[Skacey]

I would try some variation of the following:

Make the logo black in a separate comp.

Add the comp three times on top of your wood image.

The bottom most layer would have Roughen Edges followed by a fast blur – Animate Roughen edges and fast blur to simulate the darkening of the wood as it is being burned. (should start lighter and thinner and bloom to fully charred)

The next layer would be the same but would not bloom out past the edges of the logo – use this layer as a track matte for a red/orange noise layer to simulate the red embers as the wood chars.

The top most layer would be combined with your partical simulator of choice to get some smoke comming off of the logo – more at first then just wispy trails after full char.

Good luck!

[Skacey]

If it is indeed a layer just drag and drop the new image to the Layers palette just above the background layer. If you need to remove a background from an image check out the magic eraser which will let you erase one color while preserving adjacent colors.

[Skacey]

Typical fake is to duplicate the layer, apply radial blur using the zoom setting, set the layer to screen, adjust the curves to reduce or eliminate the midtones and shadows.

If you have After Effects check out Shine from Trapcode – does this for moving images.

[Skacey]

Depends on the footage but you can convert the jump to a blend by:

duplicating the footage
shifting it so the beginning of the dupe starts say two seconds before the end of the original.
setting the dupe to start at 0% opacity and moving to 100% at two seconds (where the first footage ends)
move the dupe on top of the original

This will fade the end of your footage into the beginning.

Alternatively you can try some of the transfer modes or even a sliding key to transition different effects.

[Skacey]

multiply your result by -3 and subtract it from 100 – so you have

x = 100 – (y * -3)

where x is your intensity and y is your rotation

[Skacey]

multiply your result by -3 and subtract it from 100 – so you have

x = 100 – (y * -3)

where x is your intensity and y is your rotation

[Skacey]

Just upgraded from Standard (6.0) to Pro (6.5) and the other elements not listed are all of the CC & CE filters (lots and lots of them), Classic version of Zax Invigorator, Color Finesse, and Keylight.