Archiving Projects

[Karen W]

I believe I have been saving and burning my projects to DVDs incorreclty, but they have worked fine. I save them (.prel) and then burn to DVD without exporting as DV-AVI first. What difference is my project from the .prel fiel instead of the .avi file? IS it inferior quality? What do I gain from the extra step of exporting to avi and them inporting back into timeline to burn?

Also, instead of doing the Project Archive (which I just read about tonight through another forum via Bob D at videoinasnap.chuckengels.com), I only burn an extra copy for my 'library'. Is this the best/easiest way to have abackup if you only want to burn extra copies later rather than archiving?

If I archive instead, will it import into PE3 onto the timeline exactly as it was when I archived it, that is, will it be in individual clips ad audio and transitions on the timeline?

[ATR]

Karen

I did not want you to think that I had forgotten about you and your question.

I have been working on a response that I hope will answer all your questions, and I plan to post it later today.

ATR

[ATR]

To me, the key factors seem to be whether or not
(a) you are going to want to edit the project in the future
(b) you want the flexibility to decide about editing and the format of the final product.
If all your projects are going to end up unedited and as DVD-VIDEO, then why not make a master DVD-VIDEO of the project and, when you need copies, use the Exact Copy feature of the burn software that came with your DVD burner?

But, I suspect you want the flexibility without hang ups of missing image messages when you open a .prel file after its source images have been relocated on the hard drive. Then I would strongly suggest one of the Project Archiver options that best fits your needs for later editing. Factor all this in with what works for you. If you have a system that works for you, go with it, but beware of all the possibilities. The following responses are based on my explorations:

Your Question #3
“If I archive instead, will it import into PE3 onto the timeline exactly as it was when I archived it, that is, will it be in individual clips and audio and transition on the timeline?

Yes.
When you go to the Project Menu/Project Archiver, whether you choose “Archive Project” or “Copy Project”, you will see your Timeline content on the Timeline looking like what it did at the time of saving the project.
But, with the “Archive Project” option, your Media Panel will ONLY house the images that were dragged into the Timeline; whereas, with the “Copy Project” option, your Media Panel will house ALL the images that were in the Media Panel at saving (those used and not used on the Timeline).
Note the following details:
You have to save your project, File/Save, before you go the Project Menu/Project Archiver route.
When using “Archive Project” option, although the Timeline content “looks” the same, check Help for how the software defines “trimmed” as applied to the “Archives Project” option.
These are words, try these and see what happens and which are compatible with your workflow.

Your Question #1 and the rest .
“I save them (.prel) and then burn to DVD without export as DV-AVI first.”

There is but one .prel file per project, and it is essential that image sources on hard drive are not relocated. Also, consider, if more than one project is saved as DV-AVI, each can be imported into the same project on the Timeline.
Excuse me if you are aware of this already, but burning a .pref to a DVD disc does not make it a DVD-VIDEO, and, if you want to open that .pref in Premiere Elements and edit and use Save, you first have to copy the .pref from the DVD disc back to the computer. The other way is to open the .prel file on the DVD disc, edit in Premiere Elements, but go the File/Save As route to save to a new location.

As far as I know, exporting to DV AVI is not supposed to lessen the quality.

Besides the basics in the Help section of your software, here are some more reading material that you might want to look at:

“How to archives projects”
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc4ad50

Let me know how your explorations worked and if everything went as suggested.

ATR

[Karen W]

Thanks, ATR. I think I have most of it sorted out now. For projects I know I may want to add to years down the road, I'll use Project Archiver>Archive Project (maybe even to tape instead of DVD). My editing will mean using new photos/video I never had therefore there's no need to keep other things not used in Media panel (Copy Project route).

For those projects I may only need to make copies from, I'll make a master DVD-VIDEO and use Exact Copy feature say from Nero software.

Sorry, but I didn't quite understand this paragraph however:

Excuse me if you are aware of this already, but burning a .pref to a DVD disc does not make it a DVD-VIDEO, and, if you want to open that .pref in Premiere Elements and edit and use Save, you first have to copy the .pref from the DVD disc back to the computer. The other way is to open the .prel file on the DVD disc, edit in Premiere Elements, but go the File/Save As route to save to a new location.

I'm not that savvy on file extensions and wasn't even aware .pref files existed. For projects where I just want a master DVD-VIDEO, does it matter whether I make a DV-AVI file first or just burn the .prel file? Sorry if you have already answered this and I just couldn't grasp it.

[ATR]

You sound like you are on the right track.

In the paragraph that you mentioned, I was trying to point out some problems associated with working with a project (.prel file) saved to a DVD disc. I understood you to mean
(1) you created a project
(2) decided to save the project (which is a .prel file) rather than take the project through the Premiere Elements burn process so that you would end up with the project on a DVD disc in DVD-VIDEO format.
(3) For storage purposes, you were taking his saved project off your hard drive by burning it to a DVD disc with the burn software that came with your DVD writer.
(4) some time later, you wanted to be able to open the project from the DVD disc to do further work in Premiere Elements, maybe then create a DVD-VIDEO or something else.

You will do fine creating whether it be from archived projects (via Project Archiver), DV AVI, or just carrying a project through from start to finish. Please post again if any questions.

Good luck with your projects.


ATR

[Karen W]

You're explanations are perfect, ATR. Thanks for taking the time to teach me!! This is such a great place to get help.

I'll be back with more questions as they arise!!