Workshop

Review the questions and answers in this section to try to sharpen your Premiere video effects skills. Also, take a few moments to tackle my short quiz and give the best of these effects brief trial runs in the exercises to discover more ideas about how to best use them.

Q&A

Q1:

I used keyframes to create a nice Twirl effect that gradually grew tighter and tighter, but then it suddenly jumped to the setting I applied to the first keyframe. What's the story?

A1:

It sounds like you forgot to adjust the default last keyframe to make sure it holds the tight twirl through the end of the clip. When you set the opening "loose" Twirl setting, that numerical setting was automatically applied to both the start and end keyframes. As you added keyframes, you changed the numerical values to tighten the twirl up to your last keyframe. But you need to move to the end keyframe to make sure its setting equals the values you gave to the last keyframe you added to this clip.

Q2:

I added an effect to a clip and used keyframes to change its behavior during the clip, but I don't like the result. How can I change this?

A2:

Use the Keyframe Navigator?the check box with the two triangles next to the video track?to move to the frame(s) you want to fix. Use the Effect Controls palette or the Effect Settings dialog box to make your changes. If you simply want to move a keyframe, grab it and slide it to a new position. If you want to make the move frame specific, put the edit line at your new location, adjust the Effects values in the Effect Controls palette or the Effect Settings dialog box (thus creating a new keyframe at that location). Then delete the errant frame by selecting it and clicking the Keyframe Navigator check box.

Quiz

1:

You shot an interview indoors but near a window. The interviewee's face is blue! How do you fix this?

A1:

Use the QuickTime RGB Balance effect, or if you're up to the extra level of detail involved, try adjusting individual Red, Green, and Blue channels in the Levels effect.

2:

You "broke the plane" in a cutaway. How can you get your interviewer to face the right direction?

A2:

Use Camera View to flip the image on its vertical axis (Vertical Flip does this as well). That way, your interviewer will face the correct direction, no longer breaking the plane.

3:

You have a lovely logo created in Photoshop. How do you give it some sharp, beveled edges and fly it over a clip of your office exterior?

A3:

Place it in a video track above your office shot. Open the Transparency Settings dialog box and select Alpha Channel from the drop-down list. Then apply the Bevel Alpha effect to it. Adjust the Edge Thickness, Light Angle, Light Color, and Light Intensity settings to suit your needs.

Exercises

1:

Create a moving lens flare that "reacts" to a light source. Use both the QuickTime and Premiere Lens Flare effects. Apply keyframes to the Premiere effect and use the built-in x/y coordinates for the QuickTime effect.

2:

Use keyframes to create a radial blur that gradually moves around an image.

3:

Use Color Pass and Color Replace to isolate an object and give it a new color.

4:

Use Camera View to spin and flip your clip 360 degree along both axes.



    Part II: Enhancing Your Video