Effects and transitions

Set Matte effect

The Set Matte effect replaces the alpha channel (matte) of a clip with a channel from a clip in a different video track. This creates traveling matte results.

Note: The Set Matte effect was originally developed for After Effects. It is included in Premiere Pro only to provide compatibility with projects created in earlier versions of After Effects that use the Set Matte effect.

Original images (left and center), and with effect applied (right)

To create a traveling matte using the Set Matte effect, set up a sequence with two overlapping clips on different video tracks. Apply the Set Matte effect to one of the clips and specify which clip provides the replacement matte. Although you can use Set Matte for a traveling matte, it is easier and faster to create traveling mattes by using the Track Matte Key effect.

Take Matte From Layer The video track to use as the replacement matte. You can specify any video track in the sequence.

Use For Matte The channel to use for the matte.

Invert Matte Inverts the transparency values of the matte.

Stretch Matte To Fit Scales the selected clip to match the size of the current clip. If Stretch Matte to Fit is deselected, the clip designated as the matte is centered in the first clip.

Composite Matte With Original Composites the new matte with the current clip, rather than replacing it. The resulting matte lets the image show through only where the current matte and the new matte both have some opacity.

Premultiply Matte Layer Premultiplies the new matte with the current clip.

Solid Composite effect

The Solid Composite effect offers a quick way to create a composite of a solid color behind the original source clip. You can control the opacity of the source clip, control the opacity of the solid, and apply blend modes all within the effect’s controls.

Source Opacity The opacity of the source clip.

Color The color of the solid.

Opacity The opacity of the solid.

Blending Mode The blend mode used to combine the clip and the solid color.

Color Correction effects

Jeff Sengstack provides an overview of color correction and enhancement on the Videomaker Magazine website.

Here's a link to a tutorial on www.premierepro.net that shows advanced color grading in Premiere Pro CS5.5.

Last updated 1/16/2012

Effects and transitions

Brightness & Contrast effect

The Brightness & Contrast effect adjusts the brightness and contrast of an entire clip. The default value of 0.0 indicates that no change is made. Using the Brightness & Contrast effect is the easiest way to make simple adjustments to the tonal range of the image. It adjusts all pixel values in the image at once—highlights, shadows, and midtones.

Andrew Devis from Creative Cow demonstrates in this video why the Brightness & Contrast effect may not be the best choice and provides an alternative option for better results.

Original (left) and with Brightness & Contrast effect applied (right)

Broadcast Colors effect

The Broadcast Colors effect alters pixel color values to keep signal amplitudes within the range allowed for broadcast television.

Use the Key Out Unsafe and Key Out Safe settings for How To Make Color Safe to determine which portions of the image are affected by the Broadcast Colors effect at the current settings.

Broadcast Locale The broadcast standard for your intended output. NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is the North American standard and is also used in Japan. PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is used in most of Western Europe and South America.

How To Make Color Safe How to reduce signal amplitude:

•Reduce Luminance Reduces a pixel’s brightness by moving it toward black. This setting is the default.

•Reduce Saturation Moves the pixel’s color toward a gray of similar brightness, making the pixel less colorful. For the same IRE level, reducing saturation alters the image more noticeably than does reducing luminance.

Maximum Signal Amplitude (IRE) The maximum amplitude of the signal in IRE units. A pixel with a magnitude above this value is altered. The default is 110. Lower values affect the image more noticeably; higher values are more risky.

Change Color effect

The Change Color effect adjusts the hue, lightness, and saturation of a range of colors.

View Corrected Layer shows the results of the Change Color effect. Color Correction Mask shows the areas of the layer that will be changed. White areas in the color correction mask are changed the most, and dark areas are changed the least.

Hue Transform The amount, in degrees, to adjust hue.

Lightness Transform Positive values brighten the matched pixels; negative values darken them.

Saturation Transform Positive values increase saturation of matched pixels (moving toward pure color); negative values decrease saturation of matched pixels (moving toward gray).

Color To Change The central color in the range to be changed.

Matching Tolerance How much colors can differ from Color To Match and still be matched.

Matching Softness The amount that unmatched pixels are affected by the effect, in proportion to their similarity to Color To Match.

Last updated 1/16/2012

Effects and transitions

Match Colors Determines the color space in which to compare colors to determine similarity. RGB compares colors in an RGB color space. Hue compares on the hues of colors, ignoring saturation and brightness—so bright red and light pink match, for example. Chroma uses the two chrominance components to determine similarity, ignoring luminance (lightness).

Invert Color Correction Mask Inverts the mask that determines which colors to affect.

Change To Color effect

The Change To Color effect changes a color you select in an image to another color using hue, lightness, and saturation (HLS) values, leaving other colors unaffected.

Change To Color offers flexibility and options unavailable in the Change Color effect. These options include tolerance sliders for hue, lightness, and saturation for exact color matching, and the ability to select the exact RGB values of the target color that you wish to change to.

Paul Trani shows Auto Contrast and Change To Color effects in this video tutorial.

For more information about the Change To Color effect in Premiere Pro, see this video by Learn by Video and Video2Brain by Jan Ozer.

Jeff Sengstack explains how to use the Change to Color effect in this lynda.com video from his tutorial -- Premiere Pro: Color Correction and Enhancement.

Original image (left), with saturation removed in the planet (center), and with light green changed to yellow in the planet (right)

From The center of the color range to change.

To The color to change matched pixels to.

To animate a color change, set keyframes for the To color.

Change Which channels are affected.

Change By How to change colors. Setting To Color performs a direct change of affected pixels to the target color. Transforming To Color transforms affected pixel values towards the target color, using HLS interpolation; the amount of change for each pixel depends on how close the pixel’s color is to the From color.

Tolerance How much colors can differ from the From color and still be matched. Expand this control to reveal separate sliders for Hue, Lightness, and Saturation values.

Note: Use the View Correction Matte option to better identify which pixels are matched and affected.

Softness The amount of feather to use for the edges of the correction matte. Higher values create smoother transitions between areas affected by the color change and those unaffected.

View Correction Matte Shows a grayscale matte that indicates the amount to which the effect affects each pixel. White areas are changed the most, and dark areas are changed the least.

Last updated 1/16/2012

Effects and transitions

Channel Mixer effect

The Channel Mixer effect modifies a color channel by using a mix of the current color channels. Use this effect to make creative color adjustments not easily done with the other color adjustment tools: Create high-quality grayscale images by choosing the percentage contribution from each color channel, create high-quality sepia-tone or other tinted images, and swap or duplicate channels.

[output channel]-[input

channel] The percentage of the input channel value to add to the output channel value. For example, a Red-Green setting of 10 increases the value of the red channel for each pixel by 10% of the value of the green channel for that pixel. A Blue-Green setting of 100 and a Blue-Blue setting of 0 replaces the blue channel values with the green channel values.

[output channel]-Const The constant value (as a percentage) to add to the output channel value. For example, a RedConst setting of 100 saturates the red channel for every pixel by adding 100% red.

Monochrome Uses the value of the red output channel for the red, green, and blue output channels, creating a grayscale image.

Removing all Red input from the Red channel, and adding 50% of the Green channel and 50% of the Blue channel to the Red channel

More Help topics

“Mix color channels in a clip” on page 326

Color Balance effect

The Color Balance effect changes the amount of red, green, and blue in the shadows, midtones, and highlights of an image.

Preserve Luminosity Preserves the average brightness of the image while changing the color. This control maintains the tonal balance in the image.

Color Balance (HLS) effect

The Color Balance (HLS) effect alters an image’s levels of hue, luminance, and saturation.

Hue Specifies the color scheme of the image.

Lightness Specifies the brightness of the image.

Saturation Adjusts the image’s color saturation. The default value is 0 which doesn’t affect the colors. Negative values decrease saturation, with -100 converting the clip to grayscale. Values greater than 0 produce more saturated colors.

Note: If the Color Balance Saturation control does not give you the results you want, try the Saturation control in the Fast Color Corrector effect.

More Help topics

“Fast Color Corrector effect” on page 356

Last updated 1/16/2012