How To Make a Photo Look Like It's Talking | Premiere Pro

Introduction

In this guide, I'll walk you through how to animate a photo in Adobe Premiere Pro to make it look like it's talking. This is a relatively simple technique that involves masking and keyframing. Let's dive in!

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Prepare Your Photo
   First, take the JPEG of the face you want to animate. Import it into Premiere Pro and add it to your timeline.

2. Create a Mask
   To animate the mouth, you'll need to create a mask over the lips. Use the Mask tool to carefully cut off the photo at the lips. The goal is to isolate the bottom chin area so it can move independently.

3. Adjust Feathering
   Next, take the feathering down on the mask to get clean black lines. This step is crucial to make the mask look sharp and natural.

4. Duplicate and Invert
   Duplicate the photo layer. You should now have two layers: one will be for the face without the mouth, and the other will be for the mouth itself. On the duplicated layer, invert the mask so it isolates just the mouth.

5. Layer Arrangement
   Arrange the layers so that the inverted mask layer (mouth) is on top. At this stage, it should appear as if the photo looks normal.

6. Animating the Mouth
   To make the mouth move, you'll need to keyframe it. Select the top layer with the isolated mouth and go to the Keyframe settings.

7. Keyframe Positioning
   Keyframe the position of the mouth at different points in the timeline. For example, start at the original position, then move it down a few frames, and then keyframe it back to the original spot (say at 266, 5). Repeat this process to sync with your audio or desired speech pattern.

That's basically it! By repeating the keyframing process, adjusting the position, and timing, you can create a realistic talking animation for your photo.

Keywords

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Masking
• Keyframing
• Animation
• Talking Photo
• Photo Animation
• Feathering
• Layering
• Position Keyframe

FAQ

Q: What software is used to make a photo look like it's talking?
A: Adobe Premiere Pro is used for this animation technique.

Q: What is masking in Premiere Pro?
A: Masking is used to cut out a specific area of a layer, allowing parts of other layers to show through.

Q: How do you create a talking animation?
A: By isolating the mouth through masking, duplicating layers, inverting masks, and keyframing the position, you can animate the mouth to create a talking effect.

Q: What is keyframing?
A: Keyframing is the process of setting points in the timeline to animate changes in position, rotation, scale, or other attributes over time.

Q: Can I adjust the mask to look more natural?
A: Yes, you can adjust the feathering to create softer edges for a more natural look.

Q: How do I sync the mouth movement with the audio?
A: You'll need to keyframe the mouth movement to correspond with the speech or audio track, manually adjusting the position at various points to match the lip movements with the sound.

By following these steps and using the provided techniques, you should be able to animate a photo to make it look like it's talking in Adobe Premiere Pro. Happy animating!