2007 Holiday Card is Done

[VernonRobinson]

Beth,
Unbelievable. You do such talented work. I plan on watching this a few times to hopefully gain some insight into how to create these types of momentos for my family. Great editing. Keep it coming. Happy Holidays.

Regards,
-Vernon

[Bob D]

Beth,

What more can be said... you have great talent for this. I, as others have said, learn a lot from your contributions. I'll be reviewing this a few times too. I think your use of unique transitional ideas (e.g. newspaper) is the best. Thanks for sharing.

Bob D

[Jan Laros]

Thank you Beth for sharing your movie with us. It is wonderfull; I enjoyed it very much.

Very inspiring!

[ed]

Boy your kids are getting big. Love the video, well done as always. My favorite effects were the calendar in the opening and the way you split multiple videos on screen.

[Maxine370]

Thanks again all. I love to share and will do as much as I can. Most often my work is for clients and can't post to the web without their permission.

Can you believe it Ed? Can you remember when we all were first sharing on Chuck's site, I don't think Isaac was even born yet.

[Barb O]

Great work Beth.

I showed this today to a student in one of our community center Photoshop Elements classes who asked - what can one do with Premiere Elements? She was amazed at what you have done.

She would like to know which version of Premiere Elements you used? And I am curious whether you used any other software tools (like After Effects or ...) or whether this is entirely Premiere Elements and, of course, your creativity?

Barb

[Maxine370]

Barb,

Thanks for the kudos. I work in Pro now (CS3) but most everything I did was achievable with elements except the transition with the zoom trails (which was created by layering transitions and effects in a nested sequence. Nested sequences are one of the great things about Pro). Also the shot on the stage where Noah was in foreground and a long shot was in background was also done with an effect unique to Pro. There may have been a few more shots like this but they can be done almost as well with lowered opacity. All the other effects, split screens, track mattes, can be done in Elements. My last version was 2 and I could do all the other effects with version 2.

I am very experimental with these programs (Premiere and Photoshop) and love to see what they can do and I can do with them. I have a video editing business but I am all self-taught. It helps to have many different requests from clients to gain the experience. The more I do, the more I learn.

Not yet versed in AE. Love to be but don't yet have the $$$ or time to buy and learn it.

If there is any effect you saw and would want a quick how to just let me know.

[Gooder]

Very interesting idea, Beth!
You have a nice way with the effects and how they are used, nice

I noticed there was a small mention of Sweden (where I am living) in your clip (Swedish Cottage Marionette Theartre) it's a small world!

Cheers,
Lee

[Maxine370]

Yes, my boys had their birthday party at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, a Central Park attraction.

Here is some of the information on the site...

The Swedish Cottage has been a destination for New York City children for decades. The Cottage, a model schoolhouse, was built as Sweden's exhibit for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In 1877, Frederick Law Olmsted moved the Cottage to its present site in Central Park. In 1947 it became the headquarters of Parks' Traveling Marionette Theatre, and in 1973 it was remodeled to include a permanent stage. Since then this small wooden lodge has hosted daily marionette shows that bring fairy tales alive for enchanted audiences.

Under the City Parks Foundation's stewardship, the Cottage was carefully restored in the late 1990s. The Historic House Trust is pleased to partner with CPF to continue their fine work of preserving this unique structure, and we hope to highlight its origins along with its current role as a marionette theater.

PS...Ron I need a puppet emoticon

[Gooder]

Thanks for the information, Beth!

Nice

[Sam I Am]

First off, your boys are so precious!!! Secondly...WOW, that was fantastic!!! Do you mean to tell me that you can do that with the same software that I use!!???!! Boy, I have so much to learn. A couple of the effects are exactly what I have been trying to figure out how to do. The multi picture screen with the beveled edges, and the one where you zeroed down to the hole in the slinky and panned back out. Was all of that done with Premiere Elements? Which edition? Please tell me that it doesn't matter. Thanks so much for sharing this!!

[Maxine370]

Thanks, they are my little stars.

I did the video in Premiere Pro but most of the effects could be done in Elements (I last used version2) and would say about 98% could be done with that version.

The multi-screen can be achieved with a combination of the motion effects (reduce the scale, move the position) and crop (in cases where you want unequal box sizes). Then add a bevel adge effect and just make sure if you do you the crop that bevel edge comes last in effect order.

The zero down to the slinky was done with a Pro effect called circle but you could acheive a similar effect by using a track matte or using the iris round transition. You would need to have the video on it's own track and have the transisiton between the track and no other track. Then you can move where the iris starts and end in the properties panel of the transiiton.

The software you have is not all that much different that the Pro version in terms of the effects and transisitons. In fact, the version 4 has the Blue effects which Pro does not even have.


Thanks again for the compliments. Looking forward to seeing some of your stuff.

[Sam I Am]

thanks for the advice, Beth, I will start working with it right away, it takes me a LOT of practice but I am determined. I may be picking your brain again in the future, if you don't mind. I do appreciate your help. I will keep my eyes open for more of your work, it's something to aspire to.

[slushparlor1]

This is just AMAZING!!! I love the newspaper idea. I've been thinking of trying that for a 40th b-day video. I want to put the Patriots on the page. I was going to use a still shot but seeing that I think I'll try it live.