Hollywood Special Effects with Adobe Premiere Elements 3

Book description

Hollywood Special Effects with Adobe Premiere Elements 3 is a book that will help users get to the next level in video editing, and that next level goes beyond simply splicing together clips and creating simple titles. In no time readers will be overlaying multiple tracks of videos and adjusting transparency; creating Picture-in-Picture overlays; using key frames and motion paths; setting and refining greenscreens and bluescreens; using color effects for emotional impact; and a whole range of other special effects to help them tell their story. What sets this book apart is the author's expertise in carefully showing readers how to execute each of these effects step-by-step in a clear and friendly writing style. With this book, budding filmmakers will be well on their way to becoming the next George Lucas! The accompanying DVD contains royalty free music, sound effects, and video clips from Artbeats, Digital Juice, TwistedTracks, and the Footage Firm (among others).

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. About the Author
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Introduction
    1. The Wonder of Special Effects (SFX)
    2. Where the Fun Is
    3. The Minimal System for Creating SFX
    4. The Optimal System for Creating SFX
    5. The Secret of Working with Special FX
  5. 1. The See-Through Title Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Creating the Project and Setting Up the Tracks
    3. Adding the Background Clip to the Timeline
    4. Creating the Main Title Text
    5. Adding the “Fill” Clip to the Timeline
    6. Filling the Title with the Clouds Clip
    7. Creating a Drop Shadow for the Title
    8. Adding Some Theme Music
    9. Adding a “Fade Out” to All Video and Title Clips
    10. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  6. 2. The Retro Title Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Installing the Fonts for this Project
    3. Adding the Video Clip to the Timeline
    4. Modifying the Clip to Give it a “Cinematic ‘60’s” Feel
    5. Creating the First Still
    6. Creating the Second Still
    7. Creating the Third Still
    8. Creating “Credits” for Each Still
    9. Animating the First Actor’s Still and Credits
    10. Animating the Second Actor’s Still and Credits
    11. Animating the Third Actor’s Still and Credits
    12. Creating an Opening Title
    13. Creating a Title to Set the Scene
    14. Adding a Little “Retro” Music to the Timeline
    15. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  7. 3. The Star Wars Opening Sequence Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Starry Background
    3. Creating Your “Long Ago” Text
    4. Installing the Jedi Font
    5. Building Your “Star Wars” Logo
    6. Animating Your Logo
    7. Preparing Your Scrolling Text
    8. Transforming the Shape of the Scrolling Text
    9. Animating the Scrolling Text
    10. Making the Scrolling Text Scroll
    11. Adding the Star Wars Theme Music
    12. Synchronizing Audio and Video
    13. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  8. 4. The Passing of Time Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Clip to the Timeline
    3. Marking the Individual Scenes
    4. Removing Time (Frames) from the Clip
    5. Adding a Cross Dissolve Between Clips
    6. Adjusting the Transitions in the Properties Panel
    7. Select the Music for the Soundtrack
    8. Mixing in the Music Track
    9. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  9. 5. The Fast Times Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Two Video Clips to the Project
    3. Increasing the Speed of the Background Clip
    4. Applying the Green Screen Key to the Foreground Clip
    5. Matching the Appearance of the Two Clips
    6. Adding the Soundtrack
    7. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  10. 6. The Reverse Action Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding Your Clip to the Timeline
    3. Selecting a Section of the Clip to Reverse
    4. Copying and Pasting the New Selection
    5. Doubling Up the Clips
    6. Reversing the “B” Clips for a “Back and Forth” Effect
    7. Finding the Next Selection to Reverse
    8. Tripling the Clips
    9. Reversing Every Other Clip
    10. Adding Cartoon Sound Effects to the Action
    11. Adding a Touch of Silly Music
    12. Adding a Still Image at the End of the Movie
    13. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  11. 7. The Pencil Sketch Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding Your Clip to the Timeline
    3. Applying the Sharpen Effect
    4. Applying the Extract Effect
    5. Adding a “Paper” Background
    6. Applying the Paper Texture to the Drawing
    7. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  12. 8. The Watercolor Painting Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Loading the Video Clip
    3. Selecting and Creating the Still Image
    4. Adding the Still Image to the Timeline Twice
    5. Applying a Watercolor Effect to the Upper Snapshot
    6. Adjusting the Opacity of the “Faceted” Clip
    7. Applying a Pen and Ink Effect to the Lower Snapshot
    8. Adding a Matte Border to the Still Image
    9. Adding a Music Track
    10. Fading Out All the Clips
    11. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  13. 9. The Faded Film Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Starting Movie Maker and Importing the Clip
    3. Applying the Old Film Effect to the Clip
    4. Saving the Clip as an AVI File
    5. Bringing the Clip into Premiere Elements and Colorizing It
    6. Adding Some “Flash” to the Clip
    7. Adding Some Period Music to the Soundtrack
    8. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  14. 10. The Nightly News Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding Video and Graphics Clips to the Project
    3. Creating the TV News Background
    4. Adding the Anchorman
    5. Removing the Green Background from Behind the Anchorman
    6. Resizing and Moving the Anchorman
    7. Adding the Lower Third Graphic
    8. Adding Lower Third Text for the Anchorman
    9. Adding the “On Site” Reporter Clip to the Project
    10. Adding Lower Third Graphic and Text for the Reporter
    11. Adding “TV News” Theme Music
    12. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  15. 11. The “24” Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Bringing in the Clips for the Project
    3. Creating the Opening Text
    4. Animating the Opening Text
    5. Creating the Digital Countdown Clock
    6. Animating the Clock Using Titles Clips in Sequence
    7. Synchronizing the Title and Clock Clips and Adding the “Beep”
    8. Adding the Four Video Clips to the Timeline
    9. Applying a PiP Effect to Each of the Video Clips
    10. Making Final Changes and Adding the Soundtrack
    11. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  16. 12. The Beam Me Up Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Loading the Clips for the Project
    3. Adding the Transported Man to the Timeline
    4. Creating a Freeze Frame Image
    5. Inserting the Background Clip onto the Timeline
    6. Retiming and Moving the Transported Man
    7. Adding the Transporter Beam to the Timeline
    8. Creating a White Matte
    9. Applying the Track Matte Key to the White Matte
    10. Adjusting the Location of the Transporter Beam
    11. Adjusting the Opacity of the Transported Man
    12. Adding a Bright “Flash” to the Transported Man as He Rematerializes
    13. Applying the Transporter Sound
    14. Creating a Fade Out for the Project
    15. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  17. 13. The Night Vision Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Video Clip to the Project
    3. Removing the Existing Colors from the Clip
    4. Adding the Green of the Night Vision Using the Tint Effect
    5. Adding Noise to Simulate the Graininess of Night Vision
    6. Adding Darkness to the “Nightime” Clip
    7. Adding a Overlay to Simulate Night Vision Goggles
    8. Adding Motion to the “Goggles” to Simulate a Searching Movement
    9. Adding Blurriness to the “Goggles” for Additional Realism
    10. Turning the Little White Circles into True Goggles
    11. Adding Mysterious Music “Under”
    12. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  18. 14. The Hidden Identity Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Loading the Video Clip
    3. Adding the Clip to the Timeline—Twice
    4. Creating a “Hider” Object to Hide the Face
    5. Applying a Blur Effect to the Image
    6. Synchronizing the Hider Object to the Action
    7. Applying the Mosaic Effect to the Second Clip
    8. Applying the Track Matte Effect to the Second Clip
    9. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  19. 15. The Bleeping #$%&! Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Video Clip to the Timeline
    3. Finding and Marking “Offensive Moments”
    4. Removing the Audio at Each “Offensive Moment”
    5. Importing the Sound Effect Files
    6. Adding Sound Effects to the Audio 2 Track
    7. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  20. 16. The Enchanted Elf Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Video Clips to the Timeline
    3. Applying Color and Contrast Effects to the Elf Clip
    4. Applying the Green Screen Key
    5. Colorizing the “Elf”
    6. Adding the Foreground Clip
    7. Cropping the Foreground Clip to Create a Multi-Dimensional Environment
    8. Shrinking the “Elf”
    9. Adjusting the Elf’s Starting Location
    10. Making the Elf “Vanish”
    11. Adding Some Playful Elfish Music “Under”
    12. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  21. 17. The Friendly Ghost Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Video Media to the Timeline
    3. Creating a “Split Screen” Using the Crop Effect
    4. Adjusting the Opacity of the “Ghost” Clip
    5. Adjusting the Brightness or Contrast of Either Clip as Needed
    6. Applying a Ghostly Effect
    7. Adding Transitions for the Ghost’s Entrance and Exit
    8. Adding a Haunting Melody
    9. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  22. 18. The Multiple You Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Video Clip to the Timeline
    3. Identifying, Marking, and Splitting Each Clip by “Triplet”
    4. Separating and Moving the Triplet Clips
    5. Applying the Crop Effect to All Clips
    6. Adjusting the Crop Effect for Each Clip
    7. Fine-Tuning the Timing of the Conversation
    8. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  23. 19. The Super Hero Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Adding the Superboy Clip to the Timeline
    3. Removing the Green Background from Behind Superboy
    4. Adding the Chroma Key a Second Time
    5. Removing the Last Remnants of Green
    6. Adding the Cloud Background
    7. Brightening the Super Hero in the Sky
    8. Adjusting the Direction and Speed of the Clouds
    9. Setting Our Hero’s Flight in Motion
    10. Adding Super Sound Effects
    11. Adding a Super Soundtrack
    12. Adjusting the Starting Point for Superboy’s Appearance
    13. Adjusting the Fade In and Fade Out for the Soundtrack and Clouds
    14. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting
  24. 20. The Around the World Effect
    1. Introduction
    2. Loading the Travel Clips for the Project
    3. Loading the New England Clips to the Timeline
    4. Applying the Green Screen Key to the New New England Reporter Clip
    5. Making Adjustments to the New England Scene
    6. Loading the San Francisco Clips to the Timeline
    7. Applying the Green Screen Key to the San Francisco Reporter Clip
    8. Making Adjustments to the San Francisco Scene
    9. Loading the Hawaii Clips to the Timeline
    10. Applying the Green Screen Key to the Hawaii Reporter Clip
    11. Making Other Adjustments to the Hawaii Scene
    12. Adding a Little Travelling Music
    13. Making Adjustments, Rendering, and Exporting

Product information

  • Title: Hollywood Special Effects with Adobe Premiere Elements 3
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: October 2006
  • Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
  • ISBN: 9780789736123