Drone gimbal
Also known as: aircraft gimbal, 3-axis gimbal
The motorised mount that holds a drone camera steady against the aircraft, decoupling what the frame sees from what the airframe does.
Updated
What it means
An aircraft tilts in order to move. Without a gimbal the camera would tilt with it, so every acceleration would appear as a lurch and every gust as a tremor. Nothing in post fully removes either.
Three motors solve it mechanically. A Gimbal working on pitch, roll and yaw holds the camera where it was pointed while the body underneath does whatever flight requires.
That is the difference between a camera drone and an FPV one. An FPV drone fixes the camera to the frame and accepts the lean as part of the look.
How it works in practice
Pointing is an operator's job, not the aircraft's. Gimbal pitch is controlled on a wheel, and a slow tilt down during a forward pass is one of the few moves that works at any altitude.
Smoothness is set, not hoped for. Most aircraft offer a damped gimbal response, and a lower setting keeps a Top-down shot from snapping when the wheel is nudged.
Calibration is routine. A gimbal calibrated on level ground holds the horizon, and one calibrated on a slope quietly tilts every clip of the flight. Two minutes before takeoff saves an hour afterwards.
What to watch out for
The gimbal is the part that breaks. It is exposed, it moves, and a landing in sand or a light tip-over is enough to leave a motor straining and the horizon sitting a degree off.
That degree is expensive later. Horizon Lock can hide small tilt in flight, but a clip already recorded crooked needs a crop to correct, and the crop takes resolution with it.
Motors also hum. The sound is inaudible by ear and recorded clearly by the onboard microphone, which is one more reason aerial audio serves as an Audio sync reference rather than as sound.
How RawClip handles it
Level, steady aerials score better during selection than clips fighting a tilt, so a calibrated gimbal shows up in what gets chosen. Small amounts of crookedness are corrected while the sequence is assembled, which protects the cut from an obvious lean between neighbouring shots.