This tutorial guides you through the process of adding a background image to your video content in Adobe Premiere Pro. It covers downloading necessary clips, arranging them on the timeline, adjusting sizes, and applying transitions for a polished look.
Welcome to this DCP web tutorial. In today’s session, we will explore how to add a background image to your video content using Adobe Premiere Pro. This step-by-step guide will help you enhance your video projects by incorporating dynamic backgrounds.
Download content for this tutorial:
Step 1: Download Necessary Video Clips
To begin, we need to download a few video clips and an image that will serve as our background. Follow these steps:
- Open your web browser and navigate to a site where you can find video clips.
- Look for a video clip that is available in Full HD (1920×1080) resolution. Click on the download button to save it.
- Repeat the process for a second video clip.
- Next, find an image that you want to use as a background. For this tutorial, we will use a picture of a pizza oven. Download this image as well.
After downloading, you should have two video clips and one image saved on your computer.
Step 2: Organise Your Files
Once you have downloaded the files, open the folder where they are saved. Rename the video clips for easier identification:
- Rename the first video clip to “Video 01”
- Rename the second video clip to “Video 02”
- Rename the image to “Background”
Step 3: Open Adobe Premiere Pro
Now, let’s open Adobe Premiere Pro and start a new project:
- Launch Adobe Premiere Pro.
- Import the two video clips and the background image into your project.
- Drag and drop the two video clips onto the timeline.
Step 4: Adjust Video Clips
Since one of the video clips has audio that we do not need, we will delete it:
- Hold down the Alt key and click on the video clip to select it.
- Press the delete key to remove the audio.
- Stack the video clips by dragging one above the other on the timeline.
Next, we need to adjust the size and position of the clips:
- Click on the first video clip and go to the Effects Control panel.
- Set the scale to 40 and adjust the position to 1480 to align it to the right.
- For the second video clip, set the position to 540 and the scale to 40 as well.
Step 5: Add the Background Image
Now, we will add the background image:
- Drag the background image to the bottom layer of the timeline.
- Stretch the background image to cover the entire duration of the video.
- Adjust the scale of the background image to around 44 to ensure it fits well in the frame.
Step 6: Apply Transitions
To make the video more visually appealing, we will add transitions:
- Go to the Video Transitions panel and select the Cross Dissolve transition.
- Drag and drop the Cross Dissolve at the beginning and end of the background image and video clips.
This will create a smooth fade-in and fade-out effect for your video.
Step 7: Add Keyframes for Dynamic Movement
To add some dynamic movement to the background image:
- Click on the background image and enable keyframes for the scale.
- Set a keyframe at the beginning of the timeline and increase the scale to 100.
- Move the playhead just before the video clips start and add another keyframe.
- Right-click on the keyframes and set them to Auto Bezier for a smooth transition.
Now, when you play the video, the background image will zoom in gradually, adding a professional touch to your project.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we have learned how to add a still image background to your video content in Adobe Premiere Pro.
By overlaying video clips and applying transitions, you can create a dynamic and engaging video presentation. This technique allows you to focus on your main video content while enhancing the overall visual appeal.
I hope you found this tutorial useful, and I look forward to seeing you in the next DCP web tutorial!
Add background image in Adobe Premiere FAQs
Can I use any image for the background?
I suggest you make the background image the same size or a little bigger than the video size. Normally I use an image size of 1920 x 1080 pixels (HD Resolution).
Can I switch background images?
Yes, you can add more images to the timeline and use transitions to switch between images.
