Video Edit Magic 4.47

Using the Animated Transform Effect

The Animated Transform Video Effect in Video Edit Magic can be used to create fascinating rotating images within a video.  Using this effect you can animate your videos from the specified source to destination position, specify the number of rotations and also choose any background color for your creation.

This effect grabs the attention of your viewers and gives a cinematic touch to home videos.  The effect is similar to the "Newspaper Spin" effect seen in feature films.

You can control the Animated Transform Effect using the Effect Settings.  To learn how to apply a video effect and open the Effect Settings dialog, refer to our article on Applying Effects Correctly.

The Animated Transform Effect has these options:

  • Start position:  This specifies the position that the video clip starts at.  If you choose an off-location screen you can make a video roll into view from the edge of the screen.  Presets make it easy to select standard locations.  For example: The Bottom Left preset option will start a video clip at the bottom left side of the screen.
  •  End Position: Where the video clip will be when the Animated Transform ends.  Note that if this is not the default setting of completely filling the window, there will be a "jump" as the effect ends and the picture does take up the whole window.  You would normally only change this setting if you are using Set start position to be same as end position of the previous effect (explained below).
  •   Number of Rotations: How many times the clip "rolls" during the effect.  Raising this number (without increasing the duration of the effect) means that the clip will spin increasingly faster.  If you set the Number of Rotations to zero, the clip will simply move across the screen and/or change size, without spinning.
  •   Background Color:  Because the video clip will be smaller than the full screen when it enters, it will be seen on a solid-color background.  You can use this setting to pick the color.  The best background color is usually one that the clip blends into, often black.
  •  Set end Position to be same as start position:  If you check this checkbox, the video clip will rotate in one place, instead of moving across the screen.  It will also remain the same size during the rotation.
  •  Free From Selection:  If this option is unchecked, the image keeps the same aspect ratio.  That is, it stays the same shape throughout the rotations.  Checking this options allows you to distort the clip's shape during the Animated Transform (by dragging the edges of the rectangles) in the Start Position and End Position areas.
  •  Set start position same as end position of the previous effect:  This checkbox is only available (enabled) if there is an Animated Transform effect already on the Effect Track.  If you select this option, the Start Position of the clip will be identical to the End Position set by the previous Animated Transform.  This lets you have multi-part motion, for instance having a video clip enter from one edge, move to the opposite edge, "bounce off", and end up in the center of the window.
  •   Reset:  Once you have specified all the above details and wish to reset them, all you have to do is use this option to undo the settings you applied.
The Animated Transform effect can also be used in combination with video transitions.  Animated Transform is a video effect and is applied to a single video track.  Transitions involve both video tracks.  Combining the two can result in unique visuals that can't be achieved by either Effects or Transitions alone.

To explain this further let us try to create a Picture-in-Picture effect using Animated Transform effect in combination with Chroma Key Color transition.  One of the options under Animated Transform Effect is that it can choose the location of a video clip on screen.  On the other hand Color transparency is the functionality of Chroma Key Color Transition.  When these two functionalities are used together let us see the effect it has on a video clip.

Setting up Picture-in-Picture with Animated Transform

  1. Add a video clip or still picture to the Video 1 track.
  2. Add another video clip on the Video 2 track.
  3. In the Collections window, switch to the Effects tab.
  4. Select the Animated Transform effect and drag it to the Effect track of the Video 2 track.
  5. In the Animated Transform Effect Properties window, set Number of Rotations to zero.  Set the Width and Height of the Start Position and End Position to 196 and 154.  (This means that the clip doesn't change size during the effect.)  Drag the Start Position to the right edge of the screen and the End Position to the left edge.  Now the motorcycle will appear to move from right to left during the Animated Transform.  Also, set the Background color to white.
    Video Edit Magic - Animated Transform Effect Properties window
  6. In the Collections window, select the Transition tab.
  7. Select the Chroma Key Color transition and drag it to the Transition track.
  8. Use the Chroma Key Color Transition properties window specify the color that you want to make transparent- in this case, white.  Increase the Similarity to make colors that are close to white transparent as well.
    Video Edit Magic - Chroma Key Color properties
  9. Click OK.
After following the steps mentioned above, the Timeline will look like this:
Video Edit Magic - Timeline animated transform
The preview will look like this:
Video Edit Magic - Preview animated transform
You could position the Bike using only the Animated Transform effect.  But by using Chroma Key Color the white background behind the bike is made transparent, and the bike seems to be in the road image from the other video track--you have combined two video clips into one.  Combining Effects and Transitions lets you create unique visuals of your own.

Video Edit Magic provides you with a range of Video Transitions and video effects.  Be creative!  Combine them to create the perfect look for your movies.


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