Sometimes for a scene to look right, you have to show something that wouldn’t typically be seen. One such instance is with anything wireless. Thousands of waves are being sent all around us with each device. Every device communicating and talking to one another through a series of invisible waves. With storytelling however, sometimes it’s necessary to show these waves to drive home a point. Today I am going to show you how to create communication signals in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
How to Create a Signal Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2021)
Set up the Footage
- Create a new sequence, and import the footage you want the signal on top of.
- Duplicate the footage by putting it on top. So you should have 2 identical clips on each other. Use ctrl/cmd + c then ctrl/cmd + v, or hold alt and drag it up.
- Apply the Bevel Alpha effect onto the top layer.
- Apply the Track Matte Key onto the top layer.
Create the waves
- Use the ellipse tool to create a small circle around the point you want the signals to come out of.
- Go to the graphic controls, make the fill blank, and the stroke white.
- Change the stroke size to fit the size wave you want. Bigger will make thicker waves.
- Animate the scale of the wave from 0 to a big enough number to disappear from the screen.
- Duplicate the shape layer and move the animation over a few frames to create a second wave. Do this multiple times until you have enough waves.
- Now, go to the top video layer, and in the Track Matte Key change the Video Source to the graphics layer. (Should be Video 3).
- You should now have waves ontop of your footage!
Congratulations, you can now display invisible waves. Remember this effect is best when centered on something obvious that would be giving off waves. A cell phone, router, or cell tower all make the effect look super realistic. Play around with the Bevel Alpha settings to change the depth and strength of the wave!
If you have any questions, leave them on the video itself, or right here!