Quick Tip is a weekly column that shows beginners how to recreate popular visual effects. I also discuss examples and best practices for journalists who want to use it in their videos.
Looking back through my newspapers’ archives makes me feel like a classic movie gumshoe.
I’ve spent the last few days looking at photographs The Patriot-News and Allied Pix have taken throughout the years. I mean actually pulling out folders and spreading the pictures out on a flat surface, not punching in a query in a search engine.
In the interest of time, I’ve panned and scaled these photographs in my video — the Ken Burns effect, as it’s often called — to make them less static. However, there is a way to imitate depth and motion in these pictures with the help of our ol’ friends Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects.
It’s called the parallax or 2.5D effect. You can use this technique on any photograph but I personally think there’s magic in bringing old pictures to life, as in this video from my talented friend and former colleague Sarah Welliver.
Looking back through my newspapers’ archives makes me feel like a classic movie gumshoe.
I’ve spent the last few days looking at photographs The Patriot-News and Allied Pix have taken throughout the years. I mean actually pulling out folders and spreading the pictures out on a flat surface, not punching in a query in a search engine.
In the interest of time, I’ve panned and scaled these photographs in my video — the Ken Burns effect, as it’s often called — to make them less static. However, there is a way to imitate depth and motion in these pictures with the help of our ol’ friends Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects.
It’s called the parallax or 2.5D effect. You can use this technique on any photograph but I personally think there’s magic in bringing old pictures to life, as in this video from my talented friend and former colleague Sarah Welliver.
However, journalists need to use their best judgement when it comes to manipulating photographs. I can show you how to make people flail their arms and fly off the screen, but you have to decide for yourself if that misrepresents the facts.
If we’re all on the same page, let’s make some photographs dance.
Cutting and pasting
The first thing you'll need to do is — duh — bring up a photograph in Adobe Photoshop. This explanation will use a picture of a sleepy red panda because why not?
If we’re all on the same page, let’s make some photographs dance.
Cutting and pasting
The first thing you'll need to do is — duh — bring up a photograph in Adobe Photoshop. This explanation will use a picture of a sleepy red panda because why not?
Now you'll have to take out the red panda.
It'll come back later though, so hold your tears. Use the "Quick Selection tool" — that's the icon with the brush over a dotted circle to the left of the screen — to select the fur ball and the branch that it's sleeping on. You'll want to zoom in really close to make sure that you've also selected all the edges.
Once you're done, cut out the selection and place it onto new layer. To do this, click "Layer" in the top menu, hover over "New" and select "Layer..."
Once you're done, cut out the selection and place it onto new layer. To do this, click "Layer" in the top menu, hover over "New" and select "Layer..."
You'll want to hide the red panda for this next step. In the layer window to the right of the screen, click on the eye icon next to the layer with the our furry friend.
What you're left with is an ugly white shape in the middle of the photograph. The next step involves recreating the scene as if the red panda was never there. To do so, you need to fill in the blank space by copying and pasting other parts of the forest into it.
That's where the "Clone Stamp tool" — the icon with the stamp to the left of the screen — comes in. With the "Alt" key held down, click on a part of the photograph that you want to copy. You will now be able to "clone" that section anywhere else in your picture.
Once you're done, it should look something like this.
What you're left with is an ugly white shape in the middle of the photograph. The next step involves recreating the scene as if the red panda was never there. To do so, you need to fill in the blank space by copying and pasting other parts of the forest into it.
That's where the "Clone Stamp tool" — the icon with the stamp to the left of the screen — comes in. With the "Alt" key held down, click on a part of the photograph that you want to copy. You will now be able to "clone" that section anywhere else in your picture.
Once you're done, it should look something like this.
It doesn't look great, but our red panda layer is going to block out that nastiness in Adobe After Effects. Unhide the red panda layer and save the photograph as a ".psd" file.
Let's dance
Let's dance
Now that the hard work of touching up your photograph is out of the way, you can start to make it move.
Bring your ".psd" file into Adobe After Effects, and this window should pop up. Select "Composition" using the Import Kind drop-down menu and "Editable Layer Styles" in the Layer Options box.
Bring your ".psd" file into Adobe After Effects, and this window should pop up. Select "Composition" using the Import Kind drop-down menu and "Editable Layer Styles" in the Layer Options box.
This will create a folder in the Project window with all your layers. Drag these onto the timeline in the order you had them in Adobe Photoshop.
As I mentioned, you then have to place these different elements on a 3D plane. To manipulate your layers in three dimensions, you have to click on the cube icon to the right of your layers' names in the timeline.
You'll then want to see where these layers are in relation to each other. One way to do this is to get a top-down view of our project.
Click on the "Select view layout" drop down menu that reads "1 View" and select "2 Views - Horizontal." You can find it at the bottom of the Composition window, which is where your preview appears.
This will bring up a separate window in your Composition window, as you can see in the picture below. The reason why it appears to be blank is because we're looking at a flat layer at a 90 degree angle. You know it's there though from the dotted lines that runs through the composition.
You'll then want to see where these layers are in relation to each other. One way to do this is to get a top-down view of our project.
Click on the "Select view layout" drop down menu that reads "1 View" and select "2 Views - Horizontal." You can find it at the bottom of the Composition window, which is where your preview appears.
This will bring up a separate window in your Composition window, as you can see in the picture below. The reason why it appears to be blank is because we're looking at a flat layer at a 90 degree angle. You know it's there though from the dotted lines that runs through the composition.
You're now ready to position your images on a plane. Select your layers and press "P" to bring up its "Position" options, which should now have a third value for your "Z-index." Think of it as how close or far your layer is from the camera.
Move the layer without the red panda farther away from the camera. You can manipulate the "Z-index" in the timeline or click and drag the blue arrow in your composition windows to move it along this plane.
What you'll notice is that the layer gets smaller the further away it is. To remedy this, just click the layer and press "S" to bring up the "Scale" option. Size it so that it fits the screen.
Move the layer without the red panda farther away from the camera. You can manipulate the "Z-index" in the timeline or click and drag the blue arrow in your composition windows to move it along this plane.
What you'll notice is that the layer gets smaller the further away it is. To remedy this, just click the layer and press "S" to bring up the "Scale" option. Size it so that it fits the screen.
You can now move the layers by setting down keyframes. Have the red panda layer move toward and the forest layer move away from the camera. The final render should look something like this.
Taking it a little further
Sleepy red pandas aren't going to move a lot, so the parallax effect will do just fine. However, there is a way to make people, animals, plants — anything, really — move naturally in your photographs.
I'd like to introduce the "Puppet Pin" tool.
Sleepy red pandas aren't going to move a lot, so the parallax effect will do just fine. However, there is a way to make people, animals, plants — anything, really — move naturally in your photographs.
I'd like to introduce the "Puppet Pin" tool.
I recommend using action shots with the "Puppet Pin" tool, such as the picture below of Elvis dancing. It gives you an idea of how and where certain objects are moving.
Select the "Puppet Pin" tool — the one that looks like a pin — in the tool bar above the Project window. You can set down "pins" by clicking on the layer.
Build a skeletal frame for Elvis using these "pins." When you're done, it should look something like the image below.
Build a skeletal frame for Elvis using these "pins." When you're done, it should look something like the image below.
Click on the arrow to the right of your layer's name in the time. You then need to click on the arrows next to Effect and then Puppet and then Mesh 1 and then Deform.
You'll find all the "Puppet Pins" you've set down for your image here. Animating these puppet pins is like setting the "Position" option for any layer. You can either set down keyframes or move the yellow circles in the Composition window.
Adobe After Effects will try its best to imitate how Elvis' limbs move by deforming the image. This part takes a little trial and error.
For example, you'll need to select and move all the "Puppet Pins" you've placed for Elvis' foot. By moving just the ankle, the heel and toes will remain at the same place. It'll end up looking something like this.
You'll find all the "Puppet Pins" you've set down for your image here. Animating these puppet pins is like setting the "Position" option for any layer. You can either set down keyframes or move the yellow circles in the Composition window.
Adobe After Effects will try its best to imitate how Elvis' limbs move by deforming the image. This part takes a little trial and error.
For example, you'll need to select and move all the "Puppet Pins" you've placed for Elvis' foot. By moving just the ankle, the heel and toes will remain at the same place. It'll end up looking something like this.
Here's what Elvis will look like once you've rendered out your animation.
Phew! That was quite a wordy post today, but I hope it'll get you started on animating your photographs.
I'll be back again next week with another trick you can use for your videos. Thanks for reading!
I'll be back again next week with another trick you can use for your videos. Thanks for reading!