Project settings and presets

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    About project settings and presets

    Project settings determine the video and audio format of a project, such as whether your footage is DV, HDV, AVCHD, or from a hard disk or flash memory camcorder, or whether it is standard or widescreen video. It also specifies the frame rate, aspect ratio, audio sample rate, upper or lower field first, and bit depth for your project.

    When you start a new project, Adobe Premiere Elements applies a project preset to it. A project preset is a collection of preconfigured project settings. In most cases, you can use the default project preset, which is set for 4:3 DV footage for the television standard you specified when you installed Adobe Premiere Elements. NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is the television standard for the Americas, the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan; PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the standard format for Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, China, and other parts of Asia.

    You can’t change the project preset after starting a project, so verify the format of your source footage before selecting a project preset. Depending on your source footage, you may need to change the preset or create a new one. If your footage is widescreen, for example, you need to select a Widescreen preset before you start your project; if it’s HDV, choose one of the HDV presets. If the project preset does not match the source files, you may get unexpected or undesirable results.

    If you need to specify lower quality settings for output (such as streaming web video), don’t change your project settings—change your export settings instead.

    Dynamic sequence preset

    When you add a movie clip that has different properties (Dimension, FPS, Pixel aspect ratio, Field order) than the project’s preset to the timeline, a message is displayed. Click Yes in the message to allow Premiere Elements to change the project’s settings to match the properties of the clip. To retain the project’s settings, click No.

    • The message appears only if the timeline is empty when you drag and drop a movie clip to the Timeline, Sceneline, or Monitor.

    • The message does not appear when you drag and drop images, or audio-only clip to the Timeline, Sceneline, or Monitor.

    • The message does not appear if you select multiple clips with different properties and drag and drop them to the empty Timeline, Sceneline, or Monitor.

    • The message does not appear in the capture workflow.

    Create or change project presets

    Adobe Premiere Elements includes default project presets which are appropriate for most common types of source media, including video from DV camcorders, cameras, DVD discs, and mobile phones. It is not possible to create custom project presets or change a project preset after selecting one and starting a project.

    To change the project preset when starting a new project, click the Change Settings button in the New Project dialog. Select the preset that matches the footage type you intend to use.

    When you try to add a movie clip whose preset does not match the project’s preset to the timeline, a message appears. Click Yes in the message to allow Premiere Elements to change the project’s settings to use the closest available preset. For more information, see Dynamic Sequence Preset.

    Select a project preset

    By default, Adobe Premiere Elements uses a DV preset for the television standard you specify when you install the program. You will need to select a new preset to create new projects in a different format (such as HDV), television standard (such as PAL), or frame aspect ratio (such as widescreen).

    The preset you select becomes the default, so it’s used for all new projects you create, until you select another preset. If you want to use a preset temporarily, be sure to change it when you’ve finished using it.

    1. Start Adobe Premiere Elements.
    2. In the Welcome screen, click New Project. (Or, choose File > New > Project.)
    3. In the New Project dialog box, click Change Settings.
    4. Select the preset that matches the format and standard of the footage you want to edit. For example, to edit most HDV footage shot on 1080i camcorders in the American market, choose HDV 1080i 30 or HDV 1080i 25.
    5. Click OK.
    6. Give the project a name and location, and click OK.

    Change the settings of an open project

    Only minor changes related to display can be made in project settings after a project is created.

    Note: Editing mode and the Preview files file format cannot be changed after a project is created.
    1. Choose Edit > Project Settings > General.
    2. In the Project Settings dialog box, specify project settings for General, Capture, Video Rendering.
    3. Click OK.

    Check your project’s settings

    Project presets consist of settings in three main categories: General, Capture, and Video Rendering. After you start a project, you can’t change most of the project settings, such as frame rate, size, and aspect ratio. However, you can review the settings to make sure that the media you want to add to the project is compatible.

     Open the project in Adobe Premiere Elements, and choose Edit > Project Settings > [category].
    Note: Custom presets may be provided with third‑party products, including PCs, capture cards, or hardware bundles. Refer to the third‑party documentation for details.

    NTSC vs PAL presets

    NTSC presets conform to the NTSC standard, where each video frame consists of 525 horizontal lines displayed at 29.97 frames per second. The Standard NTSC preset is for footage that has a 4:3 aspect ratio, and the Widescreen NTSC preset is for footage that has a 16:9 aspect ratio.

    PAL presets conform to the PAL standard, where each video frame consists of 625 lines displayed at 25 frames per second.

    General settings

    General settings (Edit > Project Settings > General) control the fundamental characteristics of a project, including the editing mode used to process video, frame size, aspect ratios, count time (Display Format), and playback settings (Timebase). These settings should match the most common source media in your project (for example, if most of your footage is DV, use the DV Playback editing mode). Changing these settings arbitrarily may result in a loss of quality.

    General settings include the following options.

    Editing Mode
    Identifies the television standard and format chosen for the project. The following video preview settings can’t be changed because they are determined by the editing mode: Timebase, Frame Size, Pixel Aspect Ratio, Fields, and Sample Rate.
    Note: The Editing Mode setting should represent the specifications of the source media, not the final output settings. Specify output settings when you export a project.

    Timebase
    Specifies the time divisions used to calculate the time position of each edit: 25 for PAL (European standard), and 29.97 for NTSC (North American and Japanese standard).

    Playback Settings
    This button is available if you use a DV preset, a DV editing mode, or if you install a plug‑in that provides additional playback functions. For a DV editing mode, this option indicates where you want your previews to play back: on your DV camcorder (or other connected device) or on your desktop. For information on the playback settings available for third‑party plug‑ins, see the documentation provided by the manufacturer of the plug‑in.

    Frame Size
    Specifies the dimensions, in pixels, for frames when you play back projects. In most cases, the frame size for your project should match the frame size of your source media. You can’t change the frame size to compensate for slow playback, but you can adjust the playback settings: Right-click/ctrl-click in the Monitor panel and choose Playback Settings. You can also adjust the frame size of final output by changing the Export settings.

    Pixel Aspect Ratio
    Sets the aspect ratio for individual pixels. This ratio is determined by the video format: PAL or NTSC. If you use a pixel aspect ratio that is different from your video, the video may play back and render with distortion. For more information, see Understanding aspect ratios.

    Fields
    Specifies the field dominance, or the order in which the two interlaced fields of each frame are drawn. Adobe Premiere Elements captures DV footage with fields, even if the footage was recorded as progressive scan.

    Display Format (video)
    Specifies the way time appears throughout the project. The time display options correspond to standards for editing video and motion‑picture film. For DV NTSC video, choose 30 fps Drop‑Frame Timecode. For DV PAL video, choose 25 fps Timecode.

    Title Safe Area
    Sets how much of the frame edge to mark as a safe zone for titles, so that titles aren’t cut off by TVs that zoom the picture slightly to enlarge it (called overscanning). A rectangle with crosshairs marks the title‑safe zone when you click the Safe Zones button in the Monitor panel. Titles are usually assumed to require a wider safe zone than action.

    Action Safe Area
    Sets how much of the frame edge to mark as a safe zone for action so that action isn’t cut off by TVs that zoom the picture slightly to enlarge it. A rectangle marks the action‑safe zone when you click the Safe Zones button in the Monitor panel.

    Sample Rate
    Identifies the audio sample rate defined by the project preset. In general, higher rates provide better audio quality when you play back audio in projects, but they require more disk space and processing. Try to record audio at a high‑quality sample rate, and capture audio at the rate at which it was recorded.

    Display Format (audio)
    Specifies whether audio time display is measured by using audio samples or milliseconds. By default, time is displayed in audio samples, but it can be displayed in milliseconds for sample‑level precision when you are editing audio.

    Capture settings

    Capture settings (Edit > Project Settings > Capture) control how video and audio are transferred directly from a deck or DV camcorder. (Other Project Settings panels do not affect capturing.)

    Video Rendering settings

    Video Rendering settings control the picture quality, compression settings, and color depth that Adobe Premiere Elements uses when you play back video from the Timeline or Sceneline.

    To access Video Rendering settings, choose Edit > Project Settings > Video Rendering. These settings include the following options:

    Maximum Bit Depth
    Allows Adobe Premiere Elements to use up to 32‑bit processing, even if the project uses a lower bit depth. Selecting this option increases precision but decreases performance.

    File Format
    Specifies the format of the preview video.

    Compressor
    Identifies the codec (compressor/decompressor) that Adobe Premiere Elements applies when previewing movies. The codec is defined by the project preset; you cannot change it because it must conform to the DV standard.
    Note: If you use a clip in your video program without applying effects or changing frame or time characteristics, Adobe Premiere Elements uses the clip’s original codec for playback. If you make changes that require recalculation of each frame, Adobe Premiere Elements applies the codec identified here.

    Optimize Stills
    Select this option to use still images efficiently in projects. For example, if a still image has a duration of 2 seconds in a project set to 30 fps, Adobe Premiere Elements creates one 2‑second frame instead of 60 frames at 1/30 second each. Deselect this option if projects exhibit playback problems when displaying still images.