Let's take a look at how keyframes work in the Effects Room. In PowerDirector keyframes are used to custom set the individual parameters of a wide variety of tools including effects, enhancements, motion and particles. Here are two video tutorials from PDToots - an awesome YouTube channel with PowerDirector tutorials.Īnd this the official tutorial from CyberLink's YouTube account: They are the bread and butter of any video editor who likes to combine effects. I guess it's obvious why I say these two tools can greatly enhance your videos if you know how to use them. In short, alpha masks are like keyframes for space/area. With masks you can overlay different media objects onto each other as well - and define the shape through which each one will show. So with an alpha mask you can make your effect appear only in certain areas of your shot - while defining the shape through which the effect will show (a disk, a star, a polygon, etc). If keyframing works with time stamps, alpha masks work with areas. You can animate the position, the size, the blur, the slow motion, etc. With keyframes, you're not limited to just one effect for a particluar scene. For instance you can start your shot in sepia color tone which then transitions to black and white and ends in full saturated color. And the transition from one value of the effect to the next value is done gradually. Working with keyframes allows you to set different intensities of the same effect onto a scene. Once you master these two features in your video editing program ( PowerDirector) you have unlimited creative options to explore. If you ask me, I'd say that keyframing and alpha masks are the holy grail of video editing.

Cyberlink powerdirector 17 tutorial