Introduction

Adobe Premiere brings the world of digital movie making to the desktop.  Premiere lets you record, create, and play video programs using video, sound, animations, photographs, drawings, text, and other material on your computer.

You can play back movies created in Premiere as you edit them.  You can also output video programs in a number of ways, including videotape, an Edit Decision List, or a digital format such as an image sequence, QuickTime, MPEG, Video for Windows, AVI, or animated GIF.

This handout explains how to get started using Adobe Premiere with the video workstations located in the Student Computing Center (SCC).  Basic topics such as opening Premiere, starting a new project, capturing video, editing clips, adding transitions, adding audio, and outputting files are covered in this document.

Starting a New Premiere Project

1. To open Premiere, go to:

Start > All Programs > Applications > Graphics > Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5

Premiere opens with a Welcome window as shown in Figure 1. Before doing anything in Premiere, you must set up a new project. A project is a single Premiere file that describes a video program.  It stores references to all the clips added to that file and information about how you have arranged the clips.  It also includes details such as transitions or effects that you may have applied.



Figure 1. Premiere Welcome window

2. To create a new project, click the New Project icon on the left. The New Project dialog box appears (Figure 2).  Look in the Location field.  It should have the letter "V", indicating that the Video drive is selected.  If not, click the Browse button and select the Video Drive.  Enter a Name for the project. Click OK.

Figure 2. New Project dialog box

Capturing Video

Typically the first step in creating a new video project is capturing source footage. Many input video sources are available to you. CIS has provided a VCR, a mini DV (digital video) deck, a DVD player, and several ports to allow you to plug in your own video camera or other equipment.  This handout explains how to capture using the VCR. Other input sources require slightly different settings, but use a similar process.

1. To capture video from the provided VCR, first turn on both the VCR and the large television monitor.  When you play a tape in the VCR, you should see and hear your video on the TV monitor.  If not, please ask the CIS support staff for assistance.
2. When playing a tape and you see white text showing a counter for your video, you may want to turn this display off before capturing. Press the Display button on the VCR remote to turn this counter either on or off.
3. Change the capture settings for the current project by selecting File > Capture. Click the Settings tab (circled in Figure 3), and then click the Edit button.



Figure 3. Clicking the Settings tab

4. The Project Settings dialog box appears. Change the Capture Format by selecting either Matrox AVI Capture or Matrox M2V Capture from the drop-down box (Figure 4).



Figure 4. Selecting the Capture Format

5. The Project Settings dialog box has three buttons on the right and four drop-down boxes at the bottom.  Click the middle A/V Inputs button (Figure 5).



Figure 5. Clicking A/V Inputs

6. Select the Video Source from the drop-down box. To capture using the VCR, make sure Composite is selected (Figure 6). Click OK to close this dialog box, then click OK again to close the Project Settings dialog box.  This takes you back to the Capture window.



Figure 6. Selecting the Video Source

7. You are now ready to capture video clips.  Queue up your videotape by playing your tape in the VCR and pressing Pause a little before the part that you want to record.  You may need to search forward and backwards before finding the right spot.  Be sure to allow extra time for the VCR to start rolling the tape.  The two most important buttons on the Capture window are the black square (stop) and the red circle (record).  Press Play on the VCR and then click the Record button in the Capture window (Figure 7).



Figure 7. Locating the Stop and Record buttons 

8. After recording, click Stop.  The Save Captured File dialog box appears where you can name the captured clip (Figure 8).  After naming it, notice the file is now present in the Project window. The Project window allows you to keep track of all of the clips related to the current project.



Figure 8. Save Captured File dialog box

9. To capture the next clip, repeat this process.

Editing Video

You will need to become familiar with many windows in order to successfully edit a video project.  This section gives an introduction to the workspace area and steps for editing a segment of video.

The Project window shows a list of saved clips that are associated with the current project (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Project window 

Video and audio clips can also be added to the current project at any time by selecting File > Import and browsing to select the clip that you wish to add by file name.

The Monitor window displays individual frames of clips and the video program.  Using default settings, the Monitor window resembles the monitors in a conventional edit bay with one monitor for the source, or source clip, and another for the program, or edited video. Controllers at the bottom of the Monitor window are similar to the edit controller in an edit bay.  See Figure 4.

• To play, click the Play button.
• To stop, click the Stop button.

Figure 10. Monitor window 

The Tool box (Figure 11) gives the user the tools to alter clips on the Timeline. The dark black arrow is the default select tool. The razor tool allows you to cut the clips.

Figure 11. Tool box 

The Timeline window is a time-based view of your program where you can select, arrange, and modify the instances of the source clips used in the video program. The Timeline graphically shows the placement of each clip in time, its duration, and its relationship to the other clips in the program (Figure 12).

Figure 12. Timeline window 

Adding a clip to the Timeline is as easy as selecting the clip in the Project window and dragging it to a track in the Timeline.  Make sure the video is dragged to Video 1 and the audio to Audio 1.  To edit the clip, first select it using one of the selection tools.  Reposition the clip by dragging it with the default tool.  If the clip contains both video and audio, both video and audio tracks move in unison. To unattach the two, right-click the clip and select Unlink Audio and Video.  The Timeline with clips added is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Timeline with clips 

Not only can you move clips in Premiere, but you can also edit their duration. Change the beginning or In point for a clip by positioning the mouse over the beginning of the clip and dragging right or left.  Similarly, change the Out point of a clip by positioning the mouse over the end of the clip and dragging right or left.

Using Transitions

The simplest transition is the cut, where the last frame of one clip leads directly into the first frame of the next.  The term comes from film editing, where a cut means splicing two shots together.  Very often, a cut is the most effective way to move from one scene to the next.  To cut from one scene to the next, simple align one clip immediately after another (no transition is needed).  Other transitions, however, are useful in setting a mood or adding a creative element to your project.

Transitions allow you to blend from one clip to the next in interesting ways.  To select from a variety of default transitions, click Window > Effects.  Go to the Video Transitions folder.  After finding the desired effect, drag it down to the Timeline where you want it to play.  Its duration can be altered by either dragging its edges or right-clicking it.

Adding Audio

Audio can also be found in the Timeline window.  If working with a video clip that includes audio, the audio tracks appear on the Timeline.  You can select the clip, move it, change its speed, delete it, make volume (gain) adjustments, pan left or right, fade, or many other filters and adjustments.

Audio clips can be added from any source including CD, MP3, WAV, a microphone, other VHS or DV tapes, and other movie clips in the Project window.  Whatever the source of the sound, first import it into the computer and save the sound clip as a WAV file.  You may need additional software not yet available on the graphics workstation to do this.  In Premiere, select File > Import to bring in the new sound clip.  It appears in the Project window just like the video clips.  Drag it to the desired place in the Timeline (again, like the video clips).

Output

There are multiple ways to output your final product. To do this, go to File > Export and then select the method you wish to use.

Movie File Output

1. To output your video to a file for playback on a computer (on the Web, in a PowerPoint presentation, etc.), Export the movie file.  First check that the blue tab with the red bar extending from its base in the Timeline window (the Work Area) is at the beginning of your project.  You can change its location by clicking and then dragging the blue tab.  Go to File > Export > Movie to create the output movie file.
2. A dialog box appears where you can name the file.  Before naming it and clicking OK, the compression of the project can be changed.  To do so, click the Settings tab.

AVI video is the most common format output to be visible on other PCs.  When exporting an AVI, you also need to consider compression.  You are essentially trying to store hundreds of high-resolution images for every few seconds of video.  If you do not use compression, the file size quickly becomes unmanageable. The compression types (codecs) are numerous, and not every machine supports every type (there are many types that the video workstation does not support).  CIS recommends that you use the default settings.

Note: Feel free to try any file types or compression codecs that you like.  For a detailed explanation of file types, see Appendix B of the Premiere manual, which is located in the video editing room.

3. Enter a file name on the Video (V:) drive, and then click OK. A window appears showing the progress of your export.

Note: Exporting each minute of video usually takes about ten minutes, and some compression schemes take much longer. If you have a 30-minutes video to export to a file for a presentation, the process could take over five hours to complete, so plan ahead.

4. Finally, test that your video output was successful and clean up your files on the Video (V:) drive.  Do not forget to make backups of the files used to create your video project if you need to go back and make changes later.

Note: Please keep the drives clean by removing all of your files when you have finished outputting your video project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does this machine have two monitors?  The extra monitor is for extra screen space. You can keep the commands and transitions windows on a separate screen, or make the Timeline window run across both screens.

How long will my files stay on the Video (V:) drive?  The Video (V:) drive is temporary space.  If another user needs more space, files will be deleted starting with files named temp or test, and then continuing with the oldest files first.   It is always a good idea to back up your files to CD.

Can I reserve the graphics machines?  Yes.  Go to the Resource Desk to sign up to reserve a computer.

For More Help

For more information, please check the Help menu inside of Premiere, or check out the Premiere manual from the Resource Desk with your student ID.

If you need more assistance, please feel free to ask the CIS Support Staff in any Open Access Lab, or call Help Desk Central at (979) 845-8300.