1 The idea
Shot size says how much of the character the frame holds. From wide to tight: EWS (a tiny figure in a big place), WS (whole body plus surroundings), FS (whole body filling the frame), MS (about waist up), MCU (chest up), CU (the head) and ECU (one detail, like the eyes). These names are the shared language of director, DP and layout artist.
What really sets shot size is the frame height at the subject’s distance = distance × sensor height ÷ focal length. Step back or go wider and the frame grows, so the robot shrinks. Here the robot is 2 m tall and the camera keeps headroom for you.
frame height at the subject = distance × sensor height ÷ focal2 Hands-on
Task: match all 3 target shots (#1 WS, #2 MCU, #3 ECU). A score of 80 or more passes.
The ghost lays the target over your view. Try reaching one target two ways: by moving, and by zooming.
3 Deep dive
Shot sizes are a language, not a ruler
No world standard says where an MCU must cut, but everyone on set roughly agrees: MS around the waist, MCU around the chest, CU on the face. This room uses number bands so it can score you; in real work, read the picture and the storyboard.
| Name | What it shows | What it tells |
|---|---|---|
| EWS | a tiny figure in a big place | place, scale, isolation |
| WS / FS | the whole body (with or without room) | body language, movement |
| MS | about waist up | conversation |
| MCU / CU | chest up / the face | emotion |
| ECU | one detail | tension, a key detail |
The one number behind shot size
Frame height at the subject = distance × sensor height ÷ focal. On a 36 × 20.25 mm sensor at 35 mm and 4 m, the frame is 4 × 20.25 ÷ 35 ≈ 2.31 m tall, so a 2 m robot fills about 86%: a full shot.
The formula says distance and focal trade one for one: twice the distance equals half the focal for subject size. Perspective, though, is not the same (lesson CL3).
- 1Pick the shot size
- 2Work out the frame height
- 3Choose the distance (perspective)
- 4Solve for the focal
Headroom and lead room
A head touching the top edge feels cramped; too much space above makes the character look like they’re sinking. The tighter the shot, the less headroom; an ECU can cut through the head. Leave more room on the side the character faces (lead room).
CG placed in a plate must respect the plate’s framing; don’t rescale it until the shot means something else
Shot size in VFX work
Wide shots show little detail per object but every scale and perspective must hold. Tight shots show skin, edges and grain; small problems like a soft edge or a low-res texture jump out. Plan asset detail for the tightest shot it will appear in.
4 In real work
In Nuke
- Camera: enter the focal length and the horizontal aperture (the real sensor width in mm) of the camera that shot the plate.
- The Camera’s default horizontal aperture is 24.576 mm, not full frame. Forget to change it and every shot size comes out wrong.
- Viewer: press Tab for the 3D view, then pick the camera from the Viewer’s camera menu to look through it.
- Card + ScanlineRender: a card as tall as the real character at the real distance is a quick shot-size check before the real asset exists.
Common mistakes → the fix
- ✗ Scaling the CG in 2D until it “looks right” instead of fixing the camera’s distance or focal✓ Fix it in the 3D camera at the right distance; then size and perspective stay right together (focal alone fixes size, not perspective; see CL3).
- ✗ Using the focal from the camera report with the software’s default sensor✓ A focal length always needs its sensor size (or the crop actually used). See CL4 for the full details.
- ✗ Calling a full shot a wide shot, so the team pictures different things✓ Agree on the words with the team early, or attach a reference frame.
Before you send the shot
- The CG shot size matches the storyboard or layout
- The CG camera’s focal and sensor match the camera data
- Headroom and lead room haven’t changed by accident
- Asset detail holds up in the tightest shot
5 Check yourself
The frame is 0.8 m tall at the robot. You double the focal length and keep the distance. How tall is the frame at the robot now?
🔒 Answer the question above and this card opens
1. You shoot the 2 m robot on a 36 × 20.25 mm sensor from 7 m with a 35 mm lens. Roughly how tall is the frame at the robot?
2. The director wants to go from an MS to a CU without moving the camera. What do you do?
Where the numbers come from: The shot-size bands here (by frame height at a 2 m robot with 8% headroom) are a teaching version; on set they’re a convention, not a measurement. The camera is an ideal pinhole (no lens distortion) with a 36 mm wide sensor cropped to 16:9 (36 × 20.25 mm). The set and robot are built in code with three.js.