Welcome to another BizVid Communications video tutorial.  The title of today’s Vlog is “How to Blur a Moving Subject in Premiere Pro.”  This video is an update to one I produced a few years ago called “How to Blur Faces in Premiere Pro.”  

The two ways I use to blur a subject are “Gausian Blur” or “Mosaic.”  Today, I will show you both because the process is different for each.  Let’s get started.  I placed in the timeline a proud US Marine walking to meet another person but I’d like to blur her face.  First I will use the “Gaussian Blur” method. 

 In the Effects Panel I’ll type in the word “Blur” and Premiere will reveal all of the blur options available.  To be clear, you can use any of the “Blur’s” listed as they all look a little different.   But today, I’ll start with “Gaussian Blur”  then show you, “Mosaic.”   Next, I’ll place the“Gaussian” effect onto the video clip.  I can do this by double clicking the effect or, dragging it onto the clip.  

 Next, I need to select the mask tool that will be used to highlight the specific area to blur.  The’re three options:  “Elipse,” “4 Point Polygram,” or the “Pen.”   But, because I want to track and blur a face, I will use the “Elipse” mask.  As soon as I click on it, it appears in the program window.  Be sure that your play head is at the point where you want the blur to begin.  At this point you don’t see any blurring and won’t until I add it.  If I were to add it now, it would be difficult for me to precisely form the ellipse around the face.  

To form the ellipse, I will use these little square handles.  Once formed the way I want it, I will add the blur by increasing this number to about the 50 mark. Obviously you can choose whatever degree of blurriness  you want.  I’ll also add a slight “feather” so that there are no hard edges. 

Next I’ll begin the mask tracking process.  I can do that one frame at a time like this….or, by letting Premiere do it automatically like this.  The program is pretty good about keeping a precise track.  If it does start to go awry, you can stop the progress and manually adjust, then start again. One the tracking finishes, give your video a watch and see how it your “Gausian Blur” turned out. 

 The other method I talked about was using a mosaic to blur the subject.  So, I’ll type in “Mosaic” then double click to add it to the clip.  As you can see, unlike the “Gaussian Blur,” the “Mosaic” applies the effect to everything and  It’ll stay that way until I select a masking tool.  Again, I’ll use the “Ellipse” mask.  Next, I’ll reduce the mosaic effect to a point where I can more easily shape the ellipse around the face.  I’ll do that right here at “Horizontal” and “Vertical” blocks.  

Next, I’ll use the same procedure to form the ellipse as shown earlier in this tutorial.  Now that I’m done forming, I will add the mosaic effect.  Next, I’ll start the mask tracking…….and here’s the finished result.  As with “Gaussian Blur,”  If you have several points on a clip that need blurring, simply keep applying the “Ellipse” or any of the three masks as many times as necessary like this.  So, I hope this tutorial has been helpful.  Be sure to subscribe and also visit the BizVid Communications website to see the type of work we produce.  Thanks again and happy editing.

Today I’m going to show you how to use Adobe Audition to create a seamless music track customized to whatever length you want.

Before I discovered the technique I’m about to show you, I used to waste a lot of time trying to get a seamless loop of music: I’d lay the music track in the time line, cut it in half, drag the ending to the end of the video, then drag the left side back to the cut, add a cross dissolve and hope it sounded seamless.  If not, I would play around with it until it worked. All of that process took a lot of guesswork and time. Thankfully, there’s a much easier way.

In this example, it’s worth pointing out that I subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud so my versions of Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition are up to date.

In the video embedded above, I have a talking-head segment that is 3:49 long, but my music cut is only two minutes thirteen second. If I played the existing music track under that video clip, the music would stop well before the video did, and that’s distracting to the person viewing the video. Let’s make our audio track match the length of our video clip  

First, determine the length of your project.  In my case, my project 3:49 so that’s the length of time I need my music to be but the track I have is only 2:13.  So let’s make a seamless loop timed to 3:49. Next, go to “Edit” and scroll to “Edit in Adobe Audition” and click “Sequence.”  Next, name it what you want.  I’ll name this “Loop Track” then click “OK.”  That opens Adobe Audition and imports the audio tracks from your Premier Pro project.

Next, I’ll create a new multitrack session.  So, go to “file > new > multitrack session” and click.  I’ll name it “music loop track” and click “ok.”  Next, in the “files” section, find the music track and drag it into track one of the multitrack session.  Next, go to the “properties” tab on the left side.  If it’s not visible, go to “Windows” and click “properties.  In the “properties” window is “Remix.”  Click “enable remix” and that will take a few seconds to remix the track.  Now we create the magic.

Here you’re going to change the target duration to whatever you want the new length of your music track to be.  My project is 3:49 minutes long so I will change the duration of the music track to 3:49.  Next, click enter and it will seamlessly loop the track to your desired length.   To see where audition made the cuts, you can zoom in to see the little razor lines.  Beautiful.

Next go to “file > export > export to Adobe Premiere Pro”. Click “export” and next it will open your project, where you will click “ok” for a new audio track and it will bring your seamless, looped audio track into the project for your use.  How easy and convenient is that?!

By the way, if you have other projects you are working on an you want to use the same music track, you can leave Adobe Audition open and change the duration time to meet the needs of the new project.  So there you have it.  I hope this tutorial has been helpful.  Please visit our website to see the type of work we do.  Thanks for watching.  

Today I’m going to show you how to create animated mattes (and text mattes) in Adobe Premiere Pro.  First, you’ll see an animated matte I got from Rampant Designs. We’ll also introduce a text matte… the text was created in Essential Graphics. Let’s begin with the animating the matte.

The first item of business is to place a video clip on video track 1.  Next, place the matte clip on video track two.  Many royalty-free, purchasable mattes are created in 4k but your project may be 2k.  If so, right click the matte clip and check the “scale to frame size” option. This will resize your matte to fit your project’s resolution.

Next, go to the “Effects” panel in Premiere and type in the search the word, “Track.”  That will bring up the effect we want: “Track Matte Key.” Next, I will click and drag the effect onto the video clip on video track one.  When I do, you will see that the effect appears in the “Effects Controls” panel where I can assign the effect to the video track that I want it placed.  In this case, you can see that the matte is on video track two so that means I want the “Track Matte Key” assigned to video track two.  I’ll click the dropdown arrow and then make the assignment.  Notice the black all around the matte; that’s actually a hole that can be filed with another video clip or a color background.

Let’s try adding a color to fill in the hole that our matte has left.  I will click on the “new item” icon and select “color matte.”  The dialogue box that appears will default to the project size so I will click “ok.”  Next, I have a choice of colors so I think I will use the eyedropper to clone the sand color on the beach.  When I click “ok” the color matte is ready to use.  In order to use it, I need to create the space so I am going to move the matte clip up to video track 3 and the video clip up to video track 2.  Next, I will place the color matte on video track 1.  Now, I’ll need to go back to the “effects control” panel and change the track assignment of the matte to video track 3. 

Now let’s create video inside of text.  I’ve already typed out my title, “water” and will place it on the timeline in video track 3.  For this effect, it’s best to use a bold font and make it as large on the screen as you can.  Underneath it, I will place my video clip on video track 2.  Next, I will go to the “effects” panel and type in “track” to get the “track matte key” which I will then drop onto the video clip.  Then, I will go to the “effects control panel” and assign the effect to video track 3.  Next, I’ll drop in the background. 

Now let’s say that we want to animate the text and add a drop shadow.  To do that, I will need to nest the video and matte tracks…but not the background track.  So I’ll right click, select “nest,” name the nest and click okay.  Now I can go to “effects” type in “drop,” add the effect then go to “effects controls” and manipulate. To animate the text, I go to “motion” and work with “scale” and “position.”  Adjust the parameters to your liking and have fun!

I hope this tutorial has been a help to you.  Be sure to explore our blog further and check out some of our video examples.  Happy editing and thanks for watching.

Welcome to another in a series of Adobe Premiere Pro tutorials presented by San Diego video production company, BizVid Communications.  This tutorial is an update to a previous tutorial we created titled, “How to Blur Faces in Premiere Pro” which was created in 2012.  In this new version, I will show you a much easier and effective way to obtain a tracking mask.  So let’s get started.

I have already placed in my timeline a clip that requires some specialized blurring.  In this case, I want to blur the face of the model as she walks across the set.  First, I’ll position the CTI at the head of the clip.  Next, from the Effects Panel, I’ll select the element I’ll use for the blur.  I can choose “Gaussian Blur” or “Mosaic” and today I will use “Mosaic.”  So I position my mouse inside the effects search window and type “Mosaic.”  This gets me right to the effect without a lengthy search.  Next, I click and drag the effect onto the clip.  As you can see, the entire clip turned mosaic which is not what we want.

So it’s time to use a mask.  I have three choices…the “Free Draw Bezier,” the “Four Point Polygon Mask” or the  “Ellipse Mask.”  Since I want to blur the face, I’m going to choose the “Ellipse Mask” which immediately adds a circle in the frame.  You notice that the circle has “handles” so that it can be manipulated into the correct position.  Next, I’ll form the mosaic around the face by stretching and moving.  Now, I will position my mouse on the play button that will track the selected mask forward as the subject moves in that direction, and click.  As you can see Premiere is now memorizing and tracking the mosaic blur with it.

Okay it is done and I can click and drag in the timeline to be sure that the face stayed covered.  If adjustments need to be made, that is easy.  Simply click and drag one on of the handles to the desired positon.  By doing so, you are repositioning the keyframe that was automatically generated on the first pas.  If the mosaic circle seems hard, feather it.  And there you have it, a very simple way to track a blur by using a mask and Premiere’s built in tracking.  I hope this tutorial was helpful.  Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Premiere tutorials as well as visit our website to see the type of video production work that we do.  So until next time…..happy editing.

And welcome to another in a series of Premiere Pro video tutorials brought to you by San Diego video production company, BizVid Communications.  Today, I’ll show you how to pan and zoom graphics and pictures to add that “Ken Burns Effect” to your project.  So let’s get started.

The project size is 1920 x 1080 and I have already imported a few pictures at a size larger than the project size.  This gives me extra pixels to zoom and pan so that the picture stays clear and sharp.  However if your slides are not that large, don’t worry about it…work with what you have…you can always “scale to frame size.”

In this first step I will place my CTI (Current Time Indicator) at the head of the clip. This is where the first “Key Frame” will be placed for position and Scale.  Here you can see that the scale is default set at 100%.  A “Key Frame” is simply a place marker that instructs Premiere Pro where to begin the motion effect.   Next, in the Effects Controls Panel I’m going to click these little “stopwatch” icons….one for “Position” and one for “Scale.” Here in the  right column you can see that a “Key Frame” has been added for each.

Now I’ll place the CTI at the end of the clip which is the point where I want the action to finish.  Next, in the Effects Control panel, I’ll change the Position and scale parameters so that over time, the viewer will see the effect motion from beginning to end.  Notice that the  “Key Frames” were generated automatically. This is always the case for each time you change the CTI and the position and scale parameters.  If the motion is not beginning and ending exactly where you want it to, you can click and drag the “Key Frames” to the points you’re looking for.  Be sure to select all “Key Frames” in that time-frame so that the effect stays intact.

For the next slide, the same process is used.  I place the CTI at the beginning of the clip and set a key frame for position and for “Scale.”  Next, position the CTI at the point at which I want the motion to stop then change the parameters for each….position and scale.   And there it is.

And that’s it.  I hope you have learned something from this tutorial.  For more Premeir Pro teachings, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and visit our website at www.BizVidCommunications.com for a look at the type of work we do.  Thanks for watching.

Welcome to another video tutorial produced by BizVid Communications.   Today, I’m going to show you how to convert a stereo audio track to mono by importing it into Adobe Audition from your Premiere Pro timeline.   Then, I’ll save it out of Audition and bring back into Premiere Pro. I’m using the CC version. So you might ask, “why convert a stereo track to mono?”   Well, when recording in stereo, there are instances where either the left or right track is corrupted somehow…like unwanted noise in one track, unbalanced levels or you simply want the Voice Over narration to be in mono for perfect centering.   The voice track I have in this project contains noise and pops on the left track and it interferes with the VO announcer.   My task is to get rid of the noisy track so that the VO track is clean and useable within the project. So let’s get started. Read more →

Welcome to another in a series of BizVid Communications video tutorials.  Today, I will be instructing you in the basic editing techniques on Premiere Pro.  I’m using Premiere Pro CC but what you will learn is applicable to any version.  I want to create a new project…so I position my mouse on the “New Project” icon and click.  The next screen is where you will name your project and assign it to a folder.  First, I’ll name the project, “Basic Editing.”  Next, I’ll click “okay” and that will launch Premiere Pro.

First, I want to look for the section that will show what clips I have to work with.  In editing terms, these are called assets.    I can go to “File” and click then scroll down to “Import” and click.  Or, I’ll position my mouse inside this blank area in the “Project” pane, right click and scroll down to “Import” and click.  Here, it takes me to the desktop where I can search out my assets.  I’ll open the “Video Clips” folder, select the clip “Walking” then click “Open.”  As you can see, it brought the selected clip into the project.  Next, I want to get the second clip called “Grape Vines” then click open.  And there it is.  Now to build the timeline.  All you have to do is click and drag one of the clips into this little icon called “New Item.”  When you do, your “Sequence” is automatically created and you are off and running.

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Welcome to another in a series of Premiere Pro video tutorials from BizVid Communications.  Today I’m going to show you how to create a custom pre-set which is very easy to do and will save you a great deal of time as you assemble your video project.  As you probably know, dropping an effect onto a clip is easy.  Many times, however, you need to change the parameters of the effect so that it accomplishes exactly what you want.  That takes time.  Then, if you have to use that same effect on other clips, the time required to set it up again adds more time to your edit session.  Well, that’s where the pre-set comes in.  By building a pre-set, you’ll eliminate the need to rebuild the effect each and every time you want to use it.  Let me show you how easy this is.

I have already placed a picture in the timeline and, as you can see, the color balance is off….it’s skewed toward the cyan side.  I have placed this picture in the timeline in three other places and each will need the same color correction.  To correct these I am going to use the RGB Curves effect.
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Welcome to another BizVid Communications video blog.  Today I’m going to show you how to add a border to a video clip.  I know from my personal experience, sometimes I need that option in my arsenal of tricks.  Here, for example, is how I use that border look.  As you can see, it adds visual interest to your project and clearly separates the clips within the overall video.  So, how do you do it?  Well let’s get started.

I already have a clip in the timeline and the first thing I want to do is resize it.  There are a couple of ways I can do this.  One way is to go the Effects Control panel, position my mouse on the “Motion” icon then position my mouse on one of the corner handles, hold the shift key down then click and drag to whatever size I want.  Or, I can twirl down the and use the “Position” and “Scale” numbers….your preference.  Now, the reason you want to resize is that if the clip is not smaller than the frame, you won’t see the border because the border will be outside of the frame…..makes sense, right?

Okay, next item of business is to add the “Radial Shadow” effect to the clip.  That effect is easy to find.  All you have to do is go to the “Effects” panel and type “radial” in the search section.  Premiere Pro will bring up all of the radial effects and you can see here that there are only two.  We want “Radial Shadow.”  Next, click and drag the “Radial Shadow” effect onto your clip in the timeline.  When you do that, the effect appears in the “Effects Controls” window and here’s where you can tell Premiere Pro what to do with the effect.

What we want to do first is to make sure the “Shadow Only” box is unchecked and the “Resize Layer” box is checked.  Next, I want to set the opacity to 100%.  So, I position my mouse on the default 50% and click.  This will highlight the text so that all I have to do is type in 100 then click outside the box.  You could have also clicked and dragged the numbers to 100%……your preference.

Next is to select the color that I want the border to be.  The default is black and, obviously you can’t see it so let’s change to white.  Position your mouse in the “Shadow Color” box and click.  This brings up the color pallet.  You can see that the numbers for black are 0000000.  For white they are FFFFFFF or you can click and drag the color picker arrows to a color you like.  For our purposes, I will stay with white.

Now, I still have some refining to do.  The border does not look white and that’s because the radial shadow opacity is set at 50%…..let me click and drag to 100%.  Next, the position look to be off so I’ll play with the “Light Source” numbers and click and drag them around until I am happy with the look…..Okay, that’s looking better, but for me, the border is too thick so  I’ll position my mouse on the “Projection Distance” numbers and change it to “2”…..I know this is the thickness I want.

Next, if you don’t want a hard border, you can play with the softness and, as you can see, it softens up the border…but I’ll stay with the hard border.  Let’s take it one step further and get fancy….I will go to the “Effects” panel, type in “Roughen” and then click and drag the “Roughen Edges” effect onto the clip.  When I do, the “Roughen Edges” effect appears in the Effects Panel.  All I will play with here is the “Border” setting.  And when I  do, look what happens…..a cool effect that gives that old fashion picture border look to the clip.

So there you have it.  The video clip is one unit and can be clicked and dragged to any position within your frame or, it can be resized and your off and running.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and will want to subscribe to our channel for more of the same.  Be sure to visit our other blog postings  at BizVidCommunications.com/blog.  Thanks for watching.

Welcome to another in a series of BizVid communications video tutorials on Adobe Premiere Pro.  This tutorial will focus on the technique of blurring a face so that the person’s identity is protected.  I’m sure you’ve seen this effect many times.  Okay, so my project is open and the video clip I will be working with is already dropped onto the timeline.  As you can see, the face is quite identifiable.   But, we’re going to change that.

The first item of business in this process is to duplicate the clip that you want to add the blur effect to.  The way I accomplish this is to select the original, right click, scroll to copy and click.  By doing it this way, I know that I am getting an exact duplicate.  Next, I’ll select the track that I want to paste the copy onto and in this case, I have selected video track two.  When you do this, make sure that video track two is selected.  If it is not, the clip will not paste where you want it to.  Right click and paste.  Remember, wherever the current time indicator, CTI, is placed will determine the leading edge of where the video clip will be placed.  So, you want to be sure that the two line up exactly.  If not, you can always slide the clip into place.

The next step is to create a title.  I’m going to use the keystroke shortcut, control “T” to bring up the titler.  Once the titler is open, I position my mouse on the “Elipse tool”  to select it.  Next, click and drag a circle around the portion of the video that I want the blur to occur.  In this case, it will be the face.  Once the circle is created, it can be moved around anywhere within the frame by simply clicking and dragging.  Now save the title by clicking the “X.” It appears in the project folder.  Drag the title onto video track three…..let’s extend it out to the full length of the project.

Next, I need to find the type of blur I will use.  I like the mosaic effect.  It is similar to the type of effect used on the TV shows like “cops.”  To find the effect, I will go to the “Video Effects” folder and type “Stylize” in the search box.  This saves me from having to search through all of the effects.  Then scroll to “mosaic” and click and drag the “mosaic” effect to video track two.  I am still not done.

Next, I’ll find the track matt key by typing “Track Matte” in the effects search bar.  Click and drag the “track matte” effect also onto video track two.  Then, to complete the effect, open the “Effects Controls” panel and in the Track Matte effect, select video track three…this means that you are telling the track matte effect and the mosaic effect to apply themselves to video track three.  And when I do, you can see that the blur is installed.

Now, what if the subject is moving.  Well, to keep the blur on their face, you have to use your motion controls and create an animation.  Like this.  I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and will want to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see more of them.  Also be sure to visit our blog at BizVidCommunications.com/blog.  Thanks for watching.