Cut a video into multiple short clips

Transcription

1 Step-by-Step Guide Cut a video into multiple short clips Separating the highlights and key messages from hours of raw footage requires a tool that makes for easy clipping and painless export to multiple devices. For example, suppose you want to show a series of short movie clips as part of a lesson. You can extract only the clips you want and share them as separate files. Imagine that you ve identified some videos to include in your research project, but you only need to share a few minutes from each video. You can very easily extract only the parts you need. In this document, you see how Adobe Premiere Pro (Figure 1) lets you blend and trim the best of your original footage and then make these clips available on a university website, a variety of mobile devices, DVDs and more. Figure 1 Adobe Premiere Pro project file with three clips derived from a single source video

2 Opening a new Adobe Premiere Pro project The first step to producing multiple video clips is to open a new project in Adobe Premiere Pro. To open a new Premiere Pro project: 1. Start Adobe Premiere Pro. 2. In the Welcome screen, click New Project, or choose File > New Project. The New Project dialog box appears. You need to enter a name and location for the project file. You can also change to the Scratch Disk tab and set a location for storing the project audio and video files. The default setting is to store these files in the same location as the project file. 3. Click Browse to select a location for the project. 4. Enter a name for the project, and click OK. The New Sequence dialog box appears (Figure 2). Every project begins with one new sequence. You can add additional sequences later. The Sequences dialog box includes several presets for the type of video you re editing. Generally, the format you choose should match your source video, not the final output you intend to create. Figure 2 New Sequence dialog box 5. In the Available Presets, select a preset that matches your video source. If you plan to use the sample NASA.mp4 video, then expand DV NTSC and select Widescreen 48kHz. 6. In the Sequence Name box, enter Clip 1, and click OK. The Clip1 sequence appears in the Project panel. 7. Select Window > Workspace > and make sure Editing is selected. The Editing workspace includes the Project, Source, and Timeline panels, which you ll use to trim your clips. 2

3 Capturing or importing your source footage There are two ways to get your raw unedited footage into Premiere. You can import source material, including video clips, audio clips, and graphics. You can also capture footage directly from a digital video tape source, including most digital video cameras. For information on capturing video from a tape source, visit In this example, you import a single file to use as your source video. To import source footage: 1. Select File > Import. The Import dialog box appears. 2. Locate and select your source video clip and click Open. In this example, we used the NASA.mp4 file. The file appears as an asset in the Project panel, along with the Clip 1 sequence you just created (Figure 3). Figure 3 Project panel Cutting your video into smaller clips There are a few ways to divide your source video into separate clips. You can drag the source video into a timeline, cut it into smaller parts by using the Razor tool, and then copy the smaller clips into separate sequence timelines. You can also trim your source video in the Source panel and drag trimmed clips into separate timelines. Either way, the goal is to create a separate sequence timeline for each video file. To cut your video into smaller clips: 1. Double-click the source video clip in the Project panel. The clip opens in the Source panel (Figure 4). With a clip loaded in the Source panel, you can use the trim controls to mark in and out points for the clip (Figure 4). Source panel Trim controls Figure 4 Premiere Pro workspace 3

4 Cutting your video into smaller clips Mark In Playhead Mark Out Play/Stop Insert Figure 5 Trim controls 2. In the Source panel trim controls (Figure 5), click the Play button or drag the playhead to locate where you want your first clip to start and click the Mark In button. 3. Position the playhead where you want the clip to end and click the Mark Out button (Figure 5). 4. Click the Insert button (Figure 5) to add the trimmed clip to the Clip 1 timeline (Figure 6). 5. Select File > New > Sequence, name the sequence Clip 2, and click OK. The Clip 2 timeline opens. To switch to a different sequence, you can double-click it in the Project panel. Figure 6 Clip 1 timeline 6. Repeat steps 1 through 3 to re-trim the source video and insert a second video clip into the Clip 2 sequence timeline. 7. Create any additional clips by trimming your source video and adding them to new sequences. Adding titles and transitions to clips With each clip stored in a separate sequence, you can add the finishing touches. For example, you may want each clip to begin with a unique title or end with a fade-to-black. For more information on editing and creating titles in Adobe Premiere Pro, visit learn-premiere-pro-cs6/what-is-adobe-premiere-pro-cs6/ 4

5 Exporting the edited clips as separate video files With each clip trimmed, and edited, you can export them to separate files by using several export presets. To export the edited clips as video files: 1. Select the sequence you want to export in the Project panel. 2. Select File > Export > Media. The Export Settings dialog box appears (Figure 7). By default, new files are added to the same directory as your project file. You can select a new destination by clicking the Output Name link and selecting a different folder. 3. Open the Format pop-up menu and select a video format, such as H Open the Presets pop-up menu and select a preset, such as YouTube SD 360p Widescreen Figure 7 Export Settings dialog box 5. You can also customize your settings, but in most cases, you re better off choosing a preset and accepting the recommended settings. 6. Choose Ok. Adobe Premiere Pro encodes the files using the format and preset you selected. The new file is saved to the default directory. You can repeat these steps to create separate files for each clip. For more information Find teaching materials for using Adobe software in your classroom on the Adobe Education Exchange: Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA USA Adobe, the Adobe logo, and Premiere Pro are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. 5