How can I best get...

[Mark1x]

Hi,

Question 1
How can I best get my video footage into itunes?
I took some video today and it did not require editing, so I just imported it then exported it to quicktime, however while it playes in itunes this exported "type" of quicktime cannot be played on ipod/iphone. Can anyone suggest the best format to export my video in order to get the highest possible quality that will play on my iphone? The video was taken in 16:9

Question 2 (which is linked to question 1)
Another video which I took, also in 16:9 did require losts of bits of footage cut out. I'm left with around 4 mins of footage. I wish to export this to a format which is also playable on my iphone via itunes but because I chopped lots of bits out the final piece of footage is broken up into around ten files which together make up 4 mins. Is there a way to make this one file? I think I need it to be one file (I assume!) in order to export it into a format for itunes and iphone. How do I do this? and what settings on the export format will be consistent with 16:9?

Many thanks for any input here.

[Bobby]

Mark, for iPod I export from PRE as a .MOV file and then use a conversion program to create an iPod compatible file. The program I am currently using is "Free Video to iPod Converter" that I found on the 'net at

http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm

As far as your second question goes, I am not sure I fully understand. After you make all the cuts, just put everything together on the timeline, perhaps using some nice transitions between cuts, and just export the timeline to .MOV as usual. Did I misunderstand your question?

[Mark1x]

Hey Bobby, thanks....

I Have to rush out now, but when I get back I will clarify the second question...thanks again!

[Chuck Engels]

For your iPod you need to export as H.264 and should be the same for the iPhone.
There are conversion programs but I would recommend just using Premiere Elements to export the proper format.

[Bobby]

I went that route Chuck, but found it easier to use the conversion program as I just had to create one .MOV from PRE that I could use elsewhere such as upload to Vimeo or here, and then just run a quick conversion program on the same file to get the iPod version.

[Chuck Engels]

File/Export/Adobe Flash Video, Others...

Then you can select the iPod High Quality export which uses the H.264 codec.
There is also a Mobile 3GP export which may work for the iPhone also.

[Chuck Engels]

That's one thing nice about Apple, the Final Cut Compressor will export multiple formats all at the same time in batch mode, very cool. I usually will not export more than one format and usually for the iPod anyway so just using Premiere Elements works fine for me.

[Bobby]

Chuck, did you notice this is the PE3 forum? Not sure if that is available in V3...

[Chuck Engels]

I checked in version 3 first, those are the correct instructions.

[Peru]

Chuck, did you notice this is the PE3 forum? Not sure if that is available in V3...

I have exported to ipod with Pre El3 with good results.

[Mark1x]

Hi Guys,

Bobby....Sorry for the delay in returning to explain my second question.

What I actually did that left me with several files instead of one is:

I used the get video feature and "stop" as there were some big chunks I didnt want want so that gave me lots of pieces in the first place all in the timeline. Then I fine tunde by taking out some more bits. I hit the play button to see I was happy and then I did this;
file/save as/used the project name and same location as project and hit save
When I navigated to the location it was all in several files even though within PE3 I could export to dvd in one piece. Does that make sense? Should I have saved as a different name or location than the project to save the edited footage as one file?

As for the ipod/iphone what is the the exact process to maintain the quality, I had one go and it shrank the file so small it was even poor on the phone!

Thanks again..

[Bobby]

Hi Mark.

I think what you said was this:

You captured video from something (camcorder?). You didn't want everything so you stopped and started the capture process. This resulted in more than one file on your hard drive, and you are wondering how to join them. OK.

It is working as it should. Every time you start or stop the capture process it results in a new (sequentially numbered) file. That is normal. Any NLE (non-linear editor) such as PRE can handle multiple input files, and place them wherever you want on the timeline.

I think perhaps your issue is that you don't understand the output process. Those files you created are just INPUT to PRE and there can be as many as you want. Once you arrange your files on the timeline, you can then OUTPUT your work in a number of ways. The output is a different file than the input, just the video data is taken from them. The output is usually created by the Share menu, and you can select a number of different types to share - H.264, .MOV, .MPEG, etc. You can also, of course, create a DVD.

So you are doing fine and it doesn't matter how many input files there are. Just OUTPUT or SHARE to create the (single) output file that you want. Does that make sense so far?

And, as I mentioned above, you may want to put some nice transitions between the clips on the timeline before you share it.

[Mark1x]

Thanks Bobby, I get it now, though I cant just go to the location and copy a single file and paste it to another drive for example? I would have to export it again into a single file, right?

[Bob]

Version 3 doesn't have Share, it has Export. But, same idea.

Mark, "File Save As" saves the ".prel" file, not the movie. The ".prel" file contains information about the movie -- what clips, what order, in/out points, transitions, etc. -- not the movie itself. To save the movie you must export it.

The files you captured are not the final movie. They are the raw, unaltered, video from the camcorder. You can, of course, copy them to another drive as is. But, you'll probably want to copy the output version from Premiere Elements that contains your edits instead. And, when you output/export the movie, you can specify the format you want that corresponds with your intended use.

[Bobby]

Thanks Bobby, I get it now, though I cant just go to the location and copy a single file and paste it to another drive for example? I would have to export it again into a single file, right?

If you create an output file (export, or share in later versions) you can then copy that file any place you wish. You can put it in an iPod, or upload it to a hosting service such as YouTube or Vimeo, or whatever you wish. Once created, the output is independent of the input files and project (.prel) file.

Generally you keep your input files (the ones you captured) in a single folder, along with the .prel file that Bob mentioned which contains the sum of your edits and changes. You can come back later and re-open the .prel file and make more changes or do different exports if you wish.

So, the process becomes:

1) capture your input video footage to a folder
2) place the clips from (1) on the timeline as you wish, perhaps making additional cuts, adding transitions, etc.
3) save that project (the .prel file) in the same folder
4) output to whatever format you desire, creating a new output file, or in the case of a DVD image a set of files appropriate for writing to a DVD (or writing the DVD directly).

Perhaps if you tell us specifically what you are trying to achieve we could help further.