Map Zoom to Sky Effect Transition, or How to Make Drone-Like Footage Without One

When editing videos, especially if you are vlogging, finding creative ways to make your content entertaining isn’t always easy. Quality content is king, but a solid edit goes a long way as well. Implementing new transitions on a regular basis or finding a unique one that can become your signature style could definitely help making your footage more attractive. In this 15-minute long tutorial, Nathaniel Dodson from tutvid shows us how to create a drone-like transition between two shots!

So what’s a drone like transition you may ask? Well, it’s also called map zoom to sky effect, and it simply imitates having a drone sequence between two clips. The trick is, you don’t need a drone, but just an access to Google Maps or Google Earth instead. It’s a much more affordable solution!

The transition is somewhat time-consuming to create, and you may not get it right the first time if you don’t follow each and every step shown by Dodson in his tutorial above. However, once you get it to work, it’s entertaining and will surely be noticed by your viewers.

You could even go further and add some drone footage between the Google Maps image and the sequences. It would take even more time, but when quality matters, time isn’t always the most important thing, don’t you think?

Quentin Decaillet's picture

Quentin Décaillet is a photographer and retoucher based in Switzerland specializing in portrait and wedding photography.

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