Animating with keyframes and tracking

While tracking means following an object’s movement, animation doesn’t necessarily imply movement — it just means changing the value of a property over time. You could:

• Fade a clip in or out by animating Opacity.
• Grow or shrink a clip over time by animating Scale (All).
• Reveal a clip by animating Crop (Trim).
• Brighten a clip over time by animating a color correction:

Figure 12.31: This Opacity starts at 0%, grows to 100%, stays there, then fades out to 30%

Keyframing is a universal solution that can be applied to almost any property in the Inspector — those are just a starting point. Here, we will start with the Inspector-focused controls, move across to the Timeline’s controls, and then pop back to the Viewer too. There are alternatives to keyframing, though, including the (new in 10.6) Object Tracker feature, a useful option if you want to follow a moving...

Applying and using video effects

This topic is huge, but if you want to blur, glitch, focus, sharpen, warp, distort, or otherwise stylize your clips visually, video effects are the way to get that done. Found in the Effects browser to the lower right of the interface, there are over a hundred effects included by default, and that’s enough to get started with. When you need some more, you can install hundreds of additional third-party effects (free and paid) or even make your own with Motion. As you’ll see, some effects have only a few controls in the Inspector, while others include many customizable options with draggable on-screen controls:

Figure 12.55: On-screen controls come in all shapes and sizes, such as this double-ring control on Droplet

But — surprise! — you’ve actually used effects already. The color corrections you added in the previous chapter are video effects, from the Color category of the Effects pane...

Summary

This has been another monster chapter, but there was a lot of ground to cover.

It’s your job to make the edit look good, as it’s not always possible to get everything right on set. If the cinematographer is a farmer who provides the ingredients, you’re the chef who assembles them into a meal. Video properties are how you cut and present those ingredients, showing only the best parts, and turning imperfect shots into perfect ones. Video effects are your salt, pepper, and spices, helping each shot to shine, while animation… actually, the metaphor breaks down a little here.

Animation can let you add life where the shots couldn’t, and it injects not just movement but also interest. Object Tracking lets you add changes to moving objects and can open up whole new workflows around advanced color correction and isolated effects. It’s fancy and can create compelling effects.

To return to the metaphor: get cooking, and make the best...

Review questions

1. What modifier key should you hold while dragging on a property value if you want to have more control?
2. What happens if you apply the Multiply blend mode to a connected clip above another clip?
3. What property moves a clip up or down?
4. Which Crop mode includes animation?
5. Where can you find an animation graph for Opacity?
6. Which effect adds a natural-looking blur?
7. Where can settings for an effect be adjusted?
8. What effect removes a green screen from a shot?
9. How could you save a blur and vignette effect together?
10. What effect is the easiest way to disguise someone visually?

Review answers

1. ⌥ (Option) for more control.
2. The connected clip darkens the lower clip.
3. Position Y.
4. Ken Burns.
5. Video Animation.
6. Gaussian.
7. In the Viewer, if the effect has on-screen controls, and in the Inspector.
8. Green Screen Keyer.
9. Save an Effects Preset.
10. The Pixellate effect, used with Object Tracking.

Join us on Discord!

Embark on an exciting journey as you read this book together with fellow video editors.

• Engage in thought-provoking discussions, seek answers to your questions, take part in challenges, and collaborate on finding solutions with other passionate readers.
• Expand your network and connect with like-minded professionals who share your interests.

Plus, we have an exclusive offer for you! Claim your free eBook on the discord server with every version update. Join the community now by simply scanning the QR code or visiting the provided link.

Let's learn, grow, and succeed together...

Review questions

1. What modifier key should you hold while dragging on a property value if you want to have more control?
2. What happens if you apply the Multiply blend mode to a connected clip above another clip?
3. What property moves a clip up or down?
4. Which Crop mode includes animation?
5. Where can you find an animation graph for Opacity?
6. Which effect adds a natural-looking blur?
7. Where can settings for an effect be adjusted?
8. What effect removes a green screen from a shot?
9. How could you save a blur and vignette effect together?
10. What effect is the easiest way to disguise someone visually?

Review answers

1. ⌥ (Option) for more control.
2. The connected clip darkens the lower clip.
3. Position Y.
4. Ken Burns.
5. Video Animation.
6. Gaussian.
7. In the Viewer, if the effect has on-screen controls, and in the Inspector.
8. Green Screen Keyer.
9. Save an Effects Preset.
10. The Pixellate effect, used with Object Tracking.

Join us on Discord!

Embark on an exciting journey as you read this book together with fellow video editors.

• Engage in thought-provoking discussions, seek answers to your questions, take part in challenges, and collaborate on finding solutions with other passionate readers.
• Expand your network and connect with like-minded professionals who share your interests.

Plus, we have an exclusive offer for you! Claim your free eBook on the discord server with every version update. Join the community now by simply scanning the QR code or visiting the provided link.

Let's learn, grow, and succeed together!

https://packt.link/fcp