Map Animations with Google Earth Studio
A few months ago I referred to the Google Earth Studio with a tutorial on how to make Map Animations using that service… and then of course I completely forgot about it.
So, if you haven’t heard of it, this is a free service being developed by Google that integrates the Google Earth portal with their own online animation software.
What it allows you to do is create some quite complex animations and travel route sequences which can then be downloaded and used in video projects.
As I said it is free to use but because they are still in development mode you have to sign up to get access.
That usually takes about 24 hours and you are good to go.
For a look at what you can do at the very basic level check out the video below.
If you go to This Blog Post Here you can see another tutorial using the same service.
How To Make Your Travel Video Stand Out
I am not going to say too much about this video except for this.
You can take a bunch of shots, slap them together in roughly the same sequence in which they were shot, add some music and bingo! You have a travel video.
Or, you could watch the video below… and do that.
The “Fill The Frame” In-Camera Transition
This is an explanation and demonstration of quite a popular transition that you see everywhere on YouTube these days.
It is very simple to achieve but like most things when it comes to transition… just because you can does not mean that you always should!
The Importance of Scene Transitions
The video below is an excellent discussion on the subject of transitions.
It is not really any sort of tutorial on how to do them but just a great run through of why you should do them and what effect they have on your audience’s viewing experience.
5 Creative Green Screen Effects
There are many, many tutorials online these days for how to effectively shoot green screen footage and use it in your projects.
To this day one of the best videos around on the subject of green screen is the one on this blog post here… just scroll down a bit to find it on that page.
So at this point I don’t really see much need for adding a new green screen tutorial every time a new one comes out!
However in the case of the video below I am adding it for a totally different reason.
It is a great run through not just of using green screen but an exploration of some really creative ways you can use green screen to great effect.
Don’t be put off by the use of Premiere Pro in the demonstrations, the software is irrelevant as long as your can do green screen.
How to do Stop Motion with Your Phone
Just some really good tips for getting into stop motion using you phone and a free APP.
Trying this out is a much better idea than spending a bunch of money to find out whether or not you are really interested in taking it further.
Creating J-cuts and L-cuts
Let’s talk about J-cuts and L-cuts.
One of the key factors that differentiates an amateur edit from a professional one is the use of these particular types of cut.
Simply put J-cuts and L-cuts are created by cutting the video at a different point to the accompanying audio.
So either the audio from the next scene kicks in before the video of the next scene becomes visible or the opposite happens with the visuals changing first followed by the audio.
The reason these cuts are used and are considered more “professional” is because when viewed on the screen they more accurately mimic real life so keep the audience engaged.
To get a clear idea check the video below.
I have used this one as an example because it contains really good… examples!
The fact that it is done using PowerDirector is irrelevant.
PowerDirector – Hidden Options for Titles
This one was as much of a surprise to me as it was for the guy that made the video!
When you make titles in PowerDirector 18 there is the option of certain “actions” to occur at the start and at the end of the title sequence.
That’s pretty straightforward and nothing to write home about.
However what I didn’t realize was that you can also slap certain transitions on to the start and end of your titles and whatever it is that transition does… it does it to the title!
Who knew?
How to Make the Infinite Zoom Effect – CyberLink PowerDirector 18
The Infinite Zoom effect is that effect you often see where the video zooms in on something to reveal another thing, then zooms into another and another and on and on.
It is a cool effect and basically relies on two very common features that most video editing software has.
Those features are the “pan and zoom” module and green screen.
I have posted a tutorial on this before and you can see that one at the bottom of This Post Here.
That one was done using Filmora9.
In the tutorial below pretty much the exact same thing is being done only this time in PowerDirector 18.
Creative Titles with Text Animations
This is Episode 9 in the music video series from Filmora using their “Pro” version to create a video.
In this week’s video they cover some creative choices you can make as you are beginning to approach the final steps of the process.
In this one they are specifically talking about titles and how to make them work for you and the video effectively.
Filmora Animation Effect – Filmora9 Tutorial
OK fair warning! I mostly like Daniel Batal’s videos a lot!
He really does take Filmora9, which is a pretty basic video editing program and manages to stretch it out to its full potential.
In this week’s video… well… maybe not so much.
I mean in all fairness, he has actually created a sort of animated effect.
But in order to achieve that effect he has had to go to a third party website to get the effect and spend who knows how long cutting up his video into individual images to get it all done.
Kind of a long way to go for what essentially is a rotoscoping effect that video editors slightly further up the food chain offer as an effect plugin.
But hey! If you have the time, go for it!
Lagging & Crashing? Do This!
Late last year I finally bit the bullet and wrote an entire article devoted to trouble shooting common problems people were encountering when trying to edit their videos.
You can check out that article here: Debugging Video Editing Software Problems.
The reason I wrote that article was that as you can imagine (or maybe not!) running a site like this is like a magnet for people needing help with their editing or shooting problems.
What I noticed was that the same problems kept coming up time after time and the solution to those problems was more often than not the same thing.
Being lazy I just did a one size fits all answer so instead of endlessly repeating myself I can just direct people to that page.
In the video below some of the same solutions are covered but really, it’s not just about Filmora9.
Most editing software will fall over on the basis of what is covered in the video.
Filmmaker Reacts to Crazy Commercial Camera Techniques
It has been a while since I have posted one of these and as usual it does not fail to impress!
This is a series of “behind the scenes” videos of some of the more outrageous commercials that you may have seen on TV or elsewhere.
I certainly don’t include these ones because I think anyone is going to go out and do them!
Of course more power to you if you do!
I just find them incredibly entertaining to watch and to see just how far some of these creators will go to get an effect.
Personally I am always a bit surprised at just how much physical work goes into some of these effects that I would have assumed were done using CGI.
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