Chapter 25: Video Editing Basics 815 FIGURE 25.27 This is about one-fourth of the layers that are actually contained in this timeline. Tip If you are importing a fairly large number of images, using the first method of importing an image sequence and then choosing Flatten Frames into Layers followed by Make Frames from Layers is a faster process then importing the stack, and it achieves the same result. n Trimming Video Layers As you add new video layers to a project, you may find that you need to trim them. Trimming a video layer consists of cutting the unwanted ends off the layer, leaving the rest of the video intact. You can trim a layer in several ways—by manually dragging the layer duration bar or by using the Animation (Timeline) menu options. 36_584743-ch25.indd 81536_584743-ch25.indd 815 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Part VIII: Working with Video and Animation 816 Dragging the layer duration bar The easiest and most rudimentary way to trim a layer is to drag the ends of the layer to the point where you want the video to start or end. First, you need to place the current time indicator in the place where you want to begin or end the clip. You probably can get to that spot just by your ini- tial preview of your video clip. Then simply grab the end of the layer duration bar by clicking and holding it as you drag it to the current time indicator. This isn’t a precise method, but it works well for a preliminary trim. Figure 25.28 shows my attempt at lining up the layer duration bar and the current time indicator. FIGURE 25.28 Dragging the end of the Layer Duration Bar to trim it When you drag the beginning of the layer to trim it, the layer doesn’t reposition itself at the begin- ning of the document automatically. If you want your layer to start at the beginning of the docu- ment, you can do one of two things: drag and drop the already trimmed layer to reposition it or simply drag the untrimmed layer forward, moving it out of the beginning of the document. Place the current time indicator at the beginning of the document so you can preview the video as you are shoving it out of the document. Trimming layers using the menu option If you want to trim your video more precisely, move the current time indicator to the proper area and select Trim Layer Start/End to Current Time. This trims the layer to the current time. Again, this leaves the beginning of your layer at the current time indicator rather than at the beginning of your document, as shown in Figure 25.29. This might be exactly what you wanted it to do, but if you want the layer to start at the beginning of the document, you have one other choice. Tip You can move the current time indicator to the very frame you want to trim to by using the Select Next/ Previous Frame icons that are found in the playback controls at the bottom of the Animation panel. n 36_584743-ch25.indd 81636_584743-ch25.indd 816 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Chapter 25: Video Editing Basics 817 FIGURE 25.29 Using the Animation (Timeline) panel menu to trim the layer start or end to the current time leaves you with a gap at the front of your video document. Trimming the document duration to the work area To change the document duration to the trimmed areas of your video, you can set the work area to surround the video you want keep and choose Trim Document Duration to Current Work Area from the Animation panel menu, as shown in Figure 25.30. This quickly and concisely crops your video down to the size of your set work area. If you have only one video layer in your document, this is probably your best option for trimming your video file. Figure 25.31 shows my trimmed video. Caution If you have more than one layer in your Animation (Timeline) panel, be aware that trimming the document duration to the work area trims all your layers down to the work area. To prevent inadvertently trimming a layer too short, be sure that all the video you want in your final product is contained inside the work area. n FIGURE 25.30 Move the work area indicators to the beginning and end of the area to trim to. Work area indicators Looking at trimmed layers in the Animation (Timeline) panel When you start trimming, splitting, and moving layers in the timeline, the look of the layers changes to help you visualize the edits you are making. This can be confusing until you get the 36_584743-ch25.indd 81736_584743-ch25.indd 817 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Part VIII: Working with Video and Animation 818 hang of what all the different colors represent. In Figure 25.32, you can see that the layer duration bar looks different, depending on whether content is available and if that content is visible. FIGURE 25.31 Choose Trim Document Duration to Current Work Area from the Animation panel menu, and the work area becomes your entire document. FIGURE 25.32 The color of the layer duration bar indicates where content is available and visible. When you place a video file in the timeline, the entire file is always available to you no matter how many times you trim or split it. Trimming a file changes the visibility of that file, but just like a hidden layer, the visibility can always be restored. You can do this by simply dragging the ends of the dark green areas of the layer duration bar into the light green areas to restore visibility. You also can place the current time indicator anywhere in the light green area and choose Trim Layer Start/End to Current Time, which moves the dark green area back to the current time indicator. Of course, you are working blind if you use this method, because the light green area isn’t visible. If your layer duration bar is light gray, this indicates that the area has no content at all. As you add more files to your video project, you’ll see this more often as some of your files have a longer dura- tion than others. Moving Video Layers Moving video layers is a fairly straightforward process. You’ll probably find yourself dragging lay- ers around fairly frequently without even thinking about it as you work on your video project. You can move layers around in more than one way, so I briefly cover each one so you are aware of them. 36_584743-ch25.indd 81836_584743-ch25.indd 818 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Chapter 25: Video Editing Basics 819 Changing the layer hierarchy Changing the layer hierarchy in a video project is done exactly the same as any other project. As you work in the timeline, don’t forget that the Layers panel is very much a part of your work area as well. You can select, delete, and move layers in the Layers panel. To move a layer up or down in the hierarchy, click it inside the Layers panel and drag it into position. Dragging layers inside the layer duration bar To change the relative position of a video in your timeline, you can simply click and drag its layer duration bar back and forth inside the timeline. Photoshop doesn’t have a distinguishing icon for this action, but if your layer is visible, you can preview the movement in the document window. It looks like changing the position of the current time indicator manually, but of course the layer is moving rather than the indicator. As mentioned earlier, you can drag a layer right past the begin- ning or end of the document, effectively trimming the ends of the layer. This content is always available even then, because you can always drag it back into the document. Changing the position of the layer in and layer end points The most precise way to move a layer is to use the panel menu to change the layer in or layer end point to the position of the current time indicator. Simply move the current time indicator to the position where you want the layer to begin or end, and select Move Layer In (End) Point to Current Time from the panel menu. This slides the indicated end of the layer to the current time indicator. If the layer has been previously trimmed, the Layer In/End point is defined as the visible end of the layer. Figure 25.33 indicates this type of layer movement. FIGURE 25.33 After moving the layer in point to the current time indicator, the trimmed section (light green) is still before the current time indicator and the “in point” is defined as the beginning of the visible section of the video layer. 36_584743-ch25.indd 81936_584743-ch25.indd 819 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Part VIII: Working with Video and Animation 820 Splitting Video Layers To split a video layer, move the current time indicator to the location where you want the video split and choose Split Layers from the Animation panel menu. When a video layer is split, it is divided into two different layers, with the beginning of the split video segment on one layer and the end on another, as shown in Figure 25.34. If you watch a video right after you have split it, you won’t see any difference in the video playback. FIGURE 25.34 Splitting a layer creates two layers from one. You can see from looking at the layer duration bars that the full content of the video file is on both layers. This means that you can drag either layer to duplicate the content of the other. In fact, this is a viable reason to split the layer in the first place. By dragging out the end of one of these layers and repositioning it, you can create a stutter effect in the video. That’s great for kissing shots. Another reason to split video layers is to insert something between the two clips—another video, a still shot, or a title. Figure 25.35 shows a title placed after the first segment of the split video. 36_584743-ch25.indd 82036_584743-ch25.indd 820 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Chapter 25: Video Editing Basics 821 FIGURE 25.35 Splitting a layer allows you to insert other layers between the two segments. As you saw in Figure 25.31, stacking up split layers with other layers placed in there can make the Animation panel look very busy. When you look at the Layers panel, you only have to understand how the layer hierarchy works to know which layers are visible. When you look at the Animation panel, you need to understand the hierarchy and the layer duration bar. In Figure 25.36, the layers are clearly marked so you can see which layers are visible and when. Follow the layer hierarchy down to the first visible layer. That layer is visible until another layer, higher up in the hierarchy, takes its place. After the top layer ends, the bottom layer in the hierar- chy is the only one visible, so it is played until it is superseded by the second layer, higher up in the hierarchy. The concept is simple, but as you add more layers, it can look very intimidating. Even if you understand exactly how it works, it takes practice and experience to understand what’s happening with the layers at a glance. Tip You can set layer favorites to show only the layers that you are working with at any given time. Choose Set Layer Favorites from the Animation (Timeline) panel menu. n 36_584743-ch25.indd 82136_584743-ch25.indd 821 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Part VIII: Working with Video and Animation 822 FIGURE 25.36 First, look at the layer hierarchy, and then look for the first active layer. Lifting and Extracting Unwanted Sections of Video You can clip your video and remove unwanted sections in just one step by lifting or extracting them. You can lift or extract any portion of a video layer: beginning, middle, or end. Lifting a video creates a gap in the area that the video once occupied, and extracting the video takes the video out and closes the gap, so the video layer plays continuously. Lifting a section of a video layer Lifting a section of a video layer takes the work area out of the video, leaving a gap in the video the size of the video that has been removed. To lift a section of your video, set the work area around the section that you want to lift. Choose Lift Work Area from the Animation (Timeline) panel menu. The video layer is turned into two video layers, and a gap is created inside the work area. You can see in Figure 25.37 that the work area is empty. Now I can place another file to fill the gap. Extracting a section of a video layer Extracting a section of video is a little different. Rather than deleting the video and leaving a gap, extracting it deletes the video and closes the gap. This is the easiest way to simply delete unwanted video from the middle of your video file. You can extract a section of a video layer by setting the work area around the section you want to delete. Choose Extract Work Area from the Animation panel menu. The video layer is turned into two video layers, and the second portion of the video is moved into the work area to close the gap created by the extraction. Figure 25.38 shows that the extracted video has been replaced by the remaining video. This allows uninterrupted playback of your video file without having to fill the gap created by lifting a video file. 36_584743-ch25.indd 82236_584743-ch25.indd 822 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Chapter 25: Video Editing Basics 823 FIGURE 25.37 Lifting the work area deletes the video layer inside the work area, but leaves a gap where the video used to be. Performing Slip Edits Performing a slip edit is simply a matter of dragging video footage through a trim, gap, or extrac- tion in that video footage. For example, I have created a gap in my footage by lifting the work area. Now I want to add another video file to fill the gap. I add the file and trim the ends to fill the gap perfectly, as shown in Figure 25.39. After I trimmed the new video clip, I realized that I wanted a slightly different section of video. Without the capability of a slip edit, changing this clip would be a multistep process: I would have to drag the ends of my video to the portion of the clip I wanted and then drag that section back into place to fill the gap. A slip edit can do all this in just one easy step. 36_584743-ch25.indd 82336_584743-ch25.indd 823 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM . several ways by manually dragging the layer duration bar or by using the Animation (Timeline) menu options. 36_584743-ch25.indd 81536_584743-ch25.indd 815 5/3/10 10:48 AM5/3/10 10:48 AM Part VIII:. end the clip. You probably can get to that spot just by your ini- tial preview of your video clip. Then simply grab the end of the layer duration bar by clicking and holding it as you drag it. video is moved into the work area to close the gap created by the extraction. Figure 25.38 shows that the extracted video has been replaced by the remaining video. This allows uninterrupted playback