Follow cam
Also known as: follow camera, follow shot, chase cam
Footage filmed by someone riding behind or beside the athlete, keeping them in frame from a third-person view that a POV camera cannot capture.
Updated
What it means
A follow cam is a camera operated by a second person who rides, skis or runs behind the athlete and keeps them in the shot. Instead of seeing through the rider's eyes, the viewer watches the rider: body position, style, the size of the jump and the line they pick.
It is the classic complement to POV footage. The first-person view sells speed and immersion; the follow view shows skill and scale. In ski, snowboard and mountain bike films, the follower is often an equally strong rider holding a pole or a Gimbal, or wearing a helmet camera. On open terrain, drones with ActiveTrack now do a similar job.
How it works in practice
The follower stays a few meters back and matches speed, so the subject stays roughly the same size in frame. On skis a common setup is an action camera on a short pole held low, at 4K and 60 fps or more so jumps can be turned into slow motion later. Mountain bikers often just use a chest or helmet camera and aim their body at the rider ahead.
Agree on hand signals or radio calls before dropping in: where the rider will jump, where to stop, which side of an obstacle to pass. Short runs of 30 to 60 seconds are easier to keep tight than one long descent, and they give you several attempts at the same section.
What to watch out for
Following closely at speed is genuinely risky. The follower is watching the rider, not the terrain, and if the lead crashes, the follower may ride straight into them. Keep a safe gap and choose terrain the follower knows well.
Technically, follow shots go wrong when the gap keeps changing: the rider shrinks to a dot, then suddenly fills the frame. Wide lenses make a few meters look like a lot, so stay closer than feels natural. Also watch for the follower's own ski tips, shadow or front wheel creeping into the shot, and for motion blur smearing the subject in low evening light.
How RawClip handles it
Upload follow-cam clips together with the rider's own POV and any drone shots in a single RawClip order. The AI looks at faces, motion and peak action across all of them, so the finished highlight can mix first-person and third-person angles, with cuts synced to the music.