Hello and welcome to the eighth video in
this Beginner's Guide to Adobe After Effects. This is the first video in the
second section of this course, Essential practise. In this section we are going to
cover a lot of cool things After Effects can do. We are going to get hands-on and
learn by undertaking a number of exercises which later in the next
section we will use to build a project from scratch. In this tutorial I'm going
to show you how to manage video in After Effects and how to perform a simple
video edits. Now it's important to state at the start of this video that After
Effects is not a video editing program by design. Now that's not to say you
cannot do video editing in After Effects. In this video I'm going to show you how
but it's important to note that Adobe After Effects is primarily used for
post-production. Any video you use in After Effects will typically be edited
in a specialized video editing program like Adobe Premiere first, exported and
then brought into After Effects. That's how I make my videos for example I first
shoot my raw video, then edit it together in Adobe Premiere, export from there and
import into After Effects. Remember After Effects is based on compositing and
works not only with video footage but with still images, type and files brought
in from other programs like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and 3D programs to
create video presentations. What you will come to learn is that video editing in
Premiere as opposed to After Effects is a far more easier task. However when we
bring in video that has been exported from other programs we still need to
edit it in After Effects to a certain degree. In this video I'll be showing you
an example of how to edit video simply in After Effects. So in this video we're
going to be covering the following topics: Importing video into After
Effects and editing video clips in the timeline panel.
So first I'll start by showing you what we are going to create in this video and
then I will show you how to do it. So let's get into it! So here I am in After
Effects and I have a project open demonstrating a simple video edit
sequence I have prepared earlier and here I have
some footage of marine life taken at the London Aquarium. If we look in the
timeline panel we can see that this is made up of 7 video layers and we can see
the red line traveling across the time line indicating we are in preview mode.
Looking at the timeline panel we can see the classic layer bars and as the red
line passes over each bar we can see how this edit looks in the composition panel
above. Now if you want to follow along with this video and create your own
video edit like this, you will need to download the project folder. You can
download the project folder for a small fee, the download link with instructions
is in the description. The download folder comes with lots of exercise
documents we will be using on this course that have been carefully
developed to aid your learning experience. The folder also comes with
document resources such as videos, graphics and images you can use to build
your first video presentation from scratch later on in this course. To get
the full learning experience I recommend you get the project folder, download link
with instructions is in the description. So with the project folder open click
into the S-2 essential practise folder, into the 8th folder, simple video editing
and open the video editing After Effects file and you will have the same document
I have opened here. Now if we look carefully in the timeline panel we can
see that only part of each video layer bar is highlighted and they string
together seamlessly in a stack to create this edit. This is how a typical video
edit looks in After Effects. When we place video into compositions we
cannot easily cut and move parts of it around like we can in video editing
programs like Premiere Pro. When we place a video file into After Effects we have
to work with its entire contents on a layer and clip which part is visible and
which part is not. OK so with that introduction, let's see
how we can create a simple edit like this in After Effects. So first I'm going
to close this project down. I'll come to file scroll down and select close
project. So with the blank screen here I'm going to begin by dragging in some
video files, to do this I'm going to make sure I can see my browser window on top
of the After Effects interface. In the project folder I'll come to the assets
folder into the video folder, then into the Aquarium folder and in here you will
find some video files. So in this instance I'm going to select them all by
clicking and dragging over them, then drag them into the project panel on the
left of the After Effects interface. Upon release they should all appear in the
panel. So the first thing I'm going to do is create a new composition. So I'll come
up to composition at the top bar click and select new composition, with the
composition settings window open I'll name the comp to 'video edit'. Next I'll
click here on the preset drop-down. Now I'm based here in Europe, so I'm going to
set this to HDTV 25, if you're based in the United States you may want to go
with your regional standard which is 29.97 frames per second. So you may want
to go for HDTV 29.97. So I'll select HDTV 25 and this is going to result in 25
frames per second. So by clicking on this it will set my dimensions to 1920 by
1080. Next I'll set my Duration to 35 seconds and I'll keep the background
black and click OK. Upon click we will have a new
composition to work with. So with the new composition ready I'll place in my video.
So I'll come over to the project panel and the first video I'm going to add
will be the deep blue clip. So I can do this a number of ways, I can click and
drag it down into the timeline name section and release like so, and I'll
just undo that, or I can click and drag into the composition panel, as I do this
I can see the outline of the video, I'll make sure it snaps to the borders and
release. I'll undo that, now another way is to use
the keyboard shortcut. So with the media selected in the project panel I can
press command ? on Mac or Ctrl / on PC and this will place the
video straight into the timeline panel. So here I have my first video footage as
a layer in my timeline. Now if I come under the composition panel hit the
resolution factor pop-up, I'll click on half then I'll make sure my time
indicator is at the start of my timeline and I'll press spacebar to preview my
video like so, easy! So for now, I'll click spacebar again to stop. Right, so let's
get some more videos in here. So over in the project panel this time I'm going to
press and hold command on a Mac or Ctrl on PC and select fish, 2, 3, 5, horse 1,
jelly 1, and jelly 2, with them all selected I can either press command /on
Mac or ctrl forward slash on PC to quickly place them into my timeline
panel or I can click and drag them over into the compositions panel. As I do this
I can see the outline of the video, I'll make sure it snaps to the borders and
release. Upon release we can see the video layers appear in the timeline. So
looking closely at the layers we can see that these clips vary in length and we
can tell this by the lengths of the bars. Now in this instance, we only want each
video clip to show for five seconds, so these video layers will work just
fine. So with our videos in the timeline panel, now we are ready to edit. So the
first video file I want to edit is deep blue, but right now this is set at the
bottom of the layers. If I come over to the layer names, I'll click and hold the
layer name for this layer and drag it to the top of the layer stack. Upon release
I can now see it on top, so if I click and drag my time indicator across this
layer the entirety of this video layer is visible. Now if I carefully put my
mouse cursor over the end of the layer bar on the right we will see the mouse
cursor icon change to arrows pointing horizontally in and out. Now if I click
and drag inwards like so, we will notice that we are dragging in the
highlighted part of the layer bar, for now I'll drag this in to around 15
seconds referring to the numbers in the top of the timeline ruler. Next I'll do
the same, but on the left-hand side. So I'll place my mouse cursor over the far
left side of the layer bar, when the mouse cursor icon changes to arrows
pointing horizontally in and out I'll click and drag into ten seconds like so.
So if we look carefully the rest of the layer bar still exists, but we have
simply edited the highlighted part of the bar. Whatever is highlighted on the
video bar is visible, if I click and drag my time indicator across from the
beginning we can not see the video but if I move it across into the highlighted
area we can now see it in the composition panel above. So that is the
main principle of editing a video clip in a composition in the timeline panel.
Now I want this highlighted bit to be at the start of my composition, next I'll
click on the highlighted area and drag left so the start of the highlighted
area starts at the start of the timeline, easy! So that's my first clip edited. now
it's just a case of doing the same process to my other clips and placing
them in the correct position. So next I'll click and drag the next video layer
up and under my first one. In this case I want the next clip to be jelly one. I'll
click and drag this up and under deep blue, next I'll click across on the
timeline ruler, so I can see my new clip in the composition panel. This time I'm
going to click and drag my layer left and right like so, to try and find a good
starting point in my composition panel above. Once I find a good starting point
I'm going to edit the layer, now earlier we put our mouse cursor at the end of
each layer bar and drag them in. Now here is a quick tip, first place the time
indicator where you want to begin and press alt open square bracket on the
keyboard, notice the highlighted area of the clip snaps right to the time
indicator, easy! So next I'm going to click and drag the layer under the deep
blue layer. By holding shift the start of the highlighted area is going to snap to
the start of the highlight area above. Next I'm going to click and
drag my time indicator left while holding shift to snap to the end of the
deep blue layer above. With the jelly layer selected and my time indicator in
place I'll press Alt close square bracket and the highlight area is now
clipped exactly the same as the layer above. Next I'll click and drag my new
edited clip layer to the right while holding shift so the start of my new
clip snaps to the end of the clip above. So now I have my two layers edited if I
click and drag the time indicator over them we can see how that looks. So let's
do this again for the next video layer. This time with the fish 3 layer. So I'll
click and drag the layer up and under the jelly 1.mp4 layer. So I'll click
and drag the layer bar over to the right, I'll click on the time ruler so I can
see it, I'll find an appropriate place towards the beginning and I'll press alt
open square bracket to trim the clip. like last time, I'll drag the layer
across under my first clip while holding shift to snap it in line with the top
layer, I'll drag my time indicator left while holding shift to snap to the end
of the top layer. With my fish 3 layer selected I'll press Alt close square bracket to
trim the end of the clip then I'll click and drag my new edited clip layer over
to the right while holding shift to snap it to the end of my second layer, easy!
and if I click and drag the time indicator over my 3 edited clips we can
see how that looks. So let's do this again but this time with the horse 1 layer.
So first I'll click and drag it up and under the fish 3 layer, I'll click and
drag the bar over to the right, I'll click on the time ruler so I can see it,
I'll find an appropriate place towards the beginning or maybe in this case
towards the middle and I'll press alt open square bracket to trim the clip. Like last
time I'll drag the layer across under my first layer while holding shift to snap
in line with the top layer, I'll drag my time indicator left while holding shift
to snap to the end of the top layer, with my horse layer selected I'll press Alt
close square bracket to trim the clip, then I'll click and drag my new edited
bar over to the right while holding shift to snap it to the end of my third
layer and if I click and drag my time indicator over my four edited clips we can
see that's looking just fine, So by using this technique we are making sure each
video clip is the same length. So next the fish five video layer. I'll click and
drag it up and under the horse layer, I'll click and drag the bar over to the
right I'll click on the time ruler so I can see, it I'll find an appropriate
place to begin the video clip and I'll press alt open square bracket to trim the start
of the clip. I'll drag the layer across under my first layer while holding shift
to snap it in line with the top layer, I'll drag my time indicator left while
holding shift to snap to the end of the top layer, with the fish layer selected
I'll press Alt close square bracket to trim the end of the clip, then I'll click and drag
my new edited clip over to the right while holding shift to snap it to the
end of my fourth layer. So next the jelly 2 video layer, I'll click and drag it up
and under fish 5, I'll click and drag the bar over to the right, I'll click on the
time ruler, so I can see it, I'll find an appropriate place to begin the video
clip and I'll press alt open square bracket to trim the clip. I'll drag the layer across
and under my first layer while holding shift to snap it in line with the top
layer, I'll drag my time indicator left while holding shift to snap to the end
of the top layer, with the jellyfish 2 layer selected I'll press Alt close square
bracket to trim the clip, then I'll click and drag the new edited clip over to the
right while holding shift to snap it to the end of my fifth layer, easy! OK so one
last time with the last layer I'll click and drag the layer bar over to the right,
I'll click the time ruler so I can see it, I'll find an appropriate place to
begin the video clip and I'll press alt open square bracket to trim the clip, I'll drag
the layer across under my first layer while holding shift to snap it in line
with the top layer, I'll drag my time indicator left while holding shift to
snap to the end of the top layer. With my jellyfish 2 layer
selected I'll press alt close square bracket to trim the end of the clip, then I'll
click and drag the new edit clip bar over to the right while holding shift to
snap it to the end of the sixth layer and there we have our final clip in
position completing the composition video edit. So
if I now click and drag the time indicator to the start of the timeline
ruler and make sure the resolution factor pop-up is set to full, I'll press
spacebar to activate preview and the video edit will play out just how I want
it, perfect! So that is how you can edit video in After Effects. Now there is
something else you will need to be aware of as a beginner. On occasions you may
find yourself accidentally double-clicking on a video layer in your
timeline, for example with the video edit complete let's double click on a video
layer here. Now upon double-click the video will appear in another tab in the
composition panel. This is a way to isolate a video layer to inspect it, in
this instance we are no longer looking at the video edit reflected in the
timeline panel below. Now in this instance as you scroll across your
timeline you will not be able to see any of your other layers on the timeline. Now
as a beginner you may wonder where your comp has gone. Now don't worry if you
look carefully in a composition panel above you will see your comp is still
present but on a tab on the left. If ever you find you have accidentally double
clicked on a video layer you can simply close down the tab in the composition
panel at the top to come back to your main comp. So remember to keep this in
mind. So now you know how to manage and edit
video it's now time to start applying basic animation. In the previous episode
I discussed in depth keyframes. In the next video we are going to start to get
more hands-on with keyframes. In the next video I'll be discussing simple
animation principles and showing you how to animate in After Effects with
keyframes. So see you in the next video!
