ADOBE PREMIERE NOTES

I have organized the these notes according to the steps that I teach Premiere in class, from first introductory steps on, and also as they pertain to independent animation production. I've attempted to arrange things thematically, according to the following table of contents:

To set up a Premiere Project

Project Folder - First things first, make a folder on the Scratch Disk. This is very important! The folder is where Adobe Premiere will store its project information and files, including the media that it uses to do its work. Moreover, you will add your own image and sound files to the folder and keep them there, and you'll move the directory back and forth from your space on the network drive or to a portable drive.

When you make the folder, be sure to name it, using your name and the project name, such as:

  • yourname_projectname

To open Adobe Premiere and begin working, refer to the computer workstation's Start Menu and select Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. Once the program boots up, from the Welcome to Premiere Pro Window, choose "New Project" and select a couple of important options:

  • Video > Display Format: Choose "Frames"

This part is very important! Go to:

  • Location: Browse for your folder on the Scratch Disk and choose:
  • Computer name (e.g.) 05 288b > Scratch > Your Folder
  • Name: Give the project a short, one-word name, such as <yourname_shortproj>
  • Press OK.

A New Sequence Window will then open.

You'll have to choose a Sequence Preset. Be careful, because there are many. For most projects in my Animation courses, we'll use one particular kind, but there are all sorts of other options. Make sure you use the right one:

  • Available Presets > Go to the HDV folder and select "HDV 720p24."

For now, this is what HDV 720p24 means:

  • General:
    • Editing mode: HDV 720p
    • Timebase: 23.976 fps (or frames per second)
  • Video Settings:
    • Frame size: 1280 (horizontal) x 720 (vertical)
    • Frame rate: 23.976 frames/second
    • Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
    • Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan)
  • Audio Settings:
    • Sample rate: 48000 samples/second

By the way, you might find later on that when you refer to the Premiere Interface and look at the Timeline, the Frame Rate Settings are still "Timecode" and not "Frames." Go to the Project Window, right-click on "Sequence 01" and choose Sequence Settings > Video > Display Format > Frames.

To import an image sequence

Referring to the main menu, go to File > Import. An "Import File" dialogue box will then open.

Look at the folder where the Image Sequence is located (properly situated in the Scratch Disk), click on the first image in the sequence. When you've selected it, look down to the lower part of the Import Window to "Numbered Stills" and activate the check box.

Then, press Open.

After importing the sequence, you'll have to adjust the frame rate and "interpret" the footage. To do so, locate the image sequence in Premiere's Project Window, right-click on the icon and choose Modify > Interpret Footage.

From the Modify Clip window, under Frame Rate, choose "Assume this frame rate" and enter 24 or 12 fps.

To import a single Still image

Go to File > Import and "look in" a folder location to locate the image (e.g., Scratch Disk / Your project folder / Images). Click on the file name and then press Open. From the Import Layered File dialogue box, select the following:

  • Import As: Footage
  • Layer Options: Choose "Merged Layers"

Press OK. Premiere will then add the image to your Project Window. You can then drag the image onto Timeline.

To change The duration of still images before you import them

As you are generally used to working with double-frame animation, you might want to import image files in Premiere as double-frame images. To do this, refer to the main menu and go to Edit > Preferences > General. Under Still Image Default Duration, enter [ 2 ] frames as the default still duration, and then press OK. Whenever you choose to import images in the future, you can change the default duration to whatever amount of frames you wish.

To change the duration of images & movies in the Timeline

The simplest way to change the duration of a image is to select the clip/image in the Timline and then and right click on the file and choose Speed/Duration. Choose duration and type in a new value (such as "00;03;00") and then press OK.

You can also do this by left-clicking on the right- or left-hand edge of the file. These are also known In-Point and Out-Point of the file. While holding down the mouse button, drag the edge of the clip to the left or right. This will either expand or contract the length/duration of the clip.

To add a "colour matte" to the Project Window

You can use a colour matte to make temporary placeholder images (e.g., to see how potential images synchronize effectively with musical beats, etc.) To set up the Colour Matte, go to File > New > Colour Matte. Similarly, you can click on the New Item Button at the bottom-edge of the Project Window. When the Colour Picker opens, choose whatever colour you wish and give the matte a name. The matte will then appear in the Project Window. Premiere will give the matte the same duration as the Default Still Image Duration in the Preferences (go to Edit > Preferences). However, you can also change the length of the matte later in the Timeline.

Image size: If you wish, you can create a colour matte that is not full screen, which, when it's in the Timeline, will appear as a square or rectangle within a larger frame.

To do so, when you create the matte and pick the colour, for Width and Height, enter values that are less than full-screen, such as 400 x 400.

Quick Playback, the "J-K-L" keys

When you work with Premiere, you can scan through clips by using the “J, K & L” keys:

  • Click the L - key and the Edit Line will then play forward in real-time.
  • Click the K - key while Premiere plays and the clip will stop.
  • Click the J - key and the clip will play in reverse in real time.
  • Click the L - key or J - key quickly twice and the file will play fast-forwards or in fast-reverse.

To tap out a beat and identify the tempo on Premiere's Timeline

It is possible to listen to a piece of music, follow its beat, and tap out the tempo on the Timeline. By doing so, you will "set markers." The process works quite well. Once you have marked off a beat, you can then transcribe the tempo on a dope sheet, and use it to plan the animation that will go with the music.

To set makers, listen to the music first, for several times, and get used to the beat. Then, by getting into the rhythm, tap with your finger and press the [*] key on the numeric key pad as you follow along (the [ * ] is in the collection of number keys at the right-hand side of the keyboard). Doing this will set markers in the Timeline.

To locate specific markers, go to Marker> Set Sequence Marker and choose Next or Previous, etc., or you can do the same if you context-click on the time region of the Timeline. Better still, you should use the Control + Right Arrow Key. At each marker, you should refer to the counter (or duration settings on the Monitor Window) and indicate on your dope sheet where the mark/beat is. You will use these notes to time your animation.

You can clear Timeline Markers by using either the Clip menu or the context menu.

To scale footage

Sometimes, you'll find that you have to scale the proportions of the footage because. For example, when you shoot images 1600 x 1200 pixels, which are slightly too large for Premiere's presets.

An easy way to do this is to select the footage in the Timeline and then right-click > Scale to Frame Size.

There are also two other options to pursue:

Scaling by hand:

  • Go to the Editing Window, choose the Select Zoom Level pull-down menu and choose a size like 50%. Doing so will reveal the full video frame, with some border. Click on the frame in the editing window, and the action will reveal scaling handles around the edge of the image. By selecting one of the handles, you can then scale up or scale down by holding down the shift-key on the keyboard and grabbing one of the corner handles on the frame.

Using the Motion Effect in the Video Effects Monitor:

  • Use the curser and Selection Tool to select a particular Clip in the Timeline. Once you've done so, go to the Effects Controls Window. From there, you will find, under Video Effects, a "Motion" category (it's in the Window by default).
  • By selecting the "X and Y" (or Horizontal and Vertical) values -- i.e., the values in yellow with underscores -- click-and-drag to the left and/or right, to move the image horizontally left-to-right, or vertically up-and-down.
  • Similarly, you could use the Scale Slider to enlarge or shrink the image. However, depending on the resolution of your original images, scaling up might reveal the original pixels.

You can do the same to Rotate the image (but you might have to adjust the Anchor Point of the footage).

To Make Tonal Adjustments Using the Levels Command

The Levels Command is a good way to manipulate the tonal values of the image sequence (e.g., to make animation flimsies as white as possible). As part of its function, the Levels dialogue box displays a histogram, which is a kind of bar chart that plots an image's highlight, shadows, and gamma (or mid-tones) on a scale from 0 to 255. This gauge is set along the histogram's horizontal axis. The number of pixels at each level is measured along the histogram's vertical axis. Therefore, if there is a large amount of dark pixels in an image, the histogram will show a peak shape towards the left region of the guide.

Referring to the Levels dialogue box, there are three Input Level sliders that you are meant to manipulate, in order to adjust the black-point, white-point, and gamma (mid-tones) of an image. When you move the sliders towards the centre of the histogram, you will subsequently increase the overall contrast of the image.

To find the Levels Histogram, take the following steps:

  • Referring to the Premiere Interface, locate the Effects Window (or go to the Main Menu > Window > Effects).
  • From the Effects Options, go to Video Effects > Adjust > Levels. Click on the icon and drag it on top of the footage in the Timeline. The settings will then appear in the Effects Controls Window > Levels. Looking at the Effects Controls Window, where Levels is listed, you should notice a small icon to the right of the Levels list item. Clicking on that button will then open the Levels adjustment and histogram.
  • Using the three Input Level sliders, when you move the black-point slider away from zero toward the right-side of the scale -- towards white -- the current levels at the black-point slider and those that are less than the black-point slider will then move to zero.
    • As a result, as the black-level moves, the image's entire tonal range of 0 to 255 will shift as the slider is moved. Increased dark values will begin to appear in the image.
    • The opposite will occur as you shift the white-levels toward black. Increased highlight values will then appear in the image.
    • The gamma slider allows you to alter the image's mid-tone values, without changing the highlight or shadow points. As you move the slider to the left, the Levels adjustment shifts highlights together and the image will therefore appear to be lighter.
    • Output levels compress the tonal range of an image into fewer values than 255 steps of grey. This function is used for artists intending to print images from Photoshop. For animation purposes, the input levels should suffice.

Colour Correction

This effect will allow you to change the colour of the rubber stamps in a particular sequence.

Just like you did with the levels, go to the Effects Window and choose :

  • Video Effects > Colour Correction > Colour Balance (HLS).

Drag that effect onto the footage in the Timeline.

Referring to the Effects Controls and the Colour Balance settings, you can then adjust the Hue (which means, shift the attention of the inherent colour range in the pixels). Adjusting the Lightness reduces the amount of light and makes the selection darker, or, moving the slider the other way, shifts the lightness towards full brightness.

Changing the Saturation adjusts the purity of the colour (or adds complementary values and desaturates the colour).

Applying a Colour Key

Similar to what you did with the Levels and Colour Correction, go to the Effects Window and choose Video Effects > Keying > Colour Key. Drag that effect onto the footage in the Timeline.

Looking at the Effects Controls and the Colour Key settings, go to Key Colour. Click on the little dropper icon, located immediately to the right of the colour swatch. Once you've selected it, use your mouse to move the dropper icon over to the artwork in the Editing Window. Locate the colour in the image that you intend to "key out," such as the white of the animation flimsies in the image sequence. By clicking on that region, the software will turn off those pixels. As a result, it will look as though the white becomes transparent. You can adjust the degree by using the Colour Tolerance slider.

To change the scale and position of a sequence compositionally

If you wish, you could move the position of a sequence in the frame or scale it up and make it larger.

To render an assemblage of sound clips as a stand-alone audio file

In the Timeline, adjust the Work Area Bar to select the region you wish to export.

Then, referring to the main menu, go to File > Export > Audio and an "Export Audio" window should then open. Give the file an name. Before you press Save, you will have to make a few audio compression decisions.

Click Settings. In the Export Audio Settings, select General (in the left-hand column) and make the following adjustments:

  • File Type: Choose "Windows Waveform."
  • Range: Select "Work Area Bar."
  • Don't worry about "Embedding Options."

Again, in the Export Audio Settings, click on "Audio" (in the left-hand column) and make these settings:

  • Compressor: Uncompressed
  • Sample Rate: 48000 Hz
  • Sample Type: 16-bit

When you've finished making the adjustments, click OK and then press Save once you have returned to the Audio Export Window (after making sure that you save the file in a place like the Scratch Disk).