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How can I get my speed ramps to be this cool ?

RonanCork

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Hey Guys,

I've a Mavic Air and I use Da Vinci Resolve (v15) for my editing. I love adding speed ramps. Had a quick one for you.

The below video I was looking at recently. So 0:32s into the video it does a speed ramp but the speed ramp looks so much cooler than the ones I'm doing. I do my ramps with the "Retime Controls" in Resolve.

Does anyone know (or have a link too) how it's done at 0:32s ? Sorry if this is a silly question.


Thanks Ronan.
 
The producer of that clip is combining effects (burn in on the fringes, blurring) with the speed ramp. They're not just using a speed ramp in isolation; the effects add visual interest. I don't know anything about Da Vinci Resolve, but for Premiere Pro CC, you can get templates that provide these effects.
 
Hey Guys,

I've a Mavic Air and I use Da Vinci Resolve (v15) for my editing. I love adding speed ramps. Had a quick one for you.

The below video I was looking at recently. So 0:32s into the video it does a speed ramp but the speed ramp looks so much cooler than the ones I'm doing. I do my ramps with the "Retime Controls" in Resolve.

Does anyone know (or have a link too) how it's done at 0:32s ? Sorry if this is a silly question.

There are some other effects being used as well, but the main driver of the effect is that the ramp appears to be non-linear, e.g. the apparent rate of acceleration is changing, not just the apparent velocity. Generally this works best as an S-curve (more formally a version of a Sigmoid Function); slow acceleration at first, fast acceleration in the middle, then slow acceleration to the final speed:

sigmoid.png
 
Nice effect. If you figure out the Resolve solution RonanCork, let me know
 
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In Premiere you can create that S curve ramp, there's digital zoom in/out added while editing and other tricks combined with the speed changes - mostly very well done.
 
Hey Guys,

Thanks for the responses,

@zocalo - so would it be a "speed curve" option in Resolve I'm thinking ?

Thanks Ronan.
 
Yes, there is a change speed feature on the timeline in Resolve. The feature gives you a control which can be enlarged to show the curve. There are a few tutorials on the youtube including one official from blackmagic. Very helpful to me at least.
 
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The Ken Burns effect does a similar thing, slow start and end. Intended for stills but can be applied to video clips
 
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I don't know Resolve (Vegas Pro user), but it sounds likely based on the two responses above. I'd recommend playing around with the curve a bit if Resolve gives you enough control - I tend to find that the more detail there is in the scene it's generally better to have a more elongated S so that the viewer gets more time to take in what they are looking at. For instance, if I was going from a simple field to a complex urban environment I might have a fairly short ramp up from the field to the high-speed section, then a longer ramp back down to normal speed for the urban part of the video.
 
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The visual content was very appealing, but to me, the overuse of FX was distracting & annoying. It seemed like an intro that I was hoping would soon end. I'm a big fan of slomo FX, but they too must be used sparingly. Also, the speed ramp FX in general have been beaten to death for years. It's always a fun challenge to master popular techniques to jazz up one's own projects. But at a certain point the impact comes becomes ho hum imitation. The real challenge is to always strive for excellence of content, and if possible, discover YOUR OWN new & enviable visual style. Easier said than done, as I have learned from years of trying!
 
I know this effect can be easily be achieved in After Effects and without messing with function curves. I feel like this is a cheat or I am giving away an editor's secrets. The trick is getting this plug-in at the following link:



For my editing, I love these transitions. Top notch but not free.
 
I know this effect can be easily be achieved in After Effects and without messing with function curves. I feel like this is a cheat or I am giving away an editor's secrets. The trick is getting this plug-in at the following link:



For my editing, I love these transitions. Top notch but not free.

I think I must be misreading this: from their license terms, it looks to me that you have to pay them a new license fee EVERY time you use it in a new video. Surely that can't be right???
 
Let me qualify by first saying I am not a patent lawyer. Having said that I believe the license applies to digital stock and sound, and not software since you are not acquiring any digital stock.
 
Finally found an answer off his site after heaps of trawling. Badly worded licensing explanations.
 
I really agree with this comment, well said. I too find it difficult to push beyond what everyone does
The visual content was very appealing, but to me, the overuse of FX was distracting & annoying. It seemed like an intro that I was hoping would soon end. I'm a big fan of slomo FX, but they too must be used sparingly. Also, the speed ramp FX in general have been beaten to death for years. It's always a fun challenge to master popular techniques to jazz up one's own projects. But at a certain point the impact comes becomes ho hum imitation. The real challenge is to always strive for excellence of content, and if possible, discover YOUR OWN new & enviable visual style. Easier said than done, as I have learned from years of trying!
 
All well and good .. but it is a pain to watch! Not enough time between the view-snatches to appreciate the views!
 
Here's the main point for me when it comes to video editing: does it help tell the story or does it become the story?

Similarly, the best actors are the ones who aren't seen to BE acting. They are the character and the character isn't 'acting" The character IS.

As Duke Ellington once famously said, "It's not what you play that counts, it's what you DON'T play."

If an effect, or transition, or edit sequence conveys the experience to the audience then it helps tell the story. But if the FX becomes the story, then it can be showing off what the editor can do and that gets in the way. You see the video 'acting'.

In my musician days we would occasionally see an inexperienced drummer or guitar player using sections of songs as an opportunity to play a solo when the singer was singing a verse and it wrecks the song because it's "look at ME! Look what I can do!" by taking the focus off of the production as a whole.

At its worst you see this kind of thing all the time in amateur YouTube productions where the first minute is an intro of spinning titles and music you didn't want to see and hear in the first place.

Get out of the way, become invisible and let the story tell itself...
 
Hey Guys,

I've a Mavic Air and I use Da Vinci Resolve (v15) for my editing. I love adding speed ramps. Had a quick one for you.

The below video I was looking at recently. So 0:32s into the video it does a speed ramp but the speed ramp looks so much cooler than the ones I'm doing. I do my ramps with the "Retime Controls" in Resolve.

Does anyone know (or have a link too) how it's done at 0:32s ? Sorry if this is a silly question.


Thanks Ronan.
That’s one hell of a vid ?
 

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