How to Apply the Ken Burns Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro?

“Is it easy to apply the Ken Burns effect in Premiere Pro? I’m new to editing and can’t seem to find the option in Adobe Premiere for Ken Burns effect!”

As I stumbled upon this query, I realized that a lot of people find it hard to apply the Ken Burns effect in Premiere Pro. Unlike other popular video editing tools, Adobe Premiere Pro doesn’t have an inbuilt feature for the Ken Burns effect. Therefore, we need to manually apply the Ken Burns effect in Adobe Premiere by setting up position and scaling values. Don’t worry – in this post, I will provide a stepwise tutorial on how to apply the Adobe Premiere Pro Ken Burns effect.

Part 1: The Basic Knowledge of the Ken Burns Effect

Before we apply the Ken Burns effect in Adobe Premiere, you should know the end-goal we want to achieve. Basically, the Ken Burns effect is a combination of pan and zoom that is mostly applied to still images. In this, we move the lens in a respective direction (panning) and zooms the image. Then give an illusion of movement for pictures, which looks appealing.

Since the effect was made popular by Ken Burns (the documentarian), it is commonly known after his name these days.

Part 2: How to Easily Apply the Ken Burns Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro?

As I have mentioned above, the Ken Burns effect in Premiere Pro is not readily available, and we need to manually set the motion values. Although, you need to put some extra effect to attain the Adobe Premiere Pro Ken Burns effect, you can master it after a while. Here’s a stepwise tutorial to help you apply the Ken Burns Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Step 1: Load the Media File on Your Premiere Pro Timeline

At first, you can just launch Adobe Premiere Pro on your Mac or Windows system and load the media file. For instance, you can drag and drop the image to Premiere Pro or go to the File > Import to load it. Once the image is loaded, you can drag it to the timeline at the bottom and view its details.

Step 2: Visit the Effects Control Section

Great! Once the picture is loaded, you can preview it on the Premiere Pro’s window. Afterward, select the picture and visit the “Effects Control” section window from the top-left corner.

Step 3: Enable Keyframes (for position and scale)

In the Effects Control window, you can find the “Motion” menu (under the Video Effects section). Here, you need to turn on the keyframing option for both “Position” and “Scale” properties.

Step 4: Adjust the Position and Scale Values Manually

Great! Now, to apply the Ken Burns effect in Premiere Pro, you need to adjust the Position and Scale values for your picture. As you would change the values, Premiere Pro will set keyframes for it at the playhead.

For instance, you can have the same values at the starting and ensure that the picture would start moving at the second keyframe. By applying this technique, you can set up the motion for the third (and subsequent) keyframes. You can check the results of the Adobe Premiere Pro Ken Burns effect on the preview section as well.

Part 3: For Beginners: How to Apply an Auto Ken Burns Effect with the Best Alternative to Premiere Pro - Wondershare Filmora?

Since applying the Ken Burns effect in Premiere Pro is a bit complicated, most people consider using Wondershare Filmora. This is because Filmora has an automatic Pan and Zoom feature that can implement the Ken Burns effect on still and media files. You simply need to select the starting and the ending frame to implement the effect. Besides that, there are tons of advanced effects, presets, and editing features that are offered in Filmora.

To implement the automatic Ken Burns effect using Wondershare Filmora, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Import the Media File on Filmora

Install and launch Wondershare Filmora on your computer and simply go to its Import > Import Media Files option to load any picture or video. You can later drop the media to the timeline at the bottom to work on it.

Step 2: Apply the Auto Ken Burns Effect (Pan & Zoom)

Great! Once the file has been added to the timeline, just right-click it to get the context menu and select the “Crop and Zoom” feature.

As the Crop and Zoom window will open, you can go to the “Pan and Zoom” section from here. Now, you can set the placement for the start (green bordered) frame and the end (red bordered) frame to apply the effect.

Additionally, there are options to set the ratio and the overall dimensions of the frame. You can also apply presets for editing like zoom in, zoom out, pan left, pan right, or reverse. Once you are satisfied with the edits, click on the “Ok” button to implement it to your media file.

Step 3: Export the Edited Media File

That’s it! Once the Ken Burns effect has been implemented, you can just click on the “Export” button from the top. This will open a dedicated window, letting you export the video in the format and resolution of your choice.

Part 4: Pro Tips on Using the Ken Burns Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro

Besides that, if you want to apply the Ken Burns effect in Premiere Pro in a better way, then follow these smart suggestions:

Tip 1: Save the Effect as a Preset

Since the Ken Burns effect is not readily available in Premiere Pro, you can consider saving it as a preset. Once you have applied the feature, go to the Effect Control options from the top. Here, click on the “Save Preset” button to save the changes you have made to a readily available preset in Premiere Pro.

Tip 2: Set Different Durations for Multiple Media Files

At times, users wish to apply the Adobe Premiere Pro Ken Burns effect for multiple media files. In this case, you might have to adjust the speed for each file to get better results. For this, just select the files, right-click, and go to the “Speed/Duration” option to customize things.

The ball is in your court now! After going through this easy Ken Burns effect Premiere Pro tutorial, you would be able to get the perfect effects for your media file. Though, if the manual Premiere Ken Burns effect process is a bit complicated, then you can consider its alternative. For instance, with the help of Wondershare Filmora, you can implement the automatic Ken Burns effect to your files and make the most of other editing features that the tool offers.