Effects & Time

Bars, lines or shapes move in time with the loudness and frequency of a sound track.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add an "Audio-Reactive Visualizer" (also called an audio visualizer, music visualizer, audio spectrum or waveform animation) to [scene]: bars, lines or shapes that move in time with the sound track.
Drive the motion from the audio itself — louder moments push the shapes further and different frequencies move different parts — so every beat lands as a visible jump and quiet passages settle down; an equalizer that just pulses on a fixed rhythm is not reacting to anything.
Keep it running for [duration], with a quick rise on each hit and a slower fall after it.

Bright areas bleed a soft halo into their surroundings, and the halo can pulse so objects, text or shapes seem to emit light.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add a "Bloom" (also called a glow effect) to the bright parts of [scene]: let their light spill past their edges as a soft halo, so they look like they are emitting light.
The halo belongs to the bright object and travels with it, fading out smoothly with no hard edge — unlike a light leak, which washes in from the frame edge, or a lens flare, which adds rings and streaks.
Hold it for [duration] and let the halo breathe gently, swelling and easing back like a slow pulse.

Time appears nearly stopped while the viewpoint sweeps around the frozen action; unlike Freeze Frame the camera keeps moving.

This is for a motion graphics video. In [scene], use "Bullet Time" (also called a time slice or frozen moment): at the peak of the action time all but stops while the camera sweeps around the subject.
The subject should hang almost motionless while near and far layers slide past each other as the viewpoint travels — if the camera stops too, it is only a freeze frame.
Give the whole beat [duration]: hit the stop abruptly, then keep the sweep smooth and steady.

A still photograph in which only one element moves in a seamless loop, so the rest of the frame stays frozen.

This is for a motion graphics video. Turn [scene] into a "Cinemagraph" (also called a video snapshot): a still photograph in which only one element keeps moving.
Hold everything else perfectly frozen and let that single element repeat in a seamless loop, with no visible jump where it starts over — if nothing moves at all, it is only a freeze frame.
Let the loop run for [duration], and pick a small, naturally repeating motion so the stillness around it stands out.

Video compression is exploited (I-frames removed) so the next clip's motion drags and melts the pixels of the one before it, producing smeared, bleeding blocks.

This is for a motion graphics video. At the cut between the two shots in [scene], use a "Datamosh" (also called datamoshing): instead of switching cleanly, let the old picture stay on screen and be pushed around by the motion of the new shot, as if the compressed video had lost its keyframe.
The leftover image should smear and bleed in blocks along the direction things move, melting away piece by piece until the new shot is fully there — a slow melt at a cut, unlike a glitch, which tears for an instant and snaps back.
Let the melt play out over [duration], then leave the new shot clean.

The picture wavers as if seen through hot air or water because pixels are pushed around by a moving noise map.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add a "Displacement Distortion" (also called heat haze, heat shimmer or turbulent displacement) to [scene]: make the picture waver as if seen through hot air, by pushing its pixels around with a noise map that keeps drifting.
Everything stays where it is and only bends and wobbles softly in place; the shot does not change, which is what separates it from a ripple dissolve.
Keep it shimmering for [duration], with the noise rising slowly so the wobble never repeats or freezes.

Copies of earlier frames are blended behind the current one so a moving subject leaves a fading trail of itself; differs from Motion Blur in that the copies stay distinct instead of smearing continuously.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add an "Echo" (also called ghosting, trails or motion trails) to the moving subject in [scene]: copies of its earlier frames linger behind it and fade away.
Each copy should stay a separate, readable ghost stepping back along the path, fainter the older it is — a continuous smear would be motion blur.
Run it over [duration], and let the trail catch up and vanish once the subject comes to rest.

Footage plays back at a constant speed faster than real time so movement looks hurried or comic; unlike Time-Lapse it is just sped-up continuous footage, not frames sampled at long intervals.

This is for a motion graphics video. Play [scene] in "Fast Motion" (also called undercranking).
Run the continuous footage at one constant speed, faster than real time, so the action looks hurried and a little comic but still flows smoothly — a time-lapse would skip long gaps between frames instead.
Fit the whole action into [duration] without changing speed along the way.

Moving footage suddenly stops on a single frame that is held like a photograph; differs from Bullet Time because nothing continues to move.

This is for a motion graphics video. Stop the action in [scene] with a "Freeze Frame" (also called a stop-frame or hold frame): the moving footage halts on a single frame and holds like a photograph.
Nothing at all should move during the hold, neither the subject nor the camera — if the viewpoint keeps travelling around the frozen moment, that is bullet time.
The whole beat lasts [duration]; cut into the hold abruptly, mid-action, and leave it long enough to read.

The picture briefly breaks like a digital or analog error, with distortions, pixelation and abrupt shifts; the broad umbrella that includes RGB Split and Datamosh.

This is for a motion graphics video. Hit [scene] with a "Glitch Effect" (also called a digital glitch, glitch art or a glitch transition): for a moment the picture breaks like a signal error, then snaps back as if nothing happened.
Tear it into horizontal bands that jump sideways, split the colours on the torn parts, drop in a few stray blocks and jolt the whole frame — changing abruptly from frame to frame, never smoothly. It comes in short bursts; a constant worn texture would be a VHS look instead.
Keep each burst brief within [duration], and avoid flashing the whole frame bright and dark.

A time-lapse in which the camera also travels a long distance between frames, so the viewer glides rapidly through space; a tripod time-lapse stays in place.

This is for a motion graphics video. Show [scene] as a "Hyperlapse": a time-lapse in which the camera itself travels a long way between frames.
The viewer should glide rapidly through the space toward a fixed point while the surroundings stream past in small steps and the light changes as time races by — a tripod time-lapse would stay in one spot.
Cover the whole route in [duration], and keep the target locked in the same place in the frame so the ride feels smooth.

A slice of the image is mirrored and rotated into a symmetric radial pattern that spins and morphs as the source moves.

This is for a motion graphics video. Apply a "Kaleidoscope" (also called the kaleidoscope effect) to [scene]: one wedge-shaped slice of the picture is mirrored and repeated around the center of the frame.
The result should be a symmetric radial pattern in which every wedge is the mirror image of its neighbors, and the pattern should turn and reshape itself as the source footage moves underneath — a frame that shrinks into itself over and over is video feedback, not this.
Keep it running for [duration], and let the pattern rotate slowly so it never sits still.

Starbursts, rings and streaks of scattered light appear and slide as a bright source passes the lens, added digitally to graphics and footage.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add a "Lens Flare" to [scene]: as a bright light source crosses the frame, show the light scattering inside the lens — a starburst and a long streak on the source itself, and a chain of rings and soft discs strung along the line from the source through the centre of the frame.
The chain must slide as the source moves, with the far ghosts travelling the opposite way — that sliding, shaped light is what separates it from a light leak, which is only a shapeless wash from the edge.
Let the source pass through over [duration], and fade the flare in and out as it enters and leaves the frame.

Soft warm washes of orange, red or magenta light bloom in from the frame edges and drift or flicker, imitating stray light hitting film; unlike Lens Flare it has no rings or starbursts.

This is for a motion graphics video. Lay a "Light Leak" (also called a film burn) over [scene]: a soft, warm wash of orange, red or magenta light that blooms in from the edge of the frame, as if stray light had reached the film.
Keep it shapeless and blurry, attached to the frame rather than to anything in the picture, with no rings, streaks or starbursts — those belong to a lens flare. The footage keeps playing underneath.
Over [duration], let it swell in from one edge, drift a little, and fade away again.

One image or shape smoothly warps into another while cross-dissolving.

This is for a motion graphics video. In [scene], use "Morphing" (also called an image morph or morph): one subject smoothly warps into another while the two pictures cross-dissolve.
The outline should bend continuously from the first shape into the second as the surface blends between them, so it reads as one thing transforming — a plain dissolve would only fade one picture over the other without reshaping anything.
Give the change [duration], and hold on each subject before and after so the viewer can read what it turned into.

Fast-moving objects are smeared along their path as if shot with a longer exposure, which makes quick motion look smooth; unlike Echo it is a continuous streak, not separate copies.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add "Motion Blur" (also called motion smear) to the fast moves in [scene]: whatever moves quickly should streak along its own path, as if the shutter stayed open while it travelled.
Blur only the things that are moving, in the direction they move, as one continuous streak that grows with speed — not separate trailing copies, which is an echo, and not the whole frame, which is a whip pan. Anything holding still stays sharp.
Keep it on for [duration], with a wide shutter angle for long soft streaks or a narrow one for short crisp ones.

A small inset video window plays over the main picture and can be moved or resized.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add a "Picture-in-Picture" (also called PiP or TV in TV) to [scene]: a small inset window plays a second video over the main picture.
Both pictures should keep playing at the same time, and the main one still fills the whole frame behind the window — if the frame is divided into panels that sit side by side, that is a split screen.
Over [duration], bring the window in at a corner, then move or resize it so it stays clear of what matters in the main picture.

The image is broken into large visible squares; animating the block size makes it resolve into or dissolve out of coarse pixels. Static pixelation alone is the censor-mosaic look.

This is for a motion graphics video. "Pixelate" [scene] (also called a mosaic or pixelation): break the picture into a grid of large flat squares, each filled with the single colour of what lies under it.
Animate the block size in clear steps — let the sharp picture dissolve into coarse blocks, hold there while the footage keeps playing underneath, then resolve back to sharp. Held at one block size with no change, it is only a censor mosaic.
Run the whole effect over [duration], and keep the squares aligned to one fixed grid so they do not swim.

Footage plays backwards so broken things reassemble and movements undo themselves.

This is for a motion graphics video. Play [scene] in "Reverse Motion" (also called reverse or reverse action): the footage runs backwards.
Every movement should undo itself along exactly the path it took — what fell rises again, what scattered comes back together — at the pace it originally happened.
Fit it into [duration], and add no easing of your own so it reads as time rewinding rather than a new move.

The red, green and blue channels are offset so colored fringes appear on edges, often pulsing or snapping on hits; borrowed from a lens defect and used as a style.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add an "RGB Split" (also called chromatic aberration, color fringing or a channel split) to [scene]: slide the colour channels apart sideways so every edge picks up a coloured fringe on each side.
That is the whole effect — the picture itself stays intact and in place. Nothing tears, jumps or breaks into blocks, which would make it a full glitch.
Over [duration], snap the channels apart on each hit and let them drift back together, ending perfectly aligned.

A ring or dome races outward from an impact point, often distorting the picture behind it as it passes.

This is for a motion graphics video. Add a "Shockwave" (also called a shock wave) to the impact in [scene]: a ring races outward from the point of the hit.
As it passes it should bend and push the picture behind it, then thin out and fade — a ring that only decorates an element and leaves the picture untouched is a circle burst.
Fire it on the exact frame of the impact and let it cross the frame within [duration], fast at first and slowing as it spreads.

Light or imagery is stretched into long, flowing streaks as the picture is exposed through a moving slit, giving a psychedelic tunnel of color.

This is for a motion graphics video. Give [scene] a "Slit-Scan" look (also called the star gate effect): the picture is exposed through a narrow slit that travels across the frame, so each strip of the image comes from a different moment.
Whatever moves should stretch into long, flowing streaks that bend along its path, while whatever holds still stays sharp — separate ghost copies would be an echo, and an even smear along the direction of travel is motion blur.
Let the streaks build and resolve over [duration], and move the slit at a steady pace so the stretch stays continuous.

Action plays back at a constant speed slower than real time so detail and weight become visible; differs from Speed Ramp in that the speed does not change.

This is for a motion graphics video. Play [scene] in "Slow Motion" (also called slo-mo or overcranking).
Hold one constant speed, slower than real time, from the first frame to the last so weight and detail become visible — if the speed changes partway through, that is a speed ramp.
Stretch the moment across [duration], and keep the motion smooth with no stutter between frames.

Playback speed glides smoothly between very different speeds inside one shot (e.g. slow, then a sudden rush, then slow again), unlike slow motion or fast motion which hold one constant speed.

This is for a motion graphics video. Apply a "Speed Ramp" (also called speed ramping or time remapping) to [scene].
Start slow, surge to fast through the middle, then settle back to slow, changing speed smoothly rather than in steps.
Fit it into [duration], and put the fast stretch on the part you want to rush through so the slow parts land on what the viewer should notice.

The frame is divided into two or more panels that show simultaneous actions or viewpoints, optionally animating the dividers in or out.

This is for a motion graphics video. Show [scene] as a "Split Screen": the frame is divided into panels, each playing its own picture at the same time.
Every panel should hold a different action or viewpoint and keep moving, with clean dividers between them and no picture covering another — a small window floating over one full-frame picture would be picture-in-picture.
Over [duration], slide the dividers in to split the frame, then let the panels play side by side.

Movement advances in visible jerky steps at a low frame rate (e.g. 8-12 per second), imitating frame-by-frame photographed animation.

This is for a motion graphics video. Give [scene] a "Stop Motion Look" (also called stepped animation or the posterize time look).
The movement should advance in visible, jerky steps at a low frame rate, each pose held for a moment as if it were photographed one frame at a time — the picture stays on throughout, unlike a strobe.
Run it over [duration] at its normal pace, keeping the same choppy rhythm from start to finish.

The picture appears as rapid on/off flashes so motion looks frozen into discrete jerky poses (or wheels seem to stand still or spin backwards).

This is for a motion graphics video. Add a "Strobe Effect" (also called a stroboscopic effect) to [scene]: the moving subject shows only in rapid on/off flashes.
Each flash should catch the motion frozen in a separate pose, with nothing of it visible in between — a stop motion look keeps the picture on and only lowers the frame rate.
Run it over [duration], and keep the flashing gentle and confined to the subject so it never turns into a harsh full-screen flicker.

Slow real-world processes (clouds, growth, crowds) appear to run at high speed because frames were captured at long intervals, giving a stepped, flowing look.

This is for a motion graphics video. Show [scene] as a "Time-Lapse" (also called time-lapse photography): the camera stays locked off while slow changes race by.
Light, shadows, clouds or growth should flow quickly with a slightly stepped feel, as if the frames were taken far apart — sped-up continuous action is fast motion, and a camera that travels between frames makes it a hyperlapse.
Compress the whole change into [duration].

One layer acts as a moving window (by transparency or brightness) that reveals the image beneath, typically text or a shape wiping content into view.

This is for a motion graphics video. In [scene], use a "Track Matte Reveal" (also called a matte reveal, alpha matte or luma matte): a separate text or shape layer acts as a window, and the picture beneath shows only inside it.
Animate the window itself so it travels across and uncovers different parts of the picture, while the picture underneath keeps playing in place and everything outside the window stays empty — a shape wipe would instead replace one shot with the next.
Run it over [duration], and cut the window either by the matte layer's transparency for a crisp edge or by its brightness for a soft, graded one.

Footage is degraded to look like a worn video tape: horizontal scanlines, color bleed, noise and jittering tracking, usually in a 4:3 frame.

This is for a motion graphics video. Give [scene] a "VHS Look" (also called a VHS effect or analog tape look): degrade the footage so it plays like a worn video tape.
Layer the tape artifacts together — fine horizontal scanlines, colour bleeding softly to one side, speckled tape noise, and a tracking error that drags a band of the picture sideways while the whole frame jitters. It is a constant texture over the entire shot, not a momentary break like a glitch.
Hold it for the full [duration], and crop to the squarer frame of an old television if the layout allows.

The image repeatedly re-captures itself, creating swirling, infinitely receding tunnels like facing mirrors.

This is for a motion graphics video. Apply "Video Feedback" (also called a feedback loop) to [scene]: the picture re-captures itself, so a smaller copy of the whole frame sits inside the frame, another inside that, and so on, receding like facing mirrors.
Each copy should lag a beat behind the one around it and be turned slightly, so any movement ripples inward and the tunnel swirls — trailing copies of the moving subject alone would be an echo.
Let the tunnel build and twist over [duration].