It’s best to use the Effects layout for these processes. Go to the Main Menu > Window > Workspace > Effects.
In Premiere, you can set keyframes to animate both video and audio effects on tracks, such as:
- Opacity – for video fades in and out
- Volume – for audio fades in and out
- Position – to animate movement
- Etc.
In order to do so, you will work with clips in on tracks in the Timeline (images, image sequences, video files, and sound files).
If you haven’t brought an image or footage into the Timeline, go ahead and select material in the Project Window. For example, go to the Project Window, click on the file that you wish to add to the Timeline, and, while holding down the mouse key, drag the file into the Timeline.
Once you add a file/footage into the Timeline, it’s considered a clip, and Premiere provides a category in the menu for clip-related items (i.e., Main Menu > Clip). To move a clip around in the Timeline, along a track or from one track to another, use the Selection Tool to click and drag the clip to wherever you want it.
Referring to the Effects Window, you can add a variety of audio and video effects and transitions by choosing, clicking and dragging an effect onto a given clip in the Timeline.
Each track comes with default effects, which are already there when you click on a given clip and refer to the corresponding Effects Controls. They include:
- Video Effects:
- Motion, which also consists of (click on the expand/collapse [triangle] button to locate them)
- Position
- Scale
- Rotation
- Anchor Point
- Opacity
- Time Remapping (e.g., speed)
- Audio Effects:
- Volume
For example, you can make visual fades by animating opacity changes and audio fades by animating volume changes. You can change the “position” of an object by establishing a keyframe at one point in a field and in the Timeline and set another keyframe at a new location in the sequence. The software will then calculate (or interpolate) the in-between calibrations and animate the object between the two points. In addition, you can edit the movement afterward by adjusting the spatial keyframes in the Monitor Window and/or the temporal keyframes in the Timeline. You can also animate the object’s scale over time, rotate the element, change the anchor point where the rotation occurs, etc.
Effects Controls Window
Looking closely at the Effects Controls Window, you will find that, to the right of a particular effect, like Opacity, there is a Timeline. It’s similar to the Main Timeline for a sequence. The one in the Effects Controls is particular to the clip you are currently working with. However, the Effects Controls Timeline is closely associated with the Main Timeline. It represents a focused portion of the larger project.
When it comes to setting keyframes for a clip, you should use the Edit Line or Current Time Indicator in the Effects Controls Timeline. This is the specific region where you will set keyframes for the effect.
To set keyframes effectively, you should use the following features:
- Current Time
- Current Time Indicator
- Keyframe Navigator (with “add or remove a keyframe at the current time” button)
- Time-Vary Stopwatch
- Keyframe example (a Linear Keyframe added at the current time)
Current Time
Once you click on the Current Time in the Timeline, a “Go To Time” dialogue box will open and you can enter different time settings.
Current Time Indicator
You would use the Current Time Indicator or Edit Line to move forward and back along the Timeline and to find important places in a clip to set keyframes. All the while, you would watch everything play in the Monitor Window.
Time-Vary Stopwatch
In order to activate an effect section for animation, you must select the Time-Vary Stopwatch, which you will find to the left of each effect category (e.g., beside “Motion > Position”).
Keyframe Navigator
Referring to the Effects Controls for a given clip, you will use the Keyframe Navigator to “add or remove a keyframe at the current time” (where the Current Time Locator is currently situated in the Effects Control Timeline), You should also use the Keyframe Navigator to jump from one keyframe to the next.
To set a keyframe, select one of the default Video and/or Audio Effects in a track. Or, add an effect by using Effects Window.
Click the Stopwatch to activate the animation options. Doing so will allow you to add additional keyframes further along the layer. By clicking on the Stopwatch, you will also set the first keyframe.
Scrub along the Timeline to find the location for the next key you intend to set.
Once you have located the next point in the Timeline, to where you will set an additional keyframe, refer to the Keyframe Navigator and click the centre diamond-shape button to “add a keyframe at the current time.”
If you want to remove an existing keyframe in the Timeline, click with the arrow-buttons in the Keyframe Navigator to locate a key, and then click the centre-button to “remove a keyframe at the current time.”
By using the Keyframe Navigator, you will add and remove keyframes. By entering values in the Current Time and using the Current Time Indicator, you will set keyframes along the Timeline. However, you must also make changes to a clip at each keyframe like adjust the Position, Opacity, Rotation, etc., in order for animation to occur. For example, an object must start at one place and the object’s movement must end at another location.
As you set keyframes in the Timeline, you should also refer to the Monitor Window to see how the changes occur in the field or space.