Adobe Premiere Elements 8 - Manual (Page 167)

162 USING ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Applying effects
Last updated 8/12/2010
Keying out color
To make specific areas in a clip transparent, apply a keying effect based on color, matte, or alpha channel. Pixels that
match the specified key become transparent.
Color-based keying effects (Videomerge, Blue Screen Key, Chroma Key, Green Screen Key, and Non Red Key) Add
transparency wherever a particular color occurs in a clip. For example, you can use color-based keying effects to
remove a background with a uniform color, such as a blue screen.
Matte-based keying effects (Four-, Eight-, and Sixteen-Point Garbage Matte Keys, and Track Matte Key) Let you
mask out areas of a clip with another clip or with areas you specify manually. You can add transparency according to
the shape of a mask you position in the clip, or according to the grayscale tones in a file that you use as a matte. You
can also use the Track Matte Key effect to make creative composites.
Alpha channel-based keying effect The Alpha Adjust Key effect lets you invert or turn off a clip’s alpha channel or
convert areas without transparency to a mask.
Note: For more information about keying out colors, see Help.
More Help topics
“ Keying ” on page 180
“ Videomerge ” on page 196
Create transparency with Videomerge
To automatically create transparency in the background of a clip, apply the Videomerge effect. This effect makes
superimposing clips easy. You can also invert the transparency to create a mask—making underlying objects or video
appear through the foreground images instead of the background.
1 In the Sceneline or Timeline, right-click the clip you want to make transparent, and choose Apply Videomerge.
(You can also choose Videomerge from the Effects view of the Tasks panel.)
The effect automatically detects the background color and removes it, making underlying clips visible through the
transparent areas.
2 (Optional) Click the Edit Effects button at the bottom of the Tasks panel to open the Properties view, and expand
the effect name to view and edit the effect’s options.
Videomerge effect
A. Foreground clip with colored background B. Background automatically made transparent with Videomerge effect C. Background clip that
will show through transparency
D. Combined clips
To create a mask from the images in the background clip, use the Invert option for Videomerge. For example, in the
image above, the child with the ice cream cone would be transparent, and children on the beach would appear within
her shape.
A B C D