What are keyframes

We use keyframes to incorporate animation into a clip.
This animation may be based on the position of a clip, but also on the impact applied in a clip.

By adding keyframes in the keyframe timeline we can view or position an object.

This is all hard to explain but very easy to do, so let us get started on adding animation to a clip.

 

Animating clips

In this example I use two superimposed clips.
The bottom is the background, with clouds, and the one on the top is the one with superman.
I have applied the “Chroma” effect on the superman clip so that the background of this clip is transparent and that it looks like superman is flying through the clouds.

Because our superman is now a spot in the sky, and looks more like a Hummingbird, I position the superman animated clip to move from right to left across the screen.

The first thing we do is to place the time indicator in the first frame and select the superman clip in the Timeline.

Then select the pane “Edit” and select the “Filters” option.

Click the “Editing Effects” button at the bottom of the Effects pane.

This opens the editing effects window.
Select the “Motion” option and click the “Show Keyframes” button.

To add keyframes, click the “Toggle the effect on or off” button next to the “Motion” effect. Why this addition to the “Motion” effect? Well because we got to move superman across the screen.
How do we do this with the “Motion” effect? However, if you  remember Lesson 8, then you will know that this is one of the fixed effects that Premiere adds to each clip in the timeline.

Lets move on.
As you can see in the image below the “Keyframes” pane also has a time indicator and a timeline.
They can be moved by clicking and dragging them, and also the Time indicator can be moved above the Timeline. In fact, this indicator is the same, it only operates from two different locations. This is just so that you know and remember this.

As soon as we click the “Toggle the effect on or off”-button a main frame placed in the first frame of the clip.

To move our superman to across the screen, place the first time indicator in the last frame of the timeline (1).
Then click and drag the superman to the left side of the monitor (2).
This automatically places a keyframe in the last frame of the “Motion” effect of the Superman clip (3).
It also places a motion on the monitor (4).

When we render the video and view it by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard, we see that our superman moves from right to left across the screen.
Isn’t this easy?

In the next lesson we are going to edit this motion.

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