Steve's Tips
Keyframing basics in Premiere Elements
(and Premiere Pro)
Keyframing is the system Premiere Elements, Premiere Pro and After Effects use to set and control motion and effects. The principle is a simple one: You indicate which frames begin or end a motion, effect or level and the program automatically generates the frames between. But the real power of this tool is in how easy it is to revise and adjust the positions and settings of each keyframe, giving you, the user, the ability to fine tune your path or effect until it is precisely what you are trying to achieve.
Until keyframing is turned on, any motion, scaling or effect you add affects the entire duration of the clip. In other words, change the Scale to 50% and your entire clip will fill only 50% of the screen. However, once you turn on keyframing, every movement generates a keyframe point at the CTI position, and it becomes the waypoint for your effect or motion path.
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With the clip selected on the timeline click on the triangle to the left of the Motion effect in the Properties panel to reveal the details Position, Scale and Rotation. (Note that, although the principles apply to other programs, our discussion and screenshots are from Premiere Elements 2.0. Also note that, in version 1.0 of Premiere Elements, the Properties panel is called the Effects Control palette.) As indicated in the screenshot to the right (click on it to see a larger image), click on the Animation Toggle button to begin a keyframing session. When you click on this toggle, a keyframe point, or set of keyframe points, is created at the position of the CTI representing the current settings for each effect, level, position or scale.
You have just created a simple motion path. Play back the clip and you’ll see how the program creates the frames between the keyframe points. But the beauty of the keyframing tool is that this path is infinitely adjustable. By dragging the keyframe points to different positions on the timeline, you can control the speed at which the motion occurs. You can add more keyframe points and/or delete the ones you don’t want. And, if you really want to go deep, you can even use Bezier control handles change the shape of the motion path or, by right-clicking on any point, vary the speed throughout the motion.
Now move the CTI to a new position and, again, change the Position and Scale settings either by changing the setting numbers or by clicking on the clip in the Monitor panel and dragging it to a new position or changing the scale by dragging the corner handles. As you do, new keyframe points will automatically generated with each new setting. (You can also manually create new keyframes by clicking on the keyframe creator buttons.)
Keyframe points can be added either in the Properties panel or right on your clip in the Timeline panel, using a similar keyframe point creator interface located to the left of each video and audio track. By creating keyframe points on a clip’s audio track, for instance, and then positioning these points at higher and lower positions along the clip, you can control volume levels at specific points along the timeline. Indeed, mastering the keyframing tool is the key to getting to the deeper aspects of Premiere Elements and Premiere Pro. It may not seem intuitive at first but, once you developed a feel for how it works, you’ll soon find yourself able to see all kinds applications for it in creating and refining all manner of visual and audio effects. January 2006 About Steve Steve Grisetti earned a master's degree in writing for television and film from Ohio University. He has instructed college-level courses in television and video production, and has taught adult education classes on Photoshop and principles of design. Steve spent nearly 10 years in the Los Angeles-based entertainment industry, working on the sets and in the production offices of several large television and film companies. Currently, he is employed as a graphic designer in the Marketing & Communications Department of a Milwaukee-based investment firm. He also serves as host on Adobe's official Premiere Elements Support Forum and is author, with Chuck Engels, of "Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 In a Snap," from Sams Publishing, Pearson Education.
