PRE7 Beginners questions

[Codebreaker]

While I'm a self proclaimed guru on PS Elements :rolleyes: I've now begun to dip my toe in the murky waters of Video Editing. I've installed PRE7 along with PSE7 and have a couple of basic questions, if someone can help, please.

First off - can anyone recommend a good book thats something more than just a Help Manual - i.e. it points out not just what the controls do but when and where to use them

Secondly - It looks like PRE7 shares the PSE7 Organiser. I'd prefer to keep my Video files seperate from the Image files so I've created a seperate Catalog for Video. Is it going to cause any confusion if I use PRE7 with the Video Catalog AND PSE7 with the Image Catalog at the same time?

Also, the playback in PRE7 isn't too great - sound drops out occasionally and the image quality isn't what it should be. A saved AVI file is fine. Is there some setting I've not come across that would improve this?

FWIW: I'm running a 2.8GHz Quad Core processor with 4Gbytes of Ram and an nVidia 8800 video card....Vista Business.

Thanks
Colin

[ATR]

As for books for Premiere Elements 7, there would appear that there are more books popping up for this latest version than the previous. You may want to look into:

1. The Muvipix.com Guide to Adobe Premiere Elements 7: The tools, and how to use them, to create great videos on your personal computer. By Steve Grisetti

http://astore.amazon.com/chuckengelsco-20/detail/0615248993
Yes, that is the Chuck Engels who visits here often as he can.


2. There is supposed to be a Premiere Elements 7 Missing Manual book coming out soon. I saw it advertised on the Adobe site, but I am not sure if and when it is going to be released.
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/psprelements/explore/?panel=example4

3. Have you clicked on Premiere Elements 7 Help. That will lead you to the Premiere Elements 7 PDF which is very comprehensive.

4. You need to watch that FAQs over at the Premiere Elements User to User Forum at Adobe http://www.adobeforums.com

I have seen good reviews about the Steve Grisetti book with regard to tools. But, I am not sure how it measures up for overall concepts.


I will get back to you on your Organizer question.


Are you talking about Playback of the Premiere Elements 7 Timeline when you are editing your Timeline content? If so, we need to address the matter of Rendering the Timeline by pressing the Enter Key of your main keyboard when you are in the Edit Mode of the interface. Rendering the Timeline only gives you the best possible Preview, but does not impact the quality of the final product. It can be very time consuming. Is Rendering the Timeline necessary??? Check out the recent threads in this forum on that topic. I can elaborate on that more if necessary, but those recent threads should just about cover that topic for now.

To be continued........

ATR

[ATR]

Colin,

About Photoshop Elements 7 and Photoshop Elements 7, one with an Organizer Still Image Catalog and the other with an Organizer Video Catalog AT THE SAME TIME. It is my feeling that you are supposed to use one program at a time, exception being in the transfer of a Photoshop Elements 7 slideshow to the Premiere Elements 7 Timeline as one example.

Your best answer for something like that might be Tony W or Byron in the Advanced Forum. But, here goes my "gut" feeling on the matter. I do not believe that you can do that. I think that, when both programs are on the same computer, they are set up to share the one (the same) database/catalog. I am not sure what would happen if you tried to do otherwise having two separate catalogs and/or switching back and forth, and I am a little reluctant to try it.

It would seem that safest and the path of least resistance to have one catalog and utilize the tagging and selection features of each program to display the desired files in whatever program that you are in. For example, in the Premiere Elements 7 Organizer, you can opt to see just video from the Organizer catalog, etc.

I will continue to think on this interest thought, but I am not the best to guide you on an Organizer course of action here. I could research this further if you would like, but I am hoping that the team over in the Advanced Forum will have a more immediate answer.

ATR

[Codebreaker]

Hi Atr......

Thanks for the book info. I stumbled across a couple of these so I'll take another in depth look at them.

As for Rendering the Preview - yes it gets better - is it necessary; not sure yet but I'll keep playing.

The question on the Organiser is in respect of the fact that I'd prefer to seperate out the images and video so that the Organiser Catalog isn't overloaded. I have considerbly more stills than video. Also because of the time in rendering I want to use Elements in parallel. It seems to work but I'd prefer not to shoot myself in the foot too soon.

To be honest its not a big deal because I don't seriously use Elements Organiser, prefering Lightroom instead.

Once again thanks and have a great xmas.

Colin

On

[Chuck Engels]

Here are a few free tutorials, PDF and Video format, about Premiere Elements version 7
You need to register at muvipix but the registration is free also.
http://muvipix.com/products.php?subcat_id=44
Other great free articles and tutorials here by the author of the Muvipix Guide to PE7, Steve Grisetti http://muvipix.com/products.php?subcat_id=41

You should be able to get enough free information to get you well on your way :)

[ATR]

Colin,

The following link is an alternate route to that Steve Grisetti overview of Premiere Elements 7:

http://muvipix.com/learning/learning_pdf.php?preview=WhatsNewIn7

It is posted in one of those FAQs at Premiere Elements User to User Forum at Adobe that I mentioned previously.

ATR

[Barb O]

Colin,

About Photoshop Elements 7 and Photoshop Elements 7, one with an Organizer Still Image Catalog and the other with an Organizer Video Catalog AT THE SAME TIME. It is my feeling that you are supposed to use one program at a time, exception being in the transfer of a Photoshop Elements 7 slideshow to the Premiere Elements 7 Timeline as one example.

Your best answer for something like that might be Tony W or Byron in the Advanced Forum. But, here goes my "gut" feeling on the matter. I do not believe that you can do that. I think that, when both programs are on the same computer, they are set up to share the one (the same) database/catalog. I am not sure what would happen if you tried to do otherwise having two separate catalogs and/or switching back and forth, and I am a little reluctant to try it.

It would seem that safest and the path of least resistance to have one catalog and utilize the tagging and selection features of each program to display the desired files in whatever program that you are in. For example, in the Premiere Elements 7 Organizer, you can opt to see just video from the Organizer catalog, etc.

I will continue to think on this interest thought, but I am not the best to guide you on an Organizer course of action here. I could research this further if you would like, but I am hoping that the team over in the Advanced Forum will have a more immediate answer.

ATR

ATR and Colin,

I have just installed PSE 7 and PRE 7. I am intentionally using different catalogs : PSE 7 uses my primary photo catalog (plus some other catalogs that reference teaching or testing photo files). PRE 7 uses a different catalog that I will use as my primary video catalog.

So far, PRE 7 is consistently opening the same catalog as it had open last time, even when both PSE 7 and PRE 7 are open at the same time and PSE 7 is using a different catalog.

I think that I did need to create my video catalog over in PSE 7 and then tell PRE 7 to use it. PRE does not have all catalog functions. (now I wish I had taken notes while doing this - but I was too anxious to see my results)

I did notice that some photo files were added (automatically) to my PRE 7 open video catalog. I think that this happened when I did a Send Slideshow from PSE 7 to PRE 7. It is still unclear to me if I can remove those photo files from the video catalog used by PRE 7 (but not delete the photo files) without harming the PRE 7 project in which they are used: more trial and error is probably required in order to learn about the limitations.

I am still experimenting with workflow:
I am thinking that I may place any photo files that I process differently for use in a video (such as decreased resolution or cropped to 16:9 aspect ratio) in this video catalog instead of my regular photo catalog. However that introduces referencing the same catalog from PSE and PRE at potentially the same time. hmmm ...........

Note: I think that this capability for the separate and different catalog that is consistently opened in PRE 7 is new to version 7. I think that PRE 4 automatically opened the most recent catalog of PSE 6.

Note 2: I did keep both PSE 7 and PRE 7 active while working in one or the other. Also because I was using both the PSE slide show editor and editing some of the photo files, I had both the Editor and Organizer workspaces open. I was concerned about RAM usage, but this project only had a few photos and it worked OK.

Barb Olson

[Codebreaker]

Hi Barb....

I think we are working along the same lines. PRE7 does always seem to use my Video Catalog, even if PSE7 is opened with the Image Catalog. So far they don't seem to mind working alongside each other simultaneously.

Colin

[fastbill]

Hi, Colin --

I highly recommend the "Muvipix.com Guide..." by Steve Grisetti. I'm reading it cover-to-cover (now about 2/3 of the way through) and have already found several recommendations very helpful. I also decided to join muvipix.com, which I did last week.

Adobe sells the PRE7 (and PSE7) User Guide manuals in printed form. When I purchased the "bundle" of these two apps last month, I also purchased both manuals. I often find it easier to look things up in a printed book than to use the PRE7 Help menu, which goes to a Website that always seems to take more clicks than it should to locate any given piece of information. [Why isn't Help installed with the application? Online Help does me no good when I'm editing videos on my laptop in an airplane! ;-( ]

If you're creating videos, you might want to visit www.stockfootageforfree.com (http://www.stockfootageforfree.com). There you'll find many, many video clips -- backgrounds and loops -- that you can download and use in your videos for FREE!

Regards,
FastBill

[ATR]

Until now I have been operating on the basis that Photoshop Elements 7 and Premiere Elements 7 share a common database when both are installed on the same computer. Further, with this arrangement, what you saw in one Organizer, you saw in the other. My last thoughts (right or wrong) went back to Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4.

Based on Codebreaker's desired workflow for Photoshop Elements 7/Premiere Elements 7 with a separate catalog for stills and a separate catalog for video and BarbO's experimental results with that idea, this afternoon I decided to get adventurous with my stable computer and see what this was all about.

First, the bottom line for Fastbill in another thread...You say that your Photoshop Elements 7 Organizer displayed thumbnails et al. as you expected. Have you checked to make sure that you had the SAME catalog opened in Premiere Elements 7 as the one in Photoshop Elements 7 that met your expectations?

Check out the details that I have compiled for the Photoshop Elements 7/Premiere Elements 7 combo and establishing two catalogs, one for still and one for video:

1. In Photoshop Elements 7 Organizer: File Menu/Catalog/Catalog Manager.
2. Always a good idea to see what catalogs are named there already. You can create two new catalogs there. Although you can add to these new catalogs in Premiere Elements, I do not see any way to create these catalogs there. So, concentrating on the present, in Photoshop Elements7 create
a. V7 Catalog Stills
b. V7 Catalog Video
Make "V7 Catalog Stills" current by opening it and add Stills via File Menu/Get Photos. Go back to the Catalog Manager and then do the same for "V7 Catalog Video".

2. In Premiere Elements 7 Organizer Tab Selected
a. File Menu/Open Catalog/"Open Catalog Dialog", you should see your created catalogs "V7 Catalog Stills" and "V7 Catalog Video".
b. Click on the catalog that you want to use.
Look In: Catalogs
V7 Catalog Stills
V7 Catalog Video
Which ever one you select, next you will have "catalog.pse7db" with subunits of "syncdb" and "catalog.pse7db".
Open with File Name: "catalog.pse7db" and Files of Type: "Adobe Premiere Elements Catalog.pse7db".
If you had clicked V7 Catalog Stills, that is the catalog that will open, showing those thumbnails in the Premiere Elements 7 Organizer for V7 Catalog Stills.
(If you find restricted views, make sure that your Filter by: is set right.)

I am off to sacrifice my laptop by uninstalling programs and just having Premiere Elements 7 installed there. Then I will check out just what I can and cannot do with catalogs for Premiere Elements 7 WITHOUT Photoshop Elements 7 installed.

From my point of view, ONE catalog is the way to go. But, that is just my opinion.

To be continued.............

ATR

[ATR]

Codebreaker and BarbO and whomever may be interested, I need for someone to confirm what I have been finding when:

I set up Premiere Elements 7 (without Photoshop Elements 7) on Sony Vaio (Windows XP Home Edition) and went on to generate more than one catalog in a Project (.prel).

This is what I have done and the findings:

1. This computer had Photoshop Elements 6 and Premiere Elements 4 installed. Via Add/Remove Programs, I uninstalled both. I went into the Program Files and removed any associated files for these programs. I went into the C drive/Documents and Settings/Application Data/All Users/Adobe/ and deleted any Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements Folders that survived the Add/Remove uninstalls.

2. I installed Premiere Elements 7. File Menu/Open Catalog/Open Catalog Dialog. Only "My Catalog" was there with its subunits of syncab and catalog.pse7db.

3. The only way that I found to add additional catalogs here was to copy "My Catalog" in the catalog list and then paste and rename it there to get the second catalog and so on.

A curious findings was that after Premiere Elements 7 was opened for the first time, then in the Application Data files was a "Photoshop Elements Folder" which contained the Catalogs/My Catalog and copies that I made and renamed. NOT the Premiere Elements Folder there. There were no traces of Photoshop Elements 7 or any other versions of Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements on this computer after the uninstall/folder cleanups and before I opened Premiere Elements 7. So, it looks like these Premiere Elements 7 catalogs are working out of a Photoshop Elements Folder that got generated automatically?????

The typical route for catalog switching in Premiere Elements 7 was:
File Menu
Open Catalog
Catalogs: My Catalog and Copy of My Catalog
catalog.pse7db
(So, File name: catalog.pse7db; Files of Type: Adobe Premiere Elements Catalog [*.pse7db]

It was an interesting afternoon.

ATR

[Codebreaker]

Fastbill......

Thanks for the book recommendation - I don't think its available in the UK; at least I haven't come across it yet.


ATR....

Installation of PSE7 and PRE7 was a little strange I found. :confused:

I keep my Catalogs and Libraries in D:> My Pictures Folder - this way when I back up images the catalogs gets included as well. When PSE7 was installed it found the old PSE 6 Catalog and made its own PSE7 catalog from this but not in the same folder. It went into the default folder under C:>Users..... this is on Vista

I created a seperate Video Catalog from within PSE7 and pointed PRE7 to this. I've now moved the Images and Video Catalogs from C: back to D: where I want them and all seems to be well - so far.

It would be nice if PRE7 told you what Catalog it was using, like PSE7 does but I can't see it anywhere!

It never ceases to amaze me how inconsistent programs can be, when they are related and from the same company. :rolleyes:

Colin

[Codebreaker]

Another thought about something I haven't tried yet - downloading - although I don't think this is possible with MTS files I have.

Does PRE have its own downloader or does it use the same one as Elements?

If the same, would Premiere know to put the resultant downloaded clips into the Catalog its using as opposed to the one thats currently open in Elements - which could be different.

Colin

[ATR]

Colin,

Thanks for the information on how you set up your Photoshop Elements 7/Premiere Elements 7 catalogs. Since I do not use the Organizer (either program) to its intended potential, I found this recent exploration to be very interesting. I never tried moving the catalogs from their saved location in Application Data/All Users/.... to another location on my internal hard drive.

One of the motivating forces for my involvement in these forums is to learn as well as help when I can. So, thanks for your questions that pushed me into an area that I had nudged to the bottom of my "should explore" list. Now that the numbers of photos/videos on my external hard drive is getting larger and larger, I may be joining the ranks of the Organizer users any day.

ATR

[Barb O]

Another thought about something I haven't tried yet - downloading - although I don't think this is possible with MTS files I have.

Does PRE have its own downloader or does it use the same one as Elements?

If the same, would Premiere know to put the resultant downloaded clips into the Catalog its using as opposed to the one thats currently open in Elements - which could be different.

Colin

Colin,

I am not sure about whether the PRE downloader is the same or different but I do expect that if you do the download from PRE it would enter that video clip only in to the catalog open in PRE. I am planning to test that when I move some .mpg (mpeg-2 format standard definition) files over to this new laptop - probably a few days from now.

MTS files - PRE 7 does support the AVCHD format. I don't have any of those HD files so I can not report any personal experience. However, Paul LS over at the Muvipix forums has done AVCHD editing in PRE 7, so you might post at http://muvipix.com/phpBB3/index.php where there is a specific subforum for PE 7. One comment I have is that the project settings for PRE are made when you first start the project: I think that you will need to choose AVCHD then when first opening (starting) that project.

Catalogs
I do agree that it would be nice to see the Catalog name in PRE7 and I also can not find it.

So far on this new laptop, I have both my catalogs in the default location and I only have one hard drive. However, with PSE 5 and earlier on desktop PCs, I also had my catalog on the same 2nd drive as my photos - so when setting up my configurations I will consider that approach for PSE 7.

I agree that it does not make sense for PSE 7 to use the default location when the v6 catalog being converted was not in the default location. Maybe if you look at this Adobe techdoc, the subtopic of Manage Catalog Files will help explain what happened.
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404990&sliceId=2

Barb O

[Codebreaker]

Hi Barb....

I can work on the AVCHD files but I think they can't be downloaded directly by PRE7. So far I'm using the 'mickey mouse' s/w that came with the camera for this purpose.

Colin

[Barb O]

Hi Barb....

I can work on the AVCHD files but I think they can't be downloaded directly by PRE7. So far I'm using the 'mickey mouse' s/w that came with the camera for this purpose.

Colin

I can't comment on transferring the AVCHD files.

On the topic of the PE 7 book, I will send you a private message.

[ATR]

Colin,

If I recall your Canon offers AVCHD with 2 channel sound.

You should try:
1. Open Premiere Elements 7 with the Project Preset of
PAL
AVCHD
HD 1080i
2. Attach your Canon via USB connection (set for USB Mass Storage)
Use Get Media/"AVCHD or other hard drive memory camcorder"
3. When the Media Downloader opens, make sure you have hit "Advanced Dialog to get at the options.

Let me know if that worked for you.

ATR

[ATR]

Colin,

I forgot your Canon model name and if your Canon offers Full AVCHD or not. If Full AVCHD, then use the AVCHD Full HD 1080i25.

Paul LS can be found at the Premiere Elements User to User Forum at Adobe also. And, in a recent thread made some comments on the subject.

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b74f07

Check out Paul LS’s response “10 of 14”


I am curious to find out if your Canon allowed you to go the USB to Premiere Elements 7 route.

ATR

[ATR]

Old Business, Some New

BarbO
I do agree that it would be nice to see the Catalog name in PRE7 and I also can not find it.
I interpreted Colin's comment about PE7 catalog = if you go File Menu/Open Catalogs, you see the catalogs named but there is not "current" along side the name to indicate the catalog currently open. I agree with that. Is that what you meant? Or, are you saying that you cannot find a list of your existing catalogs named under File Menu/Open Catalogs in PE7?

Colin

As for the difference between the Adobe Photo Downloader and Adobe Premiere Elements Media Downloader, with the Adobe Photo Downloader your thumbnails ends up in the Organizer/catalog opened of Photoshop Elements and with the Adobe Premiere Elements Media Downloader your thumbnails ends up in the Organizer/catalog opened of Premiere Elements.
There are a few Advanced Options in the Adobe Photo Downloader that are not in the Premiere Elements version. But, in either case, you also have the opportunity to save the download to a hard drive location of your choice.

Although it is not a true Capture, like capturing with miniDV camcorder/Firewire PE7, I have been able use a USB connection to download (maybe better word than Capture here) my AVI MPEG4 video with .avi file extension to PE7 using the PE7 Premiere Elements Media Downloader. The video files are from a point & shoot Casio camera...does a good job in saving/getting media for PE7 project/getting the download into the opened catalog.

At this point, I am not expecting a USB download of AVCHD into PE7 via the Premiere Elements Media Downloader. Many seem to be going the route of "use software that came with camcorder to get the AVCHD to your hard drive, then use Get Media to bring that AVCHD into PE7". So, I would be very interested to learn if the USB download route worked in your situation.

ATR

[Barb O]

BarbO

I interpreted Colin's comment about PE7 catalog = if you go File Menu/Open Catalogs, you see the catalogs named but there is not "current" along side the name to indicate the catalog currently open. I agree with that. Is that what you meant? Or, are you saying that you cannot find a list of your existing catalogs named under File Menu/Open Catalogs in PE7?
ATR

ATR,
Yes, my comment is that you can not determine which catalog PRE is CURRENTLY using from the File Menu > Open Catalogs. Nor do I see the current catalog identified in any of the PRE panels.

[ATR]

BarbO

Thanks for the clarification.

This is just a comment, not a judgment on the matter, but...this observation should not be a deal-breaker.

You open a project, you do not see your videos in the Organizer, you know that is not the catalog you want, so...
You go to File Menu/Open Catalogs and select the name of the Catalog where you know you have your videos.
None of these catalogs (with or without current in their name) offer drop down list of what is in them (at least, according to my explorations).

So, what really does current in a name get you? Effective catalog naming should be the key to success if you decide on multiple catalogs instead of one effectively organized single catalog.

ATR

[Barb O]

ATR,

I agree that it is not essential to have the current catalog name displayed, but identification of the current open catalog is something that that the Organizer in Photoshop Elements does and that I think is reasonable to expect to display within the Organize panel of Premiere Elements.

Barb

PS - an example of some details
Visual identification of which catalog is open is not always immediate because especially in the case of Sending a Slide Show from PSE to PRE, the photo thumbnails are being added to the active PRE catalog. So the thumbnails immediately visible in PRE may duplicate thumbnails in a different PSE catalog.

This is still not a showstopper: it is an inconvience that appears unnecessary. However PRE7 is significantly better than PRE4-PSE6 because in version 7 you can choose a catalog for PRE independent of your catalogs for PSE.

[ATR]

BarbO

The concept of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements sharing the same database seems to me to be confusing at times going from version to version. My thinking on this has been hindered by some remarks made by the Photoshop Elements Project Manager at one of those online seminars (in the release days of Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4), namely, "Photoshop Elements 6 and Premiere Elements 4 share one database with only the latest version"

I never looked at this in Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4. I could have misunderstood his message. I am wondering out loud now...could these 6/4 programs indeed be sharing a common database and you could still have separate catalogs, just as long as these catalogs were created in (or updated to) Photoshop Elements 6 and Premiere Elements 4 (making them the latest catalog versions at that time)???

Maybe I will look at that tonight.

Thanks for your insights.

ATR

[Barb O]

BarbO

The concept of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements sharing the same database seems to me to be confusing at times going from version to version. My thinking on this has been hindered by some remarks made by the Photoshop Elements Project Manager at one of those online seminars (in the release days of Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4), namely, "Photoshop Elements 6 and Premiere Elements 4 share one database with only the latest version"

I never looked at this in Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4. I could have misunderstood his message. I am wondering out loud now...could these 6/4 programs indeed be sharing a common database and you could still have separate catalogs, just as long as these catalogs were created in (or updated to) Photoshop Elements 6 and Premiere Elements 4 (making them the latest catalog versions at that time)???

Maybe I will look at that tonight.

Thanks for your insights.

ATR

In version 7 you have the CHOICE to make the catalog database used in PRE 7 different. PRE 7 opens the catalog (database) that was most recently opened in PRE 7.

In PRE 4, it automatically opened the catalog database that had most recently been open in PSE 6. Yes, Adobe does seem to emphasize the benefits of having everything in one catalog database - and to me that is OK as a default.

However, people with multiple years of using Adobe Photo catalogs have reasons to want a different catalog database used for their video files that are edited in Premiere Elements. So it appears that Adobe listened to their loyal customers. Premiere Elements 7 supports opening the catalog database that was most recently opened in Premiere Elements. To me, it is all about Choice and choice is good.

[ATR]

BarbO

I just got finished taking a little look at the Photoshop Elements 6/Premiere Elements 4 catalog situation vs that of the current 7 versions.

I think that what I found is consistent with what you are saying. Check me out.
1. You can create multiple catalogs in Photoshop Elements 6 (there is a "current" in the name of the catalog that you are currently in when you look at File Menu/Catalog in the Photoshop Element 6 Organizer. Let us say you have catalogs 1, 2, and 3 there and that you close out of Photoshop Elements 6 in the catalog 3.
2. When you go to open Premiere Elements 4 and click on Organizer, you will find thumbnails representing catalog 3. BUT, there is no way there to switch the catalog 3 to 1 or 2. (no File Menu/Open Catalogs). In contrast, if this was happening with Photoshop Elements 7/Premiere Elements 7, you would be able to switch catalogs in Premiere Elements 7 with File Menu/Open Catalog.
3. I took a wild try at trying to change catalogs, by going Get Media and browsing to the Program Files to get to the catalogs. But, my first tries were unsuccessful in that regard. So, I chose to close that chapter.

I have never designed or took part in the design of a software program, but I am sure that there must be a lot of trade offs getting to the released product. When we see the absence of our preferences (choices), we are left to challenge ourselves for workarounds. To me, it is all about Premiere Elements as a video editor and all the rest are just perks, some more interesting than others.

ATR

[Codebreaker]

Up until now I've always been and advocate of a single Catalog. Specifically this is what I tell new users because it saves confusion. However, those of us with a little more experience can break our own rules :rolleyes:

From my point of view there were a couple of reasons for wanting seperate, Still and Video Catalogs.

Firstly, PSE7 Organiser wont do anything with my .MTS video files - not even import them.

Secondly, I didn't see a need to have them in the same database. PS Elements Editor can't do anything with my video files and if I need an image for video then I can import it into Premiere anyway. These would be very few occasions.

My Still shots will far out number my Videos, so the Video database will be leaner.

These questions about Catalogs were also sparked off when I found that PSE7 hadn't stuck with my intended location for them but used its defaults. This would have screwed up my backup process since it does include the Elements default location. Not only that being a newbie to Premiere I need to gain confidence that I know what its doing underneath the hood, so that when things go wrong I can at least have some hope that I can fix it.

But there are always surprises when using multiple catalogs and since its clearly intended that you can, then an indication of the current one would be nice - and consistent.

Colin