Preparing/Importing Photos to Video Project

by **John63** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:37 am

I realize there are FAQs & threads covering the issue of Still Photos however, some are rather 'dated' (old) and I want to make sure I use the latest & greatest technique for bringing still photos into my video project.

SOURCES FOR STILL PHOTOS:

1) Printed photos that I videotaped (to digital) (using a Canon XL2)

2) Scanned photos (JPEG)

3) Digital photos

I have Premiere Elements 3.0.2 & PhotoShop Elements 5.0

What is the best/quickest method for bringing still photos into video?

Thanks!
:-D

John
sr71@comcast.net

by **sidd finch** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:31 pm

John, as always best and quickest are usually at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The quickest is to import the pictures and insert in the timeline and render.

The best is when the pictures help to tell the story. Again that part is really subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One of the best ways I have found is to watch your favorite movie, Television show etc. and see what they are doing that makes it appeal to you. There is no “right way” Personally I like to use Photoshop Elements 5.0 to create pan and zoom with my stills and then insert them at various points in the video presentation.

As Yoda said: “Luke Feel the Force”

Sidd

by **John63** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:47 pm

I should have clarified...

What settings are required for the photo to be used in Prem.Elements?

Thank you,

by **Paul LS** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 5:57 pm

Things haven't changed since PE1, so you may have seen these...
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bb8822c
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bb815fb

Unless you are displaying on a HDTV...

by **Steve Grisetti** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:27 am

I'd use Photoshop Elements' batch feature to make sure all are sized to about 1000x750. (It's under File/Process Multiple Files.)

Then, under the Create button in Photo Elements, choose Slide Show. Photo Elements' Slide Show Editor gives you lots of easy-to-use options for ordering, panning and zooming, setting transitions, etc. When you're done, just choose the option to move the slideshow to Premiere Elements.

by **momoffduty** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:30 pm

I'd use Photoshop Elements' batch feature to make sure all are sized to about 1000x750. (It's under File/Process Multiple Files.)

When using this feature, will the batch be a copy of the originals or does this change the originals?

Thanks for the link to the Adobe forum, Steve's article on resolution.

Question 2: A friend emailed me a dozen pics to put a short presentation together. The size is 5.2kb 180x135, very small. What is a good size for email pics that will be used in PE3?

by **Steve Grisetti** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:48 am

With the Process Multiple Files feature, you can choose to overwrite the original photos or to save the down-rezzed photos to a new location so the originals remain untouched. Cool, huh?

Yes, 180x135 is a bit small for use in a video. About 1/10 of the size you need in fact.

Generally, full video resolution is considered to be about 640x480. We usually recommend 1000x750 because that gives you enough extra resolution to allow for some panning and zooming, which is always nice.

by **Judy** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:11 pm

Greetings,

I have re-sized my photos, but I notice that some of them...the ones that were shot more vertically (rotating the camera 90 degrees when taking the photo) appear to be distorted when I preview the DVD. I clicked on the "constrain proportions" in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5, but that didn't seem to solve the problem.

I initially didn't click on the "constrain proportion" button, but I think it was worse, so I went back, resized from the originals again, but this time asked the program to keep things in proportion. It didn't seem to make much of a difference.

How do I fix that problem? Some of the people look in the affected photos, shall I say, a bit on the "wide" side. I also wonder if it will be more exaggerated when viewing the DVD on an even larger screen.

Many thanks.

Judy

by **Steve Grisetti** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 9:29 am

Hopefully you haven't overwritten the original photos, which you can resize (with the proportions constrained) to the necessary size.

Otherwise, you may have to do some math.

In other words, if we can assume these vertical photos are at the standard 3:4 ratio photos tend to be, then a photo that's 750 pixels tall would be about 562 pixels wide. So if you uncheck Constrain Proportions and apply those numbers to your vertical photos, it should re-proportion them properly.

by **Judy** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 9:42 am

Hi Steve,

Nope, I never overwrite original photos. I always keep them in a separate file. I'll give it a try! Thanks

Judy

by **bgsnmky** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:17 pm

Steve Grisetti wrote:I'd use Photoshop Elements' batch feature to make sure all are sized to about 1000x750. (It's under File/Process Multiple Files.)

Then, under the Create button in Photo Elements, choose Slide Show. Photo Elements' Slide Show Editor gives you lots of easy-to-use options for ordering, panning and zooming, setting transitions, etc. When you're done, just choose the option to move the slideshow to Premiere Elements.

Steve if I have a video that I am going to cut into clips and then put the pictures in between teh clips do you still recommend using the create a slideshow in photoshop.

For example I might have this:

Video clip, 5 pictures, video clip, 10 pictures, video clip, 15 pictures, video clip 3 pictures etc.

mixing the video with our still pictures to tell the story of our vacation. Would you suggest creating lots of mini slideshows.