movie editing

[aquila]

I'm considering buying a copy of Premiere but I need to know what kind of editing can be done with it. Oddly, I have not been able to find this information even on the Adobe web site. Can I delete specified sections from within an avi file with this software? Please feel free to direct me to the proper web site for this information. Thanks!

[Chuck Engels]

Can I delete specified sections from within an avi file with this software?

Depending on the AVI file, yes.

Premiere Elements works best when it captures the video from a miniDV camcorder over Firewire. If the AVI is from a digital still camera it very well may need to be converted with Windows Movie Maker to DV-AVI first.

Here are some examples of what you can do with Premiere Elements, have a look
http://muvipix.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=67&pos=0
http://www.chuckengels.com/PremierVideo/
http://muvipix.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=213

[aquila]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Chuck. I AM using a still camera (Cannon PowerShot) which has movie capabilities so it sounds like I'm out of luck. (If I have to buy even more software to convert my avi file to something more palatable for Premiere) I already have Photo Shop Elements so naturally I first thought of Premiere Elements. Thanks for the warning. It's a shame, the links you sent looked like fun. I guess I'll have to keep searching for something that will accept my avi files or at least do the conversion for me to something it can work with.
Thanks again for your help,
Judy

[ATR]

Aquila,

You need to give me more information to get a handle on helping you with your specific concerns. Nonetheless, I am going to approach an answer with an assortment of thoughts.

1. Have you ever worked with any video editing software before? Or, are you thinking about moving to Premiere Elements 4 after using some other video editing software? Whatever the case, read the Premiere Elements 4 PDF for a comprehensive idea of what it can do for you, including editing clips.

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/PremiereElements/4.0/help.html?content=WSDFBA8495-1B3C-4888-BC8C-990DC6924700.html

After you read that and want to follow up, make sure you have read and met the System Requirements and download the trial version from Adobe (it is 30 days and free). If you run into any problem with installing or using the program, we are here to help. I do not believe Adobe offers support for trial versions.

2. More importantly...it would appear that you have a specific avi file in mind for editing. There are many types of avi files. DV AVI is the way to go for Premiere Elements. So, you need to tell us what kind of avi you have, where did you get it (camcorder, camera), and what you want to do with it. Especially, check out Editing Clips, Trimming Clips in the PDF link given.

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc11bfb
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc247e2

3. To get an idea of what you are getting yourself into, check out the video tutorials in the Learning Center at http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com.
If you decide to join the rest of us Premiere Elements users, please define your needs so that we can customize the appropriate answer.

ATR

[ATR]

Judy,

No need to despair. There are many of us editing video from a point and shoot camera. My camera offers AVI MPEG4. Yet I can download them from the camera to my computer hard drive via USB. Then, I can use GET MEDIA in Premiere Elements 4 to bring them from the saved hard drive location to the Premiere Elements 4 Timeline. No problems.

If there is a special problem with the Timeline content, you can use Premiere Elements File Menu/Export/Movie to produce a DV AVI from the Timeline content OR you can convert your AVI to DV AVI using Windows Movie Maker which comes with Windows XP. It would be good to know if you have Window XP or Vista, and, if Vista, which version.

Do I understand you correctly, you have Photoshop Elements? Which version do you have? There are some integration perks depending on which versions of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements that you have installed at the same time on your computer.

I regret that Chuck Engels response gave you such a negative idea about all this or that you read a negative message in it. Sure, problems can come up, but we are here with workarounds and/or how tos customized to your needs.

Get back to me with what you have and what you want to do. Think seriously about downloading the tryout version. Stick-to-it-tiveness is necessary for success in dealing with software.

ATR

[aquila]

* I have an XP operating system
* I have Photoshop Elements v.4 but I was thinking that *if* Premiere Elements will work with my Canon avi files, it would be a good excuse to upgrade by buying the bundle.
* I've been going through my camera manual and the only possible hint about what type of avi files are generated is two words "motion jpegs) in parenthesis beside "avi". I'm guessing all avi files could be described as motion jpegs so I still have no clue as to which specific type of avi Canon digital cameras generate.
* I have no prior experience with movie editing so I have not used any other software.
* I tried to read up on the System requirements using the link you provided in your first message. Unfortunately upon clicking on the requirements link I was referred to check my Premiere Elements manual. I would guess that it would meet the requirements.
* I very much appreciated Chucks warning of possible problems. I thought my only question was if Premiere would allow me to eliminate unwanted sections of video and assemble different sections together into one video. It never even occurred to me that I may have the wrong type of avi files to do any of this. I would have been VERY disappointed to buy it and then discover the problem after the fact. Of course you tell me there are "work arounds" so maybe it will still work after all. I'll take your advice and try to find the trial version to see if my avi files are going to be a minor problem or a major one.
Thanks for all your guidance!
Judy

[ATR]

Hope that the following links will be helpful:

“Download Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and Adobe Premiere Elements trials”
https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=pepe

“Download Adobe Premiere Elements 4 trials”
https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?loc=en%5Fus&product=premiere%5Felements

About AVI and AVI Motion JPEG
From your description, your camera offers movies in the AVI Motion JPEG format, where AVI is the “wrapper” and Motion JPEG is the compression standard used. In my case, AVI is the “wrapper” and MPEG4 is the compression standard used. You may find the following link helpful:

“AVI Video File Formats:…..”
http://manifest-tech.com/media_pc/avi_formats.htm



All System Requirements are important, but, generally speaking, top of the list for consideration:
RAM
Free Hard Drive Space
Latest Version of QuickTime installed on your computer
XP Optimized (defragmented, no unnecessary programs running in background, etc.)



Here are some Adobe TechNotes for Premiere Elements 4:

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402532&sliceId=2

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402373&sliceId=2

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402592&sliceId=2


Good luck with your trial version of Premiere Elements. We are here if you need us.

ATR

[Chuck Engels]

I just wanted to add that Windows Movie Maker is free, it comes with your computer. Even if you have to use that to convert the files, as many other people do, it won't cost you anything ;)

You may also want to just look at using Photoshop Elements and Windows Movie Maker :)

[aquila]

Thanks for the tip Chuck. I've used Photoshop Elements to create slide shows but I've not seen anything about using it with movies. Is that something that I'd need a current version for? I've already downloaded the trial version of Premiere Elements and installed it this morning. I was just reviewing some of the new links that ATR suggested. While doing that I found another link which was to take me to a list of tested devices like digital cameras but instead it took me back to the Premiere Elements page where I got my trial download but I saw nothing about a list of tested devices. Oh well, in a few more minutes I'll have tested it myself. If that doesn't work I'll start searching my computer for Movie Maker. I'm still hoping that Premiere works because I know there is bound to be a lot more books available documenting how to use that (at least that's what I found to be true with Photoshop Elements.
Thanks for all your help. I'll post back to let you know how my adventure ends.
Judy

[aquila]

Great news... I am able to at least view my Canon avi files. I haven't tried to edit anything yet but the fact that I can view them is promising in itself. I'm busy working my way through the Premiere tutorial which I really appreciate but having a bit of trouble with. I must be missing something because I'm have strange sound problems with the sample files. I'll start another thread for that. Just thought I'd share some good news.

[ATR]

Judy

You are making great process. Good job.

You can still use Photoshop Elements 4 and Premiere Elements 4 installed on the same computer, but you will not get the specific perk of being able to send the Photoshop Elements slideshow over to Premiere Elements as is (the non wmv route). That perk comes if you have Photoshop Elements 5/Premiere Elements 3 OR Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4.

So, you can create your slideshow all within Premiere Elements 4 OR make your slideshow in Photoshop Elements 4 and save to hard drive location and Organizer as the wmv version with its profile set to NTSC DVD. Then some of your options for getting it into Premiere Elements are:
1. Organizer thumbnail of wmv slideshow, highlight, File/Send to Premiere Elements
or
2. Open Premiere Elements, Get Media, and browse to hard drive location where you saved the wmv slideshow.

At this point, I think you should concentrate on Premiere Elements (not Windows Movie Maker, save that for later). Windows Movie Maker is an easy tool for converting to DV AVI if needed. I will post the link for future reference:
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc247e2

I am looking forward to hearing about your results and will be watching if any questions develop.

ATR

[ATR]

Add on...forgot to mention...

All that business about as is and non wmv version of Photoshop Elements slideshow has editing implication once you get to Premiere Elements. The as is version can be broken apart once within Premiere Elements and allowing for more editing possibilities. Many down grade the wmv version for quality reasons (but I have not observed this in my works). Later we can talk about pans & zooms in Premiere Elements (Presets as well as keyframing generated ones).

ATR