# looping video tool, layers, crossfade, stabilization?



## shokan22 (Nov 30, 2010)

I want to make a seamless video loop where the frames at the end one clip (in one layer) can be faded-out and combined with the faded-in first frames of the same clip (in a second layer). I am not really interested in making movies, ie shuffling around and combining clips. I need storyboarded frames, frame by frame editing, layers, crossfade, motion tracking/image stabilization. 

Which program, besides After Effects, gives me these things?

Thanks.

(hi, first time here)


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

Hi shokan22 :wave: welcome to TSF

Any of the NLE's will do this for you if your input is video clips, sequences of stills or drawn/collaged digital images - Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, the lower spec'd consumer versions (Premiere Elements, the Vegas Studio range) will do most of it but have much reduced capacity in some areas such as the motion tracking and image stabilisation - this last may need a third party plug-in. 
When you say you need frame by frame editing - what do you want to do with each frame? Is it for animation? - if so that changes things.
You may need to start looking at combinations of software such as Flash or some other animation software with onion-skinning capabilities or Photoshop to create the frames then take it as a sequence of images into a NLE to edit.
Give more information as to what you want to start with and end up with if possible - any links to similar sorts of work?


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## shokan22 (Nov 30, 2010)

Looping video sight gags as desktop video wallpapers at work. Some are live people, others animations, mostly live. For my amusement and others. I am setting up VLC to do this. 

You asked about what I'd be doing on the frame by frame level. I am used to seeing all the frames laid out in a strip because I had been using Ulead GIF Animator to create large GIFs out of the same comedy videos. So, I'm looking for the same visual format in a video editor so I can see at a glance when a frame at the beginning of a clip is similar to a frame near the end for looping purposes. The crossfade feature would minimize the inevitable difference between the two frames.

Do you know if these lower end editors have that crossfade ability with at least two layers so I can overlap for crossfading/joining the beginning and end of a loop? I can't tell from their sites. I have gotten the impression that they don't. AE obviously yes, and I might just get it anyway ($$$$$).


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

Premiere Elements* (free trial version is available for you to try if you want to see if it will do what you want) has up to 99 layers and has heaps of transitions (including crossfade) and effects including chroma keying (greenscreening) - its pretty good bang for the buck but obviously doesn't have the capabilities of the Pro version or AE. As I said previously, to get frame by frame you would need to import video into video editing software then export it as a jpeg sequence then bring it back in as a sequence of frames OR use Flash or something similar that will allow you to export a series of frames.
After Effects is really a high end tool for working with effects in moving images and is usually used in conjunction with a video editing software package and sometimes with Photoshop fitting in to the workflow as well.

* wow - just checked the US Adobe site - they had Premiere Elements 9 down from $99 to $49 but ends today 30/11


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## shokan22 (Nov 30, 2010)

Good info. Thanks. 

One more question: PS has photo filters (warm, , cool etc). Do you know if Premier Elements or any of the others have that? Hue/Saturation/Value never gets the same results as the filters that emulate real lens filters.


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

Premiere Elements doesn't have photo filters (at least it didn't in version 7 which I used to use before switching to Pro CS4) but there are ways of tweaking colour as you say Hue Saturation Value isn't quite the same but using the lighting effect can give similar results as it works more closely to tones. In Premiere Pro you have much more control with 3 way colour correction similar to that in AE and other colour controls - basically can properly colour grade footage to give various "looks" - lots of tutorials around on how to do this on Youtube
Videocopilot is a site based in AE and uses a lot of the Red Giant plugins in their tutorials but has some good stuff without - colour grading using 3 way colour correction is similar in AE and Premiere Pro to the use of Colorista
hope this helps and have fun :grin:


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