Many editors, including our own Nick LaClair, moved to Resolve after years of editing in other tools. We’ve previously examined what’s driving that shift and how Resolve compares with Premiere Pro.

Now, we’re excited to help you get started. This beginner-friendly tutorial will prepare any DaVinci Resolve newbie, whether you’re new to the software or video editing altogether.

In this episode on DaVinci Resolve, LaClair walks through the full video editing process:

• Get organized in the Media tab.
• Tell your story in the Edit tab
• Make it shine and export from Delivery. 

DaVinci Resolve is available for free, making it easy for anyone to edit videos. From footage to finish, grab your clips and follow along. 

Thank you to Redfitz Films for the footage used in this video.

10 Quick Tips for Beginners Editing in DaVinci Resolve

1. What Are The “Tabs” in DaVinci Resolve? 

DaVinci Resolve has seven primary tabs at the bottom of the screen. Left to right, they contain the entire post-production process of making a video.

• Media: Organize assets (footage, audio, graphics, etc.)
• Cut & Edit: Tell the story; add effects
• Fusion: Motion graphics
• Color: Color grading
• Fairlight: Audio and mixing
• Delivery: Export project

The Cut and Edit tabs in DaVinci Resolve are spaces for editing video.

The main difference is that the Cut tab is ideal for short projects (such as social media shorts) and rough assemblies, while the Edit tab is the traditional editing workspace that’s ideal for complex projects.

2. Avoid the “Media Offline” Problem 

A common DaVinci Resolve issue is the “Media Offline” problem. This error occurs when footage imported into Resolve is moved on your computer or external hard drive.

In other words, if the source location of your footage changes, the link in Resolve breaks. 

To prevent this error, determine the folder or drive where you will permanently store your footage before bringing it into DaVinci. 

To fix this issue, select one or more clips. Right-click the footage and hover over Clip Operations. Select Relink Selected Clips and find the footage’s new location. 

3. Sync Video and Audio with Ease

If you record audio separately from your video, DaVinci Resolve makes it quick and easy to sync the audio with the video. 

To do this, 

• Select (control on a PC or command on a Mac) the audio and video clips you want to sync. 
• Right-click and choose Auto Sync Audio, then Waveform. 

Resolve will listen to each track’s audio and use it to align the waveforms. Once done, the footage automatically plays with the synced audio, simplifying your editing process. 

4. Add Sound Effects with Resolve’s Built-in Library

In the upper-left section of the Edit tab are various primary menus: Media Pool, Effects, Index, and Sound Library. When you open the Sound Library for the first time, the software prompts you to download it. Once downloaded, you can search for countless sound effects and easily drag them into your videos.

Pro Tip: Search three asterisks—”***”— to see all effects available in the Sound Library.

5. Gain Speed with Keyboard Shortcuts

One of DaVinci Resolve’s strengths is the ability to use your keyboard almost entirely in the editing process. Like learning the piano notes in a song, it takes some practice to bring them together. But once you do, editing goes much quicker, and you rarely need to use your mouse. 

Additionally, if you’re switching from another software, like Premiere Pro, you can import your keyboard shortcuts and continue using them. For our tutorial, we’re using the default shortcuts. We also made a reference sheet (below) of all the shortcuts mentioned in the video above.

Basic Editing Keyboard Shortcuts

Use these to cut through your footage and find the parts you want. 

• J: Back; increase play speed with additional taps.
• K: Stop
• L: Forward; increase play speed with additional taps.
• Space bar: Play and pause. 
• I: Create In Point (begin a cut)
• O: Create Out Point (end a cut)
• F9: Insert cut footage into the timeline. 
• Q: Toggles between the source and timeline views.

6. Scrub All Footage with Source Tape Viewer

If your project is large, selecting each clip individually can be a pain. In that case, you can choose the source tape viewer. When selected, the source viewer displays all your video files in a single stream. Source Tape Viewer makes it easy to go through and find your in and out points, which can be especially helpful when sorting through b-roll clips repeatedly. 

7. Automate Video Parameters with Keyframes

Keyframes allow you to change a parameter over time. Want a slow punch in? Keyframe. Dramatic zoom? Keyframe. Motion graphics? You get the idea: there are keyframes for every parameter imaginable. 

Let’s walk through the basics of using keyframes. 

• Select the clip you want to edit. This opens the Inspector in the upper-right corner. 
• Place your playhead where you want the parameter change to start. 
• In the Inspector, locate the keyframes. They are the column of diamonds. 
• Click on the keyframe diamond next to the parameter change you’re making, such as the zoom effect. This action adds a keyframe at the playhead for that parameter. 
• Next, move your playhead to the place where you want the parameter change to occur. Add another keyframe by clicking the diamond again. Changing the parameters will also automatically create another keyframe. 

Watch the video for more tips on keyframing in DaVinci Resolve.

8. Mass Apply A Change Across Multiple Clips

Let’s say you change the volume of one clip and want all or multiple other clips to also apply the same change. Here’s how.

• Select the clip you changed.
• Copy it with Ctrl + C (PC) or Command + C (Mac).
• Select all the clips you want to mimic that change and hit Alt + V (PC) or Option + V (Mac).  
• A paste menu will pop up, allowing you to choose which parameters to apply across the clips. Select the parameters you wish to change.

Other attributes you can copy and paste include zoom, crop, equalizer, and many more. 

9. Normalize Audio Levels Across Clips

DaVinci Resolve makes it easy to normalize audio levels, allowing you to even out clips with varying high and low volumes.

To do this, 

• Select all clips in the Timeline, right-click, and choose Normalize Audio Levels. 
• Choose your Normalization Mode. For most people, the differences don’t matter. 
• Choose Independent, which normalizes each clip individually to create a consistent volume range throughout the video.  

10. Auto Color Correct Your Video

In later episodes of our DaVinci Resolve for Beginners, we’ll cover color grading in depth. But here’s a quick beginner hack, and you don’t need to know anything about color grading to use it.

• From the Color tab, select a clip and hit the little “A” to auto color correct. 
• Select all the other clips to apply the same color correction. 
• Then right-click and select Apply Grade.

11. Quick Export Projects in the Edit Tab

Quick Export lets you export your project without going through the delivery tab. Find the option within the upper right corner of the Edit tab. 

The pop-up window lets you quickly choose your render settings (H.264 Master is a good place to start, but there are many presets as well), add a filename, and export to your computer or hard drive. 

You’re Ready to Edit In DaVinci Resolve

Whew. That was a lot to cover! But now you’ve walked through the core process of editing in DaVinci Resolve, from organizing media to exporting the final product. As you keep practicing, these steps will become second nature.

If you have questions, tips of your own, or want to see specific topics covered in future tutorials, we’d love to hear from you. See you next time! 

The post DaVinci Resolve for Beginners: Simple Video Editing Tutorial appeared first on SproutVideo.

But have you ever used it for video editing? 

SproutVideo Creative Director Nick LaClair recently took a deep dive to explore whether DaVinci Resolve is a suitable alternative for video editing. But to answer this question, we need to examine the history of editing and how the industry standards have changed over time. 

Welcome to our new series on DaVinci Resolve versus Premiere Pro for editing. Today, we look at the history of non-linear editing (NLE) and how Premiere Pro has become the de facto standard for video professionals across various industries.

We also determine whether or not DaVinci Resolve, known for color grading, is a suitable all-in-one post-production alternative.

Let’s start by exploring the history of video editing software. 

A Modern History of Video Editing: The Last 20 Years

Historically, there are three key user groups for video editing software: 

• Professional industry video editors for TV, film, and high-end broadcasts.
• Commercial producers, filmmakers, and prosumers 
• Content creators, learning and development or marketing specialists, and entrepreneurs

In the 1990s and beyond, Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro were the reigning champions of video editing software. Avid Media Composer was the number one choice for professional video editors, while prosumers and independent filmmakers used Apple’s Final Cut Pro. 

Final Cut Pro quickly became a beloved workhorse in the creative video community. Adobe Premiere, introduced in 1991, struggled to gain market share. 

Final Cut Pro was more affordable than Avid Media Composer. Still, Avid remained unrivaled for industry video editors due to one fatal flaw with Final Cut Pro: the 32-bit program started to fall apart when project files approached 100 MB. 

The creative community, especially documentarians, waited for Apple to release a more robust 64-bit version that would use Apple’s multi-core Mac Pro. 

Resolve for Beginners: Editing in DaVinci Resolve (Simple Video Tutorial)

Apple’s Final Cut Mistake Becomes Adobe Premiere Pro’s Opportunity

Finally, in 2011, Apple released Final Cut X, which reinvented the software in a way no one was asking for. It was a 64-bit native macOS app with background rendering, but it removed traditional sequences and timeline tracks (the backbone of editing software). 

With the wide adoption of iPhone, YouTube, and content democratization, Apple wanted to broaden the appeal of Final Cut Pro beyond the professional video editor market.

However, the massive change in UI required editors to suddenly do their jobs in a completely different way. Not surprisingly, this didn’t go well. 

A couple of years later, in 2013, Apple also discontinued its industry-standard tower-like Mac Pro, replacing it with what was commonly called “the trashcan.” 

Old Mac Pro vs “Trashcan” Mac Pro

Both Final Cut X and “the trashcan” backfired. Most professionals kept using Final Cut Pro 7. 

Adobe, meanwhile, seized the opportunity. It invested resources in adding new functionality, making it easy for video editors to switch. Abode allowed editors to map their Final Cut keyboard shortcuts into Premiere Pro, which essentially made Premiere Pro into Final Cut Pro 7 with a darker background color. This dramatically flattened the learning curve. 

Content creators and video professionals alike started making the switch to Premiere Pro. 

Around this time, Apple stopped supporting Final Cut 7 with the release of High Sierra in 2017, yet dedicated professionals continued to use it. In fact, the Oscar-winning film “Parasite” was cut with Final Cut Pro 7 in 2019—a full two years after Apple stopped supporting it.  

Nonetheless, Adobe Premiere Pro started to flourish, becoming fairly standard for video professionals, content creators, and everyone in between.

Despite this shifting in the marketplace, Avid Media Composer remained a popular choice for industry professionals, which we’ll discuss next. 

But coming around the corner, Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve was leveling up its software with every release and gaining a fanbase. 

What Do Professional Industry Video Editors Really Need? 

Not much has changed in the past twenty years of professional video editing. The evolution of NLE software has been relatively uneventful. 

Look at a screenshot of the original Avid Media Composer compared to now. 

Now compare Final Cut 7 to Adobe Premiere Pro.

In form and function, they’re all pretty similar: you have a source window, a program window usually to the right of it, a timeline below them, and some sort of file browser. 

Traditionally, you scrub through your footage in the source window, find your in-and-out points, and place your chosen clips in the timeline. Then, you edit that together with all your other clips. 

When it comes to professional video editing, this is the way. This is the process. And so this timeless UI makes a lot of sense.

— Nick LaClair, SproutVideo Creative Director

Professional editors don’t need a lot of innovation. Instead, they need two things: the ability to handle huge projects and to collaborate. 

Video Editors Need The Ability To Handle Huuuuge Projects

Professional video editors need software to handle and organize massive projects, such as multiple seasons of a TV series or years of footage for a documentary.

Avid does that better than any other software. It allows you to open and work on smaller parts of a project without taxing your system with the entire project. Which was Final Cut 7’s fatal flaw—crashing when projects got too big. Adobe Premiere isn’t made for massive projects, either. 

So, even today, Avid Media Composer remains a top choice for video editors working in film and TV. In contrast, video professionals working on smaller projects, like music videos and commercials, tend to favor Adobe Premiere Pro.

Video Editors Need The Ability to Collaborate

Professional video editors also need the ability to collaborate. Avid Media Composer makes this incredibly easy: everyone can work together on the same project without interrupting each other’s workflow. 

Premiere Pro is made like a sports car that can hold a couple of people, while Avid is a tour bus with as many seats as you need.

— Nick LaClair, SproutVideo Creative Director

In general, more people are involved in post-production for bigger professional projects. Each person’s job is often more specialized and segmented as well: the person color grading isn’t the same as the person editing or the same person creating graphics or mastering audio. 

Therefore, in many cases, professional video editors use different specialized software for their specific tasks. But what about everyone else—which is the majority of video professionals?

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What Do Video Professionals and Content Creators Need?

Industry video editors are a specific crowd. A much larger number of editors fall under the umbrella of video professionals, whether they’re content creators, learning and development specialists, commercial producers, or entrepreneurs. 

Video professionals require ease of use and an all-in-one solution for every element of their post-production workflow. That’s no easy task.

— Nick LaClair, SproutVideo Creative Director

But Adobe didn’t shy away from the challenge of creating an all-in-one solution that is accessible to a wide range of video professionals. They support the entire video editing process with:

• Premiere for editing
• Speed Grade for color grading
• Audition for audio
• After Effects for graphics and effects 

While most of the above functionality has always been part of Premiere in some capacity, it can be clunky. However, this workflow is also flexible, allowing some video professionals to complete projects end-to-end while others pass the project on to the next person in post-production.

This flexibility also means that many professionals, even those using an Adobe workflow, turn to DaVinci Resolve for color grading. It’s simply the best at the job.

DaVinci Resolve launched as a dedicated color grading solution, but it gradually added editing, audio, graphics, and more.

Blackmagic, the company that created DaVinci Resolve, is slowly but surely making DaVinci the true all-in-one software for video post-production. 

This strategic expansion has resulted in a UI that looks like four software packages in one, lending to a workflow that matches the modern approach to video editing.

The Future Of Video Editing & Social Media’s Influence 

Today, professional video editors, whose sole job is video editing, are a tiny share of the post-production market. Most video editing is done by content creators and small teams that need ease of use and an all-in-one solution. 

People want the TikTok model: add your footage, change the aspect ratio, remove the background, add titles, throw in some music and effects, then upload the thing!

— Nick LaClair, SproutVideo Creative Director

Many apps are broadening their scope to encompass more of the functionality of the post-production space. To this end, Adobe Premiere Pro and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve are the two best video editing software, providing ease of use in an all-in-one solution. 

But which is suitable for your needs? In the next part of this series, we’ll take a deeper look at Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, both in terms of software functionality and marketplace positioning. Until then, check out our other video resources: 

• Color Grading Fundamentals in Adobe Premiere Pro
• Adobe After Effects: The Basics
• Filming Solo 1: Professional Results All Alone (Video)

The post The History of Video Editing Software—And Why DaVinci Resolve May Be The Future appeared first on SproutVideo.

This is an ideal 2D animation tutorial for beginners because we used common video tools. Anyone with basic video editing skills can create similar 2D animations — even with zero animation experience. We’ll show you how! 

Use this guide to uncap your creativity and discover the captivating world of 2D animation. 

What Is 2D Animation? 

2D animation is created using images and illustrations that are 2-dimensional. 2D animation is animated frame-by-frame or rigged. 

Frame-by-frame animation can be analog (such as traditional animation) or digital. Our 2D animated video used a combination of analog and digital techniques: the images were hand-drawn, but it was animated digitally by editing the images together in layers.

Rigged animation is entirely digital, utilizing software to animate movement. However, animation software requires a significant learning curve. With this guide, anyone can create a 2D animation using common tools and basic knowledge of video editing software.

Other Types of Animation

There are many other types of animation (see examples in the video above), including

• 3D Animation
• Motion Capture
• Motion Graphics
• Stop-motion Animation

Stop-motion animation is a close cousin of 2D animation. The main difference is that stop-motion uses live-action shots to capture every frame instead of illustrations. 

Past stop-motion animation videos we’ve created include this Valentine’s cupcakes video, Halloween video with stop-motion pumpkin carving, and product update. 

How to Make a 2D Animation in 5 Easy Steps

1. Outline Video with a Storyboard

Brainstorm your concept and sketch a rough storyboard to outline your ideas. For our Earth Day video, we envisioned a sprout growing into a majestic tree, symbolizing the cycle of life.

At this stage, there are three crucial things you need to consider. 

• Motion. Determine what actions the artist needs to draw frame-by-frame and what motions can be animated during the edit. Some motion, like when drawing characters, requires multiple sketches to illustrate the movement. Simple motions, like the falling water drops in our video, can be created by layering images with sound effects to contextualize the movement. 
• The Number of Frames Needed for Action. 2D animations are usually 12 frames per second. When an artist draws the animation, they need the exact number of frames required. To effectively determine the number of frames, consider creating an animatic. 
• Rest. Elements without motion still need to be brought to life. Create variations of elements that aren’t in motion so they don’t appear as still images. In our video, we created multiple frames of trees and edited them together to create a subtle wiggle.  

This planning stage is essential for efficiently communicating with an artist and ensuring all the elements needed have been created before the animation process begins. 

Learn More: 10 Essential Planning Documents for Video Production

 2. Create a Graphics List 

Compile a list of the necessary elements for your animation. Use this list to communicate with your artist; it also doubles as a game plan during the creation process. 

Considering the number of frames per second, we determined how many variations of each element we would need to create the desired animation. We needed a growing sprout, a watering can, raindrops, a tree, the sun, and the Earth for our video. Each element required multiple versions or frames to add dynamic movement and life to the animation. 

3. Collaborate with an Artist

Find a talented artist whose style aligns with your vision. Provide a detailed list of elements and collaborate closely throughout the creation process. Common places to discover artists include Etsy, Fiver, UpWork, and social media platforms like Instagram.

We knew we wanted an organic-feeling art style. We discovered an amazing watercolor artist, Heather Ivins. We sent her our request and graphics list. Ivins did some testing and approval check-ins during the process. When she was done, Ivins shipped us the notebooks. 

4. Digitize & Prepare the Images

With the physical notebooks in hand, it was time to scan each image into the computer. We removed the backgrounds and cleaned them up in Photoshop. Now our graphics are in a digital format that can be easily edited together into a 2D animation.

5. Animate Images in Premiere 

It’s time to animate the images! 

We used Adobe Premiere Pro to animate the images; however, any professional video editing software will also work. We highly recommend using nesting sequences in Premiere — these are sequences within sequences that make it easy to animate elements and movements separately. 

Combine all elements in the main edit, adding background details and sound design to bring it all together. If applicable, incorporate text supers and end card elements to enhance the overall presentation. Export your video, upload to SproutVideo, and share! 

Prefer Resolve? DaVinci Resolve for Beginners: Simple Video Editing Tutorial

We hope this guide on 2D animated videos will inspire you to bring your vision to life! Check out our related content to learn more about creating videos:

• Video Editing Basics with Adobe Premiere Pro
• How To Get the Best Audio in Any Environment
• How to Find Music and Edit It Into Your Video

The post 2D Animation: How to Easily Create an Animated Video for Beginners appeared first on SproutVideo.

Why Use a Smartphone for Video?

There is a well-known saying in the video creation world: the best camera is the one you have on you. At any point in time, usually, that camera is the smartphone you have in your pocket. While most videographers would opt to use a high-quality camera or camcorder, there are a few reasons that a smartphone might lend itself as the better option. 

The two main reasons are convenience and cost. In terms of convenience, most people, if not all, already have their smartphones on them 24/7. A smartphone and video accessory kit—an optional but recommended upgrade—will be lighter and easier to transport when doing a video shoot. When it comes to cost, it is essentially free to use your smartphone, since buying professional gear can be quite the investment, especially if you’re just starting out. Using your smartphone is a great way to get your feet wet without investing thousands of dollars at the start of your video journey. 

Smartphone Limitations

Using your smartphone as-is will result in good video content. However, with some upgrades, you can turn good video into great video. First, it’s important to understand the limitations associated with working with just a phone. Optics, audio, form factor, and interface are the four categories we’ll cover. In each of these categories, a professional camera will outperform a phone, which is where these upgrades and accessories level the playing field. With a mix of software and phone-specific hardware, you can level up your phone to the best of its ability and improve your overall experience. We’ll outline each of these areas and solutions you can implement below. 

1. The Phone Camera Itself

The first limitation to address is the actual camera module on a smartphone. The highest-end smartphones come with one to three different back cameras, all with varying apertures, focal lengths, and sensor sizes. The quality of these cameras tends to vary, not to mention the front-facing cameras which are lower quality than the ones on the back. While these cameras may work for what you’re shooting, you could miss out on the ability to change up lenses, which can help with artistic choices throughout your shoot. 

To avoid this problem, many companies over the years have created smartphone-specific lenses you can use with your phone to improve its optics. These are available for purchase in varying focal lengths and styles, which can add a lot of interest to your shots creatively. 

Moment Lenses offer some of the best phone lenses on the market today. With options like the Tele 58mm, Wide 16mm, or even the various anamorphic lenses, you’ll be sure to find something that works for your project. They even make mounts for ND filters that are a great option so you don’t have to sacrifice other settings on very bright days. 

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2. Improving Recorded Audio

Audio recording is one of the most important aspects of video production, and while phones can certainly get the job done, the audio quality can leave a bit to be desired. Smartphone microphones themselves are fine in certain situations like phone calls and picking up any sounds directly in front of them, but unfortunately, they’re not ideal when you’re trying to isolate specific sounds. The lack of directionality is going to cause your phone to pick up just about every sound in the general area, which is rarely what you want for your video.

An easy solution for this is to pick up an on-camera shotgun mic for your phone. These small but mighty mics make a big difference since they are specifically made to isolate sound from the direction you’re shooting and cancel out other noises. These can range drastically in price, but just about anything will take your mobile filmmaking up a notch. 

We recommend Rode’s line of mobile-focused microphones to start. They have various options that plug directly into a headphone jack (if your phone still has one), lightning port for Apple users, or USB-C for Android users. Rode also has mobile lav mic options with multiple inputs if you’re planning on filming a two-person interview or something similar.  

3. Creating a Phone Rig

People tend to overlook the size and weight of their filmmaking rig, and since smartphones are small and lightweight, you will likely want more weight and control of your gear to film for a more professional effect. There is a reason you see cages, steady cams, shoulder mounts, and fancy gimbal systems everywhere on professional video shoots. It gives you an immense amount of control you can’t get wielding a camera with your hand. The smaller the phone is, the less control you have, so it will be pretty tough to move with precise control. 

Just like with the first two points, there have been huge developments to turn phone counterparts into industry-standard tools. The two options we’d suggest would be a phone cage and accessories or a gimbal.

The SmallRig Video Rig Kit comes with a cage to secure your phone, three handles, and several 3/4ths and cold shoe mounts that you can attach lights, a tripod, or even microphones to. These handles—one on top and two on the sides—will allow you to handle your phone like you would a professional camera for much more stable, intentional shots.

For ultra-smooth shots, you’ll want to use a gimbal. The DJI OM 4 is one of the best ones available at the moment. It uses a 3-axis system to create flawlessly smooth shots without any shaking, and for extra stability, you can attach this system to a tripod.  

4. Which App to Use

While the standard smartphone camera app allows you to change exposure and film resolution, there are usually very limited settings. If you’ve ever used a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or camcorder to record video, you’re probably aware of the various settings that are required to get the best footage. Frame rate, focus, exposure, white balance, and color profiles are just a few of the settings you might miss out on if you use the built-in camera app. 

That’s where the Filmic Pro app comes in. Their developers realized that all the essential settings are vital for peak performance and created this app that allows you to change those settings directly on your phone. Almost every setting you can think of—from shooting in LOG to checking focus peaking—is available when using the Filmic Pro app.

When combining these four tools, you can take full advantage of the power of your smartphone. Whether you’re just getting into video marketing or a veteran in the field, these options are going to be a valuable addition to your overall video production kit. 

Once you’ve created some quality video content with your new smartphone rig, you’ll want to pair it with the proper video marketing tools. Here at SproutVideo, we provide premium video hosting that comes with a whole host of powerful marketing tools to take your video marketing efforts to the next level. Try us free for 30-days to see for yourself.

The post Four Steps to Turn Your Smartphone Into a Camcorder appeared first on SproutVideo.

Distracting audio is hard to get past. We’ve all been in a situation when some unwanted noise made its way into a video or live stream. Typically, we never want these disruptive noises to make it into our professional video work, live or pre-recorded.

Fortunately, there are some tactics you can employ to reduce unwanted or unexpected noise in your videos. By the end of this post, you’ll have a better understanding of how to reduce excessive noise when creating pre-recorded or live content. 

In this How To Video: Audio episode, Nick LaClair, Creative Director here at SproutVideo, will be walking you through an overview of the entire noise reduction space. He’ll walk you through various scenarios and examples to drive the point home.

Pre-Recorded

When it comes to pre-recorded audio vs. live audio, the technique for reducing noise will vary. The goal for pre-recorded audio, typically used for video or podcasts, is to get the absolute best audio possible. Typically, you get this by using expensive equipment, controlling your environment, and fixing everything else with post-production software.

High-End Equipment

In a similar fashion to getting the best video quality, getting the best-sounding audio is going to cost you. Compared to cheaper alternatives, top-tier mics and mixers can make a huge difference when it comes to capturing the best audio. In our example, we showed the Schoeps CMIT 5 Microphone and the SoundDevices 833 mixer retailing for $2,250 and $4,500 respectively. 

Whatever level of equipment you have, you’ll need to know how to set it up for optimal results. Our audio series is a great place to start. 

Controlling Your Environment

Of course, your best bet is recording in a studio. However, as many of us found out over the last year, sometimes you need to make do with what you have. Many of us turn to a spare room or home office for our recording space. 

While you can’t necessarily make the world outside of your recording space completely silent, you can add some extra equipment to better condition your space. By purchasing a variety of materials, or crafting some DIY solutions, you can treat your space to get the most optimal sound recording. 

Items like acoustic panels, ceiling baffles, window treatments, and more can all help create a better environment for recording crisp sound. Explore our post on conditioning your home studio for the full rundown. 

Post-Production Software

When it comes to editing audio, Adobe Audition is the industry standard. This application allows you to take that amazing audio you captured through your mic and mixer, and fine-tune it to perfection. 

In Adobe Audition, you can take a snapshot of background noise that made it into your audio (HVAC system, A/C, electric humming, and so on), have the program learn it, and then remove that noise signature from the rest of the audio. The better the equipment and environment you’re recording in, the less this extra noise will need to be removed in post-production. 

Just like any other post-production skill, this will take time to learn. Get started with our guide to cleaning up audio in post-production. 

Live Audio 

When working with live audio, whether it’s a live stream, webinars, or video calls, great gear and a controlled environment is essential. The one thing you can’t do is fix problems in post-production since you’re capturing audio live. 

For live and real-time audio, there will need to be extra measures in place to ensure great audio quality. Some of these are built right into the microphones you’ll be using, and others can be added for better results. We’ll go over some of the best options below. 

Mic placement

The most basic form of noise reduction is simply placing the mic as close as possible to your mouth or subject. If the audio source is super close to your microphone, it’ll adjust to that sound, and any background noise will no longer be audible. 

A lot of mics are smart enough to adjust so that a loud or close source will lower your mic’s gain and widen the signal-to-noise ratio. For example, you’ll see this with on-air reporters who need to hold the mic very close to their face when they’re speaking, and also when anyone else is speaking, with the sound trailing off in between. 

Of course, there are some drawbacks to this technique. Sound quality becomes a concern when you’re very close to a microphone. It may begin to distort your voice, or generate pops and other unwanted sounds. Also, if you’re doing a live video, having the microphone very close to your subject isn’t always the most aesthetically pleasing option. 

Noise Gates

The next level up is implementing a noise gate. A noise gate is a type of audio processing effect that blocks all unwanted noise under a certain threshold that you set. As soon as audio comes through which is higher than that threshold, everything will come through the gate. Think of it as a real gate; open for the sounds you want, and closed for those you don’t. 

There are a few controls that are relatively universal across noise gate software:

• Threshold: The threshold determines when a gate should open and close. 
• Attack: The attack determines how fast or slow a gate closes. 
• Release: The release determines how fast or slow a gate opens.
• Hold – The hold determines how long a gate remains closed before it opens. 

Many streaming software solutions like OBS and VMix have noise gates built-in, which make it an easy option to implement for live streams. This is especially useful when you have multiple speakers. When people aren’t talking, it’ll gate their sound, which keeps the general audio very clean. 

The main disadvantage with a noise gate is it doesn’t actually reduce the background noise when the gate is open. All sounds come through once you hit your threshold and the gate opens.

Usually, your main source will drown out any unwanted noise, but if it doesn’t, you’ll need to implement a different solution. That’s where noise suppression software comes into play. 

Noise Suppression Software

This type of software is actually built into a lot of things you’re most likely already using on a daily basis. You’ll see this built into video conferencing apps, Bluetooth headsets, smartphones, motorcycle helmets, and more. Through software programming, these items are set to cancel out the noises it expects to encounter. 

This technology is created by using powerful artificial intelligence programs that analyze your voice, and sample from a huge network of known sounds to cancel out unwanted ones. For example, the Bluetooth in a car is set to remove the road noises that are typical for that specific type of car. When it does this, only your voice will be sent to whoever you’re talking to instead of distracting road noise. 

This same idea applies to standalone noise suppression software programs as well. Specific companies have their own technology, but for more general use, desktop apps like Krisp can be used to further enhance your audio experience. 

The noise suppression apps and software do a relatively great job removing noise, but struggle the louder the background noise gets. The more it has to suppress, the more it will end up degrading your voice. 

Noise Suppression Hardware

The next step up is using hardware acceleration to supercharge your noise cancelling software. Using a hardware option is more effective because it will be able to produce a lot more power than just software alone. A great example of this is Nvidia’s RTX Voice application (also known as Nvidia Broadcast) paired with an Nvidia RTX level graphics card. 

This runs the same sort of AI processing as Krisp. It auto-detects background noise to remove it, with the graphics card to power the entire workflow. A drawback here is that RTX-level graphics cards can be pretty pricey. Nvidia RTX graphics card models range from around $500 to over $2,000.

To go above and beyond, you could combine Krisp and RTX Voice with an RTX graphics card for a final result that will be nearly flawless. Combining different software with hardware might seem like overkill, but if high-quality, uninterrupted audio is your goal, this might be your best option. 

The fact of the matter is, we can’t account for all the random noises that may make it into the background of our videos, live streams, video conferences, and webinars. The best thing we can do is be as prepared as possible with the right hardware and software to back us up. Let us know down below which precautions you’re taking to get the best possible audio.

The post How To Get the Best Audio in Any Environment appeared first on SproutVideo.

Live streaming for business is easier than you’d think. You can get up and running with live streaming in a matter of minutes on the SproutVideo platform. You can even test out these new features for free while on a 30 day trial of our platform.

If you’re unsure of how to hook up a camera for live streaming, check out our recent How To Video episode on the six steps to professional live streaming.

Separating the foreground from the background of a scene and creating virtual 3D cameras may sound impossible but that is exactly what we’ll be exploring in our final episode on Adobe After Effects. These advanced techniques are challenging to master but will set you apart from the competition. 

By the end of this post, you’ll have a good understanding of Rotoscoping, separating an element from the background, and how you can use a 3D camera to animate objects. 

In our first episode of our Adobe After Effects tutorial series, we established the basics. We looked at what After Effects is used for, created compositions, learned important functions, and how to export a project. In the second episode, we explored the power of motion tracking and the various ways you can use it in a project.

For our third episode in this series, we’re diving into advanced techniques of After Effects. We included another Example Project below you can download and a video you can watch to follow along.

Nick LaClair, Creative Director at SproutVideo, will take you through this example project. He’ll show you how rotoscoping and using a 3D camera can enhance the overall look when adding graphics to footage.  We’ve incorporated everything you need to get a good handle on the topics covered in this post. 

We recommend working through the projects in Episode 1 and Episode 2 before this episode for the most well-rounded learning experience. 

Example Project Objective

For this project, our goal is to enhance the scene by manipulating the nametags to appear as if they are objects within the original footage. This means making them appear to float right in front of our subjects but behind the laptops, tilting them at the same angle as the people, and mimicking the level of blur that occurs as the camera passes by the subjects. All of this can be accomplished with a combination of rotoscoping and 3D camera manipulation, which we’ll cover below. 

What is Rotoscoping?

Rotoscoping is the animation of masks across a selection of frames. This essentially allows you to take a 2D image and create a multi-layered space. You’ll then be able to edit the foreground object and background image separately. This allows for objects to go in between your foreground and background, or to make visual edits, or remove the background completely. 

Rotoscoping Methods

There are two ways you can go about rotoscoping in After Effects: masking with the pen tool, or using the Rotobrush tool. For this tutorial, we’re going to be focusing on using the Rotobrush tool, but we’ll quickly touch on masking.

Masking 

Masking is a technique that is found across several of Adobe’s creative programs. The first thing you need to do is duplicate the layer you want to rotoscope and rename it; we rename ours “roto laptops” in the example. 

Next, use the pen tool in After Effects to create an outline of whatever object you’re trying to isolate in the foreground. Once this is done, your roto layer will be just the foreground, and the original layer will act as the background.

The next step is where this method becomes extremely time-consuming. You’ll have to go frame by frame, and adjust that mask so it follows any movement that occurs with your object. If you’re interested in learning how to use the masking technique more in-depth, check out this tutorial from Motion Array. 

Using the Rotobrush Tool

The Rotobrush tool is a much faster way to rotoscope since it uses After Effects software to speed up the process. Essentially, it allows you to paint over the object you want to select and then After Effects’ artificial intelligence will automatically detect the edge of whatever object you’re trying to isolate. It will then propagate that selection across the timeline automatically, instead of having to do it manually with masking. 

Follow these steps below to Rotoscope objects.

• Duplicate the layer you want to Rotoscope, and rename it for clarity. 
• Double click the layer to open it in the Composition window.
• Select the Rotobrush from the top menu.
• Paint over the object(s) you want to isolate for the foreground.
• Press and hold the Option key to paint over areas of the mask that are outside of the object you’re masking. 

Your selection, or mask, will show up as a purple outline on your footage. When using the Rotobrush to add to the mask, it will show up as a green icon. When you’re holding the Option key to remove masking, it will show up as a red icon. Fine-tune this outline until you’re satisfied with your selection before moving forward. 

Unless told otherwise, your rotoscope will be applied to the entirety of your layer duration. If you just want it to be applied to a specific part, be sure to adjust the slider at the bottom of the Composition viewer window. For our example, we only need it to last as long as the nametags are visible within the frame.

Adjusting the Rotoscope Layer

At this point, you can return to your full composition to see exactly how Rotoscoping has affected your project. If you’re following along with our Example Project or applying these principles to your own project, you should see that the nametags are now positioned behind the laptops as if they are an object floating in 3D space in the video.  

When you toggle off the background layer, using the Eye icon in the far left of the Layers panel, you’ll see that just the laptops are masked out from our roto layer, which is why it appears to be over the nametag layers. 

Next, click the arrow next to effects to reveal parameters you’ll need to make fine-tune adjustments to the roto layer. There are two main adjustments you can make to help make this effect look more realistic are feather and motion blur. Feather will expand your mask in a way that will hide some of the inconsistencies associated with the edge of your mask. Motion blur adds a level of blur that makes movement seem more natural to the eye. 

Once you’re happy with the way it looks, you’re done with Rotoscoping. Since After Effects will have to render the roto mask layer every time you move the play head, you can turn this layer off for now while we move on to the next section, Animating in 3D space.

Animating in 3D

This next section will focus on adjusting objects so they better match the scene you’re trying to add them to. For our example project, that means changing the rotation and blur of our nametags to match that of the background. There are two ways to do this: manually with keyframes, or by adding a 3D Camera to move the object in 3D space. 

Manual 3D Space Movement

This is fairly similar to the adjustments we made to our objects in the first After Effects episode. We will be adjusting the transform parameters using keyframes to get the desired look we want. Where things change is when you enable the 3D option for your layer as seen below.

This allows the layers’ transform parameters to be adjusted in all three dimensions, X, Y, and Z. You can now use keyframes to adjust parameters, like Y rotation, to have it match the angle of the people in the background. Once you have the right angle, we can move on to adding the blur effect.

In our example scene, we want the Tyrion nametag to mimic the focus the camera has while it moves through the scene. We can do this by adding Camera Lens Blur to the nametag layer from the effect panel on the right side of our screen. Using keyframes we can add a keyframe for when the camera is in focus, keeping the blur parameter at 0, then add a keyframe at the beginning and end of our scene and match the blur value to what we see in the footage. This will have to be trial and error to see what looks the best.

Once this is complete, you can turn on the roto layer and you’ll be able to see your finished product in full. The adjusted nametag should slide behind laptops, blur with the footage, and be positioned at the right angle with the scene.

3D Cameras 

The second technique for achieving this look is a bit more advanced and requires the use of 3D Cameras in After Effects. Keep your roto layer off throughout this process to help with render speeds. 

The 3D Camera tool allows you to add a layer that acts like an actual camera within the program. Go to the Layer menu, New, Camera…, to add a camera to your composition. This will open a new menu that gives you complete control over your virtual camera, including sensor size, focal length, depth of field, aperture, F-stop, and more. 

For our purposes, we can leave almost all of those options alone, except focal length which we’ll keep at 50mm. The Camera 1 layer will now show up in the layer panel. 

Viewing the Camera

You may not see any differences right away once the camera is created, and for good reason. Only layers with the 3D option enabled will be affected by the camera. For this project, we’ll turn on just the Tyrion and Joffrey nametag layers. 

Furthermore, to see what the camera is doing, you’ll need to change the Composition window view from 1 View to 2 Views in the bottom right corner. This will display the active camera view on the right, and the top down of our camera’s field of view, composition, and other elements in our composition on the left.

Adjusting the Camera

The power of using 3D cameras becomes apparent when you start adjusting the transform parameters in the Layers panel. Since we want our nametags to mimic the footage, we can change various camera transform parameters to match the scene.

For starters, we’ll change the camera orientation to mimic the 45-degree angle seen in the footage. You can see with the top-down view how the camera’s viewing field is crossing the elements in your composition. 

To further match the look of the footage to your objects, open the Camera Options drop-down under the transform parameters in the Layers tab. This lets you dive into all the settings of an actual camera, which you can adjust to make the nametags really blend into the scene. 

As you can see in the image above, the number of options for manipulating the camera are vast, and very similar to how you would adjust camera settings in real life. For a refresher on camera settings, check out the Cameras section in our Video Library. 

For our example, we’ll be adjusting our focus distance parameter to have our objects come into focus when they cross the focal plane and aperture to adjust the blur when not in focus. This will take some back and forth to get just the right look, and you can monitor how this affects your objects in the Composition window. 

Once you’re satisfied with the look of your objects, you can turn your roto layer back on and see the final result. Just like with the manual method, you’ll see your nametags slide behind the laptops, go from out of focus to in focus, and also be aligned as if they were filmed in line with the rest of the footage. 

Learning Adobe After Effects is a huge undertaking that will take lots of time and practice to master. Adding rotoscoping and 3D cameras to your tool kit will certainly come in handy as you continue to explore and develop your skills in the program. Be sure to subscribe to the SproutVideo Newsletter so you don’t miss out on our next tutorial.

The post Adobe After Effects: Rotoscoping and 3D Camera Animation appeared first on SproutVideo.

This Adobe After Effects example project includes everything you need to follow along with this motion tracking article and video tutorial below.

In the first episode of our Adobe After Effects tutorial series, we covered all the basic fundamentals of motion graphics, multi-layered compositions, and visual effects. In this episode, we dive a little deeper into After Effects, exploring the power of motion tracking.

By the end of this post, you’ll have a good understanding of how to track objects in space, steady shaky footage, and replace screens on a device.

In the video below, Nick LaClair, Creative Director at SproutVideo, will take you through various applications of motion tracking in Adobe After Effects. 

For our second episode in this series, we recommend downloading our example project included in this tutorial so you can follow along. We’ve incorporated all the items you’ll need to get a better understanding of the various applications of tracking. By following along, you’ll be well on your way to implementing tracking in your own projects. Just click the link below to get the project.

What is Motion Tracking in Adobe After Effects?

Motion tracking is the process of using technology to track the movement of an object in your video. Once you have data from the tracked object, you can apply the motion data to other objects or elements and it will match that movement. 

The benefits of tracking truly shine through once you start to understand how they can be applied in your projects. We’ll be going over three popular applications: Tracking objects in space using null objects, stabilizing footage, and replacing screens. 

Tracking Objects in Space

We’ll be looking at single-point tracking first. This is, as the name suggests, uses After Effects to capture data from a single point to use for tracking purposes. You can then take that data and apply it to another layer or object in your composition. 

If you’re working with our example, you can choose a composition from the project panel. We will be using the ‘1.1 – Cafe’ to start. We are going to be using Name graphics to demonstrate how you can use motion tracking to have objects track with your videos at a certain point. This can be useful whenever you need a graphic or object to stick to a specific point in your video. 

The layers in this composition have already been formatted to include an animation to pop into the frame. Check out episode one of our After Effect series if you want to know how to create these animations from scratch or need a refresher. In our example, we’ll be creating a null object to track the footage.

What is a Null Object

A null object is an invisible layer that can hold any information you want. This makes it perfect for tracking purposes. You can attach motion data from your footage to it without having to manipulate other layers that contain the visuals of your project. You can later attach multiple layers to a null object and they will inherit its motion data without having to change their own motion parameters. This process is called parenting which we’ll cover later in the post. 

Creating a Null Object

First, we’ll create a null object by clicking on Layer in the menu bar, then New, Null Object. This will create a new layer in the layer panel. We suggest renaming it to help you stay organized. In the example, we are starting with the Daenerys layer, so we’ll rename it ‘Daenerys Null.’

Auto Tracking Motion

To track motion in your footage, you’ll need to double click the footage layer; ours is labeled “Cafe laptops.” This will open a new tab in the composition window at the top. Next is where the magic happens. On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see all the different editing tools you can choose from. Click on the tab that says, Tracker. If for some reason you don’t see this tab, you can access it by clicking View from the top menu, then Tracker. 

From here, follow the steps below to track a specific point.

• Click the Track Motion button in the Tracker tab.
• For this example make sure only the Position checkbox is selected, not rotation or scale.
• Click Edit Target, and select the Null Object we created in the earlier steps. This tells After Effects we want the motion were tracking applied to the null object.
• Adjust your play head to where you want the tracking to begin.
• Zoom in if needed and move Tracking Point 1 to a desirable tracking location.

Tracking Points

Tracking points are used as a way for After Effects to attach data to a specific object in the footage. The more contrast there is, the better it will be able to track it. The smaller box should be right around the object you want to track, while the larger box should be large enough so After Effects knows where to scan for the object you have in the smaller box. 

The smaller you can make these boxes, the better, since it takes a lot of time to render motion tracking. However, if there is a lot of movement in the scene, you may need larger boxes so that when the frames are being tracked, After Effects can continually find the target.

In our example, we place the tracker for Daenerys on her eye. This works well because of the contrast between her dark eyelashes and her skin. Make sure to pick a point that moves in a consistent way. Once you’ve picked a point, hit the Analyze Forward button ( )  in the tracker tab to begin analyzing the scene for motion. 

Alternatively, if you want to track backward in time, simply hit the Analyze Backwards button (), and your clip will play in reverse and add tracking points. 

One issue that may arise while tracking is if the object you’re tracking goes off-screen, but you want whatever you’re going to attach to the tracking to stay on that same path.

Adjusting Trackers

You can fix this by stopping the analysis on the last frame before it goes off-screen and switching it to a new point on the screen. To do this, hold Option on Mac or Alt on PC, and select and drag the outer box to a new track point. We chose a white square on the man’s shirt, which has plenty of contrast. After, hit the Analyze Forward button again until it reaches the end of the scene. This will take the tracking data from the new track point and extend the path of the original track point as if it were still on the screen.  

If you’re satisfied with your tracking, hit Apply in the tracker tab, select X and Y in the pop-up window, and hit OK. After Effects will switch you back to the full composition in the composition window, where you can expand your null object in the layers tab to reveal all the position keyframes that have been created from the tracking data. 

Manual Motion Tracking

In some unfortunate cases, After Effects won’t be able to track the object you need it to as cleanly as you would like. After pressing the Analyze Forward button in the Tracking tab, you may notice some crazy fluctuations or movements while it’s processing. 

If this happens, you may need to resort to manually tracking your object. You can move forward or backward frame by frame by selecting the Analyze One Frame Forward or Analyze One Frame Backward button. These are the buttons next to the Analyze Forward and Backward buttons.

For each frame, you’ll have to go to the composition window and move the tracking box to stay on your point of interest in each frame. This will be a tedious process but will result in a perfect tracked object. 

Fine-Tuning Your Trackers

If you realize you need to adjust your tracking later on in your editing process, simply go back to your footage layer, select which track point you need to adjust, either in the Layers tab or Tracker tab, and make any adjustments needed. Once you hit apply in the Tracker tab, it will update your project. 

Parenting The Layers

The last step is to attach this Null Object layer to the Name layer to which you want to apply the tracked motion. Here are a few definitions that will be helpful in explaining how this works.

• Parenting is the process of linking multiple layers so that the movement of one layer follows the movement of another layer.
• A parent layer is a layer in which those linked to it will follow its motion.
• A child layer is a layer(s) that will follow the motion of a parent layer. 

To apply this, go to the layer you want to be the ‘Child’, for our example that is the Daenerys layer, and under the Parent & Link section of the layers tab, select the Null object to make it the parent. 

Another way to create a parent-child relationship between layers is to click and drag the “swirl” icon, called a “pick whip,” from the child layer to the parent layer. Tracking motion with this method is helpful because it keeps the Name Layer’s attributes free for you to transform the way you want while still attached to the Null Object’s movement.

Repeat all these steps for the various layers in the example project to achieve the look we did in the tutorial video. Depending on the points you choose, you may need to do a combination of auto-tracking, manual tracking, and various adjustments to get it to look just right. 

Steadying Shaky Footage

Another amazing way to use the tracking functionality in After Effects is to stabilize shaky footage. This comes in handy whenever you need your shot to look super smooth as opposed to shaky or handheld. 

We’ll use the “2 – Stabilization Composition” in the Example Project to walk through this example.

• Just like before, we’ll double-click on the layer we want to track. In this case, it’s called “Handheld.mov.”  
• Choose Stabilize Motion from the Tracker tab.
• Make sure both the Position and Rotation boxes are checked, which will create two separate tracker points in the Composition window. 
• Place each tracker on high contrast points in the scene similar to how you placed tracker points in the example above.

You’ll want these points to be as far away from each other as possible. This will provide better tracking data. One point represents the position, and the other the rotation. Once in place, click Analyze Track Forward and hit apply. 

At this point, when you play your clip back, your scene will be stationary, and the edges of the frame will be moving to compensate for stabilized motion.

This will reveal black edges around your footage. To fix this, adjust the position and scale of that layer until those edges no longer appear in the frame. When you play it now, the footage will appear completely stable. 

Replacing Screens

Our last example comes in handy whenever you need to replace the contents of a screen on a mobile device, computer, TV, or a similar application. Typically, recording something on a screen can prove difficult because of glare and other factors, so it’s relatively common to replace screens in post-production. 

We’ll use the “3 – Screen Composition” in the Example Project to demonstrate how to pull this off. This composition consists of the “Monitor.mov” layer, where the monitor screen is located, and the “Footage.mp4” layer, which is what we’ll be replacing the screen with.

• Just like before, we’ll double-click on the layer you want to track. In this case, it’s called “Monitor.mov.” 
• In the Tracker tab, select Track Motion, then change the Track Type to Perspective Corner Pin.
• Four track points will appear in the composition window. Place each of them on a corner of the screen you are replacing.
• Click Edit Target in the Tracker tab to make sure that the “Footage.Mp4” is the target.
• Analyze Forward, hit apply, and your screen replacement is complete.

After Effects can compensate for any shakes, rotation, or changes in the footage, so this technique will work for just about any clips where you need to replace a screen. 

Learning to harness the power of motion tracking is an amazing tool to add to your video editing arsenal. Just like the basics, these techniques will require a lot of practice to master, but it’ll be worth it.  

Be sure to subscribe to the SproutVideo Newsletter to get the next episode of our After Effects tutorial series in your inbox.

The post Adobe After Effects: Understanding Motion Tracking appeared first on SproutVideo.

After Effects can be extremely complex, so this post will be the first in a series of tutorials. We’ll go over what After Effects is used for, creating compositions, important functions, and how to export a project. By the end of this post, you’ll have a basic understanding of After Effects and the ability to create simple animations.

In this episode of our How To Video: Post Production series, SproutVideo Creative Director, Nick LaClair, will walk you through the basics of Adobe After Effects. 

Since this program is a bit more complicated than other creative programs, we included an Example Project you can download to follow along with. By following along with the example project, you’ll get a better understanding of how the various elements of After Effects work, and be one step closer to creating animations in After Effects on your own. 

What is Adobe After Effects?

After Effects is one of the many tools provided by Adobe to help you creatively express your vision. With this particular program, you can create digital visual effects, motion graphics, animation, and compositions. It is used in the post-production process for a variety of mediums including videos, video games, and many different types of film production. 

Most motion designers tend to use it for titles, lower thirds, or opening title sequences. In the video above we focus on creating a lower third and animating an object. We’ll use these as examples throughout the rest of the post. 

Getting Started with After Effects

When you first open After Effects, you’ll be prompted to open a project or create a new one. If you’re following along with the Example Project, open it side-by-side with this blog post to follow along. Once your project is open, your workspace should look very similar to the image below. 

On the top left is the project panel (A), with all the footage, elements, folders, and compositions. The composition window is in the center (B). This is where you’ll view what you’re working on. Along the bottom are the layers and timeline viewer (C); we’ll spend a good amount of time here. And on the right is a long list of effects, presets, and more (D).

Composition Setup

Your composition in After Effects is similar to a sequence in Premiere Pro. This is where you’ll be creating the visuals for your project. When creating a new composition, click ‘New Composition’ in the main window, and you’ll be prompted to select a number of options as seen below. 

You’ll want to match the resolution, aspect ratio, and frame rate to the video that you’re building the graphics for. As for the duration, you’ll have to make an educated guess as to how long you think you need it to be. Overestimating is encouraged since you can always trim the project at the end before you export it. 

Since our project is just an example and not being created for a particular video, we left the settings as the standard. Full HD resolution, 1920×1080 resolution, 23.98 frames per second, and five seconds for duration.

If you are working with our example, you can choose a composition from the project panel. We will be using the ‘Lower Thirds Animation’ first; double click that option to open it. 

Exploring the Layers and Timeline

These areas are going to be where you’ll be doing the bulk of your work to manipulate your files to create an animation.

Navigating the Layers Panel

Once the example is open, you’ll see the various layers associated with the composition. In our example, we have two: “Name Banner” and “Title Banner.” 

When you add various items to your project they show up as layers. This could be images, text, files, shapes, compositions, and so on. You can alter the order of files by dragging them up and down. Bringing a file towards the top pulls it to the front of the composition, and moving it towards the bottom pushes it to the back. Clicking the eyeball icon at the far left turns that layer on and off. 

To take things further, you can edit the layers by clicking the arrow next to the layer’s number and color square. This will drop down more options, including the transform parameters, which we’ll cover in-depth below. 

Playback in the Timeline

To the right of the layers, you’ll see the timeline. The timeline is directly related to each layer you add to your composition. The long bar represents the duration of each layer. You can also see the keyframes you create when you expand your open drop-down menus for each layer. Your playhead is located in the timeline area as well. Using the spacebar, you can start and stop your animation to see what you’ve created. Since After Effects is a graphics-intensive program, you may not be able to play your animation back smoothly. 

The green bar just above your timeline will indicate if it has rendered enough to play smoothly. If the green bar isn’t lit up, there are two ways to go about seeing your animation. You could choose a lower quality playback to ease the load and allow After Effects to render the preview more quickly. Or, you can hit space to begin playback, and it will render each frame one at a time. This will populate the green bar so you can then go back and play it from the beginning. 

In addition to playing your animation in the timeline, you can move layers left or right, and trim them simply by dragging from the middle or the edges of the bar in the timeline. 

Keyframes & Parameters

Keyframes and parameters are some of the most important aspects of unlocking the power of Adobe After Effects. 

• A keyframe marks the start points and endpoints for actions in your animation. 
• A parameter is the value of the object, file, or layer you can adjust with keyframes. 

To edit parameters and add keyframes, go to the layer you want, click the arrow, to reveal the transform function. Next, click the arrow next to transform to reveal the parameters you’ll need to do basic animations. Anchor point, position, scale, rotation, and opacity are all parameters that are controlled with keyframes.

Creating Keyframes

In our example, we already have keyframes created with the Position parameter set to create an animation that slides the ‘Name Banner’ and ‘Title Banner’ onto the screen as time goes on. 

By creating two new keyframes in each layer further in the timeline, we can change the Position parameter to slide the text off-screen. You can apply the steps below to accomplish what we did in the example, along with any other parameter to which you want to add keyframes. 

• Select the layer you want to animate.
• Choose the parameter you want to change.
• Move the playhead in the timeline to where you want to keyframe to appear. 
• Click the stopwatch icon to the left of the parameter to create a keyframe on the timeline.
• To create another keyframe, scroll to the desired endpoint of the motion, adjust the parameter to the desired position and a second keyframe will be created. 

Throughout the process of creating keyframes, you can see how changing parameters affect your text by seeing the motion in the composition window. Visually, this will help you know how far to move the value of your desired parameter up or down to get the desired effect.  Beyond creating keyframes, there are a few more functions you can implement to create even better animations.

Motion Blur

Of the many advantages of animating objects in After Effects, adding motion blur is one of the simplest and most important. Motion blur is important because, without it, your animation may look a bit choppy. This effect adds just enough blur to make your movement look more natural to the eye.

At the top of the Layers panel, you’ll see three overlapping circles, which represent motion blur. Select the motional blur switch for whichever layer you want to enable it. 

In the example project, play the animation with motion blur on then off. This will show you just how big of a difference this feature can make. 

Interpolation & Graph Editor

Interpolation is how the program figures out the values between two points. In other words, this is how After Effects determines how the element you’re animating acts between two keyframes. 

Each keyframe can be adjusted to make your animation function how you want. For our purposes, we’ll only be looking at the “Easy Ease” function to help smooth out the motion we’ve added to our layer. For a more in-depth look at interpolation, check out this Keyframe Type article from the School of Motion. 

To apply Easy Ease to your keyframe, right-click the keyframe, select Keyframe Assistant, then Easy Ease. This changes the diamond shape of a new keyframe into an hourglass shape. With the click of a button, your animation will be much more smooth, starting out fast and then slowing down, easing itself toward the keyframe. 

To see the visual representation of this, click on the graph icon at the top of the Layers panel to open the Graph Editor. For each parameter, you can see all the keyframes and the curve that represents the speed of the movement between keyframes.

To adjust the curve and change the motion, click on the keyframes, and a small handle will appear. Moving the handle allows you to change the flow of motion. In the example we created, it starts slow, then speeds up for a smooth organic motion. 

Nesting Compositions

One of the most powerful aspects of After Effects is how you can use compositions inside of other compositions. Essentially, if you have an animation created and want to then edit that composition as a layer within your bigger composition, you can do that simply by going to the Project panel in the top left, and dragging any new compositions to your Layers panel. 

For example, the two layers we’re working on within our Example Project are compositions themselves, which include our last function, masking.

Masking

A mask allows you to control the visibility of a particular layer, typically by creating a shape or specific cutout. This is powerful because it allows you to cut out layers, combine different elements together and create unique transitions.

In our Example Project, you may have noticed that the text has some animation happening while it is sliding in. This is an example of using a mask in a composition, within another composition. You can double click either layer in the Lower Third Animation composition to reveal the composition where the masking is taking place. 

To create a mask, right-click the layer and choose mask, then new mask. A new drop-down layer under the main layer will appear.  To use the mask to make the text animate in, set keyframes the same way as before, only this time you’ll be moving the mask and the text stays still. 

Creating Text and Shapes

Another powerful tool is the ability to create text and shapes right in your project. Being able to create and manipulate them right in After Effects, can save you time going back and forth between other design programs.

At the top of the screen, you’ll see a T icon for text and a Rectangle icon for shapes. When you select T, you‘ll be able to begin writing your text in the composition window. Afterward, you can adjust the font, style, spacing, and more with the effects panel to the right. 

For shapes, you’ll have to ensure you don’t have a layer selected, then click and hold the Rectangle icon to choose which shape you want to create. In the Composition viewer, you can use your mouse to draw the shape. It will then show up as a layer in the Layer panel, where you can adjust all the same transform parameters we’ve gone over throughout the post. 

Advanced Keyframing

If you’re feeling adventurous, we included another composition in the Example Project that gets a bit more in-depth when it comes to keyframing. This is the Triangle Animation Composition. 

In this composition, we created a multi-point shape and then applied several different transform parameters together to create the desired animation. All of the same fundamentals we went over apply for keyframing and adjusting graphics in the graph editor.

This is a further breakdown of how we achieved the animation above. We chose the polygon option when creating a new shape, then navigated to that new shape layer’s transform parameters to choose ‘three points’ to make it into a triangle, then created keyframes to make it into a 10 point star. We applied keyframes for opacity, position, and rotation overtime to get the desired effect.

You can learn a lot by creating items like this, studying this example, and experimenting on your own. 

How to Export Your Project

If you’ve made it this far, we hope you’ve picked up the basics of changing up your motion graphics with After Effects. Feel free to continue experimenting, trying different effects, and adjusting keyframes until you have something you like. 

Once you’re satisfied with your creation, exporting your project is the final step. You’ll need to add your composition to the render queue. Either go to File, Export, Add to Render Queue, or hit CTRL M on a PC or Command M on a mac. Once in the Render Queue, which should show up at the bottom of the screen in place of your timeline, there are three menus that need to be addressed before exporting. 

Render Settings

First, you’ll want to click on ‘Best Settings.’ Here a window will pop up where you can double-check to see if all of your settings are where you want them to be for your export. These settings typically won’t change unless you’re exporting for a special reason. 

Output module

This window is where you will choose what variation of the composition you would like to export. This includes format, codec, color depth, channels, and audio output settings. In almost all situations you’ll export using the QuickTime Format with the animation codec, this is best for animations like the one we used in our example project.  

All the default settings for QuickTime work just fine unless you need to export your animation without a background. To change this you’ll need to change the channel from RGB to RGB+Alpha. Even in a composition like ours where we didn’t add a background, one will still show up unless you choose this option.

Output To

Last but not least, you will need to choose the destination for your exported file. You can also change the name of the file here if you need to make it something more unique than the name of the composition. 

Once all the settings are in place, simply hit enter or the Render button off to the right and you’ll be done with your first Adobe After Effects piece. 

Keyboard Shortcuts

We wanted to provide quick keys and shortcuts as a resource in this post as well. However, since After Effects is much more complicated than Premiere, we wanted to do things the “slow” way first. 

Once you start getting familiar with the program, these shortcuts will certainly help speed up your workflow. You can download or print this PDF to reference for when you start editing on your own.

This How to Video episode and blog post are just the tip of the iceberg for Adobe After Effects. Starting with the basics is vital for establishing a strong foundation for what is possible with this program. 

Be sure to subscribe to the SproutVideo Newsletter to get the next episode of our After Effects tutorial series in your inbox. Don’t forget to download the free reference sheet and example project included in this tutorial, too!

The post Adobe After Effects: The Basics appeared first on SproutVideo.

This free PDF includes all of the quick keys and keyboard shortcuts you’ll need to use Adobe Premiere like a pro.

Curious about getting into video editing but not exactly sure where to start? Many video editing programs have so much going on it can be intimidating at first, but once you learn the fundamentals, it’s not as bad as it seems. 

Throughout this post, we’ll be going over the basics of video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro. By the end of this post, you’ll have a better understanding of four key areas: quick keys, importing and organizing footage, editing and exporting, and workspace layouts. 

In the video below, SproutVideo Creative Director, Nick LaClair, will walk you through these different areas, using examples along the way to drive the point home. 

Quick Keys & Shortcuts

Like many creative editing programs, Premiere Pro comes stocked with a whole host of keyboard shortcuts to improve your workflow. While it may seem a bit counterintuitive to look at shortcuts for a program you don’t know how to use yet, you’ll find that once you get going, these shortcuts are going to save you an immense amount of time. 

Be sure to download or print this PDF to reference while reading through the rest of this post, and for when you start editing on your own.

Getting Your Project Ready

While everyone will have their own project workflow, it’s crucial to stay as organized as possible. Before you import your footage into your Premiere Pro project, it’s a good practice to have it labeled and as organized as possible wherever you are storing your assets. 

For project management of your files, check out Post Haste. This program allows you to create a template for folders you need on a recurring basis when organizing your footage before importing it into your project. Keeping your audio, main shots, b-roll, graphic assets, etc. labeled and arranged will make it that much easier when you’re organizing your assets within Premiere Pro.

Workspace Layout

When you first open the program it’ll be essential to prepare your workspace to your liking. Premiere Pro comes preformatted with several workspaces. At the top, you’ll see Learning, Assembly, Editing, Color, Effects, Audio, Graphics, and Libraries. Each of these layouts puts an emphasis on the type of editing you’ll be doing, and are designed to make it a bit easier as you progress through your edit.

If you prefer to create your own layout, feel free to drag any window around to arrange it in whatever way you see fit. Once you’re happy with your custom layout, you can create your own preset of that layout. Head to the Windows tab at the top of the screen and save it to your workspaces. The image below is an example of how one might switch up the workspace to better fit their editing flow. 

Importing Your Footage

Now that your workspace is set up, you’ll be able to create folders to organize your footage in preparation for editing. In Premiere, these folders are called bins. These bins could match how you have files organized outside of Premiere, or be named in a way that will help optimize your editing process. We prefer to organize in three buckets: Footage, Elements, and Sequences. 

Once the bins are created, simply drag and drop all of your footage and assets into them, and you’re officially ready to start editing your film. 

Creating a Sequence

A sequence is a visual assembly of your video and audio clips, or in other words, where you’ll cut your footage together to create your film. The best way to start is by dragging a clip to the “new item icon” in the bottom right of the project window. This will let you create a sequence based on the settings of your footage. 

If you shot your footage in the format that you want to edit it in, this will be the best route. If you have a variety of different resolutions, frame rates, or orientations, be sure to choose a clip that most closely matches what you want your final output to look like.

Alternatively, you can click that icon to start a new sequence from scratch, which will open up a whole host of options that may be overwhelming for a beginner, but might prove helpful as you progress. 

Understanding Your Timeline

Your timeline is where all the magic happens, also known as editing. The timeline is located in the workspace towards the bottom of the image below. The light blue bars represent your video tracks, while the gray bars below represent the audio tracks. You can scrub through your edit with the vertical line called the play head. You’ll also see the timecode in the top left of the section and along the top of your timeline, both shown in minutes, seconds, and frames.

The program monitor, where you’ll be able to see the footage you’re editing, is up to the right. You can navigate around the timeline with your mouse or by using quick keys. The J, K, and L keys will help you navigate through your timeline with ease, moving backward, stopping, and moving forward respectively. The footage will move faster forward or backward each additional time you press the J or L key. Additionally, the spacebar plays and pauses your footage.

Editing Methods

Next, there are two ways you can cut your footage: what we’ll call the “Proper Method”, and the “Legos Method.”

With the proper method, you’ll double-click on a clip in one of your bins, which will bring it up in the source monitor in the upper left of your screen. Here, you can begin selecting the portion of that clip you want to keep for your edit. Scrub through the clip with the J, K, and L keys, then, set your in and out points by using the quick keys, I and O respectively. 

Once you have the section of the clip you want, you can select the insert button to add it to your timeline where the play head is located, or simply press “,” and that will do the same thing. If you have multiple sections of the clip you need for your edit, simply repeat these steps to create as many clips as you need. 

Alternatively, you can use the Lego method. This starts with dumping all your clips into your timeline and trimming them there. Here is an overview of different techniques you can use to adjust your clips. 

• Selection Tool (V): For each clip, use your mouse to drag the sides of the clip to the desired points you want to trim
• Ripple Edit  (B): This trim tool allows you to trim a clip similar to the selection tool, but shifts all the prevailing clips the same amount as the edit.
• Razor Tool (C): Use this tool to cut clips into pieces, think C for “cut”
• Rolling Edit (N): This tool changes the point at which two clips meet.
• Track Select Forward/Backwards  (A / Shift + A): Use this to select everything forward of a point in the timeline and move them all at the same time.
• Delete Key: Use this to delete clips or space in between clips

Arranging Your Clips

Once all your clips are cut down to size, you’ll need to arrange them in the order you want. If you shot your project in chronological order and imported them as such, you won’t have much to rearrange. However, that is not always the case. Simply click and drag your clips back and forth to arrange them in the fashion you’d like. You can place them on different tracks if needed as well.

One thing to keep in mind is the associated audio track that is attached to each video clip. If you want to edit each separately, first, unlock them by hitting Command + L on a Mac, CTRL + L on a PC. Now they’re independent. To lock them again, highlight them both and hit that same key combo. 

Editing and Adjusting your Clips

Now that everything is in the right order, you can start adjusting your clips and adding effects. Click on a clip to view and edit properties. If your source monitor is still showing you the clip, click on the ‘Effects Control’ tab to access this area. Here you can change your scale, position opacity, volume for audio, and add effects. 

Premiere Pro comes stocked with tons of effects. Audio and video effects, audio and video transitions, lumetri color presets, and more advanced preset effects. The best way to learn what these effects do is by trial and error, but to see them all in action check out this great video from Justin Odishio. This shows you every effect in Premiere Pro in just six minutes.

You can drag and drop effects onto the clips themselves, or place them in the Effect control panel. In this panel, you’ll be able to further fine-tune the effect if there are options to do so. 

Adding Extra Elements

At this point, you may want to add some extra items to your edit to help complete your vision. This may be additional clips as b-roll, premade graphics, or any number of other items that weren’t initially brought into your timeline. 

In addition to visual elements, you probably will need music for your project. Finding the right music is going to be crucial to striking the right tone. To learn more about music selection, watch our How To Video episode on finding music.

Exporting Your PreProject

Once your edit is complete, it is time to export your video and share it with the world. In your timeline, set in and out points with I and O, then use Command + M on a Mac or CTRL +  M on a PC to open your export settings. 

At the top of the window, you’ll be able to select the settings for your export. Premiere Pro conveniently gives you some standard options and resolutions you can choose from to fit your needs.

You can then export right from the program, or send it to a queue where Adobe Media Encoder will complete the export at a later time. 

Video editing is a complex skill that requires a lot of practice. However, you’d be surprised how far you can get with just the basics. Be sure to explore and experiment as you continue to learn the tricks of the trade. And don’t forget to subscribe to the SproutVideo Newsletter for updates about future tutorials.

Header Image: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock

The post Video Editing Basics with Adobe Premiere Pro appeared first on SproutVideo.

In this How To Video episode, we’ll be breaking down different types of gear you can use to get the job done. We’ll show you the difference some easy and inexpensive changes can make, and contrast it with gear that could cost over $10,000. So, is it worth the investment? Let’s find out.

In the video below, Nick LaClair, Creative Director at Sproutvideo, will show you the main categories of gear to worry about, and how you can accomplish the best videos at various price points. 

Essential Home Studio Gear

When it comes to producing a great video, a lot goes into it, but without good sound, picture, and lighting, your production will suffer. These may seem like basic points, but without them, your viewers may not stick around to see your full video. 

In each of these three categories, depending on your budget, what you use can make a really big difference in perceived quality. The low and high end will be very noticeable, but the middle can be a bit harder to distinguish. This works in your favor if you can’t afford the top of the line equipment. 

Audio

Sound quality is going to be one of the most important aspects of your video. After all, if your video looks good, but sounds terrible, it won’t get your message across. 

Utilize Your Existing Tech

Assuming you have a computer, the lowest and most basic tier for audio would be just using the built-in microphone. If you’re recording with your built-in webcam, this is a great way to get started without any additional costs. 

Mid-Range Mic Options

The next tier would be purchasing a mic to add to your setup, which may range in price from $100 to $300 or more. A wired lavalier (lav) is usually the cheapest option. Since you have to plug it in, then clip it to your shirt, it will be visible in your shot. Since they are popularly used on live TV, that might not be a dealbreaker for you, but it may not be your desired look. 

An affordable camera-mounted shotgun mic would be the next level up. If you’re using a camera, this type of mic plugs into the audio jack, sits on top of the camera, and points at the subject. In a typical home studio, the mic would still be far from you when you’re filming, but thanks to the pickup pattern of a shotgun microphone, you will hear far less background noise than with your laptop’s built-in microphone.

In the $150-$300 range, a podcasting condenser microphone is a bit more expensive but will produce really great sound. However, similar to a lav, you’ll see the mic in the shot. Since this is a full-size microphone, it’s very noticeable, especially since it needs to be right in front of you.

For more on audio, be sure to watch our full run of audio-specific How To Video episodes.

Employ a Full Boom Setup

Last, but certainly not least, is upgrading to a boom mic setup. This would include a boom pole to hold the mic, a high-quality directional shotgun microphone, and potentially a phantom power adapter to power the microphone. This setup will allow you to capture the best audio while keeping the equipment out of your shot. However, this will be the most expensive option in the $300+ range.

Video

When it comes to video quality, you may have more options readily at your disposal in contrast to audio.

Webcam Recording

As mentioned before, using your built-in webcam on your computer is a no-cost option, assuming you have a computer or laptop at home. Yet, just like the built-in microphone, this is going to be the most basic option, and the results won’t be all that amazing. 

The built-in webcam has a really tiny sensor, so it won’t capture high-resolution footage. Also, it will shoot a really wide shot, which might not be desirable since you have to worry about what’s in the frame. If you have a perfectly appointed and organized home studio, that might not be a big concern, but for the rest of us, less is sometimes more.

To get the most out of your webcam, place your laptop on a stand or some books so that the webcam is more or less in line with your eyes. If your laptop is usually on your desk, this will result in a more flattering angle.

Use Your Smartphone

Another item you most likely already own that can be used to capture video is your smartphone. The newest smartphones capture high-quality video with the front camera, and even better video with the back cameras. Even if your phone is a couple of years old, there’s a good chance it may outperform your built-in webcam. The best part is this won’t cost you any additional outlay either. If you go this route, an inexpensive smartphone tripod, usually $20 – $50, is well worth the money.

Purchasing a dedicated premium webcam is another good option, ranging from $100-$200. You’ll be able to plug this right into your computer, which adds a convenience factor. Without having to buy anything else, you’ll also be able to easily use it for live streaming or all those endless video conferences. 

Opt for a Professional Camera

Lastly, while upgrading to a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or camcorder will set you back $1,500 or more, you can guarantee your image will be top-notch. Here at SproutVideo, we use Sony cameras, but there is an enormous number of options available. To learn more about what to look for when choosing a camera, explore our full post on choosing the right camera. 

If you want to use your external camera or camcorder for video conferencing or live streaming, you’ll have to purchase a capture device, and in the case of live streaming, encoding software. We just launched live streaming last year, and made an entire guide you can use to get on your feet. Take a look at our Six Simple Steps to Live Streaming for Business to get started.  

Lighting 

Last but not least, the all-important element of lighting. Most likely you’ll only need one light source for the videos you’re producing at home. If you can swing it, the free option is to use the ultimate light source: the sun. If you can set up your home studio such that you can face a large window with even light, you’ll be all set. The downside is that sunlight isn’t always reliable, and of course, you’re also restricted to filming during certain daylight hours. 

Upgrade to a Ring Light

One of the best alternatives to going all-natural is to invest in an entry-level ring light. We use one that is about $150 dollars, including a stand, and also features adjustable color temperatures so you can change the look if needed. 

The next step up from this would be a three-point studio lighting setup, with a key light, a fill light, and a backlight. This may be a bit overkill for your at-home studio, but if you have the room for it, you can produce that perfect glow-y lighting that the pros deliver. To learn how to pull that off, head to our video on the Best Practices for Studio Lighting. 

As you can see, some small changes can make a big difference for your footage. No matter where you’re starting from, there’s probably a change or two that will be worth your while.  

Still, the underlying lesson here is that you shouldn’t let your gear, or lack thereof, hold you back. If you have a good message and get the most out of your gear, you can produce great work with whatever you have. 

Let us know in the comments below what you’re using in your at-home studio.

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