Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0

Guidelines for adding files

When you add files to your project, you need to be aware of possible conflicts and make sure the files you add are compatible with your project.

Guidelines for adding video files

You can add a variety of video file formats to your project. Imported video and sequence files can have frame sizes up to 4096 x 4096 pixels.

Before you add video files that you did not capture yourself, make sure you can view the video outside of Adobe Premiere Elements. Usually, double‑clicking a video file opens a playback application, such as Windows Media Player®. (Be sure to use the most up‑to‑date version of Windows Media Player.) If you can play back your file in the player application, you can usually use that file in Adobe Premiere Elements.
Note: To play back VOB (Video Object) files use the DVD player that came with your DVD burner.
When adding video files, consider the following:
MPEG file compatibility
An MPEG file that plays in Windows Media Player might not be able to be imported or played in Adobe Premiere Elements, because either the file is in a format that isn’t supported, or the compressor used to create the file isn’t compatible with the Adobe Premiere Elements decompressor. Many of these problematic MPEG files are downloaded from the Internet. Windows Media Player can usually play these MPEG files because the compatibility requirements for playing compressed files are less stringent than the requirements for editing them.
Note: The first time you import an MPEG-2 file, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically activates the components, if you are connected to the Internet. If you are not connected to the Internet, you may be asked to activate the MPEG-2 component. The instructions for doing this appear in the Activating Component dialog box.

EPS file scalability
You can scale imported EPS files to any size without them becoming jagged or pixelated.

Type 1 AVI file render requirements
These files must be rendered before you can preview them from your DV camcorder. To render a Type 1 AVI clip, add it to the Timeline and build a preview file of that section of the Timeline by pressing Enter. If the clip needs to be rendered, a red line appears above the clip in the Timeline.

DVD file protection
If you want to add video from a non‑commercial DVD, such as one that you burned, or from a DVD camcorder, use the Media Downloader and select the VOB files you want. If the DVD is a motion‑picture disc that uses copy protection, you cannot add the files.

Guidelines for adding audio files

When you add audio files to a project, they are conformed to the audio sample rate specified in the Project Settings dialog box. During that process, you’ll see a progress bar in the lower-right corner of the application window. You can play back conformed audio instantly at high quality because it’s consistent with all other audio in the project.

By default, conformed audio is stored in the same folder as the project. You can change this default by choosing Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks and specifying a different location for Media Cache.

Note: After you conform an audio clip, you don’t need to conform it again unless you delete the corresponding file in the Media Cache folder. If you delete conformed audio files, Adobe Premiere Elements regenerates them when you open related projects.

When adding audio files, consider the following:

Stereo and mono files
You can add many of the stereo audio files that you can open in another audio player, such as Windows Media Player, to your project. To create a stereo version of a mono file, the mono channel is copied to both the left and right channel in the new stereo track. In this case, both channels contain the same information.

5.1 surround sound files
Importing clips containing 5.1 audio adds a 5.1-channel audio track to your project.

mp3 and WMA files
Formats such as mp3 and WMA are compressed using a method that reduces some of the original audio quality. To play back compressed audio, Adobe Premiere Elements (like most video editing applications) must decompress and possibly alter the file’s sample rate. Compressing can degrade the audio quality.

CD files
If you want to add audio from a CD, you must first copy, or rip, the audio tracks to your hard drive using another application. Windows Media Player, included with Windows XP, can perform this task. You can also use Adobe® Audition® to rip the CD at various quality settings and perform complex audio‑processing functions on the file. If you plan to publicly air or distribute your movie, make sure that you own the copyright or have licensed the copyright to any CD audio you use.

Internet files
If you download music from the Internet for use in your projects, be aware that some files, notably WMA (Windows Media Audio®) and AAC (QuickTime) files may have pre‑encoded settings that don’t allow you to play the file back in Adobe Premiere Elements.

Guidelines for adding still image files

By default, Adobe Premiere Elements scales still images to fit the project frame size. You can override this behavior and instead add your files at the size at which they were created. You can also set the default duration for all still images that you add by deselecting Default Scale To Frame Size in the General preferences.

You can add still images with frame sizes up to 4096 x 4096 pixels. For best results, create files with a frame size at least as large as your video frame size so that you don’t have to enlarge, or scale up, the image in Adobe Premiere Elements. When you scale up an image, it often becomes pixelated, so you should create it at a larger frame size than the project. For example, if you plan to scale an image 200%, create the image at double the project frame size before you add it. (To determine the frame size of your video, right‑click in the Project view or the Timeline, and choose Properties; the Image Size option specifies your frame size. Frame size for a selected clip also appears in the preview area of Project view. To display the Preview area, right-click in Project view and choose View > Preview Area.)

You can also add animations, which usually are saved as a sequence of numbered still-image files.

When adding still-image files, consider the following:

Photoshop and Photoshop Elements files
Adobe Premiere Elements works well with images and video templates you create in Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS and later. You can create Photoshop still images by using the File > New > Photoshop File command in Adobe Premiere Elements, and subsequently edit images that you can use in your movie projects. For example, to create a still image with the correct frame size and pixel aspect ratio for your current project, choose File > New > Photoshop File.

Or you can create a video graphic using the File > New > Blank File command in Photoshop Elements or the File > New command in Photoshop CS as a starting point, and then using one of the DV or HDV document presets. These presets are optimized for video output. (See Photoshop Help for more information.)

Note: If you use another application to create your still images, see Adjust pixel aspect ratio for a still image or source clip for information on ideal frame sizes.

JPEG files
If you are having trouble importing JPEG files to Adobe Premiere Elements, open them in Photoshop Elements and resave them. Then try to import them again.

TIFF images
You can add files from Photoshop 3.0 or later. However, Adobe Premiere Elements doesn’t support 16‑bit TIFF images created in Photoshop or other applications. Empty (transparent) areas of nonflattened Photoshop files appear transparent in Adobe Premiere Elements because the transparency is stored as an alpha channel.

RGB mode
When you are editing or creating your still images, make sure that you do all of your work in RGB mode. For more information, consult your product’s user guide about color management. RGB mode produces colors that are suitable for video.

Guidelines for adding an animation or still‑image sequence

You can add an animation contained in a single file, such as an animated GIF. An animation is different from a video in that the frames in an animation are drawn as graphics and, therefore, are not scenes of live action, as in conventional digital video. Adobe Premiere Elements can also add a sequence of numbered still‑image files and automatically combine them into a single clip; each numbered file represents one frame. Some applications, such as Adobe® After Effects®, can generate a numbered sequence of still images. Images in a still‑image sequence cannot include layers, so you need to flatten images that will be part of a sequence. For information on layers and flattening, see the documentation for the application that created the file.

Note: Changing the default duration of still images in the Preferences dialog box does not affect the duration of still images that are part of a sequence.

When creating three‑dimensional images or animations for use in Adobe Premiere Elements, use the following guidelines whenever possible:

  • Use broadcast‑safe colors. Most applications that create animations (such as Adobe After Effects) allow you to check for broadcast‑safe colors. Refer to your application’s documentation for more information.

  • Use the pixel aspect ratio and frame size specified in the project settings in Adobe Premiere Elements.

  • Use the appropriate field settings to match your project.

  • If you’re using an Adobe application (such as Photoshop) to generate the sequence, select Embed Project Link so that you can open the sequence in the application that was used to create it. For example, selecting a PSD file in the Available Media view of the Media panel in Adobe Premiere Elements and choosing Edit > Edit Original opens the file in Photoshop with the original layers intact.