Macromedia Premiere - 6.0 User Guide

User Guide

© 2000 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Patent pending.

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This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance
with the terms of such license. The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change
without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated
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Part number: 90012291 (12/00)

Contents

iii

Introduction

An Overview of Adobe
Premiere

Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Installing Adobe Premiere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Learning Premiere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using Web resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Other learning resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Customer support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Setting up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Starting a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Work area overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Using tools and palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Looking at the Project window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Looking at the Timeline window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Looking at the Monitor window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Acquiring source material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Adding clips to the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Trimming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Editing clips in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Applying transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Previewing a clip or a video program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Adjusting audio levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Panning or balancing audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Applying effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Using the Title window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Creating composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Animating a still image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

An overview of output options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Exporting to the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

iv

CONTENTS

What’s New in
Premiere 6.0

Working with Projects

DV functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Built-in Web export for one-step Web output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Enhanced Monitor and Timeline windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Audio Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Improved project management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Visualization tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Enhanced effect support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Customizable workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

New tools and a more familiar interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 1

Selecting an initial workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Starting a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Specifying project settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Comparing settings using the Settings Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Saving and autosaving a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Opening a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Removing unused frames from source clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using a Premiere project on another platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Setting up Premiere’s scratch disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Correcting mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Working with windows in Premiere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Using the Project window’s bin view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Customizing a Project or Bin window display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Naming, finding, and deleting items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Printing window contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Creating a text list of project files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Changing the startup window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Working with palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Using other palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Capturing and Importing
Source Clips

Chapter 2

Capture checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Understanding offline and online editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Connecting the analog video source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Connecting the DV video source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Digitizing analog video as DV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

CONTENTS

v

Editing Video

Recording or replacing timecode (DV only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

File-size limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Preparing for analog capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Preparing for DV video capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Using the Movie Capture window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Capturing clips without device control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Capturing clips with device control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Batch-capturing video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Capturing stop-motion animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Reading timecode from source video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Capturing analog audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Importing digital audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

About D1, DV, and various pixel aspect ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Importing clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Importing another project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Analyzing clip properties and data rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Using offline files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Chapter 3

Using the Monitor window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Selecting an editing workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Using the Timeline window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Editing In and Out points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Using named duplicate clips and unnamed instances of clips . 184

Using markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Editing clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Editing a video program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Creating a counting leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Creating color bars and a 1-kHz tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Creating black video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Previewing a video program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

vi

CONTENTS

Adding Transitions

Mixing Audio

Chapter 4

About transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Using the Transitions palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Creating transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Replacing a transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Changing transition settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Chapter 5

Understanding how Premiere processes audio . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Adjusting gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Adjusting audio levels in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Cross-fading clips linked to video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Panning or balancing a clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Working with the Audio Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Adjusting audio levels in the Audio Mixer window

using automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Understanding nonlinear volume changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Panning or balancing in the Audio Mixer window

using automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Using a clip’s left or right stereo channel only . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Muting one channel of a stereo clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Swapping channels in a stereo clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Viewing audio clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Creating Titles

Chapter 6

Creating and setting up a new title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Creating text objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Creating rolling and crawling text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Creating graphic objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Adding a shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Using color, transparency, and gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Using the color picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Arranging text and graphic objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Adding a title to a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

vii

CONTENTS

Superimposing and
Compositing

Animating a Clip

Applying Effects

Chapter 7

About transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Using the Video Opacity rubberband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Using keys to superimpose and create composites . . . . . . . . . 298

Superimposing two or more clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Adding a background matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Creating garbage mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Creating split screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Chapter 8

Animating a clip’s motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Rotating, zooming, delaying, and distorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Specifying an exact time for motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Specifying alpha channel and color options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Saving, loading, and deleting motion settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Chapter 9

Understanding keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Working with keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Working with effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Using After Effects effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Obsolete effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Producing Final Video

Chapter 10

About exporting video from Premiere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

File types available for export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Exporting to videotape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

About creating Internet media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

About creating a video file for CD-ROM playback . . . . . . . . . . 345

About creating a video file for use in other software . . . . . . . . 346

viii

CONTENTS

Exporting a video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Exporting a still image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Exporting a sequence of still images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Exporting a filmstrip file for editing in Adobe Photoshop . . . . . 349

Exporting a project for use in Adobe After Effects . . . . . . . . . . 350

Processing a batch of projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

About export settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Choosing export settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

About creating motion-picture film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Exporting an edit decision list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Index

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Introduction

elcome to Adobe® Premiere®—software that brings the world of digital video editing to the

®

Windows

W

cards, hardware systems, and many input/output formats.

Registration

So that Adobe can continue to provide you with the highest quality software, offer technical support, and
inform you about new Premiere software developments, please register your application.

When you first start the application, you’re prompted to register online. You can choose to submit the form
directly or fax a printed copy. You can also register by filling out and returning the warranty registration
card included with your software package.

Installing Adobe Premiere

You must install Premiere from the Adobe Premiere CD onto your hard drive; you cannot run the program
from the CD.

or Macintosh desktop. Premiere also provides extensive support for video capture

1

Follow the on-screen installation instructions after inserting the CD. For more detailed information, see
the How_to_Install file on the CD.

Learning Premiere

Adobe provides a variety of options for you to learn Premiere, including printed guides, online Help, and
tool tips. Using the Adobe Online feature, you can easily access a host of continually updated Web
resources for learning Premiere, from tips and tutorials to technical support information.

®

Adobe Acrobat
or Adobe Acrobat is required to view many documents included on this CD.

Using the printed documentation

Two printed documents are included with Adobe Premiere 6.0.

Reader™ software, included on the Premiere CD, lets you view PDF files. Acrobat Reader

2

Introduction

Adobe Premiere 6.0 User Guide

Contains information on using all Premiere commands and features.

The User Guide also indicates when further information on a topic is available in online Help.

The guide assumes you have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating conventions,
including how to use a mouse and standard menus and commands. It also assumes you know how to open,

®

save, and close files. For help with any of these techniques, please see your Microsoft

Windows or Mac OS

documentation.

Adobe Premiere Quick Reference Card

Contains basic information about the Adobe Premiere tools and

palettes, and shortcuts for using them. Shortcuts are also included in the online Help.

Using online Help

Adobe Premiere also includes complete documentation in an HTML-based help system. The Premiere
help system includes all of the information in the

Adobe Premiere 6.0 User Guide

full-color illustrations, and more detailed information about some procedures.

Online Help provides three ways of locating information. Use the Contents and Index tabs to find general
information, and use the Search tab to look up specific words or phrases.

For more detailed information about using online Help, click the Help on Help button next to the
Content, Index, and Search tabs.

To properly view online Help topics, you need Netscape Communicator 4.0 (or later) or Microsoft
Internet Explorer 4.0 (or later). You must also have Javascript active.

To start online Help:

Choose Help > Help Topics, or press F1 (Windows).

plus keyboard shortcuts,

Using tool tips

With the tool tips feature, you can display the name of tools, or buttons and controls in palettes.

To identify a tool or control:

Activate the window in which the tool or control appears, position the pointer over it, and pause. A tool
tip appears showing the name and keyboard shortcut (if any) for the item.

If tool tips don’t appear, the preference for displaying them may be turned off.

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

To display tool tips:

Choose Edit > Preferences > General.

1

2

Select Show Tool Tips, and click OK.

Note:

Tool tips are not available in most dialog boxes.

Using Web resources

If you have an Internet connection and a Web browser installed on your system, you can use the Adobe
Online feature to access additional resources for learning Premiere located on the Adobe Systems home
page on the World Wide Web. These resources are continually updated and include the following:

User Guide

3

“How To”s and Backgrounders

Provide access to procedures for performing tasks in Premiere and to
detailed reference information on a variety of topics. This information provides help on everything from
common processes to the complex interapplication tasks necessary to prepare projects for the Web.

Tutorials and Techniques

Provide step-by-step instructions on using Premiere’s features or help on
performing advanced techniques. These tutorials can help you go beyond the reference information
contained in the User Guide and show you how to use Premiere with other applications.

Quick Tips

Provide short, time-saving procedures to help you use Premiere more effectively. Tips can be

shortcuts for using new features, or instructions on using existing features more effectively.

Troubleshooting

Provides access to solutions to problems you may encounter using Premiere. Check the
troubleshooting information available through Adobe Online and the Adobe Web site before you call
customer support.

To access Adobe’s home page for your region:

1

Open Adobe’s worldwide home page at www.adobe.com.

2

Click the Adobe Worldwide link and choose your geographical region. Adobe’s home page is

customized for 20 different geographical regions.

About Adobe Online

Adobe Online provides access to the latest tutorials, quick tips, and other Web content for Premiere and
other Adobe products. Using Adobe Online, you can also download and view the current version of the
Premiere Top Issues document containing the latest Premiere technical support solutions. Bookmarks are
also included to take you quickly to noteworthy Adobe and Premiere-related sites.

4

Introduction

Using Adobe Online

Adobe Online is constantly updated with new content. When you set up Adobe Online to connect to your
Web browser, each time you lauch Premiere, the program checks Adobe Online and downloads any new
content automatically. You can also view tech support documents and new files using the Help menu.

To use Adobe Online:

1

In Premiere, choose Help > Adobe Online.

Note:

You must have an Internet connection and an Internet browser installed. Adobe Online will launch your

browser using your default Internet configuration.

Do any of the following:

2

•

Click Preferences to specify connection options. General preferences affect how Adobe Online interacts
with all Adobe products installed on your system, and Application preferences affect how Adobe Online
interacts with Premiere. To see an explanation of each preference option, click Setup and follow the
prompts. You also can set up an automatic refresh using the Update Options.

Note:

You can also set Adobe Online preferences by choosing Edit > Preferences > Online Settings.

Click any button in the Adobe Online window to open the Web page to which the button is linked.

•

•

Click the bookmark button( ) to view Adobe-suggested Web sites related to Premiere and Adobe.
These bookmarks are automatically updated as new Web sites become available.

•

Click Close to return to Premiere.

Accessing Adobe Online through the Help menu

The Help menu includes options to view and download information from Adobe’s Web site.

To view updated articles or documents:

Click Help and choose the topic you want to view.

Other learning resources

Other learning resources are available but are not included with your application.

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

User Guide

5

Classroom in a Book

developed by experts at Adobe and published by Adobe Press. The
includes lessons about using Premiere. For information on purchasing

, visit the Adobe Web site at www.adobe.com, or contact your local book distributor.

Book

The Adobe Certification program

The official training series for Adobe graphics and publishing software. This book is

Adobe Premiere Classroom in a Book

Adobe Premiere Classroom in a

Offers users, instructors, and training centers the opportunity to demon­strate their product proficiency and promote their software skills as Adobe Certified Experts, Adobe
Certified Instructors, or Adobe Authorized Learning Providers. Certification is available for several
different geographical regions. Visit the Partnering with Adobe Web site at www.partners.adobe.com to
learn how you can become certified.

See www.adobe.com/premiere for updated information on additional learning resources.

Customer support

When you register your product, you may be entitled to technical support for up to 90 days from the date
of your first call. Terms may vary depending on the country of residence. For more information, refer to
the technical support card provided with the Premiere documentation.

Customer support on Adobe Online

Adobe Online provides access to FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and troubleshooting information
that provides solutions to common problems.

Additional customer support resources

Adobe Systems provides several forms of automated technical support:

See the ReadMe and ReadMe First! files installed with the program for information that became available

•

after this guide went to press.

•

Explore the extensive customer support information on Adobe’s World Wide Web site
(www.adobe.com). To access Adobe’s Web site from Premiere, choose Help > Adobe Online or click the
icon at the top of the toolbox. See “Using Web resources” on page 3.

•

Read the Top Issues PDF that is available from the Help menu.

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

With Adobe Premiere 6.0, you can capture, import, assemble, and edit video, audio, and still images.
Premiere provides highly intuitive windows and palettes, allowing you to master every creative aspect in
the development of your video project. New export modules provide an exceptional variety of options for
exporting to the Web, as well as the option to export to tape, CD-ROM, or videotape.

This interactive overview of Adobe Premiere contains a number of brief lesson modules designed to
provide introductions to key features of the program. You can complete the lesson modules in ordered
sequence, or choose individual modules to tailor your introduction to specific topics. Once you learn the
basics of using the program, you’ll be ready to explore the extensive editing, compositing, and exporting
features of Premiere. If you need video clips to practice with while stepping through this overview, use the
included sample clips, which are located in the Sample folder on the Premiere CD.

8

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Starting Premiere

Setting up your workspace

The workspace is the arrangement of windows, window features, and palettes in Premiere. Premiere includes
four prearranged workspace options: A/B Editing, Single-Track Editing, Effects, and Audio. You can also
customize the workspace to suit your editing style and save it as a file for use in other projects.

Choosing a workspace

dialog box appears, in which you choose your initial workspace:
environment and is recommended for those who are new to video editing, or
uses a professional editing environment in which the Video 1 A and B tracks are collapsed into one track.
Single-Track Editing is recommended for those who have experience working with video-editing software.
If you are unsure of which option to select, select A/B Editing.

The initial workspace dialog box only appears the first time you start the application. If you want to change
the workspace at any other time, choose Window > Workspace. Adobe recommends you do not switch
between A/B Editing and Single-Track Editing after you’ve begun editing a project, as this may cause
unpredictable behavior. However, you can use A/B Editing for one project and Single-Track Editing for
another, or switch back and forth if you have not yet begun working with the clips in your project.

Premiere also includes an
most often used when performing audio or effect edits. You can switch to the Audio or Effects workspace
at any time during your editing process. You can also change individual components of the windows and
palettes to create your own custom workspace. For more information, see “Selecting an editing
workspace” on page 169.

•

To select a new workspace, choose Window > Workspace, and then select a workspace option.

To save changes you’ve made to the workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace. Once

•

you save a workspace, it appears as an option in the Workspace menu and you can choose it from within
any project.

When you start Adobe Premiere for the first time, the Select Initial Workspace

Audio

workspace and an

A/B Editing

Effects

workspace that display the windows and palettes

, which uses a simple A/B roll

Single-Track Editing

, which

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

User Guide

9

Looking at the A/B Editing workspace

If you plan to perform only simple cuts and edits, and prefer to
work with a separate transition track, you may want to use the A/B Editing workspace. This workspace
displays Premiere’s windows in their most basic format, so that they are easy to understand and use (it
most resembles Premiere 4.2). The primary workflow for A/B editing is dragging clips from the Project
window to the Timeline window, and from there trimming, editing, and rearranging clips. When you use
the A/B Editing workspace, clips open in individual Clip windows, the Monitor window is in Single View,
and the Timeline displays three separate Video 1 tracks: Video 1A, Transition track, and Video 1B track.

In the A/B Editing workspace, you drag clips from the Project window to the Timeline window.

10

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Looking at the Single-Track Editing workspace

Most professional video editors use a single-track editing
system for precise placement of clips in the Timeline. In this workspace, video clips and transitions are
on the same track—though you can expand the track to display a transition track between two Video 1
tracks. However, the two Video 1 tracks are synchronized and behave as one track. The primary
workflow used in the Single-Track Editing workspace is dragging clips from the Project window to the
Source view of the Monitor window, setting In and Out points, and inserting or overlaying the clip in
the Timeline at a precise location.

In the Single-Track Editing workspace, you drag clips to the Source view of the Monitor window (left), where you edit them before
placing them in the Timeline window (right).

Starting a project

After you start Premiere and select your initial workspace, the Load Project Settings dialog box opens. Here
you can choose a preset group of project settings for a particular editing environment such as DV, QuickTime,
or Video for Windows. If you prefer to choose your settings individually, select the preset that most closely
matches your editing environment, and then click Custom and choose specific settings in the Project Settings
dialog box. If you want to open an existing project, click Open.

Create a new project or open an existing one

choosing a project preset from the Load Project Settings dialog box. If you want to start a new project after
Premiere is already open, choose File > New Project. The Load Project Settings dialog box opens.

(To change the window that opens at startup, see “Changing the startup window” on page 100.)

You can start a new project by simply starting Premiere and

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User Guide

11

Determine your project settings

The best way to
ensure that Premiere handles your video clips
correctly is to use the preset included with your
capture card software or the appropriate preset
included with Premiere. If none of the available
presets meet your needs, choose project settings
that are identical or at least compatible with your
capture settings (see your capture card or DV
camcorder documentation) and your clip settings.
For example, if you capture DV video at 720 x 480
frame size, use that same frame size for your
project. For a complete description of project
settings, see “Specifying project settings” on page 74.

If your capture card manufacturer did not provide presets, or if you are not using their presets for a specific
project, keep the following in mind when choosing project settings:

If you don’t see a preset that matches your video, select the closest match, and then click Custom and

•

choose the settings from the New Project Settings dialog box. Once you have selected all the appropriate
custom settings, click Save to create a preset for use in other projects.

You can open the Project Settings dialog box at any time by choosing Project > Project Settings.

•

However, making changes to settings once you have begun editing is not recommended, as it may cause
unwelcome changes to the clips in the project.

•

Be sure to review and compare all of the settings in your project using the Settings Viewer: choose
Project > Settings Viewer. In most cases, it is important that the capture, project, and individual clip
settings are the same in any given project. Discrepancies between these settings can cause unexpected
behavior in your previews and final output. By default, your export settings match your project settings.
However, they do not have to match any other project settings, so you can change them if you want
without affecting the project. For more information, see “Comparing settings using the Settings
Viewer” on page 82.

12

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Getting to know the work area

Work area overview

Once you open a project, the Premiere work area appears. If you’ve worked with other Adobe applications, the
Premiere work area will look familiar, with the command menus at the top of the screen, windows to perform your
assembling and editing, the toolbox, and the floating palettes.

AB

Premiere’s Single-Track Editing workspace: A.

on the right)C. Timeline windowD. floating palettes

Project windowB. Monitor window (Source view on the left and Program view

CD

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

Using tools and palettes

The Premiere toolbox contains tools for selecting, editing, and viewing your clips. The Adobe floating palettes
contain additional features that help you monitor, modify, and enhance your work. You can hide and
rearrange the palettes to organize your work area as needed. For more information on palettes, see “Working
with palettes” on page 100. For more information on tools, see individual tool names in the index.

User Guide

13

Select a tool

The toolbox is located at the top left
of the Timeline window. Some tools in the toolbox
have pop-out panels (represented by a small
triangle on the right side of the panel) that contain
additional hidden tools.

To select a tool, click its icon in the toolbox.

•

•

To select a hidden tool, click the current tool in

Selecting a hidden tool

the toolbox and select the tool you want from the
pop-out panel.

Display the palettes

When you first start Adobe Premiere, floating palettes appear stacked in default

groups. Use the following techniques to show and hide palettes:

•

To bring a palette to the front of its group, click the palette’s tab.

To show or hide a palette as you work, choose the appropriate Window > Show or Window > Hide

•

command.

To minimize or expand a palette in Windows, click the left-most button at the top right of the palette

•

group.

•

To minimize or expand a palette in Mac OS, click the small square at the top right of the palette group.

•

To hide or display all open palettes, press Tab.

14

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Arrange the palettes

Depending on your available
screen area and work preferences, you may want to
reposition and regroup the palettes into more
efficient arrangements.

To move an entire palette group, drag the group’s

•

title bar.

•

To rearrange or separate a palette group, drag a

Drag a palette tab to separate the palette from the group.

palette’s tab. You can drag a palette to another
group or to its own separate group. Palette positions are saved with the workspace.

Display a palette or window menu

Most palettes and windows have pop-out menus containing

commands and options that add to their functionality.

To display a palette or window menu, position

•

the pointer over the black triangle at the top
right of the palette or window, and hold down
the mouse.

Displaying a palette menu

Looking at the Project window

All of the clips you import into your project—video, still image, sequence, and audio—are listed in the Project
window. Every project has only one Project window; if you close this window, you close the project. The Project
window is customizable, so you can sort and view your clips using the options most appropriate for your
editing style. For more information on the Project window, see “Using the Project window’s bin view” on
page 92 and “Customizing a Project or Bin window display” on page 94.

View clips in the Project window You can view and

add information for every clip in your project.
When you select a clip in the Project window, the
thumbnail viewer displaying the poster frame (the
frame used for icon view and as a sample frame for
titles), along with the clip name, media type, video
information, duration, and data rate, appears in the
top left corner of the window. If the clip is a video,
click the Play button ( ) to preview it in this
window.

You can expand the size of the Project window to
view and enter clip information for every clip in the
window.

• To expand the window, drag any corner

(Windows) or the lower right corner (Mac OS).

Organize clips By default, Premiere uses the List

view ( ) and displays clips alphabetically by name.

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

A

B

C

EFG

A. Thumbnail viewer and poster frame B. Bins C. Clip
D. Clip information E. Search F. New Bin G. Create

Item H. Delete Selected Item I. Resize Bin Area J. Icon
view K. Thumbnail view L. List view

H I J LK

User Guide

15

D

• To sort clips by a heading, click the heading. For example, if you’ve captured a series of clips from tape

and want to list them in order by timecode, click the Timecode heading.

• To reverse the order of clips under a heading, click the heading again.

• To arrange clips freely in the Project window, use the Icon view ( ) and drag the clip icons into the

positions you want.

Bins, which resemble folders, are located in the left panel of the Project window; use them to organize your
clips into groups. When you import clips, they are added to the currently selected bin. You can reuse bins
in multiple projects by saving and exporting a bin as a separate file.

• To view the contents of a bin, click the bin name—the contents appear on the right side of the Project

window.

• To save and export a bin as a file, select the bin and choose Project > Export Bin from Project.

• To import a saved bin, choose File > Import > File, locate and select the bin file, and choose Open.

16

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Looking at the Timeline window

Once you’ve captured or imported clips into your project, use the Timeline window to organize your clips
sequentially, make changes to a clip’s duration and location, add transitions, superimpose clips, and apply
effects, opacity, and motion. Once you’ve completed all your editing, export the Timeline contents to any
variety of file formats or directly to videotape.

Explore the Timeline window Premiere’s Timeline window provides an overview of all the clips in your

video program, as well as their durations, locations, effects, opacity, fades, waveforms, and other features.
You can add transitions between clips on the Video 1 track, and superimpose clips that are on the Video 2
or higher tracks.

A

C

D

E
F

G
H

I

J

K

L

M

P Q R S

O

B

N

Timeline window in the Single-Track Editing workspace: A. Work area bar B. Edit line C. To ols D. Superimpose track
E. Adjustable track header border F. Keyframe and Opacity icons G. Shy Video track icon H. Video track I. Audio track
J. Waveform, Keyframe, Volume, and Pan icons K. Lock track icon L. Shy Audio track icon M. Time Zoom Level N. Timeline

window menu button O. Track Options Dialog button P. Toggle Snap to Edges button Q. Toggle Edge Viewing button R. Toggle
Shift Tracks Options button S. Toggle Sync Mode button

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

Expand the tracks You can expand each track in the Timeline to display more controls.

• Click the triangle next to the Video 2 track name; then click the Keyframe ( ) icon to set and view effect

keyframes, and click the red Display Opacity Rubberbands ( ) icon to set and view handles on the
Opacity rubberband. (The Video 1 track does not include an Opacity rubberband; clicking the triangle
next to the Video 1 track name displays the keyframe area only.)

• Click the triangle next to the Audio track name; then click the Keyframe ( ) icon to set and view effect

keyframes, click the red Display Volume Rubberbands ( ) icon to set and view handles on the Volume
rubberband, click the blue Display Pan Rubberbands ( ) icon to set and view handles on the Pan
rubberband, and click the Waveform ( ) icon to view the audio clip’s waveform. See “Adjusting audio
levels” on page 34 and “Panning or balancing audio” on page 36 for information on using the audio
track rubberbands.

• Click the Time Zoom Level menu at the bottom left corner of the window to select a new frame range

to view. Select a shorter duration (such as 4 Frames) to zoom into the project, or a longer duration (such
as 20 Seconds) to see more of the project in the window. To fit the entire Timeline contents in the
viewable area, press the backslash key (\) on your keyboard.

User Guide

17

Choosing a value from the Time Zoom Level menu expands or compresses your view of the footage in the Timeline.

18

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Looking at the Monitor window

Use the Monitor window to view individual clips, preview the Timeline, set In and Out points, set markers,
add and remove clips from the Timeline, and trim clips. When you use the Single-Track Editing workspace,
the Monitor window includes the Source view (left side of window) and the Program view (right side of
window). When you use the A/B Editing workspace, the Monitor window displays only the Program view and
uses individual Clip windows instead of the Source view (you can change this default at any time by choosing
a new Monitor window view). The Source view (or Clip window) displays a single clip as it appears on your
hard disk (project settings do not affect playback from this view). Use the Source view (or Clip window) to
prepare a clip for inclusion in the Timeline or to edit a clip you’ve opened from the Timeline. The Program
view displays the current state of the Timeline—when you preview the Timeline, it plays in the Program view.

Switch among Monitor window views You can display the Monitor window in any of three different

modes to suit your needs and work style:

• ( ) Dual View mode displays both the Source

and Program views. Video editors experienced
in using high-end video editing systems may be
able to edit faster and more precisely using both
the Source and Program view controllers. This is
the default window display for the Single-Track
Editing workspace.

• ( ) Single View mode displays only the

Program view. Individual clips open in
individual Clip windows. If you’re learning how
to edit video, you may find it faster and easier to
work in Single View mode. This is the default
window display for the A/B Editing workspace.

Monitor window in Dual View

Monitor window in Single View

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

• ( ) Trim mode is a “zoomed-in” view of a

particular edit on the Timeline. When you select
Trim mode, the edit line automatically jumps to
the next edit in the Timeline, and the clips at
that edit point appear in the Monitor window.
Use the controls in the Trim window to adjust
the In and Out points of those clips. For more
information on trimming using Trim mode, see
“Using the Trim view” on page 219.

Monitor window in Trim View

To change views, click the view buttons ( ) at the top of the Monitor window or choose a mode
from the Monitor window menu.

Look at the playback controls The playback

controls are the same for all windows. You can access
these controls from a Clip window, or the Source
view or Program view of the Monitor window.

User Guide

19

DCBA E F

Preview controls: A. Frame Back B. Frame Forward
C. Stop D. Play E. Loop F. Play In to Out

Look at the Source view controller The Source view controller (lower left side of the Monitor window)

appears only when the Monitor window is in Dual View mode. To use this controller, drag a clip from the
Project window to the Source view window, and then use the controller to preview, set In and Out points,
add markers, specify whether to take audio or video, and insert or overlay a clip onto the target track in
the Timeline.

20

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Individual Clip windows contain the same
controllers as the Source view. However, if you
want to perform L-cuts, J-cuts, or six-point edits,
you must use the Source view in the Monitor
window. For more information, see “Editing In
and Out points” on page 180.

Look at the Program view controller Use the

controller under the Program view (lower right
side of the Monitor window) to remove clips or
portions of clips from the Timeline, add transi­tions, set Timeline markers, and preview the
Timeline.

BA C D E F G H

A. Frame Back B. Frame Forward C. Stop D. Play
E. Loop F. Play In to Out G. Insert H. Overlay

The Marker menu and the Mark In and Out
controls apply to the entire Timeline. All other
Program view controls affect only the clips in the
Target tracks. Target tracks indicate which Timeline

A. Target video track B. Target audio track C. Marker menu
D. Mark In E. Mark Out F. Lift G. Extract H. Previous
Edit I. Next Edit J. Add Default Transition

video or audio track is set to receive the video or
audio from the Source view (or Clip window) or be
affected by the Lift, Extract, Insert, or Overlay command.

DCBA E F G H I J

ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0

Assembling and editing video

Acquiring source material

The video, audio, and still image clips you use in your project can come from a variety of sources. You can
capture DV video and audio directly from a DV camcorder using IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.Link) or capture
analog video and audio using a supported video capture card (see http://www.adobe.com/premiere for a list
of supported cards). You can import stills from other applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illus­trator, import audio that you’ve transferred to your hard disk from a CD, or import a folder containing a
variety of files in different formats.

Import one or more clips Premiere supports a variety of file formats, including .MOV, .AVI, .AIF., TIF,

.JPEG, .BMP, and .PSD. For more information, see “Importing clips” on page 151.

• To import a clip, choose File > Import File, locate and select a clip, and then click Open.

• To import multiple clips in Windows, choose File > Import File, locate the clips and press Control as

you select multiple individual clips or press Shift and select a range of clips, and then click Open.

• To import multiple clips in Mac OS, choose File > Import File, locate the clips and press Shift as you

select each clip, and then click Open.

User Guide

21

When you create still images for use in Premiere, always create them at the same aspect ratio as the other
files in your project; otherwise, they may distort when you preview or output the project (see “About D1,
DV, and various pixel aspect ratios” on page 147). If a file contains an alpha channel, you can use the alpha
channel to create transparency in Premiere. For more information on using alpha channels, see “Using the
Alpha Channel key” on page 302 and “Specifying alpha channel and color options” on page 318.

Import a folder of mixed media You can import

folders containing any variety of video, audio, and
still clips.

• To import a folder into a project, choose File >

Import > Folder, locate and select a folder, and
then click OK.

22

An Overview of Adobe Premiere

Capture video Premiere supports the direct capture of DV and analog video. For detailed information on

capturing from Premiere, see Chapter 2, “Capturing and Importing Source Clips.” To capture DV audio
and video, do the following:

1 Plug one end of your IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.Link) cable into the Video Out port of your DV camcorder

or deck, and then plug the other end into the IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.Link) port on your computer.

2 Open Premiere and select the appropriate preset from the Load Project Settings dialog box. Use the

preset included with your camera or capture card software, or one of Premiere’s DV presets. Click OK.

3 If your camcorder or deck supports device

control, choose Edit > Preferences > Scratch
Disks/Device Control (or click Edit in the
Capture window). Select a device from the
Device menu, click Options, and select the
options that match your DV device (camcorder
or deck). See your DV device documentation
for more information. Click OK.

4 Choose File > Capture > Movie Capture. When

using device control, use the controls in the
Movie Capture window to play and record the
video. When not using device control, use the
controls on your device to play the video and
use the controls in the Movie Capture window
to record the video. Captured clips are automat­ically added to the open Project window.

A

B
C
D
E
F
G

JIH

K L M N O P

A. Preview window B. Slow Play C. Reverse Slow Play
D. Play E. Stop F. Frame Forward G. Frame Forward
H. Take Video I. Take Audio J. Shuttle Slider K. Rewind
L. Fast Forward M. Pause N. Record O. Set In P. Set Out