Web Development: How To Make an Instagram Story Video in Premiere Pro

Sunday, May 31, 2020

How To Make an Instagram Story Video in Premiere Pro— With a Free Template

Whether you are promoting your own brand, creating content for a client, or just making Instagram Stories for fun, templates can help save you time—and keep your visuals looking great. In this tutorial you'll learn how to use Envato Elements and free Premiere Pro templates from Mixkit to quickly make simple, attractive Instagram videos.

Quick and Easy Instagram Stories Video Templates

Pro-Grade Templates From Envato Elements: Unlimited Downloads

Free stuff is great, but sometimes you might want a more advanced template; check out the premium templates at Envato Elements, where everything is included in one subscription. Elements includes everything you need to make videos, like thousands of templates and millions of stock items like photos, music, video clips, fonts, and creative courses from Envato Tuts+. Here's a highlight:

Instagram Stylish Stories

With Instagram Stylish Stories you are provided with five vertical story templates (1080x1920) that are clean and modern, each with easy placeholders for text and your media. Plug in your in content and you'll be able to upload right away.

Free Templates From Mixkit

Mixkit is a great resource for free simple and easy-to-use templates. Below we go into detail about downloading, accessing, and creating your own story using Simple Instagram Story, a personal video background with a swipe prompt, headline and subheading.

Before We Start

Templates are great as a starting point, but make sure to play around and tweak parameters to suit your project, creating something new that's fresh and exciting. Start with templates that don't require plug-ins. You'll find that with small steps you'll be getting the hang of it.

Many template downloads come with a tutorial. It's fun to jump in head first and figure things out on your own, but ultimately these tutorials will save you time. If you're using many different templates across different projects, remember to be organized and keep them in relevant, well-labelled folders.

Before jumping in to your project, try playing around with the template. Make a no-pressure test project to learn the ins and outs of the template before you have to produce your final project.

Be consistent. Your style is your personal calling card; your work should be recognizably you, every time. Using templates can really help with this. Be concise, and make the best use of the short time you have. Keep your stories clear and to the point for maximum success.

You Will Need:

Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2020 Installed
A project with at least one sequence
Your favorite .mogrt file downloaded from Mixkit. In this case, Simple Instagram Story

1. Add .mogrt File Templates To Premiere Pro

The .mogrt template contains is a single animation exported from Adobe After Effects, editable in Premiere Pro. For easy, seamless editing, open the .mogrt file template in Premiere Pro via the Essential Graphics Panel.

How To Import .mogrt Motion Graphics

Open your project in Premiere Pro, and click Graphics from the top menu bar.

Image: https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/2594/posts/35052/image/new1.jpg

Now find the Essential Graphics panel on the right side of the screen. If it’s not open already, go to Window > Essential Graphics. In the very right-bottom corner of the panel click on the little template icon (a square with a plus) to Install Motion Graphics Template. Browse to the location of your .mogrt file and select it, then click Open.

2. Edit the Template

OK, time to add media to you sequence.

If you are using footage that has the dimension of 1920x1080 (a horizontal) you'll need to adjust this to 1080x1920 (vertical) under Sequence > Sequence Settings > Video > Frame Size. If that setting is greyed out, simply change the Editing Mode to Custom (also found in sequence settings). Select your clip or clips and add them to the timeline.

Find your template and add it above your footage, and adjust the template to your liking. Below is a screen shot of my workspace, where all adjustable parameters are labeled. What's editable will vary by template, but in this case we have tint colour, shape colours, the text, and positions. Of course your own media is the biggest customization, or you can use stock video from Elements.

Premiere Pro workspace - making an instagram story

3. Export Your Finished Video

And that's it, now you can export your video. If you're unsure about this step, this tutorial has everything you need to know to get the best results: