ok so ive been flying for about 8 months now, mostly just messing around with fpv but recently i got a DJI Mini 4 Pro for more serious video work and im really struggling to get those smooth cinematic shots that look like they were done on a film set or whatever. i watch all these youtube videos and the moves look so effortless ? the slow reveals, the low orbit around a subject, the pull-back-while-rising thing ? but when i fly it myself it always looks slightly jerky or the horizon tilts at the wrong moment or i just fumble the sticks and ruin the whole take.

ive been flying in normal mode not sport obviously, and i have the sensitivity settings dialed down a bit but im not sure if thats even the right approach. do you guys practice these moves somewhere specific first? or is there like a mental trick for coordinating both sticks at the same time for something like the dronie or the hyperlapse-style pullback? genuinely struggling and a little frustrated because the footage looks so much worse than what the camera is actually capable of

honestly the thing that helped me most was just flying in a big empty field and not worrying about getting any actual footage at all for like 3 or 4 sessions. just practice the movements. the orbit/circle shot especially took me forever ? you want to use the automated orbit function first to understand what it should look like, then try to replicate it manually. your brain kind of learns the coordination from watching the automated version.

also cine mode if your bird has it, that thing is underrated. its not just slower its a different curve on the sticks altogether and it makes the movements feel more weighted. and lower your expo if you havent already, makes tiny stick inputs much more manageable. the tilt horizon thing is almost always from over-correcting when you panic mid-shot, you kind of have to commit and trust the gimbal to do its job.

same boat as you tbh, mini 3 pro here. what helped me was recording EVERYTHING even the bad takes and then watching it back slow. you start to see the exact moment you over-input or rush the stick and it kind of trains your eye for what smooth actually looks like vs what you think youre doing in the air. also dont sleep on the master shots mode for learning ? yeah its automated but studying those paths is genuinely useful