Specifications

29
A Digital Video Primer
All transitions, except a cut, have duration, alignment, and direction parameters. Duration
refers to the length of the transition in frames. Transitions use frames from the end of the rst
clip, called tail material, and frames from the beginning of the second clip, called head material.
Alignment refers to the position of the transition in relation to the cut between the two clips. e
options are Center at Cut, Start at Cut, and End at Cut. Direction indicates how the transition
operates on the two clips. Normally, the direction will be from the rst clip to the second, from
le to right on the timeline, but for some types of transitions, you may want to change the direction.
Adding effects
Video and audio eects, sometimes called lters, serve many useful purposes. You can use them
to x defects in video or audio, such as correcting the color balance of a video clip or removing
background noise from dialogue. Eects are also used to create qualities not present in the raw
video or audio, such as soening focus, giving a sunset tint, or adding reverb or echo to a sound
track. Multiple eects may be applied to a clip, but note that the result may vary depending on
the order in which eects are rendered.
Adobe Premiere Pro includes dozens of eects, including many shared with Aer Eects. Addi-
tional eects are available as plug-ins. Adobe Premiere Pro comes with several Aer Eects plug-
ins that can be used in your video work, and many other plug-ins are available from third-party
vendors or can be acquired from other compatible applications. Video eects are found in the
Video Eects bin in the Eects panel; audio eects are found in the Audio Eects bin. As with
transitions, eects are grouped by type in nested bins. You can reorganize eects and customize
bins as you prefer and hide eects or bins that you rarely use.
To apply an eect, drag it to a clip in the Timeline panel. Or, if the clip is selected in the Timeline
panel, you can drag the eect to the Eect Controls panel, where you can modify attributes and,
if multiple eects have been applied, adjust the order in which they are rendered. You can apply,
disable, or remove an eect at any time.
By default, when an eect is added, keyframes are set at the beginning and end of the clip,
resulting in the eect being applied to the entire clip. If an eect has adjustable controls, you can
change the start or end point of the eect by adjusting the keyframes in the Timeline panel, or
Eect Controls panel to add additional keyframes to create an animated eect.
e eect controls in Adobe Premiere Pro work similarly to the ones in Aer Eects. e set-
tings provide exacting control over every aspect of an eect because you can set keyframes for
individual eect parameters to vary how a clip is aected over time. When you apply an eect to
a clip in the timeline, the Eect Controls panel displays all of the parameters associated with that
eect. For example, if you were to apply a Radial Blur eect to a clip in the timeline, you would
go to the Eect Controls panel to select and set independent keyframes for the amount of blur
and the X and Y position of the blur. Rather than applying a uniform eect, you could start out
with a clip that looks sharply focused and gradually blur the clip over time by using keyframes.
You can then evaluate the eect design choices you’re making through the real-time editing
experience described earlier in this document. Note that keyframes are preserved with Adobe
Premiere Pro projects when you move the projects to Aer Eects.
Enter keyframes on a timeline to control how eects and motion parameters change over time.
MORE USEFUL EDITING TECHNIQUES
Slip edit: A slip edit shifts the In and Out points of a
clip without changing the clip’s duration, without
aecting adjacent clips, and without altering the
overall program duration. You can use the slip edit
tool in the Timeline panel to drag a clip left or right,
and its In and Out points will shift accordingly. In
other words, a slip edit alters which specic portion
of the source clip is included, but does not alter the
duration of the selection. The slip edit is useful when
you want to create a rough cut quickly, and then ne-
tune individual clips later without aecting the clips
around them or the overall duration.
Slide edit: A slide edit preserves the duration of a clip
and of the overall program by changing the Out point
of the preceding clip and the In point of the following
clip. When you use the slide edit tool, sliding an entire
clip forward or backward in the timeline, the adjacent
clips are correspondingly lengthened or shortened by
the same number of frames; therefore, the duration
of the program stays the same. A slide edit aects
three clips: the location of the clip being slid (the
duration of which stays the same), as well as the two
clips before and after the slid clip (the durations of
which are both altered). The overall program duration
is maintained.
Three-point edits: When you lift and replace footage
in a video program, four points must be specied.
Those four are the In and Out points of the source clip
(the segment you are inserting) and the In and Out
points of the program (the segment you are replac-
ing). With three-point editing in Adobe Premiere Pro,
you need only specify any three of these four In and
Out points. The software then automatically calcu-
lates the fourth point to ensure a proper edit, and
will adjust the speed of the clip to ll a gap. Monitor
window controls and keyboard shortcuts make three-
point editing quick and easy in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Four-point edits: A four-point edit is useful when the
starting and ending frames in both the source and
program are critical. In a four-point edit, you mark
all four points. If the durations are dierent for the
marked clips, Adobe Premiere Pro alerts you to the
discrepancy and provides alternatives to resolve it.
Six-point edits: More commonly called a split edit,
in a six-point edit, a clip’s video and audio start or
end at dierent times. In one version of a split edit,
called an L-cut, the audio Out point is later than the
video Out point, so the audio continues to play after
the video transitions to the next clip. The audio from
a concert, for example, could extend into the next
shot of a nature scene. Another kind of split edit is
the J-cut, also known as an audio lead, which you use
when you want a clip’s audio to begin playing before
the corresponding video appears. For example, you
may want to begin hearing a speaker’s voice while
showing a relevant scene, then transition to the shot
of the person speaking.