Adobe Premiere Elements 8 User Manual

Using

ADOBE

PREMIERE

ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR

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Last updated 8/12/2010

Chapter 1: Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

What to do first . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using Help and getting support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Converting a catalog from a previous version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

About Backing up/Synchronizing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Working in Elements Organizer and Adobe Premiere Elements Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Importing and organizing photos and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Troubleshooting tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2: Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

About the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Panel overviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 3: Projects

Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Creating an InstantMovie project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Viewing a project’s files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Viewing clip properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Project settings and presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Undoing changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Saving and backing up projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Working with scratch disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

iii

Chapter 4: Capturing video

Getting ready to capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Capture video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Capture stop-motion and time-lapse video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Chapter 5: Importing and adding media

Adding files to a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Using files from Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Creating specialty clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Working with offline files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Working with aspect ratios and field options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

5.1 audio import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Chapter 6: Managing clips with the Organizer

View clips in Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Finding files in Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Tagging files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Grouping files in the Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Creating albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Creating and editing smart albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Backup and synchronize albums and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

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Contents

Chapter 7: Arranging clips in a movie

Arranging clips in the Sceneline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Creating a slide show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Creating a picture-in-picture overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Arranging clips in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Grouping, linking, and disabling clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Working with clip and timeline markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Previewing movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Chapter 8: Editing clips

Trimming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Changing clip speed and duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Freezing and holding frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Working with source clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Chapter 9: Applying transitions

Transition basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Applying transitions to clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Create specialty transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Adjusting transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Chapter 10: Applying effects

Effects basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Finding and organizing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Applying and removing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Working with effect presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Changing effect properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Reposition, scale, or rotate clips with the Motion effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Superimposing and transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Selecting colors for effects and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Effects reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Chapter 11: Animating effects

Effect animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Adding, copying, and removing keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Adjusting keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Controlling change between keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Animating a clip’s position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Motion tracking effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Effects Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Chapter 12: Creating titles

Creating and trimming titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Editing and formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Applying styles to text and graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Adding shapes and images to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Arranging objects in titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Adding color and shadows to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

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Contents

Designing titles for TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Exporting and importing titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Chapter 13: Adding and mixing audio

Using soundtracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Create narrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Mixing audio and adjusting volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Chapter 14: Creating disc menus

Types of discs and menu options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Working with menu markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Creating disc menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Previewing menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Chapter 15: Saving and sharing your movies

Sharing from the Tasks panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Using Quick Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Sharing to DVD or Blu-ray Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Sharing for PC playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Sharing to the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Sharing to mobile phones and players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Sharing to videotape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Sharing to Video CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Common settings for Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Supported file types for saving and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Compression and data-rate basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Archiving projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Chapter 16: Adobe Premiere Elements keyboard shortcuts

Using default shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Customizing shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Chapter 17: Troubleshooting

Resources and guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Playing back and previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Creating a DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Chapter 18: Glossary

Digital imaging terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

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Chapter 1: Getting started with

Adobe

Adobe® Premiere® Elements 8 software combines power and simplicity so you can easily make your videos look their best. You can share them in imaginative ways, and easily find and view all your photos and video clips.

Premiere Elements

What to do first

Check the system requirements

If you’re not sure that Adobe Premiere Elements can run on your computer, review the complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software. See the ReadMe file included on your software installation disc.

Install the software

1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.

2 Insert the installation disc into your disc drive, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: You can specify the language and select the country while installing the application.

Should I uninstall my previous version of Adobe Premiere Elements? Although it is not necessary, we recommend that

you uninstall any previous version of Adobe Premiere Elements before installing the new version.

How do I uninstall a version of Adobe Premiere Elements? In the Windows® OS, click the Start menu, and then select

Control Panel. Double-click Add Or Remove Programs. Select the version of Adobe to uninstall, and then click Remove. Confirm the uninstallation when prompted.

Premiere Elements that you want

Register

After installing Adobe Premiere Elements, register your software to receive complimentary installation support, notifications of updates, and other services.

Note: If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.

ReadMe file

The installation disc contains the ReadMe file for your software. (This file is also copied to the application folder during product installation.) Open the file to read important information.

Sign up with your Adobe ID

Important: Adobe Premiere Elements free online benefits and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet access required.

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Sign up with your Adobe ID to receive free online benefits, such as 2 GB of free storage, automatic online backup, automatic syncing of your photos and video clips on multiple computers, tutorials that appear when you need them, access to your photos and videos at Photoshop.com, and a personal URL for sharing your photo/video albums. For more information, see

How do I sign up? Click the link on the Welcome screen or in the menu bar to sign up with your Adobe ID. You can

sign up at any time on the Welcome screen. To display the Welcome screen, click the Welcome screen icon in the menu bar. If you don't have an Adobe ID, click the link on the Welcome screen or in the menu bar to create one.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre_membership_en.

New and enhanced features

Visit www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre_features_en to learn about new and enhanced features. Improving your videos and doing more with them is easier than ever.

Using Help and getting support

Learning Adobe Premiere Elements

The Adobe Premiere Elements Help and Support page on the web provide links to articles and video tutorials to help you get started with Adobe Premiere Elements. The Help and Support page also include top troubleshooting tips, advanced articles, and links to Help and forums. For more information, see

www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements/.

How do I ask a question? You can ask questions to and get advice from other Adobe Photoshop Elements and

Premiere Elements users at www.adobe.com/go/forums.

Adobe

Using Adobe Premiere Elements Help

Adobe Premiere Elements Help is available several ways. To access Help, select Help > Adobe Premiere Elements Help (or press the F1 key on your keyboard).

For the complete Help for Adobe Premiere Elements, see Elements Organizer and the Adobe Premiere Elements Editor Help.

Community Help Client The help client that is launched when you press F1. Alternatively, you can download the client,

and help for Premiere Elements from and using the Adobe Community Help client, see

http://blogs.adobe.com/preran/2010/06/adobe_community_help_client_ch.html.

Help on the web To view Help on the web, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre8_en.Your computer must be connected

to the Internet to access Help on the web.

Help PDF Click the Help PDF link at the top of each Help page. The saved Help PDF is the best way to access the most

comprehensive Help when you don’t have an Internet connection.

Links in the application Some Help links are within Adobe Premiere Elements. Clicking these links takes you to the

corresponding topic in either Help on the web or Help in the application.

How to search for troubleshooting topics You can view top issues and search for common problems and error

messages by going to Adobe Premiere Elements users at www.adobe.com/go/forums.

www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements. You can also ask questions of other

http://www.adobe.com/support/chc/. For more information on downloading

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

Forum You can access the Elements user community forum through the application. To access the forum page from

Elements Organizer, select Help > Forum > Premiere Elements. If your computer is connected to the Internet,

Premiere Elements launches the forum page. The forum is used to ask other Adobe Premiere Elements users

Adobe for suggestions on your designs and also to post useful tips and tricks that help other users.

Look for Adobe Premiere Elements updates If your computer is connected to the Internet, you’ll receive notifications

whenever Adobe

www.adobe.com/downloads/updates.

Premiere Elements is updated. You can also find out about the latest updates by going to

How do I get customer support?

You can get support by contacting Adobe directly or submitting a web case. Visit www.adobe.com/support/contact for contact information. Visit the Adobe Support website at www.adobe.com/go/support. Adobe Support has troubleshooting information, and also information about free and paid technical support options.

Converting a catalog from a previous version

When you open Elements Organizer, you could experience difficulties in opening a catalog you used in an earlier version of Adobe Premiere Elements. Convert the catalog to view the photos and video clips.

1 In Elements Organizer, select File > Catalog.

2 Click Convert in the Catalog Manager.

3 In the Convert Catalog window, select the catalog you want to convert.

Note: Catalogs saved to a folder in a location other than the default location do not appear in the Convert Catalog window automatically. Click Find More Catalogs, and then select the folder where your catalog is located. Catalogs located in that folder are added to the list of catalogs that can be converted.

4 Click Convert.

Show Previously Converted Catalogs

You can view the catalogs that have previously been converted or that were backed up by an earlier version. The Convert Catalog window does not display these catalogs by default. Select Show Previously Converted Catalogs to view a list of the previously converted catalogs.

Note: You cannot use the converted catalog with earlier versions. However, when the catalog is converted, it copies the data into a new catalog file, and the original catalog file remains unchanged. You can continue to use the original catalog in earlier versions.

About Backing up/Synchronizing files

Back up/Synchronize files

Note: Adobe Premiere Elements free online benefits and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet access required.

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When you sign in with your Adobe ID, you can back up your albums and catalogs to Photoshop.com servers. Backing up and synchronizing your albums and catalogs are essential for protecting your photos and media files. For example, if you add keyword tags to media files on your computer, the corresponding photos on Photoshop.com are updated with the tags. The albums and catalogs must be marked for Backup/Synchronization.

Important: All images within a stack are automatically backed up/synchronized across all machines. However, you must manually re-create the stack on each machine.

The Backup/Synchronization wizard is automatically launched when the user activates Backup/Synchronization for the first time.

Backup/Synchronization confirmation window

1 Start Elements Organizer, and then sign in with your Adobe ID.

2 Choose an option from the Backup/Synchronization dialog box.

Yes - Turn It On For Me Enables you to set your entire catalog for Backup/Synchronization. All your videos and photos

securely get uploaded to your online account.

Yes - But Show Me The Advanced Settings Enables you to set advanced Backup/Synchronization settings in the

Preferences dialog box.

No - Leave It Off, I Don’t Want To Protect My Photos And Videos Your videos and photos don’t get backed up and

synchronized online.

3 Select the required option, and then follow the onscreen instructions to enable Backup/Synchronization.

View Backup/Synchronization activity status

❖ Do one of the following:

• Right-click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the system tray, and then select View

Backup/Synchronization Status.

• Double-click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the system tray.

• Click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the status bar of Elements Organizer, and then select

View Backup/Synchronization Status.

The Elements Backup/Synchronization Status dialog box is displayed. The dialog box displays the following information:

• The total number of assets that are being synchronized

• The overall progress of the synchronization activity

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

• The online storage capacity being used

• The asset that is being synchronized

The dialog box also allows you to pause and resume the Backup/Synchronization activity.

View Backup/Synchronization activity status

Start backup and synchronization activity manually

Backup/Synchronization is a scheduled activity. The synchronization agent checks for assets to synchronize at regular intervals. Between these periods of activity, the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent is idle. To synchronize right away instead of waiting for the next scheduled synchronization, click Sync Now in the Backup/Synchronization Status dialog box. The Backup/Synchronization process starts, and any changes that you have made are synced to Photoshop.com immediately.

Working in Elements Organizer and Adobe

Elements Organizer is a part of both Adobe® Premiere® Elements 8 software and Adobe Photoshop Elements. You can use Elements Organizer to import, manage, and view your media files. For extensive editing, you can work with video files in the Adobe Premiere Elements Editor. You can manage your media files (both photos and videos) efficiently using the powerful capabilities of Elements Organizer. Elements Organizer enables efficient organization of media files. Tagging media files enables you to easily search for the required media files. On finding the required media files, you can use the powerful features of Adobe Premiere Elements to create and edit movies. You can navigate from Elements Organizer to Adobe Premiere Elements. When you create a video project in Adobe Premiere Elements, it is automatically saved to Elements Organizer.

• To edit video files, select the media files, and then select Fix > Edit Video.

• Video projects created in Adobe Premiere Elements can be opened from Elements Organizer.

1 In Elements Organizer, expand Albums to view a list of albums and the option Video Projects.

2 Expand Video Projects to view a list of video projects created in Adobe Premiere Elements.

3 Right-click a video project, and then select Open With Premiere Elements.

Premiere Elements Editor

Elements Organizer launches Adobe Premier Elements and opens the required project.

Importing and organizing photos and video

As you work in Adobe Premiere Elements, you start by importing photos into Elements Organizer, where you view, manage, and find all of your photos and video clips.

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

Use the Media Downloader to download files

1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer. (See the documentation that came with your device, if

necessary.)

The Windows AutoPlay dialog box opens with a list of options for getting the media.

In the Windows AutoPlay dialog box, select Organize and Edit using Adobe Elements Organizer 8, and then click OK.

Adobe Premiere Elements launches (if it isn’t already running), and then the Media Downloader dialog box opens. If

Premiere Elements is already running, choose File > Get Media From, and then select one of the following to

Adobe open the Media Downloader:

• DVD (Camcorder Or Computer DVD Drive)

• AVCHD Or Other Hard Disk/ Memory Camcorder

• Digital Still Camera

• Mobile Phones And Players

3 In the Media Downloader dialog box under Source, choose from the Get Media From menu to specify where to

copy/import the media files from.

4 In the Import Settings area, set the following options:

Location Specifies the folder to which images are downloaded. To change the default folder location, click Browse, and

then specify a new location.

Create Subfolder(s) Creates a subfolder using the naming scheme chosen from the pop-up menu. If you choose

Custom Name, type a subfolder name in the box.

Rename Files Changes the filenames using the naming scheme selected from the pop-up menu. If you choose Custom

Name, type a base filename and a starting number for assigning sequentially numbered filenames to the photos.

Note: If the name you entered exists, the copied image filename is appended with “-1” or another appropriately numbered designator.

Preserve Current Filename In XMP Select this option to use the current filename as the filename stored in the metadata

of the photo.

Note: In Windows Vista®, if your camera is connected in PTP mode, you are sometimes unable to view camera raw or video files in the Media Downloader. To view camera raw or video files, connect your camera in USB Mass Storage mode, or remove the card from the camera. Use a card reader to connect it to your computer.

5 (Optional) To automatically download photos to Adobe Premiere Elements after a device is connected, select

Automatic Download. Automatic download options are set in the Camera Or Card Reader preferences.

6 (Optional) For more download options, click the Advanced Dialog button. For more information, see

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_advanceddownload_en.

7 Click Get Media.

The media files are copied to your hard drive.

8 Click OK in the Files Successfully Copied dialog box.

Note: If Elements Organizer is launched while copying the media, click Yes in the Files Successfully Copied box.

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

Use video capture device

Capturing video involves recording audio and video directly to your computer from a DV or HDV camcorder, webcam, or other WDM (Windows Driver Model) device. Adobe Premiere Elements automatically detects the attached capture device and sets all capture settings accordingly.

Note: Before you capture digital video, create a project with a preset that matches the format (DV or HDV), television standard (NTSC or PAL), and frame aspect ratio (standard 4:3 or widescreen 16:9) that you’ll use to shoot your footage.

The Capture panel provides controls that let you remotely control your device, making it easy to play, capture, pause, and stop the video on your device. To open the Capture panel, click Organize in the Tasks panel. The Capture panel enables you to monitor the video and access all the capture commands. Adobe Premiere Elements automatically detects the attached capture device and sets the Capture panel settings accordingly.

1 Connect your video capture device to your computer. (See the documentation that came with your device, if

necessary.)

2 Turn on the camcorder and set it to playback mode, which may be labeled either VTR, VCR, or Play. You can also

keep it in recording mode.

Adobe® Premiere® Elements 8 launches (if it isn’t already running), and then the Capture panel opens. If

Premiere® Elements 8 is already running, choose File > Get Media From, and then select one of the following

Adobe® to open the Capture panel:

• DV Camcorder

• HDV Camcorder

• Webcam Or WDM Device

3 Specify the capture settings in the Capture panel, and then click Capture.

More Help topics

“Capture video” on page 44

Organizing your photos and video clips

Use Elements Organizer to manage your files. You can find photos, video files, audio clips, and Adobe PDF documents stored in different locations on your computer.

Adobe Premiere Elements automatically organizes media files by date as they download. Elements Organizer has a Timeline (choose Window > Timeline) and Date View for finding media files by date. It’s a good idea to put related photos into an album. Albums are great for sharing photos in projects, creations, and online albums, and they also make it easy to find related photos.

You can further sort and categorize photos by adding star ratings, by stacking photos, and by assigning keyword tags. For more information on using keyword tags, see

Do I have to use Elements Organizer? No. You can copy photos to your computer and use the Editor to fix your

photos. However, there are lots of great things you can do with your photos in Elements Organizer. Also, after collecting hundreds and thousands of photos on your computer, you’ll discover that finding and managing photos with Elements Organizer is much easier.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_photos_tag_en.

Create an album

1 In Elements Organizer, click the Create New Album Or Album Category button in the Albums panel, and then

choose New Album.

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

2 (Optional) From the Album Category menu, choose a category into which to place the album.

Albums Category menu

3 In the Album Name box, type a name for the album.

4 Drag photos into the Items area.

The album appears in the Albums panel under the album group you specified. For more information on creating an album, see

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_albums_create_en.

Finding photos and video clips

You can find photos and video files by date, star rating, album, folder location, filename, media type, keyword tag, text, or other criteria. For more information, see

Here are a few of the features in Elements Organizer to find photos:

Timeline Click a month, or set a range to find photos and media files chronologically by date, import batch, or folder

location.

Find bar Drag a photo, keyword tag, project, or album onto the Find bar to find matching or similar photos and media

files.

Albums panel Select an album to view only the media files in it.

Keyword Tags panel Select a keyword tag to see only the files with that tag.

Textbox Type text in the Search box in Elements Organizer to find files with matching text. Click Elements Organizer

to launch Elements Organizer from Adobe Premiere Elements. Matches can include items such as filenames, metadata, keyword tags, captions, notes, album names, album groups, camera information, dates, folders, or formats.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_photos_find_en.

Elements Organizer has many tools and features for finding photos. A. Find bar B. Textbox C. Timeline D. Albums panel E. Keyword Tags panel

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Find the actual file of a media clip

1 In Elements Organizer, select the photo or media clip whose file you want to find.

2 Press Alt + Enter to open the Properties-General window.

3 Click the Reveal In Explorer icon .

Troubleshooting tips

Here are some things to consider when troubleshooting Adobe Premiere Elements. For more tips, visit

www.adobe.com/go/forums.

• Restart Adobe Premiere Elements, or restart your computer.

• Reset the Adobe Premiere Elements preferences. Start Adobe Premiere Elements, and select New Project. Hold

down the Ctrl + Alt + Shift keys immediately after selecting New Project.

• Turn off other programs, including anti-virus, firewall, and CD/DVD burning applications that run in the

background.

• Make sure that the computer operating system is up-to-date. Install the latest drivers for your video card, sound

card, printer, and other devices.

• Remove any recent additions to your computer. What was the last thing you changed on your computer before the

problem began? Did you install a new printer, font, or other software?

• If something in Adobe Premiere Elements doesn’t seem to work properly, check Adobe Premiere Elements Help.

• If a problem occurs when you open or edit a photo, check if the problem occurs with all photos, or if it occurs with

photos from different cameras or sources.

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Chapter 2: Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

The Adobe Premiere Elements workspace is optimized for organizing media, editing and sharing movies, and creating menus for DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. You can customize the workspace to suit your needs. Adobe combines everything you need to create a movie, including video, audio, effects, transitions, and titles, into a single file called a project file.

About the workspace

Welcome screen

When you start Adobe Premiere Elements, the Welcome screen opens by default. The Welcome screen has the following options:

Premiere Elements

Organize Enables you to launch Elements Organizer.

New Project Enables you to create a project.

Open Project Enables you to open an existing project.

Note: You can log in with your Adobe ID on the Welcome screen to access free online benefits, Photoshop Elements 8, and Adobe Premiere Elements 8 Plus features. Available in the United States only. Internet access required.

When you click the icon , the Adobe Premiere Elements dialog is displayed with the following options. Specifying the settings here determine the Adobe Premiere Elements Launch behavior. Select one of the options and click OK:

• Just Show The Welcome Screen

• Always Launch Elements Organizer Behind The Welcome Screen

• Always Launch Adobe Premiere Elements Editor Behind The Welcome Screen.

Disable tracking of information

The Welcome screen by default records and relays some usage information to Adobe to assist in the improvement of the Welcome screen experience. The Welcome screen usage data is anonymous and does not link the information to your personal data or your Adobe ID account information. Usage information from the Photoshop Elements Editor, Adobe Premiere Elements Editor, or Adobe in the Welcome screen:

1 In Windows XP, click start > Run (or in Windows Vista click the Start button, and select Run), and type regedit.exe

and click OK.

The Windows Registry Editor opens. Using the tree navigator on the left navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Elements Organizer\8.0\Organizer.

Premiere Elements is not tracked. To disable the tracking of information

2 Right-click on the right panel, and select New > DWORD Value.

A new DWORD Value with the name New Value #1 is created.

3 Rename New Value #1 to DisableTracking.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

4 Double-click DisableTracking.

The Edit DWORD Value dialog opens.

5 Enter 1 in the Value Data field, click OK, and close the Registry Editor.

Getting started with your Adobe ID

Create an Adobe ID

You can log in with your Adobe ID to access free online benefits, Photoshop Elements 8, and Adobe Premiere Elements 8 Plus features. Available in the United States only. Internet access required.

1 Start Adobe Premiere Elements.

2 In the Welcome screen, click Create New Adobe ID, and follow the instructions to create your Adobe ID.

3 Follow the instructions in the e-mail to activate your account.

The Welcome screen with the options to create an Adobe ID and Sign in with an Adobe ID

More Help topics

“Backup and synchronize albums and files” on page 83

Sign in with your Adobe ID

1 Make sure that your computer is connected to the Internet, and then start Adobe Premiere Elements.

2 Do either of the following:

• In the Welcome screen, enter your Adobe ID and password, and click Sign In.

• In the title bar, above the Tasks panel, click Sign In.

The Welcome screen changes and greets you with the message Welcome, [user name]. Adobe Premiere Elements remembers that you have an Adobe ID and automatically signs you in if your computer is connected to the Internet.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Signing in with your Adobe ID

View your videos on Photoshop.com

You can view your backed up videos on the Internet from any computer, even one that doesn’t have Adobe Premiere Elements installed.

1 Make sure that the computer is connected to the Internet, open a web browser, and go to the Photoshop.com

website at

www.photoshop.com.

The web browser must have cookies enabled.

2 On the Photoshop.com home page, click Sign In and enter your Adobe ID.

3 After your Photoshop.com page opens, click My Albums.

You can view and navigate through all the videos you’ve backed up to Photoshop.com.

Launch the Inspiration Browser

The Inspiration Browser lets you access and organize tutorials that contain ideas and creative ways to do more with your video projects.

❖ To launch the Inspiration Browser, do any of the following:

• In the Adobe Premiere Elements Welcome screen, sign in with your Adobe ID, and then click Tips and Tricks.

• In Adobe Premiere Elements, select Edit > Effects. Click the icon or words that appear in the lower-right area of the

application window, below the Timeline and Sceneline. A small dialog box opens with options. When you open the Inspiration Browser this way, different tutorials open for different workflows. For example, if you are adding transitions, the Inspiration Browser opens tutorials about using transitions.

If you’re not already signed in with your Adobe ID, a dialog box opens for you to sign in.

Workspace overview

The Adobe Premiere Elements workspace is optimized for the four major phases of a project: organizing footage (video, stills, and audio), editing a movie, creating menus for DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and sharing movies. You can easily change from one task to the other by choosing different task-based buttons in the Tasks panel. As you change tasks, the workspace displays the appropriate panels and panel views. You can also customize the workspace to meet your specific needs by adding and arranging panels.

Drop zones are areas in the workspace onto which you can drop or move panels. As you drag a panel, underlying drop zones become outlined. The highlighted drop zone shows where the panel will be inserted into the workspace. Dragging a panel to a drop zone at any of the edges of a panel results in docking.

Note: To see the names of panels in the workspace, choose Window > Show Docking Headers.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Workspace for editing A. Monitor panel B. Tasks panel C. My Project panel (Sceneline view)

More Help topics

“Project view overview” on page 25

“Find an effect” on page 147

Customizing the workspace

The workspace in Adobe Premiere Elements is highly customizable. You can add panels, as well as resize, move, hide, and group them to suit your working style. Modifications you make to the workspace remain intact until you modify or restore it to its original configuration. As you customize your workspace, Adobe changes. When you save the project, the recent layout changes are also saved. The next time you open that project,

Premiere Elements restores the saved layout that you had used.

Adobe

Premiere Elements tracks the

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Display and hide docking headers

Each panel has a docking header containing its title, and sometimes, panel menu buttons. You drag the docking headers to drag panels to new locations. To save space on your screen, you can make the docking headers disappear; then, make them reappear when you need to use them. By default, docking headers are hidden.

❖ Do one of the following:

• To make docking headers appear, choose Window> Show Docking Headers.

• To make docking headers disappear, choose Window > Hide Docking Headers.

Note: To access any of the commands in the panel menu when docking headers are hidden, right-click in the panel.

Display and hide panels

• To display a panel or make it active, choose its name from the Window menu or click its docking header, if visible.

• To expand or collapse a docked panel, click the triangle on its docking header. Only docked panels that are vertically

aligned, sharing right and left borders, with another panel can be expanded or collapsed.

• To close a panel that is not docked, click the Close button at the right of its docking header.

Dock panels

Drop zones along the edges of a panel are for docking panels. Docking a panel places it adjacent to the target panel, resizing all other panels to accommodate the new panel.

Dragging panel (A) onto drop zone (B) to dock it (C)

❖ Hold down Ctrl and drag a panel by its docking header to a drop zone along one of the edges of a panel and drop it.

Open a panel in a floating window

You can open a panel in a floating window. You can add panels to the floating window or otherwise modify it, as you do in the application window. You can use floating windows to create a workspace like those in earlier versions of Adobe applications, or to make use of a secondary monitor.

❖ Drag the panel or group from its current location to an area where no drop zones appear.

The panel appears in a new floating window.

Resize a panel

When one panel is moved or resized, the other panels adjust automatically to accommodate the change.

❖ To resize a panel, drag its border.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Drag the divider between panels to resize them. A. Original panels with divider selected B. Resized panels

If you have more than one monitor connected to your system and your system supports a multiple- monitor desktop, you can drag panels to any monitor.

Open panel menus

Most panels include menus with commands that are specific to individual panels.

• If docking headers are hidden (default), right-click in the panel.

• If docking headers are displayed, click the panel menu button in the upper-right corner of the panel. (To see

docking headers and the panel menu button, choose Window > Show Docking Headers.)

A B

Panel menu A. Right-click panel to display panel menu B. Click panel menu button to display panel menu

Restore the default workspace

❖ Choose Window > Restore Workspace.

Adjust panel brightness

You can adjust the brightness of the background color in panels. For example, you may prefer to lower the brightness when working in a darkened room or when performing color corrections.

❖ Choose Edit > Preferences > User Interface, and drag the slider or click Default Brightness.

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Examine or remove an alert

Adobe Premiere Elements lists warnings, error messages, and other information you can use to identify and troubleshoot problems, particularly those associated with plug-ins and other components from third-party developers. An alert icon Events panel, and clearing the associated item from the Events panel removes the icon from the status bar.

1 Do either of the following:

• Double-click the alert icon in the status bar.

• Choose Window > Events.

2 Do any of the following:

• To learn more about an item in the list, select it and click Details.

• To clear the events list, click Clear All.

, , on the status bar notifies you of an error. Double-clicking the icon opens the

Panel overviews

Adobe Premiere Elements includes three main panels: Tasks panel, Monitor panel, and My Project panel (Timeline and Sceneline). For all your basic tasks, you use these three panels.

Tasks panel overview

The Tasks panel appears by default for all workspaces. It is the central location for adding and organizing media; finding, applying, and adjusting effects and transitions; creating DVD and Blu-ray Disc menus, and sharing your finished projects. It is organized into four main task workspaces: Organize, Edit, Disc Menus, and Share. Within each workspace are all the tools you need to accomplish tasks.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Edit workspace displaying Effect Properties view

More Help topics

“Project view overview” on page 25

“Adding files to a project” on page 54

“View clips in Elements Organizer” on page 73

Organize workspace

The Organize workspace displays thumbnails of all the media (videos, still images, and audio) that you’ve imported into Adobe Photoshop® Elements®, or Adobe Premiere Elements. You can access and share all the files in the Organizer seamlessly between the applications.

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Organize workspace

From the Organize workspace in the Tasks panel, you can access the following:

Get Media Lets you add files from various sources including video cameras, webcams, digital still cameras, WDM

devices, mobile phones, and folders on your hard disk.

Media Displays the thumbnails of all media files.

Instant Movie Automatically and quickly steps you through the selection and editing portion of movie creation,

adding theme-based effects, titles, transitions, and audio. You can change settings as desired.

Organizer Launches the Elements Organizer window where you can import, view, find, organize, and manage media

files.

Project Displays the details of all media files.

More Help topics

“Auto-Analyzer” on page 77

Edit workspace

When you’re ready to arrange or edit your media, click Edit in the Tasks panel. The Edit workspace lets you add movie themes and templates to your movies, apply effects and transitions, and create and add titles. In addition, the Properties view appears within the Tasks panel when you choose Window > Properties, or when you edit effects or transitions.

From the Edit workspace, you can access the following:

Effects Shows effects and presets you can use in your movie. You can search for an effect by typing its name into

the Search field. To see only specific types of effects, choose an option from the first menu: Video Effects, Audio Effects, Presets, My Presets, or Favorites. You can also view specific categories by choosing a category, such as Adjust or Channel, from the second menu (Show All is the default). To edit an effect before applying it, select it, and click Edit Effects to open Properties view.

Transitions Shows transitions you can use in your movie. You can search for a transition by typing its name into

the Search field. To see only specific types of transitions, choose an option from the first menu: Video Transitions,

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Audio Transitions, or Favorites. You can also view specific categories by choosing a category, such as 3D Motion or Slide, from the second menu (Show All is the default). To edit a transition before applying it, select it, and click Edit Transitions to open Properties view.

Titles Shows pre-formatted titles you can use in your movie. To see only specific types of titles:

• Choose an option from the first menu such as Entertainment, General, and Happy Birthday.

• If you want to narrow the choices more, choose a specific theme, such as Blue Notes or Ladybug Picnic, from the

second menu.

Show All is the default option.

Themes Enables you to view Themes. Displays InstantMovie themes that instantly and dramatically enhance

your movies. Themes make it easy to create professional-looking movies. They automatically edit your clips and apply effects, transitions, overlays, title and closing-credit sequences, videos, sound effects, and more. You can apply all the options in a theme, or choose the options you want.

ClipArt Displays clip art that can be used in your video files.

Disc Menus workspace

When you’re ready to add menus to your movie for DVD or blu-ray disc, click Disc Menus in the Tasks panel. From this workspace, you can access your media and the menu templates.

Note: When you click Disc Menus in the Tasks panel, the Monitor panel switches to the Disc Layout view. Drag templates and media using Disc Layout view to personalize your menus.

From the Disc Menus workspace, you can preview and choose preformatted templates you can use for menus. To see only specific types of templates, choose an option from the first menu: Entertainment, General, Happy Birthday, and so on. If you want to narrow the choices, choose a specific theme.

Share workspace

When you’re ready to burn a disc, or save your movie for viewing online or on a mobile phone, PC, videotape, or other device, click Share in the Tasks panel. This workspace provides all the tools necessary to save your file for sharing with others.

Use Quick share to create and reuse preset sharing options, making sharing quick and easy. For example, if you frequently share projects by burning them to DVD, set up your optimal settings for burning a DVD, and save those settings as a Quick share. The next time you want to burn a project to DVD, use the Quick share preset you created instead of setting all the DVD options again.

Monitor panel overview

You use the Monitor panel when performing many tasks in Adobe Premiere Elements. For example, you can preview your files and movies, trim and split clips, apply effects, create titles, and position images and text by viewing safe zones, along with many other tasks.

The Monitor panel is available in every workspace. While you’re working with menus, the Monitor panel switches to the Disc Layout panel, which makes it easy to drag and drop images and layout menus. While you’re creating titles, the Monitor panel displays text tools so that you can easily create and edit text.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Monitor panel

Timeline and Sceneline overview

The Timeline and Sceneline let you assemble your media into the desired order and edit clips. You use the Monitor panel to preview the clips you’ve arranged in either the Timeline or Sceneline.

The Sceneline allows you quickly to arrange your media, adding titles, transitions and effects. The Timeline helps you trim, layer, and synchronize your media. You can switch back and forth between these two panels at any time.

Note: If you choose to show panel headers (Window > Show Docking Headers), the name of this panel is My Project. The Timeline and Sceneline are different views of this panel.

Info panel overview

The Info panel (Window > Info) displays information about a selected item in the Project view of the Tasks panel or the Timeline or Sceneline. For clips, the Info panel displays information such as duration, in point, out point, and the location of the cursor. The information displayed may vary depending on factors such as the media type and the current panel. For example, the Info panel displays different sets of information for an empty space in the Timeline, a rectangle in the Title panel, and a clip in the Tasks panel.

In the Info panel, the Video entry indicates the frame rate, frame size, dimensions, and pixel aspect ratio; the Audio entry indicates the sample rate, bit depth, and channels.

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Chapter 3: Projects

Adobe Premiere Elements combines everything you need to create a movie, including video, audio, still images, effects, transitions, and titles, into a single file called a project file.

Creating a new project

About projects

Adobe Premiere Elements creates a project file for every new project you start. By default, a project preset is used for the television standard (NTSC or PAL) you selected when you installed the program.

A project file stores only title files and references to the source files that you capture or import, so project files remain fairly small. Because only references to the source files are stored, avoid moving, renaming, or deleting your source files so that Adobe

You can create a project on your own by adding, arranging, and editing your media, and then adding transitions, effects, and titles; or you can create an InstantMovie project. InstantMovies step you through the process of adding your media from the Organize workspace, choosing a theme for your movie, and customizing any of the theme options, such as title and credits text, and background audio. Adobe your footage in the Timeline, adds transitions, titles, and audio, and then lays it out on the Sceneline so you can preview it and save it in the format of your choice.

Premiere Elements can continue to locate them.

Premiere Elements then analyzes and arranges

More Help topics

“Workspace overview” on page 12

“Creating an InstantMovie project” on page 22

Start a new project

When you start a new project or an InstantMovie project, you can review the default preset and its settings by clicking the Change Settings button. Make sure that you are using a preset that uses the same specifications of your source media.

Important: Some settings, such as frame rate, size and aspect ratio, can’t be changed after a project is created—verify all project settings before starting a project. Using the wrong project settings can adversely affect performance as you work on your project.

By default, the folder for a saved project also stores rendered previews, conformed audio files, and captured audio and video. These files are very large, so save them to your largest, fastest hard drive. To store these files separately from projects, choose Edit

1 Do one of the following:

• From the Welcome screen, click New Project.

• If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, choose File > New > Project.

2 (Optional) To change the settings used, click Change Settings, select a different preset and click OK.

3 In the New Project dialog box, specify a name and location for the project, and click OK.

> Preferences > Scratch Disks.

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Projects

More Help topics

“About project settings and presets” on page 34

“Create or change project presets” on page 34

“About scratch disks” on page 39

Open a project

You can open only one project at a time. To ensure that Adobe Premiere Elements can open an existing project, make sure that both the project file (.prel) and the source files used in it are accessible on your computer.

❖ Do one of the following:

• From the Welcome screen, click Open Project, and then click the project name. (If the project isn’t listed, click

Open, select the project file, and click Open.)

• If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, choose File > Open Project or Open Recent Project; then select the project file,

and click Open.

• In Windows®, double-click the project file.

Note: Adobe Premiere Elements can open projects made in earlier versions of the program, but earlier versions of the program cannot open projects made in later versions. If you have two or more versions of Adobe installed, you may need to open a project from within the software, or by right-clicking the file and choosing the application, rather than by double-clicking the project file.

Premiere Elements

More Help topics

“Open a project saved by Auto Save” on page 39

Creating an InstantMovie project

About InstantMovie projects and themes

InstantMovies let you quickly create a professional-looking, edited movie, complete with titles, soundtrack, effects, and transitions by using a simple (and quick) step-by-step process. When you create an InstantMovie, Adobe Premiere Elements analyzes your clips (if they have not already been analyzed) and applies Smart Tags as necessary, edits the clips, and applies a theme of your choosing. You can personalize the theme by using your own title and ending credits, and supplying your own music or effects.

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Creating an InstantMovie

Movie themes create movies with a specific appearance. For example, the Wedding Doves theme adds an elegant introduction and conclusion, flying white doves overlay, and wedding background music. And the Comic Book theme creates a fun kids party video by adding stylish effects, such as Color Emboss, picture-in-picture overlays, and large artistic fonts in the title. Each theme uses a unique editing style for selecting, trimming, and sequencing clips.

The default duration for a theme is approximately 4 to 6 minutes. You can use InstantMovies on all of the clips in your movie, or on a subset, creating a montage or special feature at the beginning or end of a DVD.

You can choose from a variety of themes. You can apply all of the properties in a theme, or choose to add only a subset. Likewise, you can add a theme to an entire sequence in the Sceneline, or you can choose to add it to only a single clip.

Important: For access to a variety of fun new themes, sign up for a Plus membership to Photoshop.com. With a Plus membership, new themes are continually available from the Photoshop.com category of the Themes menu in the Tasks panel. Adobe Premiere Elements free online benefits and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet access required.

More Help topics

“Auto-Analyzer” on page 77

“Sign up with your Adobe ID” on page 1

Create an InstantMovie

You can start an InstantMovie from the Organize workspace.

Create an InstantMovie from the Organize workspace

1 If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, click InstantMovie in the Organize workspace .

Adobe Premiere Elements opens in InstantMovie mode of the Organize workspace.

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2 Follow the prompts in the upper left of the Organize workspace. These prompts step you through the process of

creating an InstantMovie:

a Select the clips that you want to include in your movie. (If you already have clips in the Sceneline or Timeline,

you can now select additional clips if desired.) Click Next.

b Choose a theme for your movie. To preview a theme, move the mouse cursor over the theme’s thumbnail to see

a description, and click the Play button

c Specify properties for your theme. Click Apply.

to watch a preview. Click Next.

You can also create Instant movies from Elements Organizer.

Apply a theme to an existing project

If you’ve already created a project and want to use a theme on all or part of it, use the Themes button in the Edit view.

1 Do one of the following:

• To apply the theme to the entire project, leave all clips unselected.

• To apply the theme to only a portion of the project, select the clips you want to use with the theme.

2 In the Tasks panel, click Edit, and then click Themes.

The Themes view of the Tasks panel opens. To preview a theme, move the mouse cursor over the theme’s thumbnail and click the Play button

that appears.

3 Select a theme and click Next.

4 In the Theme properties view, specify properties as desired, and click Apply.

Theme properties

When you add a theme to your project, you can specify which properties of the theme you want to use and how you want to use them. You access theme properties after selecting a theme and clicking Next in the Tasks panel.

Default options change depending on the theme and how you accessed the theme. For example, when accessing themes through the InstantMovie button, the Auto-Analyzer option is selected by default; it is not selected when you add a theme using the Themes button.

You can specify any of the following theme properties.

Opening and Closing Titles Opening and closing titles can be multiple lines; however, for best results, keep the

opening title to one line.

InstantMovie Specifies whether you want to perform an auto edit, which automatically trims the clips and adds them

to the project based on their Smart Tags. And whether to analyze clips and apply Smart Tags to them.

Apply To Specifies whether to apply the theme to the entire project or to only the clips selected in the Sceneline or

Timeline. (This option is not available, if you created your InstantMovie by clicking InstantMovie from the Organize workspace.)

Music Specifies whether to use the theme music, your own music (click Browse to locate and open it), or no music.

You can select multiple music clips (you can select them here or from the Organize workspace as part of the original asset selection), and they are played in the order selected. Drag the slider between Music/Sound FX and My Clips to set the amount of soundtrack and audio effects used versus the sound from your clips. InstantMovie syncs with the beats of the music, so changing the song may significantly change the results. In addition, changing the song changes the duration of the movie to match the duration of the new song.

Speed And Intensity Enables you to control the speed of cuts and amount of effects. Click the triangle beside the Speed

And Intensity option and use the slider to adjust the speed of cuts and amount of effects.

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Duration Specifies the length of the finished movie. Match Music creates a movie to the length of the theme music.

Specify Duration lets you specify the exact length of time by dragging hours, minutes, and seconds. Use All Clips ensures all the selected clips are used and bases the length of time on their duration.

Note: If you specify a duration that is longer than the theme music, the music will loop. If the duration is shorter than the length of the theme music, the music ends with the last clip.

Sequence Specifies whether clips are placed in the Timeline according to the Time/Date stamp on the clip or

according to the theme’s editing rules.

Theme Content Specifies which aspects of the theme are included in the final movie. Select or deselect any of the

options. If some of your clips have effects already applied, you can choose to keep the applied effects, or remove them and apply the theme’s effects instead.

Render Preview Enables you to preview the instant movie. Click the triangle beside the Render Preview option and

select Yes to preview.

Edit an InstantMovie

When you create an InstantMovie, Adobe Premiere Elements combines all the clips into a single clip. You can break apart this combined clip if you want to edit or replace the individual clips. Once you break apart an InstantMovie clip, you can use the Replace Clip command to quickly replace one clip with another without having to trim and edit the new clip to fit, or change the effects or overlays applied to it.

InstantMovie syncs with the beats of the music, so changing a music clip may significantly change the final movie. In addition, changing the song changes the duration of the movie to match the duration of the new song.

Break apart an InstantMovie

❖ Right-click the InstantMovie clip in the Timeline or Sceneline and choose Break Apart InstantMovie.

Replace a clip in an InstantMovie

1 In either the Organize workspace or the Project view, select the clip you want to use.

2 In the Timeline, right-click the clip you want to replace and choose Replace Clip From > Media or Project.

If the incoming clip is longer in duration, it is trimmed from the end to match the existing duration of the outgoing clip.

If the incoming clip is shorter in duration, a warning message appears, giving you the choice to cancel the replace action or use black frames to fill the excess duration.

Viewing a project’s files

Project view overview

The Project view lets you preview source material for your projects. To access the Project view, select Window > Available Media, or Organize > Projects.

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