AI video camera moves explained — all 17 moves and when to use them

Ask an AI video engine for "a cinematic shot" and you get the average of every cinematic shot it has seen. Ask for a slow push-in on an anamorphic lens with a tense tempo and you get a shot. The camera move is the single most useful word in a video prompt, which is why the eroq Video tool puts 17 of them on chips above the composer. This is what each one does, when it earns its place, and how to pair it with the rest of the Director's rack.

How camera moves work in the studio

Pick a move from the chips and it is folded into the prompt the engine receives, together with your Film type, Era, Tempo, Camera gear, Lens, Aperture, Palette and Lighting. Written directions work too: type "wide shot" or "dolly" in the prompt and the studio detects them. One move per clip is the rule — an engine asked to orbit, crane and whip-pan in five seconds tends to do none of them well.

The move is half the sentence. The other half is the lens and the tempo, so each entry below comes with a pairing that behaves. Definitions live in the camera move glossary; the camera controls page has the chip list.

Locked-off and slow

Static. The camera does not move; only the scene does. Use it when the performance or the light is the point — a face reacting, rain on a window. Pair with Soft portrait, f/1.4, Calm. The most underrated chip on the row.

Slow pan. A horizontal turn from a fixed position, revealing what is beside the frame. Establishing shots, landscapes, a room being taken in. Pair with a wide framing in the prompt, Clean sharp, Dreamy.

Push-in. The camera moves toward the subject. It says "pay attention to this" — a realization, a detail, a decision. Pair with Anamorphic, Tense. Keep it slow; a fast push-in reads as horror, which is fine if you are making horror.

Pull-back. The reverse: the camera retreats and the world grows around the subject. Endings, isolation, the reveal that the room is bigger than it seemed. Pair with 35mm film, Nostalgic blue, Calm.

Moving with the subject

Tracking. The camera travels alongside or behind a moving subject at the same speed. Walking-and-talking, a car on a road, a runner. Pair with Clean sharp, f/4, Dynamic. Say the direction in the prompt ("tracking left to right").

Orbit. The camera circles the subject. Products, statues, a character standing in a moment. Pair with Macro for objects, Soft portrait for people, Dreamy. Half an orbit in 5 s looks deliberate; a full one looks like a turntable.

Handheld. Small, human shake. Documentary, UGC, anything that should feel witnessed rather than staged. Pair with Smartphone or VHS camcorder gear, Window light, Dynamic.

POV. The camera is the character's eyes. Doors opening, hands entering the frame, someone looking back at you. Pair with Action cam or Smartphone, Fisheye if you want it aggressive, Tense.

Snorricam. The camera is rigged to the subject, so the face stays locked while the background lurches. Disorientation, panic, a very specific music-video energy. Pair with Vintage anamorphic, Chaotic. Once per film, maximum.

Framing moves

Close-up. Tight on a face or an object. Emotion, texture, the thing in the hand. Pair with Soft portrait or Macro, f/1.4, Practicals. Also the frame you want for a film cover.

Wide. The full space and the subject small inside it. Scale, loneliness, geography before you cut in. Pair with IMAX or Drone gear, f/11, Calm. Wide shots are also the most forgiving of face drift, because there is not much face.

Up, down and airborne

Crane up. The camera rises, revealing the setting behind or above the subject. Triumphant endings, city reveals. Pair with 35mm film, Warm film, Dreamy.

Crane down. The camera descends onto the subject, arriving. Openings — the world, then the person in it. Pair with Anamorphic, Twilight, Calm.

FPV drone. Fast, banking, first-person flight through space. Music visuals, chases, architecture. Pair with Drone gear, Fisheye or Clean sharp, Chaotic or Dynamic. Give it a path in the prompt ("through the archway, over the canal").

Aerial pull-back. The drone retreats upward and away until the subject is a dot. The last shot of many things. Pair with Drone, f/11, Pastel dawn, Calm.

The two showpieces

Dolly zoom. The camera moves one way while the lens zooms the other, so the subject stays the same size and the background warps. Vertigo, dread, the moment everything changes. Pair with Anamorphic, Tense, and a subject who stands still. It is loud; save it.

Whip pan. A pan so fast the frame smears, then lands. Transitions, comedy timing, energy between two beats. Pair with Dynamic, VHS camcorder or Smartphone. In Film mode, end one scene and open the next on a whip pan and you get an edit for free.

Two prompts that pair move, lens and tempo

A push-in with the rack doing the rest:

A detective sits alone at a diner counter at 3 a.m., turning a matchbook over in his fingers, then stops as he reads the name inside; slow push-in from a medium to a close-up on an anamorphic lens at f/1.4, overhead fluorescent fall with a warm practical on the counter, neon noir palette, tense and very quiet.

An orbit built for a product:

A matte black bottle of perfume stands on wet slate, droplets beading on the glass and one running slowly down the label; half orbit from left to right on a macro lens, soft cross lighting with a single rim highlight, emerald palette, dreamy tempo, nothing in the frame moves but the drop and the camera.

If the sentence is not coming, write the move and the mood and hit Enhance — the free prompt enhancer turns "orbit, perfume, wet, moody" into a paragraph like the one above.

FAQ

Can I combine two camera moves in one clip?

You can write it, but engines rarely deliver two moves cleanly in a 5 or 10 s clip. Use one move per scene and let Film mode do the cutting.

Does the camera move chip override what I typed?

Written directions in the prompt are detected too. Pick one source of truth per scene — chip or text — so the engine is not told two different things.

Which engines handle fast moves best?

Motion differs by engine: Kling 2.5 Turbo is known for fluid motion, Hailuo 02 for cinematic physics. The Kling vs Hailuo comparison goes through the criteria. Run the same prompt on both and keep the take.

Pick a move and see it. Open the Video tool with the orbit prompt loaded — 50 free credits on a new account.