The Top 9 Tilt Shift Effect Drone Videos—New Perspectives on Familiar and Exotic Locales

The tilt shift effect makes everyday shots look like they were taken of a miniature world, instead of the one we live in.

This is what it looks like:

Image Source 

In fact, the effect works so well at “miniaturizing” its subjects that we’ve seen several comments from people who don’t believe videos featuring it are actually of real places.

But they are—and that’s the magic of the tilt shift effect.

How Does the Tilt Shift Effect Work?

There are two main ways to employ the tilt shift effect:

• When shooting. Use a camera equipped with a tilt-shift lens, which simulates a shallow depth of field, and then shoot your subjects from a high angle (a drone is especially useful for getting a good high angle).
• In post-production. You can also give your images and videos the tilt shift effect in post—here is a tutorial on how to do this using Photoshop.

Now, without further ado, here are our top 9 tilt shift effect drone videos.

Note: We’ve done our best to provide the details on the type of drone and camera used for each of these videos, but in some instances this information just wasn’t available.

1. Mini South Africa – 4K Drone Video

The beauty of South Africa is somehow heightened by the strange perspective we get with the tilt shift-effect here, creating a stunning new way of looking at this magical place.

Want to learn more about this video? Read the interview we did with Luke Bell, the video’s creator.

Details

• Drone info:DJI Phantom 3 Pro
• Location(s): The video was shot at 20 different locations in South Africa. 3 were just outside of Cape Town.
• Created by: Luke Bell AKA Cell C South Africa (follow them on YouTube)

2. Autumn Miniatures

Love all the natural beauty in this video, and the way we see nature interacting with the urban environment toward the end. We’ve never been to Bulgaria, but this video makes us want to plan a trip!

Actually, I didn’t know that I’ll use this effect in post-processing when I shot the video, it just fit. Now, if I intentionally shoot a tilt-shift video I’ll shoot parts of it in different ways. It is very important to have the right angles of the shooting objects in order to look like miniatures.

– Pavel Petrov, creator of the video featured above

Details

• Drone info: DJI Mavic Mini
• Location(s): Sofia, Bulgaria
• Created by: vbSky (follow them on YouTube)
• Music: Provided by Bensound (www.bensound.com)

3. Awesome Armenia

Little Big World has three videos on this list, and with good reason—they’ve done an incredible job creating tilt shift effect drone videos at exotic locales throughout the world. Watch this one made in Armenia to see the people of the country living out their lives in harmony with nature, from a whole new perspective.

Details

• Drone info: DJI Mavic Air 2
• Location(s): Yerevan, Khor Virab, Smbataberd, Khndzoresk, Tatev Monastery, Shaki, Dilijan, Garni Temple, Jermuk, Sevanavank, Noratus cemetery and Lake Sevan (all in Armenia)
• Created by: Little Big World (follow them on YouTube)
• Music: “PRELUDE – Holberg Suite, op 40” by Edvard Grieg, performed by The Metropolitan Orchestra Sydney

4. Mesmerizing Montenegro

Something that stands out in this impressive video featuring footage captured using the tilt shift effect in Montenegro is the sheer size of the landscape—the mountains, rivers, and sweeping views are so big that tilt shift can’t fully miniaturize them as it usually would.

Details

• Drone info: DJI Mavic Air 2
• Locations: Lovćen National Park, Lake Skadar, Žabljak, Black Lake, Bay of Kotor, Perast, Ulcinj, Budva and Sveti Stefan (all in Armenia)
• Created by: Little Big World (follow them on YouTube)
• Music: “Swan Lake” Waltz by Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, performed by the RFCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Keith J.Salmon

5. DRONE Miniature Effect Tilt Shift

The winter wonderland captured in this video is perfect for these chilly holiday times—watch to the end for a beautiful overview of the entire city.

Details

• Drone info: DJI Mavic Pro
• Created by: Alber Grau (follow them on YouTube)
• Music: “Alef” by Luna

6. Gorgeous Georgia

Small villages nestled in green mountains create a perfect subject for the tilt shift effect here. These images are followed by a smooth transition to city shots, where tall buildings of steel and glass contrast with the bucolic scenes featured in the first half of the video.

Details

• Drone info: DJI Mavic Air 2
• Location(s): Tbilisi, Stepanzminda (Kazbegi), Sno, Kutaissi, Ciatura, Katskhi Pillar, Mestia, Ushguli and Batumi (all in Georgia)
• Created by: Little Big World (follow them on YouTube)
• Music: “Marriage of Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra

7. LITTLE BIG WORLD AUSTRALIA + PHILIPPINES

The creator of this video set out to shoot some of her favorite places in the world, and the love of her subjects shines through in this video.

I was able to create this tilt shift or toy effect by hyper increasing the saturation of the video and placing a focused blur on each video. This creates focus and draws the eye to the subject you wish.

– Emily Kaate, creator of the video featured above

Details

• Drone info: DJI Phantom 4
• Location(s): Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, and Toowoomba in Australia; Boracay in the Philippines
• Created by: Emily Kaate (follow them on YouTube)
• Music: “Fireplace” by Joakim Karud

8. DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone flight with Tilt Shift Effect

This video features a single smooth shot taken by a drone flying away from its subject, revealing how the old interacts with the new and modern in this small town in England.

Details

• Drone info: DJI Phantom 4
• Location(s): Oldham, England
• Created by: Visual Euphoria Studio (follow them on YouTube)

9. MINIATURE WORLD!

This video is worth watching for the miniature helicopters and tugboats alone. The other tiny infrastructure—power lines, trains, and the other functioning parts of a living city—all serve to make the familiar new and strange in this tilt shift effect video.

Details

• Created by: Happy Sick World (follow them on YouTube)