Chapter 10. The Power of Keyframing

IN THIS CHAPTER:

67 About Keyframing

68 About the Properties Panel

69 Add Motion to a Still

70 Pan and Zoom Still Images a la Ken Burns

71 Make a Variable-Speed Pan and Zoom

72 Control a Video Track's Opacity over Time

73 Control Volume at Specific Points

Keyframing is one of the most powerful tools in Premiere Elements. Its methodology might seem a bit challenging at first. But, when you master it, you'll find the true power of this program unleashed.

The principle is simple: For any effect, you designate points on your still's, your audio clip's, or your video clip's Timeline where you want the effect to occur or changethen Premiere Elements automatically creates the motion path or transition between those points.

The beauty of this system is that these points, or keyframes, can be easily added, moved, changed, and rearranged indefinitely until your video project produces exactly the effect you're trying to achieve. Again, this system might seem a bit challenging at first. However, when you see what's happening, you'll find keyframes a very natural and intuitive way to create movement and effects.

It's also worth noting that many of the movements and presets built into Premiere Elements's video and audio effects are, in reality, composed of or created with keyframes. And, in fact, after you apply these effects to your clips, you can easily manipulate the keyframe points and customize the effects to whatever degree you see fit.