Express Jeans Promo Video in Premiere Pro

Topics covered in this Premiere Pro tutorial:

Creating a Stop-Motion Photo Sequence, Rotating a Nested Sequence, The Opacity Mask, The Ultra Key Effect, The Basic 3D Effect, The Color Workspace, Exporting High-Quality Video, Creating a High-Quality Export Preset

Exercise Preview

Exercise Overview

In this exercise, we’ll create a stop motion promo video for Express Jeans. We will learn how to sequence the photos, remove a greenscreen using a Keying effect, and put it all together with some text. We’ll also do some color correction with Lumetri Color.

Previewing the Final Video

1. Let’s see a preview of what you’ll be making. It has sound, so make sure your speakers are turned on, or your headphones are plugged in.

2. On the Desktop, navigate to Class Files > Premiere Pro Class > Express Jeans > Finished Movie and double–click express-jeans.mp4.

3. Notice the following (watch it as often as needed):

   • The video begins with five pairs of jeans (for five days of the week) over a textured background.
   • Each of the jeans then pop off of the background, one pair at a time in time with the music.
   • The background then wipes to white, and five lines of text pop up line by line, also in time with the music.
   • We then cut to the jeans doing their thing once more, followed by another wipe to white and the text. So essentially, the whole thing repeats twice.

Getting Started

1. In Premiere Pro, go to File > Close All Projects to close any open projects.

2. To save time, we did some of the initial setup for you. Go to File > Open Project.

3. Navigate into Desktop > Class Files > Premiere Pro Class > Express Jeans, and double–click on Express Jeans Start to open it.

4. Premiere will probably ask you to set your Scratch Disk location. Next to each setting (Captured Video, Captured Audio, etc.), choose Same as Project from the menu (this should be the default).

5. Go to File > Save As.

6. Name the file yourname-ExpressJeans.prproj and save it into Desktop > Class Files > Premiere Pro Class > Express Jeans.

7. In the Timeline, notice that we’ve already created a sequence for you, jeans_seq with the background image and audio track we’ll be using.

8. Hit play to preview the music and get a sense of what we’re working with. You’ll notice that the guitar strums five times at the beginning, ending around 1:13. We’ll want our first jeans sequence to end by this timecode.

   NOTE: Feel free to drag down on the bottom of the A1 track so that you see the waveforms better.

9. Move the playhead to 1:13.

10. Select the clip on A1.

11. Hit the M key to add a marker at this point in time.

Creating a Stop-Motion Photo Sequence

1. In the Project panel, expand the photos bin, and the jeans_JPG bin within it. You’ll see that this folder contains all of our jeans images.

2. At the top of the Project panel, drag the right side of the Name column so that you can see the full name of all the images.

3. Drag the first image jeans_001_01_X1_001.jpg down to the New Item icon .

   This should open a new tab in the Timeline for this new sequence.

4. In the Project panel, locate the new jeans_001_01_X1_001 sequence . It should be within the jeans_JPG folder, below the images.

5. Rename the sequence to jeans-photos.

6. Drag it out to an empty space to its left, so that it’s released from the folder.

7. We want this sequence to match our jeans_seq in terms of frames per second. At the top of the Timeline, click on jeans–seq to return to its tab.

8. Go to Sequence > Sequence Settings and notice that:

   • Timebase is set to 24.00 frames/second
   • Display Format is set to 24 fps Timecode.
   • Under Video Previews, notice the Width and Height of 1080. Take note that we can nest into this sequence any size footage or sequence that we want.

9. Click Cancel (we only came here to check the fps).

10. At the top of the Timeline, switch back to the jeans-photos tab.

11. Let’s open its Sequence Settings. Go to Sequence > Sequence Settings.

12. Set the Timebase to 24.00 frames/second.

13. Set Display Format to 24 fps Timecode.

14. Leave all the other settings as is, and click OK.

15. We need the audio track to sync our photos. At the top of the Timeline, switch to jeans–seq.

16. Select and copy the audio track on A1.

17. At the top of the Timeline, switch back to the jeans-photos tab.

18. Paste the audio track. This will allow us to time the jeans photos to the audio track.

19. Drag the bottom of A1 down (to make it taller) and zoom into the Timeline so you can see where the waveform is peaking.

    Wherever the waveform peaks, that’s where we will bring in each photo!

Sequencing & Aligning Stop-Motion Photos

We’ve done some of the groundwork for you by choosing the photos we’ll be using. You don’t have to use the same exact photos as we did, but you do need to use five photos in total to match the audio.

1. At 0:00, we’ll use the first photo ending in 00001.jpg (it should already be there).

2. Move the playhead to 0:04 where we want the next photo to come in.

3. In the Project panel, make sure you can see the full name for each of the jeans photos. If not, increase the width of the Name column so you can.

4. Select the fourth image (0004.jpg) and drag it to the Timeline, dropping it at the playhead.

5. Move the playhead to 0:10.

6. Drag the seventh image (0007.jpg) to the Timeline, dropping it at the playhead.

7. Move the playhead to 0:15 and drop in 0010.jpg.

8. Move the playhead to 0:21 and drop in 0014.jpg.

9. We want the last photo to end at 1:03. Move the playhead there, and drag in the end of the last photo so that it ends there.

10. Let’s preview what we have so far. Play the video back from the beginning (hit the Home key (or Fn–Left Arrow to get there).

    The first photo (ending in 00001.jpg) has a slight shift between it and the ones next to it, because someone bumped the camera after the first shot. It happens!

11. We have a trick to fix the shift. Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) between the first and second photos and select Apply Default Transitions.

12. We only want the transition to be 4 frames long, so double–click it and change the Duration to 4.

13. Open the Effect Controls panel.

14. Make sure Alignment is set to Center at Cut.

15. At the bottom of the Program Monitor, click into the Select Zoom Level menu (which most likely says Fit) and zoom in to 50%.

16. Use the scrollbars on the right and bottom to of the Program Monitor to view the center of the setup. We find that it’s normally easiest to align to something small such as the stitching on the dark jeans. Because the only shift we see is between the first image to the other images, we’re only going to adjust the 00001.jpg image.

17. Go into the Sequence menu and make sure Selection Follows Playhead is unchecked.
18. In the Timeline, select the first image (00001.jpg).
19. In the Effect Controls panel, adjust its Position slightly to 2594, 1724.

20. In the Program Monitor, change the zoom back to Fit.

21. Scrub through between the first and second photos to see that they should be looking pretty good and aligned.

22. Now that the photos are aligned, you can select the Cross Dissolve and hit Delete.

23. Play back from the beginning to see how it’s looking so far. That works.

Rotating the Jeans Photos Sequence

In the final movie, the jeans images are vertical, but currently, they’re laid out horizontally. Let’s see how we can rotate them, and fix their alignment.

1. In the Timeline, close the jeans_photos tab.

2. In the Timeline, make sure you’re back in the jeans-seq tab.

3. Click the Source Monitor tab to your upper left-hand side, so it’s visible.

4. From the Project panel, drag jeans_photos to the Source Monitor so it’s visible there.

5. Drag the Drag Video Only button to the Timeline, dropping it at the beginning and on V2 (the topmost video track).

   We’ve just created a nested sequence. In other words, one edit (the high-resolution jeans photos sequence) embedded inside another edit (our square-format Express Jeans sequence). This is also sometimes referred to as a subsequence.

6. Before we move on, let’s do a little organizing in the Project panel. Drag jeans_photos into the subsequences folder.
7. In the Timeline, click on jeans-photos in the V2 track.

8. It’s enormous, so in the Effect Controls panel:

   • Set Scale to 32.
   • Set Rotation to –90°.
   • Set Position to 482, 522.

   This gives the images a slightly better composition in this frame. Because we used a subsequence containing all our photos (one sequence within another), we only needed to make these position, scale and rotation changes once, rather than adjusting the photos one at a time.

The Opacity Mask

1. In the Timeline, make sure you are viewing the first frame (which has the most jeans in it).

   We don’t want to accidentally cut any of our jeans off in the next steps!

2. Notice that we still have some visible tape in the frame in the top right, as well as the grommet in the top left. This will effect our greenscreen removal so to remove these areas, we’ll use an opacity mask.

3. In the Effect Controls panel, expand Opacity.

4. Below Opacity, click on the Create 4-point polygon mask .

   NOTE: The 4-point polygon mask will work for our purposes, but take note that the Free draw bezier option allows you to draw a free-form shape, which can be handy in some situations.

5. In the Program Monitor, you’ll see a blue rectangular mask appear. This is obviously not incorporating all of our jeans, so we’ll need to adjust the mask into more of a house-shape.

   NOTE: Depending on the speed of your computer, you may need to wait a few moments between adjusting individual mask points.

6. The easiest way to adjust masks is to adjust each of the corners first, making sure you can see all of the edges of the frame. Make sure you can see all the edges of the frame by setting the zoom level to Fit or smaller.

7. Drag out each of the corners to include the entire frame, avoiding the topmost section that includes the tape and grommet we want to eliminate. The only thing that should get cut off at this point, is the top of the first pair of jeans. It should look like the image below:

   

8. We want to add another point at the top of the mask. To add a point, click between the two existing points as shown below:

   

9. Drag that point upward above the frame so that you have a house-like mask.

10. We’re not quite encompassing all of the jeans, so add another point as shown:

    

11. Drag the new point to the top of the screen so all of the jeans are included in the mask.

12. Let’s scale this down a little to check our work. In the Effect Controls panel, Motion section, set the Scale to 25.

13. Adjust the mask as necessary so that you’re including all of the jeans and their shadows. (You may need to adjust the bottom and top points a little.)

    

14. Now that we’re done adjusting the mask, we can return to our original scale value. Set the Scale to 32.

The Ultra Key Effect

Now that the jeans are on a nice solid green background, we can apply a key effect. In order to remove the green background, we’ll use a Keying effect. Keying refers to keeping or removing a unique color from a scene to create an area of transparency. It’s often referred to as bluescreen or greenscreen removal.

1. Open the Effects panel (Window > Effects).

2. In the search field near the top, type in ultra.

3. Under Video Effects > Keying, locate Ultra Key.

4. Drag Ultra Key on to the jeans_photos clip.

5. In the Effect Controls panel, swivel closed any effects you’re not currently using (such as Motion and Opacity) so that we can focus on the Ultra Key controls.

6. Click on the word Ultra Key to select it.

7. Below Ultra Key, to the right of Key Color click on the eyedropper . We’ll use this to select the green color we want to remove.

8. We want to select a representative sample of the green background. We don’t want just one pixel of color, we want an average. Hold the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) key down and notice that the eyedropper gets bigger when you do so.

9. While holding Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows), click on the green background to the left of the third pair of jeans. This spot should give you an average value of the green color.

10. The green background should have been removed, but let’s see if we need to do some more adjusting. In the Effect Controls under Ultra Key, set the Output menu to Alpha Channel.

    This shows us which pixels are opaque (white), transparent (black), or semi-transparent (gray). You’ll see by all the gray that it didn’t do a great job so far.

11. To the right of Key Color, click on the color box to open the Color Picker window.

12. Set the color to #67D283 and click OK. We found this color to work well.

13. To the right of Setting, choose Aggressive. Notice that this does a good job of getting rid of a lot of the screen.

14. Expand Matte Generation to see some further settings.

15. Increase the Pedestal slightly to 70. That’s looking pretty good! The jeans area is a solid black (transparent), and the background area is white (or opaque).

    The semi-transparent areas around the jeans are fine as is, as that’s the shadow.

16. If you see gray pixels in the corners of the frame, you can adjust your Opacity Mask points further in the Opacity section, by clicking on Mask (1) to make the points editable again. Switch back to the Ultra Key section when you’re finished.

17. In Ultra Key, switch back the Output menu to Composite. Here you can see more clearly that the shadows are still there, which is what we want. We’re done with our greenscreen removal!

The Basic 3D Effect

1. Let’s add a few subtle adjustments to the background. Select the background clip on V1.

2. In the Effects window, search for basic.

3. Drag Basic 3D onto the scratched-and-scraped-metal-texture-12.jpg clip on V1. This will give the background a little perspective so it’s not completely flat.

4. In the Effect Controls under Basic 3D, set the Tilt to –12º. This will just tilt the top of the image back a little to mimic the camera angle that the jeans were shot at.

5. Set the Distance to Image to 9. This pushes it back a little in space.

The Color Workspace

We also think the jeans could pop a little more against the background. For this color correction, we’ll use the Color workspace.

1. At the top of Premiere, click on Color. This switches to the Lumetri Color workspace.

2. Make sure it’s reset to the original settings by going to Window > Workspaces > Reset to Saved Layout.

3. In the Timeline, click on jeans-photos to select it.

4. In the Lumetri Color panel, click on Basic Correction to expand those settings.

   Once we start to make adjustments here, the Lumetri Color effect will be automatically added to our clip, and further changes in this panel will be updated in the Effect Controls window for the clip.

   NOTE: This means that you can adjust the Lumetri Color effect in either the Color workspace, or the Effect Controls panel, depending on what works best for the project and the look you’re trying to achieve.

5. Expand Tone if it isn’t already.

6. Set Exposure to 0.5 to make the jeans brighter overall.

7. Set Contrast to 9.

8. The light pair of jeans have started to wash out and is a little overexposed right now, so set Highlights to -28.4. Dropping the Highlight value a little will dull that down slightly.

9. Change the Whites to –3.2.

10. Click on the word Basic Correction to collapse it.

Primary vs. Secondary Color Correction

So far what we’ve done is called a primary color correction. This will effect the whole clip rather than portions of the clip. We’ll switch over to a little secondary color correction next. In secondary color correction, we can adjust individual colors that appear in the clip independently of one another. This can be done using the Lumetri panel’s Hue Saturation Curves, Color Wheels & Match and HSL Secondary. In this exercise we’ll be using Color Wheels & Match, but in the next we’ll look at others.

1. Click on Color Wheels & Match to expand the section.

2. In the topmost Midtones color wheel, drag the center crosshair slightly toward magenta (to the right and up a little). We’ve done this to avoid the shadows going a little green.

3. Click on the word Color Wheels & Match to close it.

4. Expand Curves.

   In Curves, we want to isolate orange (the color of the threads) and make these pop more. We’ll use the Hue Saturation Curves section as a keyer by choosing the color(s) we want to isolate, and then adjusting them.

5. If your monitor is not bright enough to see the thin gridlines behind the rainbow stripes, adjust your monitor settings.

6. We must set 2 new points to isolate the orange of the threads. Hover over the rainbow stripe and:

   • Click on red (1/3 of a gridline in from the left).
   • Click on yellow (1 and a half gridlines in from the left).

   

   NOTE: These “protection points” are setting points on the outer range of what you may be adjusting (but you don’t actually move those points). They isolate any changes you make to only the hues between the protection points.

7. Create a 3rd point between the first 2. This is the point we’ll use to make the actual saturation adjustment.

8. To increase the orange saturation, drag this middle point upwards about 2 gridlines up, as shown below.

   

9. We also want to include cyan and blue in our saturation adjustment. Click on the eyedropper to the right of Hue vs Sat.

10. Click on the blue of the topmost pair of jeans. This will create 3 new points for us! The outer 2 are protection points, so we won’t be moving those to avoid shifting the other colors.

11. Drag the middle point up one and a half gridlines:

    

    Now both the blues and oranges will pop a little more.

12. To compare the changes we just made, to the right of Curves, click on the check box to switch off the adjustments. (It may take a moment to update.)

13. Check on Curves again. Feel free to make additional adjustments if you wish.

Adding Text

To save time, we’ve provided you a sequence with the text. If you want to learn how to something like this, refer to the “Shanarra Title Card” bonus exercise.

1. Switch back to the Editing workspace.

2. In the Project panel, expand the subsequences folder, and double–click express_title.

3. In the Timeline, you’ll notice the text has already been animated to the music. Play through to see that it animates the same way the jeans do, over five lines. The animation begins just after the marker, and each line pops on one at a time.

4. At the top of the Timeline, click on jeans_seq to switch back to it.

5. We want the jeans-photos to last until 1:19 so move the playhead there now.

6. Drag in the right end of the clip so that it ends at the playhead.

7. There’s going to be a little overlap of the jeans and text. Move the playhead to 1:11.

8. Make sure Source Monitor panel is visible.

9. From the Project panel, drag express-title to the Source Monitor to view it there. We only want its video, not audio so this step is important.

10. Drag from the Drag Video Only button to the Timeline and drop it on V3 at the playhead. (Make sure it’s above the jeans-photos clip on V2.)

11. Adjust the position of the text by switching to Effect Controls and in the Motion section, change the Position to (540, 602)

12. If you see the red bar above the Timeline, go to Sequence > Render In to Out to render your work so far, otherwise it won’t play back normally.

13. Play back the section to see the jeans come on one at a time, followed by the text one line at a time, and the white overlap lasts 8 frames.

14. Move the playhead to 3:18 where we want the jeans photos to show up again.

15. Select the jeans-photo clip at the beginning of the timeline and copy it.

16. Paste the clip so that it begins at 3:18 on V2.

17. Move the playhead to 5:06 where the text will appear again.

18. Select and copy the express-title clip on V3.

19. We want this to paste on V3, so next to both V1 and V2, click the lock icon .

20. Now when you Paste express-title it should appear at the playhead on V3. The clip should last the remainder of the audio track.

21. Go to File > Save.

Exporting High-Quality Video

1. Go to File > Export > Media. This time, we want to export at a very high quality.

2. Under Export Settings, set the Format to QuickTime.

3. The Preset should be automatically set to NTSC DV 24p. This isn’t used anymore, so let’s change it. Under the Video tab, scroll down using the scrollbar (you may accidentally change settings if using a scroll wheel).

4. Set the Video Codec to Apple ProRes 422. (In older versions of Premiere on Windows, use the Avid DNxHR/DNxHD codec instead, and under Resolution, choose DNxHR RGB 444 10-bit.)

   NOTE: 422 and 4444 are both high quality formats. To learn more read:

   • Apple’s comparison of them support.apple.com/en-us/HT202410
   • 4:2:2 vs 4:4:4 and ProRes codecs finalkid.com/which-prores-codec-to-use
   • Apple’s in-depth look at ProRes (PDF) tinyurl.com/prores-pdf

5. Scroll down further (using the right scrollbar) and under Basic Video Settings click on Match Source so that the dimensions of the video match the sequence.

6. At the bottom of the window, check on Use Maximum Render Quality.

7. At the top of the window, next to Output Name, click on the blue name.

8. Navigate to Desktop > Class Files > Premiere Pro Class > Express Jeans > Exports.

9. Set the name to jeans-ProRes422.mov. It’s nice to let other people know which codec was used.

10. Click Save.

11. The default Audio settings should be fine, so click Export.

    Creating a High-Quality Export Preset

    1. After adjusting the settings outlined above, go the right of the Preset menu, click on the Save Preset button .
    2. In the Choose Name window, set the name to ProRes 422 and click OK.

    You’ll be able to use this Preset for high quality exports in the future.

12. After the export finishes, feel free to go into Desktop > Class Files > Premiere Pro Class > Express Jeans > Exports and check out the finished video.