Skip to main content

How to Set Camera Movement

Goal: Tell the AI how the camera moves in a shot — from a locked-off static frame to a complex dolly move.

Camera movement is one of the most expressive tools in cinematography. In ACT3 AI, you define it per shot in the Motion tab.

Steps​

  1. Open the shot panel. Click the shot in the timeline or in the scene's shot list.

  2. Go to the Motion tab. The Motion tab shows the camera movement settings.

  3. Choose a movement type. Select from:

    • Static — Camera doesn't move. Clean, stable frame.
    • Pan — Camera rotates horizontally on a fixed axis. Following action left or right.
    • Tilt — Camera rotates vertically on a fixed axis. Looking up or down.
    • Dolly — Camera physically moves forward or backward through space.
    • Track (Truck) — Camera moves sideways parallel to the subject.
    • Crane / Boom — Camera rises or falls.
    • Handheld — Camera is unstabilized, slightly shaky. Adds urgency or intimacy.
    • Steadicam — Smooth movement through space, following a subject.
    • Zoom — Focal length changes while camera stays still. Use sparingly.

  4. Set the direction and amount. For Pan and Tilt, choose left/right or up/down and the speed — slow, medium, fast. For Dolly and Track, specify the distance and direction.

  5. Place the camera path in the top-down editor (optional). Open the Top-Down Editor and draw the camera's movement path as a spline. This gives the AI a spatial reference for exactly how the camera travels through the set.

  6. Review and generate. Check the assembled prompt in the Prompt tab. Generate the shot.

Next steps​