you push the right stick to the right, the drone will fly to the right. Moving the left stick in the opposite direction while the drone is circling will rotate the drone's camera to the left. (By the way, let's say we're using mode 2 and want to photograph the trajectory counter-clockwise.) This is the intrinsic motion of the trajectory.

Users can adjust the joystick sensitivity in the DJI GO 4 app.

Another feature is to slow down the DJI GO 4 joystick response. Open the app, go to MC Settings Advanced Settings EXP and reduce the value of Rotate Right by 0.1~0.15. This makes the control stick less sensitive and less abrupt or jerky in flight.