Guidelines for adding files

You can add various video file formats to your project. Imported video and sequence files can have frame sizes up to 4096 x 4096 pixels.

Before you add video files that you did not capture yourself, make sure you can view the video outside Adobe Premiere Elements. Usually, double‑clicking a video file opens a playback application, such as Windows Media Player and QuickTime player. (Be sure to use the most up‑to‑date version of Windows Media Player.) If you can play back your file in the player application, you can usually use that file in Premiere Elements.

note: To play back VOB (Video Object) files, use the DVD player that came with your DVD burner.

When adding video files, consider the following:

MPEG file compatibility

An MPEG file can be imported or played in Adobe Premiere Elements if it meets the following criteria:

• The file must be in a format that Adobe Premiere Elements supports.

• The compressor used to create the file must be compatible with the Premiere Elements decompressor.

The compatibility requirements for playing compressed files are less stringent than the requirements for editing them. MPEG files that play in Windows Media Player and QuickTime can be imported or played in Premiere Elements if they meet the compatibility requirements.

note: The first time you import an MPEG-2 file, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically activates the components if you are connected to the Internet. If you are not connected to the Internet, you are prompted to activate the MPEG-2 component. The instructions appear in the Activating Component dialog box.

Type 1 AVI file render requirements

Render these files before you can preview them from your DV camcorder. To render a Type 1 AVI clip, add it to the Quick view/Expert view timeline. Build a preview file of that section of the Quick view/Expert view timeline by pressing Enter. If the clip must be rendered, a red line appears above the clip in the Quick view/Expert view timeline.

DVD file protection

If the DVD is a motion‑picture disc that uses copy protection, you cannot add the files.

Guidelines for adding audio files

When you add audio files to a project, they are conformed to the audio sample rate specified in the Project Settings dialog box. During that process, you’ll see a progress bar in the lower-right corner of the application window. You can play back conformed audio instantly at high quality because it’s consistent with all other audio in the project.

By default, conformed audio is stored at the location C:\Users\<username>.<domain>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\. You can change the default location of the media cache by choosing one of the following options:

• (Windows) Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks.

• (Mac OS) Adobe Premiere Elements 13 > Preferences > Scratch Disks.

When adding audio files, consider the following:

You can add many of the stereo audio files that you can open in another audio player, to your project. To create a stereo version of a mono file, the mono channel is copied to both the left and right channel in the new stereo track. In this case, both channels contain the same information.

Importing clips containing 5.1 audio adds a 5.1-channel audio track to your project.

Formats such as mp3 and WMA are compressed using a method that reduces some of the original audio quality. To play back compressed audio, Premiere Elements (like most video editing applications) must decompress and possibly alter the file’s sample rate. Compressing can degrade the audio quality.

If you want to add audio from a CD, copy, or rip, the audio tracks to your hard drive using another application. Windows Media Player, included with Windows XP, can perform this task. You can also use Adobe Audition to rip the CD at various quality settings and perform complex audio‑processing functions on the file. If you plan to air or distribute your movie, ensure that you own the copyright, or have licensed the copyright to your CD audio.

You can download music from the Internet for your projects. WMA (Windows Media Audio) and AAC (QuickTime) files can have pre‑encoded settings that don’t allow you to play them in Premiere Elements.

Guidelines to add image files

By default, Adobe Premiere Elements scales images to fit the project frame size. You can override this behavior and instead add your files at the size at which they were created. You can also set the default duration for all images that you add by changing the value in General Preferences.

You can add still images with frame sizes up to 4096 x 4096 pixels. Create files with frame size equal to or more than the frame size of your video. Choosing the appropriate frame size ensures that you don’t enlarge the image in Adobe Premiere Elements. When you scale up an image, it often becomes pixelated. Create it at a larger frame size than the project. For example, if you plan to scale an image 200%, create the image at double the project frame size before you add it.

When adding still-image files, consider the following:

Adobe Premiere Elements works well with images and video templates you create in Photoshop Elements.

If you are having trouble importing JPEG files to Adobe Premiere Elements, open them in Photoshop Elements and resave them. Then try to import them again.

You can add files from Photoshop 3.0 or later. However, Premiere Elements doesn’t support 16‑bit TIFF images created in Photoshop or other applications. Empty (transparent) areas of nonflattened Photoshop files appear transparent in Premiere Elements because the transparency is stored as an alpha channel.

When you are editing or creating your still images, make sure that you do all of your work in RGB mode. For more information, consult your product’s user guide about color management. RGB mode produces colors that are suitable for video.

Guidelines for adding an animation or still‑image sequence

The frames in an animation are drawn as graphics and, therefore, are not scenes of live action, as in conventional digital video. Adobe Premiere Elements can also add a sequence of numbered still‑image files and automatically combine them into a single clip; each numbered file represents one frame. Some applications, such as Adobe After Effects, can generate a numbered sequence of still images. Images in a still‑image sequence cannot include layers. Flatten images that are part of a sequence. For information on layers and flattening, see the documentation for the application that created the file.

When creating three‑dimensional images or animations for use in Premiere Elements, use the following guidelines whenever possible:

• Use broadcast‑safe colors. Most applications that create animations (such as Adobe After Effects) allow you to check for broadcast‑safe colors. See your application’s documentation for more information.

• Use the pixel aspect ratio and frame size specified in the project settings in Premiere Elements.

• Use the appropriate field settings to match your project.

• You can use an Adobe application (such as Photoshop) to generate the sequence. Select Embed Project Link to open the sequence in the application that was used to create it. For example, select a PSD file in the Project Assets panel in Adobe Premiere Elements. Then, choose Edit > Edit Original to open the file in Photoshop with the original layers intact.