- Creating Keyframes
- Adjusting Keyframe Timing
- Adding Multilayer Effects
- Exploring the Keyframe Editor
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Adding Multilayer Effects
Creating keyframes and adjusting their timing are all you need to know how to do to fully take advantage of them. Now that you're familiar with using keyframes, you'll learn how to add multiple layers.
Using additional layers doesn't make keyframes any more difficult to use. You still create keyframes, set up what you want your layer to do, and arrange their time values. When working with multiple layers, you just take one layer at a time.
Using Keyframes with Layers
Before you dive in and start adding layers, you need to understand how layers and keyframes work together.
The most important point is that every layer has its own keyframes. This means that you set up the keyframes for every layer you add to a slide, individually. One layer could have four keyframes, while another might have only two.
Because every layer has its own keyframes, you never have to worry about changes to the keyframes on one layer causing problems for another. They all exist in their own vacuums.
Creating a Multilayer Keyframe Effect
We'll jump right in by creating a new slide that uses three layers to create an interesting effect that combines pan and zoom. This will also illustrate how you can control when layers are visible.
If you still have the options dialog open, go ahead and close it. Let's start with a new slide and go from there:
To adjust layer 1:
- Create a new slide by dragging an image from the File List to the Slide List.
- Now add some layers to the new slide. Choose another image from the File List, hold down Control on the keyboard, and drag it onto the slide you just created (Figure 4.21).
Figure 4.21 Drag additional images onto the slide by holding down the Control key while dragging and dropping the image on the slide.
- Do the same with a third image. Now you should have three layers on the new slide. You'll see only one in the thumbnail (Figure 4.22), but the slide will display a stack icon in the Slide List.
Figure 4.22 After you drag the additional images onto the slide, the thumbnail will show one image, but you'll see a stack icon added to the slide.
Let's change the time of the slide to something you can work with. Set the slide to six seconds by clicking the time value underneath the thumbnail and entering 6 (Figure 4.23).
Figure 4.23 The new slide shows a time value of six seconds. The slide now contains three layers, though only one appears in the thumbnail.
Now you can begin setting up the motion for each layer. The easiest way to do this is to complete one layer at a time and have a plan in mind when you get started for how you'd like each layer motion to look.
Double-click the new slide, and select the Effects tab and then choose the Motion Effects tab. Select layer 1 in the Layers list (Figure 4.24).
Figure 4.24 With the Motion Effects tab selected, click layer 1 to begin defining the motion for the layer.
For this motion effect, you'll zoom in on layer 1 to 0 percent on the left side of the slide, pan right and zoom in to fill the slide, and then zoom out again to 0 percent on the right side of the slide. This step will take three keyframes.
- Click the Add button
to create a new keyframe, which will appear in the middle of the Keyframe Timeline as keyframe 2 (Figure 4.25).
Figure 4.25 Click the Add button to add a keyframe to the layer.
- Now you can set up the motion. Select keyframe pair 1 and 2, and in the left pane, change the Zoom values to 0 percent. Then move the layer to the left side of the slide (Figure 4.26).
Figure 4.26 Adjust keyframe 1 to a zoom of 0 percent, and drag the layer to the left side of the slide.
- In the right pane, the keyframe 2 position, recenter the layer on the slide, and change the Zoom values until it fills the slide frame (Figure 4.27).
Figure 4.27 You can see that layer 1 is zoomed to 0 percent to start keyframe 1, moved to the left in the left pane to end the keyframe and begin keyframe 2, and centered with Zoom values of 107 percent in the right pane.
Select keyframe pair 2 and 3 by clicking the space between them in the Keyframe Timeline. In the right pane, or keyframe 3 position, change the Zoom values for the layer to 0 percent, and move it to the right side of the slide (Figure 4.28).
Figure 4.28 Select keyframe pair 2 and 3 by clicking the Keyframe Timeline between those frames. Change the zoom and position of the right, or ending, position.
Click the Play button to see what you have so far. You should see the layer zoom in and pan until it reaches the center of the slide and then begin to zoom out until it's no longer visible on the right side.
The last step in adding motion to this layer is setting the timing for the keyframes. You want all three layers to quickly come and go during this effect, so you need to make this move fast enough to give room for the others.
The slide time is set to six seconds and you have three layers, so a total time of two seconds for each layer should be nice and even.
- Right-click keyframe 1, and choose Set Time. Change the value to three seconds, which should be the start of the Slide Time area (Figure 4.29).
Figure 4.29 Set the time of keyframe 1 by choosing the Set Time option and entering 3 as the value.
- Right-click keyframe 2, and choose Set Time. Set this to four seconds, which will be the middle of our motion (Figure 4.30).
Figure 4.30 Set keyframe 2 to four seconds.
- Finally, right-click keyframe 3, and choose Set Time. Set keyframe 3 to five seconds (Figure 4.31), which will give you a two-second period from three to five seconds for all three keyframes (Figure 4.32).
Figure 4.31 The timing for keyframe 3 is set to five seconds.
Figure 4.32 After you set all the keyframes for layer 1, the motion will occur between the three- and five-second marks of the slide.
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Click the Play button to make sure your effect is moving nice and fast. Now that this is done, you can begin setting up the other two layers (Figure 4.33).
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Figure 4.33 Here is the completed set of three keyframes, with the timing that you created in the previous steps. This will make the layer move quickly through the motions set up for it.
Layer 2 is now ready to configure. You'll start layer 2 on the right side of the slide, where layer 1 disappeared. From there, you'll do the same thing, panning and zooming across the center of the slide, as you did with layer 1.
To adjust layer 2:
- Select layer 2 in the Layers list, and click the Add button. You will have three keyframes, spread across the slide time (Figure 4.34).
Figure 4.34 Select layer 2, and click the Add button to add another keyframe.
- Select keyframe pair 1 and 2. In the left, starting pane, change the Zoom values to 0 percent and position the layer on the right side of the slide (Figure 4.35).
Figure 4.35 Set the starting position to the right side of the slide, and change the zoom to 0 percent.
- In the right pane, or keyframe 2 position, move the layer back to the center of the slide, and zoom in until it fills the slide frame (Figure 4.36).
Figure 4.36 Position the right side, or keyframe 2, to the center of the slide, and zoom to fill the slide.
- Select keyframe pair 2 and 3. In the right pane, or keyframe 3 position, change the layer zoom back to 0 percent, and move it to the left side of the slide (Figure 4.37).
Figure 4.37 Move the layer to the left side of the slide, and set the Zoom values to 0 percent for keyframe 3.
- All you have left to do is adjust the timing. Right-click keyframe 1, and choose Set Time. You want keyframe 1 to start immediately after the last keyframe for layer 1 ends. If you recall, this was at five seconds. So, set keyframe 1 for layer 2 to five seconds (Figure 4.38).
Figure 4.38 This layer should start its motion as soon as layer 1 finishes. Set the time value for keyframe 1 to five seconds, which is the ending time of layer 1.
- Keyframe 2 should already be set to six seconds, so right-click keyframe 3, choose Set Time, and set it to seven seconds (Figure 4.39).
Figure 4.39 Keyframe 3 time is set to seven seconds. This keeps the timing the same as you have in layer 1, but starting at five seconds and ending at seven seconds.
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You now have layer 2 set to begin its motion as soon as layer 1 is finished (Figure 4.40).
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Figure 4.40 Layer 2 has been set up to move in the opposite direction of layer 1. It also uses three keyframes, timed to start as soon as layer 1 ends.
For the final piece of the effect, you need to set layer 3 to begin moving in the same way as layer 1, starting when layer 2 ends at seven seconds.
To adjust layer 3:
- Click layer 3 in the Layers list. Click the Add button to prepare three keyframes for the effect (Figure 4.41).
Figure 4.41 Add another keyframe to layer 3 by clicking the Add button.
- Select keyframe pair 1 and 2. In the left pane, or keyframe 1, change the Zoom values for the layer to 0 percent, and position it on the left side of the slide frame (Figure 4.42).
Figure 4.42 Move the keyframe 1 starting position to the left of the slide, and set the Zoom values to 0 percent.
- In the right pane, or keyframe 2, position the layer back in the center of the slide, and increase the Zoom values until it fills the slide frame (Figure 4.43).
Figure 4.43 Set the keyframe 2 ( in the lower-right pane) back to the center of the slide, and zoom to fill the frame.
- Select keyframe pair 2 and 3. In the right pane, or keyframe 3, change the Zoom values to 0 percent, and position the layer on the right side of the slide frame (Figure 4.44).
Figure 4.44 Select keyframe pair 2 and 3, and then position the layer on the right side of the slide with Zoom values of 0 percent.
- The timing is all that's left. Right-click keyframe 2, and choose Set Time. Change the value to eight seconds. You're starting with keyframe 2 this time because it must be moved back to make room to adjust keyframe 1 (Figure 4.45).
Figure 4.45 To adjust the timing for the final layer, you start with keyframe 2 and set the value to eight seconds.
Right-click keyframe 1, and choose Set Time. Change the value to seven seconds (Figure 4.46), which is when the last keyframe for layer 2 ended. Finally, right-click keyframe 3, choose Set Time, and enter 9 for nine seconds (Figure 4.47). Figure 4.48 shows the completed keyframe adjustments for the slide.
Figure 4.46 Set the time value for keyframe 1 to seven seconds. This will start the motion as soon as layer 2 is completed.
Figure 4.47 Set the time value for keyframe 3 to nine seconds, giving it the same duration as the other two layers on the slide.
Figure 4.48 The last pieces of the effect, the settings for layer 3, are complete, and the slide is ready to go, with motion for each layer beginning at the end of the previous layer motion settings.
Click the Play button again to see your final motion effect. You should see layer 1 move across the screen from left to right, zooming in and out. Just as layer 1 ends, layer 2 will perform the same movement in the opposite direction. This will repeat with layer 3 to close the effect.
This dynamic effect is a great way to show off your knowledge of keyframes. That's all there is to using keyframes to create motion and harnessing what you can do with layers.
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