Combining Projects

[floyd605]

Hi! I am new to the forums. I have been using PE2 for a while now. I have created 14 highlight videos that are about 5 minutes long each for our local high school football team. The problem is that I created them all as separate projects. Now I want to create an end-of-the-season compilation on one DVD. Does anyone know how to combine all 14 videos into one project? I have looked and looked trying to figure out how to do it without losing the DVD quality. If I export to .avi the quality drops too much for my liking. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
floyd605

[ATR]

floyd605

These 14 separate video projects.... is each on a DVD disc in DVD-VIDEO format? If so, each should have its own VIDEO_TS containing its VOB files etc.

Also, if so, put each disc into the DVD drive (one at a time) and look into getting each's VOB file(s) in Premiere Elements 2.0 using the "Add Media", followed by "From DVD Camera or Removable Drive". Allow time for completion of the conforming process that takes place and then proceed to bring your downloaded VOBs from the Media Panel to the Timeline and so forth.

More details to follow if necessary.

ATR

[ATR]

Depending on what you are doing, you may find these articles of interest

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc193d8

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc2ec40

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc31e45


ATR

[floyd605]

ATR,
I think I have them all on DVD. If not, I still have the project files saved and can put them on DVD. This helps me tremendously. Thank you very much. Adobe should really give you an option of saving a copy of the VOB file on your hard drive. I save all my projects on an external hard drive, and it would be very nice to have a copy of the VOB file there in case I want to use it later. Anyway, thank you for your help, and I'll let you know if I need more help.
floyd605

[ATR]

floyd605

Have you taken a look at "burn to folder" as an alternative (when it serves the purpose) to "burn to disc"?

With burn to folder, the folder saved contains the VIDEO_TS (with VOBs etc) which can be burned to DVD with burn software other than that of Premiere Elements. But, be on guard...some burn software that you would use in this case, will not let you use create data disc. Instead you use their category for burning video files. If you get to that, you need to check out details specific for the burn program in use.

Good luck.

ATR

[floyd605]

That is exactly what I need to figure out how to do. I will use PE to burn the disc, but getting all of the VOB files on my hard drive should be possible this way. I'll let you know if it works.
floyd605

[floyd605]

This worked perfectly. I'm not sure why I have never noticed that you can "Burn to Folder." It's right under my nose when I burn a DVD. I'm curious...if I burn to folder each time I finish one of these mini-projects, can I also burn the DVD of that mini-project later without the long encoding process? Or does it have to encode again when you tell it to Burn to DVD? I think next season I will set up one project that I will add to each week. Once the season is over, my work is all done. Any reasons why I should not do this? Thanks for your help!
floyd605

[ATR]

I am not sure if I am reading your alternatives correctly, but here are various comments for some scenarios which are based on what I observe in my setup: You will need to explore to see what works for you. Systems vary. I suggest using a downsized test run to avoid surprises later.

1 Given you have a bunch of VIDEO_TS (aka mini projects) each generated from individual “burn to folder” in Premiere Elements If you want to combine them in one DVD-VIDEO, then bring the VIDEO_TSs into Premiere Elements from the saved location and (if appropriate) add scene menu so that you have access to specific video segments when viewing. Although these are VIDEO_TS, route to DVD-VIDEO via “burn to disc” is not going super quicker or quick:

Times to consider:
Conforming Time (as the media is brought into the Media Panel)
Rendering (for when you see the red line above track)
Encoding/Burn Time (processing of the VIDEO_TSs into one, etc.)

Once this DVD-VIDEO (multi VIDEO_TSs into one) is complete, you can always make copies with software that came with your computer. (Miscellaneous point: Premiere Elements burn software does not support multisessions).

2 If you thought that you could take all the saved VIDEO_TSs and just burn them to a DVD with software that came with the DVD burner in order to get a playable DVD-VIDEO….no. That works for one VIDEO_TS. Most DVD players (like mine) will only recognize one set of these folders per disc. .In your explorations, you may get to a point where you will get the idea to rename the VIDEO_TS, etc. Don’t.

Finally, I am not sure what you have in mind for adding a project as you go, but just be careful of multisession hangups. As I said, try all this out in a test timed run.

ATR