Elevator Pitch Video Editing – Master Multimedia

Once you have recorded and edited your approved script’s narration, and you have prepared all of your images (including an advanced version of your headshot) you may start editing your video.

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Update Script and Image Names

Before you start the process below, open your Elevator Pitch Video script. In the VIDEO column confirm that the images you have prepared are described briefly. If you have added images or removed them since you first wrote your script, make necessary changes to the VIDEO column.

To the left of the video column is a narrow column. Enter a number in this column for each image described in the video column. Start the number sequence from the top.

Open your project’s images folder and modify the names of each image you will be using in your video. Add a number preceding the name that corresponds to the number in your script.

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Set-Up WeVideo Project

Once your script has been updated and your images have been renamed, open the Chrome browser and visit WeVideo.com, an online video editor.

Whether or not you already have a WeVideo account, click the Log in button.

From the options click the Log in with Google button.

Enter your school email address then press the Next button

Enter your school password then press the Next button.

The first time you log in to WeVideo your account may not have been upgraded and you will see a message indicating your account is pending.

If you log in two school days later and the message still appears, let the teacher know. WeVideo’s plans offer different amounts of video you can store, how many minutes of video you can create, and the highest resolution of videos you create. Once your account has been approved the UPGRADE option should no longer appear.

When you first log in to WeVideo make sure the Dashboard tab is selected, then click on the Create a new Video option.

Click on the three horizontal lines (“hamburger”) menu button and choose the Settings option.

Choose the Timeline editing option then click the SAVE CHANGES button. The timeline method is similar to versions used by professional video editing software such as Adobe Premiere and Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve.

Click once more on the “hamburger” menu button and choose the Change format option.

Make sure the Horizontal 16:9 format is selected. If the CHANGE button is available, click it. If the video format was already set to 16:9 click the CANCEL button.

Click the MY VIDEO tab.

Change the name to Elevator Pitch then click the OK button.

As you work on your project remember to press the [ctrl+S] keys every few minutes to save your work.

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Add Your Media

Click the Import tab to start the process of adding your images and edited narration.

Click the BROWSE TO SELECT button.

Navigate to your project’s images folder. Select all of the image files you have prepared then click the Open button.

Click the Import tab again, then click the BROWSE TO SELECT button. Select your edited narration .mp3 file then click the Open button.

Add Media to the Timeline

Once your soundtrack and images have been imported, look at the timeline. Editing timelines represent the start of the video on the left, and the time increase toward the right. Video tracks are stacked similar to layers in image editing software. Tracks on top cover the tracks below them. Multiple audio tracks will be mixed together.

Click on your audio file and drag it onto the Audio 1 track on the timeline . Make sure it starts at the beginning of the timeline.

You may zoom in and out of the timeline by using the slider at the bottom right.

The waveform display of a sound file represents the quality of the sound. Longer waves represent lower pitch sound and closer waves represent high pitch sound.

Taller waves represent louder sound and shorter waves represent quieter sound.

Open a new window in your Chrome browser by clicking the [ctrl+N] keys. Open your Google Doc Elevator Pitch Video script. (If you have a phone or another device that will let you open your script, use that.) You want to refer to your script while you play the audio on your WeVideo timeline.

The timeline has a playback indicator. Make sure it is at the start of the timeline then press your keyboard’s spacebar. As the audio plays follow along with your script. When you plan for an image change, press the spacebar to stop the playback.

In this example, image #1 will change to image #2 right after the word at.

With the playback indicator stopped right after your first image changes to your second image, click on the Marker icon.

Enter number 2 to indicate the second image in your script, then press the DONE button.

A marker is now visible along the top of the timeline.

Repeat the process so that you have a numbered marker at each point on your timeline when one image should change to another. (Your third image will have a marker named 3, the fourth image marker is named 4, etc.)

The first image in your script should be the advanced version of your headshot. Find it in the media folder and drag it on the timeline Video 1 layer, making sure it starts at the beginning.

Click on the right size of the headshot in the timeline and drag it until it lines up with your first marker. This is where your second image should start.

Repeat the process to add each image to the timeline. Adjust each image so it starts at the end of the previous image, and ends where the next image should start.

When you are done press the spacebar and listen to the audio as you watch the images change in the Preview window.

After watching the video playback you may want to change the start and end points of some images. In this example, the first three images were modified. Notice how not all of the changes from one image to the next line up with the markers.

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Animate Images

With the length of all your images set, click in the timeline on the first image: your headshot. Press the E key to open the Clip Editor. If you do not see the Animation options, click on the animation tab.

The Clip Editor Animation options let you add movement to the still images in your project.

All videos and film are made up of a series of still images that, when played back at a fast-enough rate, give the illusion of motion. Motion pictures typically show 24 pictures, called frames, every second. Many videos show 30 frames per second (fps). When artists want to give motion to an animated character, they create keyframes. A keyframe shows what something will look like at a particular moment in time.

The WeVideo Clip Editor Animation controls let you determine how each of your images will look when they first appear, and when they change to the next image.

With your headshot chosen and the Animation controls visible, make sure Start is selected.

Look at your headshot in the Preview viewer and adjust the Scale slide to change its size. You may click in the viewer to reposition your headshot. Adjust the size and position so we see a close-up of your head.

Once you are happy with the start keyframe, click the End button. You should see the original headshot view. Adjust the Scale and Position to show as much of your original image without going beyond its edges. If you created your headshot with the correct size, you may not have to make any adjustments.

When the Start and End keyframes are set, press the SAVE CHANGES button.

Press the [shift+enter] keys to start playing from the beginning of the timeline. As you watch the preview window you will see the close-up of your face zoom out to reveal the entire headshot.

WeVideo, like many video editing programs, creates frames between keyframes, known as in-betweens (or tweens), to create a smooth transformation from the start to the end frame.

If you want to make any changes to the simulated zoom, press the E key to open the Clip Editor and click on the Animation tab. Adjust the settings for the Start and End keyframes. When you are satisfied with your headshot’s zoom in the timeline, select your second image.

Use the Clip Editor Animation options to set the size and position of the Start and End keyframes. Depending upon your photo, you may want to start with the entire image and zoom in to show detail, or vice versa.

For images that are very tall, set the size to the width of the image for both the Start and End keyframes. (To make sure the size is the same, copy it from one keyframe an paste it into the other one.) Set the position of one keyframe to the top of the image, and the other keyframe to the bottom of the image.

A similar technique works for images that are vary wide: Set the same size to the height for both keyframes. Then set the position of one keyframe to the left of the image, and the other keyframe to the right of the image.

Make sure as you set a keyframe that you do not show beyond the edges of your image.

After setting your keyframes, make sure you are at the start of the image in your timeline. (With an image selected you may use the [shift+left] and [shift+right] keys to move to the start of each image.)

Press your keyboard’s spacebar to preview the motion. If you think any adjustments are needed, make them. When you are satisfied with the image’s animation, repeat the process for all images in your timeline.

When all of your images are animated, playback the entire timeline using the [shift+enter] keys to make sure each animation adds the most impact to its image.

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Add Transitions

Now that you have added animation to each of your images, you may think of them as video clips.

The basic transition between clips is known as a cut: one clip immediately disappears and is replaced by the next clip. Most video editing programs let you add other types of transitions between clips.

In WeVideo click on the Transitions menu.

You may scroll through the list to see what type of transitions are available.

When you click on a transition icon, a preview of it plays in the Preview window.

Transitions should enhance your video without distracting from the main content. A transition that calls attention to itself will distract the viewer from your images. Since you have already added motion to your images, any transition that adds more motion to the image will be a conflict.
For this project, only select from these transitions:
Cross fade, Cross blur, Cross dissolve, Cross mosaic, Directional Wipe, Wipe Up, Wipe Down, Wipe Right, Wipe Left, Ripple, Flyeye, Radial, Page curl and Cross Hatch.

To keep your audience focussed on your narration and images, use the same transition between all of your images. After previewing a transition from the list above, click and drag to select all images in your timeline EXCEPT for your headshot.

Press two fingers on your Chromebook touchpad and click the Add transition option.

You will now see transition icons between each image in your timeline.
Click one of the transition icons.

In the TRANSITION options click next to All then select the time next to Duration. Change the duration to .4 then press the Tab key.

Click the pull-down menu next to Cross fade.

Select your transition from the list.

All of the transitions will now be set to .4 seconds and your chosen transition. Press the the [shift+enter] keys to playback your video. If you decide the transition you chose needs to be changed, click one of the transition icons, select All, then use the pull-down menu to choose another transition.

When you are satisfied with the look of the transitions between images, you need to add two more transitions. From the Transitions menu find the Cross fade and drag it onto the start of your headshot in the timeline.

Click the transition icon and change the Duration to .4 seconds.

Go to the last image in your timeline. From the Transitions menu find the Cross fade and drag it onto the end of the last image in the timeline.

Click the transition icon and change the Duration to .4 seconds.

With all transitions set, press the the [shift+enter] keys to playback your video. As you watch make sure all animations and transitions work well. Play the video a second time and listen to the audio. If the volume is too low or too loud use the Audio track slider to adjust it.

If you are satisfied with the result, you are ready to distribute your video. If you are not satisfied, many any necessary changes.

Make sure you press the [ctrl+S] keys to save your work.

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