Recently a Premiere Elements user asked about creating an animated photos effect in which 32 photos each spun into view every 1 second and became the building block for a rectangular box around some text.
The use of a spin in PiPs for the task was explored and the first draft of the task (using 28 photos) is represented in Demo 1.
Demo 1. Animated Photos Effect Created In Premiere Elements 12/12.1 Using 28 Photos And Exported To The 1920 x 1080p29.97 WMV Video In Demo 1 Above.
The "25% LL Spin...Top" PiPs preset will be used to demonstrate basic keyframing principles involved in the use of the Premiere Elements motion PiPs. And, a scheme will be introduced to reduce the task of an animated photos effect to a "by the numbers" workflow.
BACKGROUND
With this particular PiPs preset, a 25% scaled image spins in from off screen (top left) and rotates twice in the path to its final destination (lower left on screen) in 1 second. The Motion Position and Rotation properties were keyframed by Adobe to achieve this effect at a constant image Scale = 25%.
The "action centers" for this animated photos effect are the Motion Panel expanded (Position, Rotation, Scale properties) and the "Show/Hide Keyframe Controls" area.
The Adobe Scale used in this preset is at 25% (no keyframing). Fx Effects/Presets/PiPs offers a variety of PiPs, but only with Scale = 25% or 40%. But, the Adobe set image Scale can be customized as will be described in the How To section. For this demonstration the Adobe image Scale was changed from 25% to 15% in the Motion Panel expanded and its Show/Hide Keyframe Controls area.
For each photo, Position and Rotation are each established with a keyframe at two different points, at the start off screen and at the on screen final destination. Rotation always has the start off screen set = 0.0 and the on screen final destination = 2x0.0 so that the photo rotates twice on its path to the on screen final destination. But, Position keyframing and the wanted perfect alignment of 28 photos can be a time consuming and an inexact process using the mouse cursor and visual placement for each photo's final destination.
"BY THE NUMBERS" WORKFLOW AND PERFECT ALIGNMENT
(Skip this section and go immediately to the How To section if you want to do visual placement of the photos instead of using "by the numbers" to obtain best possible photo alignment.)
Principle
1. For each of the 28 photos the only focus here is the keyframes for the "on screen final destination" Position which is defined by two values, first value "left or right" movement and second value "up or down" movement
.
2. After application of the preset to Timeline's Photo 1 followed by the movement of Timeline Indicator to 1 second mark, Photo 1's "on screen final destination" Position is customized visually with the mouse cursor using high monitor magnification. The customized Position values in this example were 236.1 and 942.9. See Figure 1.
3. After application of the preset to Timeline Photo 2 followed by the movement of Timeline Indicator to 2 second mark, Photo 2's "on screen final destination" Position is customized visually to get the best side by side fit of it with Photo 1. After placement customization, Photo 2 first Position value was 398.0. Photo 2 second Position value was set for 942.9 since Photo 1 through 10 were going to be on the same line.
4. Based on the difference (161.9) between the Photo 1 first Position value (236.1) and that of Photo 2 first Position value (398.0) and the second Position value of 942.9, "on screen final destination" Position first and second values were predetermined for the remaining 26 photos and just plugged into the two Position fields in Motion Panel expanded during the workflow to be described in the How To to follow. See Table 1.
HOW TO
(for visual placement of photos)
Recap
Premiere Elements 12 Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
Project Preset = NTSC AVCHD Full HD1080i30
Expert workspace
fx Effects
Presets
PiPs
25% PiPs
25% LL Spin...Top (this preset has the photo entering from off screen top left, making 2 spins on this path to its on screen final destination in 1 second)
28 jpeg photos 100 x 100 pixels, still image default duration = 5 seconds
Safety Margins on, and photos placed within the Safety Margins' Action Rectangle Limit.
Default Scale to Frame Size option used.
PURPOSE
The "25% LL Spin...Top" PiPs preset will be used to demonstrate basic keyframing principles involved in the use of the Premiere Elements motion PiPs. And, a scheme will be introduced to reduce the task of an animated photos effect to a "by the numbers" workflow.
BACKGROUND
With this particular PiPs preset, a 25% scaled image spins in from off screen (top left) and rotates twice in the path to its final destination (lower left on screen) in 1 second. The Motion Position and Rotation properties were keyframed by Adobe to achieve this effect at a constant image Scale = 25%.
The "action centers" for this animated photos effect are the Motion Panel expanded (Position, Rotation, Scale properties) and the "Show/Hide Keyframe Controls" area.
The Adobe Scale used in this preset is at 25% (no keyframing). Fx Effects/Presets/PiPs offers a variety of PiPs, but only with Scale = 25% or 40%. But, the Adobe set image Scale can be customized as will be described in the How To section. For this demonstration the Adobe image Scale was changed from 25% to 15% in the Motion Panel expanded and its Show/Hide Keyframe Controls area.
For each photo, Position and Rotation are each established with a keyframe at two different points, at the start off screen and at the on screen final destination. Rotation always has the start off screen set = 0.0 and the on screen final destination = 2x0.0 so that the photo rotates twice on its path to the on screen final destination. But, Position keyframing and the wanted perfect alignment of 28 photos can be a time consuming and an inexact process using the mouse cursor and visual placement for each photo's final destination.
"BY THE NUMBERS" WORKFLOW AND PERFECT ALIGNMENT
(Skip this section and go immediately to the How To section if you want to do visual placement of the photos instead of using "by the numbers" to obtain best possible photo alignment.)
Principle
1. For each of the 28 photos the only focus here is the keyframes for the "on screen final destination" Position which is defined by two values, first value "left or right" movement and second value "up or down" movement
.
2. After application of the preset to Timeline's Photo 1 followed by the movement of Timeline Indicator to 1 second mark, Photo 1's "on screen final destination" Position is customized visually with the mouse cursor using high monitor magnification. The customized Position values in this example were 236.1 and 942.9. See Figure 1.
 |
| Figure 1. Position and Rotation Keyframes At "On Screen Final Destination" Photo 1. |
3. After application of the preset to Timeline Photo 2 followed by the movement of Timeline Indicator to 2 second mark, Photo 2's "on screen final destination" Position is customized visually to get the best side by side fit of it with Photo 1. After placement customization, Photo 2 first Position value was 398.0. Photo 2 second Position value was set for 942.9 since Photo 1 through 10 were going to be on the same line.
4. Based on the difference (161.9) between the Photo 1 first Position value (236.1) and that of Photo 2 first Position value (398.0) and the second Position value of 942.9, "on screen final destination" Position first and second values were predetermined for the remaining 26 photos and just plugged into the two Position fields in Motion Panel expanded during the workflow to be described in the How To to follow. See Table 1.
 |
| Table 1. Motion Position Values Predetermined For Photos 3 to 28. |
HOW TO
(for visual placement of photos)
Recap
Premiere Elements 12 Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
Project Preset = NTSC AVCHD Full HD1080i30
Expert workspace
fx Effects
Presets
PiPs
25% PiPs
25% LL Spin...Top (this preset has the photo entering from off screen top left, making 2 spins on this path to its on screen final destination in 1 second)
28 jpeg photos 100 x 100 pixels, still image default duration = 5 seconds
Safety Margins on, and photos placed within the Safety Margins' Action Rectangle Limit.
Default Scale to Frame Size option used.
1. Import the 28 jpegs into Project Assets.
2. Drag Photo 1 from Project Assets to the beginning of Video Track 1.
3. Drag the PiP preset from fx Effects into Photo 1 on Video Track 1.
4. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;00;00 to 00;00;01;00.
5. With Photo 1 on Video Track 1 selected, change the Scale from 25% to 15%. To do that, select Photo 1 on Video Track 1, go to Applied Effects Tab/Applied Effects Palette/Motion Panel expanded and type in 15% to replace 25% for the Scale.
6. Then on screen, with the mouse cursor, move the "15%" Photo 1 into place at the lower left of the screen to start the building of the rectangular box from lower left to lower right, from lower right to upper right, from upper right to upper left, and from upper left to lower left to complete the box.
7. Next drag Photo 2 to Video Track 2 @ 1 second mark.
8. Drag the PiP preset from fx Effects into Photo 2 on Video Track 2.
9. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;01;00 to 00;00;02;00.
10. With Photo 2 selected on Video Track 2, change the Scale from 25% to 15% as in 5.
11. Then on screen, with the mouse cursor, move the "15%" Photo 2 into place side by side with Photo 1.
12. Next drag Photo 3 to Video Track 3 @ 2 second mark.
13. Drag the PiP preset from fx Effects into Photo 3 on Video Track 3.
14. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;02;00 to 00;00;03;00
15. With Photo 3 selected on Video Track 3, change the Scale from 25% to 15% as in 5.
16. Then on screen, with the mouse cursor, move the "15%" Photo 3 into place side by side with Photo 2.
17. Next drag Photo 4 to Video Track 4 @ 3 seconds mark.
18. Drag the PiP preset from fx Effects into Photo 4 on Video Track 4.
19. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;03;00 to 00;00;04;00
20. With Video 4 selected on Video Track 4, change the Scale from 25% to 15% as in 5.
21. Then on screen, with the mouse cursor, move the "15%" Photo 4 into place side by side with Photo 3.
22. Continue in this pattern until all 28 photos are placed. The right edge of each photo file on each video track is dragged out as required so that each of the 28 photo files ended at the same time.
23. Special Instructions.
23. Special Instructions.
By The Numbers
If "by the numbers" is to be used instead of the visual placement in the above How To section, starting with Photo 3,
omit the two instructions that read
With Photo 3 selected on Video Track 3, change the Scale from 25% to 15% as in 5.
and replace the two with the single instruction that readsThen on screen, with the mouse cursor, move the "15%" Photo 3 into place side by side with Photo 2.
Select Photo 3 on Video Track 3, go to Applied Effects Tab/Applied Effects Palette/Motion Panel expanded and type in 15% to replace 25% for the Scale and enter the predetermined Photo 3 two Position values for the Photo 3.
repeat the "omit and replace" for subsequent photo instructions specific to Photos 4 to 28.
Increasing Or Decreasing How Fast Each Photo Gets To Its Final Destination
To have the photo arrive at its on screen final destination faster, the "on screen final destination" keyframes are moved closer to the "start off screen" keyframes. And, conversely, to have the photo arrive at its on screen final destination slower, the "on screen final destination" keyframes are moved further away from the "start off screen" keyframes.
In Demo 1, for each photo, a time of 1 second existed between the Position "start off screen upper left" keyframes and the "on screen final destination" keyframes. Demo 2 shows a faster effect obtained when this time was reduced from 1 to 0.5 second.
For Demo 2 Faster Effect, change the How to instructions to read....
For steps 4, 9, 14, 19 and proceeding in a like manner for every 5th step thereafter
4. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;00;00 to 00;00;00;15.
9. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;00;015 to 00;00;01;00.
14. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;01;00 to 00;00;01;15.
19. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;01;15 to 00;00;02;00.
At the stage where the "on screen final destination" keyframes are placed,
Photo 1 @ 00;00;00;15
Photo 2 @ 00;00;01.00
Photo 3 @ 00;00;01;15
Photo 4 @ 00;00;02:00
etc
be sure to enter the two Position keyframes specific to the photo (See Table 1) and Rotation = 2x0.0. Delete the original Adobe "on screen final destination" keyframes by right clicking Adobe's Position keyframe and Rotation keyframe in Show/Hide Keyframe Controls area and selecting Delete. See Figure 2.
Make sure the Scale remains unkeyframed and at 15% with regard to the work in this blog post.
COMMENTARY
The details of this blog post have been proof read and road tested many time to assure their accuracy.
At this time, all appears in order, and the principles should apply to Premiere Elements 4 to 12. All work done with Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit.
Consider the above a work in progress until this sentence is removed from the blog post.
_____________________________________________________________________________
In Demo 1, for each photo, a time of 1 second existed between the Position "start off screen upper left" keyframes and the "on screen final destination" keyframes. Demo 2 shows a faster effect obtained when this time was reduced from 1 to 0.5 second.
Demo 2. The Demo 1 With 0.5 Second, Instead Of 1Second, Between Each Photo's Start - End Position Keyframes.
For Demo 2 Faster Effect, change the How to instructions to read....
For steps 4, 9, 14, 19 and proceeding in a like manner for every 5th step thereafter
4. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;00;00 to 00;00;00;15.
9. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;00;015 to 00;00;01;00.
14. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;01;00 to 00;00;01;15.
19. Use the right arrow key to move the Timeline Indicator from 00;00;01;15 to 00;00;02;00.
At the stage where the "on screen final destination" keyframes are placed,
Photo 1 @ 00;00;00;15
Photo 2 @ 00;00;01.00
Photo 3 @ 00;00;01;15
Photo 4 @ 00;00;02:00
etc
be sure to enter the two Position keyframes specific to the photo (See Table 1) and Rotation = 2x0.0. Delete the original Adobe "on screen final destination" keyframes by right clicking Adobe's Position keyframe and Rotation keyframe in Show/Hide Keyframe Controls area and selecting Delete. See Figure 2.
 |
| Figure 2. For Faster Effect Shown In Demo 2, Position "On Screen Final Destination" Keyframes Detailed At The 17th Photo Stage. |
COMMENTARY
The details of this blog post have been proof read and road tested many time to assure their accuracy.
At this time, all appears in order, and the principles should apply to Premiere Elements 4 to 12. All work done with Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit.
Consider the above a work in progress until this sentence is removed from the blog post.
_____________________________________________________________________________
ATR
