Ah, ye ol’ handheld look. Personally, I love the handheld look in films. If you have a clip that was shot on a tripod, or motion graphics that you want to add realistic motion to, you can easily add handheld “shake” with this simple After Effects preset.
There are two adjustable effects parameters when you add the preset. One controls the “shake,” and the other controls the “rotation.” The default settings of 10 and 8, work well for most clips.
Apply the preset to a null object, then “pick whip” your footage to the null. Apply motion blur to your clip for better results.
You’ll see the difference in the two images below. The first one is the original, shot on a tripod. The second one is with the “Handheld Camera” preset applied.
Original footage, shot on a tripod.
Footage with “Handheld Camera” preset applied.
Watch this tutorial video to see how to use this preset. Let me know if you have any questions.