How to import video. Common sources of media files. File types you can import. Adobe Premiere Elements 8 guide

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1 How to import video You can add media to your projects by two basic methods: capturing from tape and importing files from other types of storage. Capturing typically involves recording video and audio directly to a hard-drive location from either a videotape playing in real time or a live video source. Importing typically involves copying video, audio, or still images to a hard-drive location from a memory card, thumb drive, DVD, CD, or another hard drive location. Whether you add media to your project by importing or capturing, each file is represented in Adobe Premiere Elements by its own thumbnail in the Project view in the Tasks panel. Each of these representations is called a clip. Clips, whether they contain audio, video, or still images, are the building blocks of your movies. Common sources of media files Adobe Premiere Elements enables you to add video, audio, graphics, and still images to your project from numerous sources. In the Get Media view in the Tasks panel, various buttons let you access the following items: Camcorders Digital cameras Web cams DVDs and CDs Cell phones PC files and folders File types you can import Your choice of footage to include in your movie is not limited to the clips you capture. You can use other image, video, and audio files that reside on your computer. You only need to add them to your Adobe Premiere Elements project to begin working with them. In some cases, added files can retain a link to the Adobe application in which they were created. This allows you to open the file s original application from within Adobe Premiere Elements, make changes, and immediately see the results in Adobe Premiere Elements. Except as noted, you can import the following file types by using the Get Media view in the Tasks panel. Added files are visible in the Project view in the Tasks panel. Video file types AVI Movie (.avi) Flash (.swf) RAW (.raw) Filmstrip (.flm) MPEG Movie (.mpeg,.vob,.mod,.mpe,.mpg,.m2v,.mp2,.mpv,.m2p,.m2t) Windows Media (.wmv,.asf) QuickTime Movie (.mov,.3gp,.3g2,.mp4,.m4a,.m4v) Note: To import video from mobile phones (.3gp and.mp4), you must have the most recent version of QuickTime installed on your computer Adobe Systems Incorporated How to import video 1

2 Adding files from tape camcorders You add clips from camcorders (tape devices) by capturing them. In the Capture dialog box you control the device (rewind, play, and advance), preview the video, and capture clips. The dialog box also enables you to specify how Premiere Elements manages the clips once they are captured. For example, you can choose to have clips split by time code, automatically analyzed, and added to the Timeline. 2 How to import video 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated

3 To capture clips from a camcorder 1. Connect the media by doing one of the following: Connect the camcorder or HD camcorder to your computer by connecting a cable to the USB 2.0 port or 1394 (Firewire) port. Consult the owner s manual for your computer for details on these and other options. 2. Turn on the camcorder and set it to playback mode, which may be labeled either VTR, VCR, or Play. You can also keep it in recording mode. 3. In the Organize tab, click Get Media (Figure 1). A list of devices appears. 4. Click DV Camcorder or HDV camcorder. Adobe Premiere Elements automatically detects your attached device and sets up the Capture panel accordingly. If you have more than one device attached, select the device from the Capturing Source menu. The Capture panel opens (Figure 2). 5. Enter a name for the clip. 6. Browse for a location to save the clip. 7. Choose from the following options in the Capture panel (Figure 3): Capture only Video or Audio: By default, both are selected. Capture To Timeline: Clips are automatically added to the Timeline after you finish capturing them Split Scenes: Capture is split into clips by either Timecode or Content. Auto-Analyzer: Auto Analyzer is run after you capture the clip. Auto Analyzer adds Smart Tags such as Dialog, Low Volume, In Focus, One Face, Long Shot, Shaky, and Medium Quality to the captured clips. 8. Using the controls in the Capture panel, rewind or advance the tape to the desired position. 9. Click the Capture button. Premiere Elements begins capturing video from the camcorder. 10. When you have finished capturing, click the Pause button. Depending on the options you selected, the Auto Analyzer runs and the captured clips are added to the Organize panel and/or the Timeline. Figure 1 List of import devices in Organize tab Figure 2 Capture panel Figure 3 Options for capturing video from a camcorder 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated How to import video 3

4 Adding files from DVDs, digital cameras, mobile phones, non-tape camcorders, and other devices Many types of devices other than digital video camcorders record video and store still-image files. Using the Media Downloader feature (Figure 4), you can import these files from DVD camcorders and mobile devices and from removable media such as DVDs, memory cards, multimedia cards, and memory sticks. Adobe Premiere Elements copies these files to the hard drive location you specify and adds them to the Project view in the Tasks panel. Show/hide video files Show/hide image files Show/hide audio files Figure 4 Adobe Premiere Elements Media Downloader 4 How to import video 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated

5 To use the Media Downloader: 1. Connect the media by doing one of the following: Place a DVD in your computer s DVD drive Connect the hard disk camcorder, DVD camcorder, mobile phone, or other device to your computer by connecting a cable to the USB 2.0 port. Consult the owner s manual for your computer for details on these and other options. 2. In the Organize tab, click Get Media (Figure 5). A list of devices appears. 3. Click the device from which you want to import. Note: If you have an SD card reader or other card reader attached to your PC, choose PC files and folders to browse for the card reader. The Adobe Premiere Elements - Media Downloader dialog box appears (Figure 6). 4. In the Adobe Premiere Elements - Media Downloader dialog box, click the Advanced Dialog button. 5. In the advanced version of the Media Downloader dialog box, choose the drive or device from the Get Media From pop-up menu (Figure 7). Thumbnails of all importable files appear in the dialog box. Note: When you import a DVD by using Media Downloader, VOB files for menus are distinguished from video files by the word Menu, as in (Menu)VTS_01_0.VOB. Figure 5 Organize tab Figure 6 Adobe Premiere Elements Media Downloader dialog box Figure 7 Media Downloader dialog box (advanced dialog options) 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated How to import video 5

6 6. In the Save Options area (upper-right corner of the dialog box), do one of the following to specify a location for the saved files: To save files to the default Adobe folder in the My Videos folder, leave the location as it appears in the dialog box. To specify a different location, click Browse and choose a folder or click Make New Folder to create and name a new folder. To create and name a new folder, click the Create Subfolder(s) pop-up menu, and choose one of the options for naming the subfolder. To rename the files in the folder consistently, click the Rename Files pop-up menu and choose one of the options for naming the files. The filename defaults to the folder name you enter. When the files are added to the folder and the Project view in the Tasks panel, the filenames are incremented by 001. For example, if you enter summer as a custom name, the filenames are changed to summer001.vob, summer002.vob, and so on. 7. To show or hide specific file types, click the Images button, Video button, or Audio button to the right of Show in the upper-left area. 8. Select files to add to the project. A check mark below the file s thumbnail indicates the file is selected. By default, all files are selected. Click a check box to remove the check mark and exclude a file. You can also select or deselect all files by using the Check All button or the UnCheck All button (Figure 8). 9. Under Apply Metadata, fill in the Author and Copyright boxes, if you wish (Figure 9). If you do not see these boxes, click the triangle next to Apply Metadata. 10. Click Get Media. You can click Cancel in the Progress dialog box at any time to stop the process. Note: If you don t intend to use all the files you add, you can delete them from the Project view in the Tasks panel. Deleting files from the Tasks panel doesn t delete them from your hard drive. This practice is recommended for large VOB files. Figure 8 Check All and UnCheck All buttons Figure 9 Apply Metadata section of the Media Downloader dialog box 6 How to import video 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated