Keyframing an image in Premiere Pro allows you to animate its properties over time, creating dynamic visual effects. You'll achieve this through the "Effects Controls" panel.
Here's a step-by-step guide:
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Import and Place Your Image: Drag your image from the Project panel onto the Timeline, placing it on a video track.
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Select Your Clip: Click on the image clip in the Timeline to select it.
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Open the Effects Controls Panel: Go to Window > Effects Controls (or use the Shift + 5 shortcut).
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Choose a Property to Animate: In the Effects Controls panel, you'll find several properties under the "Motion" and "Opacity" sections that you can animate. Common choices include:
- Position: Changes the image's location on the screen.
- Scale: Resizes the image.
- Rotation: Rotates the image.
- Opacity: Controls the image's transparency.
- Anchor Point: Modifies the point around which scaling and rotation occur.
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Enable Keyframing: For the property you want to animate, click the stopwatch icon ("Toggle Animation") to the left of the property's name. This activates keyframing for that property. The stopwatch will turn blue, indicating that keyframing is enabled.
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Set the First Keyframe: Adjust the property's value (e.g., Position, Scale, Rotation, Opacity) at the current timecode. This automatically creates the first keyframe. A small diamond icon will appear next to the property.
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Move to a Different Time: Move the playhead (the blue line in the Timeline) to a different point in time where you want the property to change. You can drag the playhead, or use the arrow keys to move frame-by-frame.
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Set the Second Keyframe (and subsequent keyframes): Change the property's value again at the new timecode. This will automatically create a second keyframe. Premiere Pro will automatically create the animation between the two keyframes, smoothly transitioning from the first value to the second.
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Repeat as Needed: Continue moving the playhead and adjusting the property values to create more keyframes and refine your animation.
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Adjust Keyframes (Optional):
- Moving Keyframes: Click and drag a keyframe in the Effects Controls panel to change its timing.
- Changing Keyframe Values: Select a keyframe and adjust the property's value to fine-tune the animation at that specific point in time.
- Deleting Keyframes: Select a keyframe and press Delete.
- Changing Keyframe Interpolation: Right-click on a keyframe to change its interpolation (e.g., Linear, Bezier, Auto Bezier, Continuous Bezier, Hold). Interpolation controls how Premiere Pro calculates the values between keyframes, affecting the smoothness and speed of the animation.
Example:
Let's say you want to make an image slowly zoom in over 5 seconds:
- Enable keyframing for the "Scale" property.
- At the beginning of the clip (0 seconds), set the Scale to 100%. This creates the first keyframe.
- Move the playhead to 5 seconds into the clip.
- Set the Scale to 150%. This creates the second keyframe. Now, your image will smoothly zoom from 100% to 150% over 5 seconds.
By mastering keyframing, you can create compelling animations and add depth to your video projects.
