What is going on??

[Little Nac]

Hi all.
I downloaded the Trial version of Premier Elements 9, and installed it along with the extra Templates.
Decided to do a mini test run to see how it performed.
My settings were PAL AVCHD.
The first video clips I imported were MTS from my Panasonic Camera TZ10. They came in great and didn't need rendering. In the Monitor the picture was perfect and there was no water mark.
Next I brought in the same pics which I had converted to MPG2. These needed rendering and in the Monitor it showed the water mark across the screen.
Then I brought in some JPEGs, which also needed rendering and once again the water mark was over the Monitor.
Last I brought in some more MTS files from the Sony Camcorder I took back to the shop, but unlike the first Panasonic MTS files, these needed rendering.
Also ALL the clips in the Timeline only showed a blue square instead of a picture.
Is this because it is a Trial version or am I doing something wrong? Or is there a setting I need to look at?
Thanks in advance to all.
Regards.

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm not sure about the blue square on the timeline, but we are seeing a lot more elements that apparently aren't activated in the trial version but seem to work just fine in the fully paid-for version. But, assuming you've got the latest version of Quicktime and the latest drivers for your graphics card, I'd assume this is the case.

What you describe otherwise sounds about right. Since your project is set up for AVCHD, it's great to hear the AVCHD video does not need rendered when placed on the timeline. This is brand new in version 9, and I think it's a major improvement in terms of the program's performance with these files!

The other video clips (including the JPEGs) you're adding do not match this format and therefore will need to be rendered as you work with them -- which is why you're seeing the watermark over them. So, again, this is exactly how the program should work.

Apparently the video from your Sony cam uses a different AVCHD format than the video from your Panasonic, which is why it too needs rendering. It could well be that one uses 1440x1080 anamorphic and the other uses 1920x1080 square pixel AVCHD video -- same video compression, but different pixel aspect ratios.

[JohnnyO]

Code: Select all

I'm not sure about the blue square on the timeline

Could you be talking about the video 2 track and higher that are collapsed by default. Hit the upside down arrow on the left of the track to expand.

[Little Nac]

Thanks Guys for the quick response.
The Timeline is certainly #1 as I made sure about it.
You are correct Steve about the Sony MTS format. I'm sorry I did not stop to think about it.
But even when the Timeline is rendered, it does display a water mark still over the Monitor. That is probably the Trial version,
but what I can not understand why it doesn't show over the Panasonic MTS files.
The Timeline is the main problem. I do have the latest Quick Time and video card drivers.
I have also noticed that when I drag the Timeline along, it seems to jump all over the place, and the CTI disappears and shakes very badly.
Maybe in the bought version, it may be better.
Thanks once again.

[Steve Grisetti]

The watermark will only show up on video that needs to rendered.

Since the AVCHD footage from the Panasonic camcorder matches the project settings, it will not need to be rendered until an effect or transition is applied to it -- at which point you'll see the watermark.

BTW, if and when you buy the program, you can get rid of the watermarks on your footage by going to the Timeline drop-down menu and selecting the option to Delete Rendered Files. You'll need to re-render everything, of course -- but this time it won't have the watermark on it.

[Little Nac]

Thanks Steve, handy to know.
I have just solved one problem. I found at the extreme left of the Timeline a small symbol that looks like
a piece of film. I clicked on it and guess what? The Timeline pictures all appeared, so that made me happy.
But the problem I now face, is that when I move the Timeline slider to move down a little way, the pictures all disappear,
which also happens in v7, but in #9 it takes forever to re-draw the Timeline. I have also put it on our new Notebook and the same
thing goes on. I am just wondering why it takes soooooo long for the pictures to re-draw on the Timeline. Is it because
it is AVCHD? It really does seem toooooo long for them to re-draw. Eg. In v7 it may take a particular section 6-7 seconds to re-draw, whereas
in v9 it seems to take the same section 6-7 minutes. Am I missing something?? Any suggestions welcome.
Also when moving the CTI along, the Timeline is very jerky and the CTI disappears altogether then re-appears repeatedly.
Thanks again for the info.
Regards,

[Chuck Engels]

It does take a lot of memory to redraw the thumbnail images on the timeline, for any format.
There are 25 or 30 frames for every second, that's a lot of images.

If you click the little film icon again it will change the timeline view.
There are a few options;
No Thumbnails
Thumbnails at the beginning of the clip only
Thumbnails at the beginning and end of the clip only (this is what I normally use)
And finally, show all frames thumbnails.

I think you will find that version 9 is a bit snappier than even version 7 and you will not have quite the issues with moving the CTI and redrawing the timeline thumbnails. Also, the CTI shouldn't disappear very often if at all in version 9.

[Little Nac]

Thanks Chuck, very helpful.
Just one question.
Both our Panasonic cameras take AVCHD Lite and produce video files in MTS format.
Are we better off using the MTS format directly into PE9 to edit, or should we still convert them to say MPG2? Or something else?
Also when looking at the specs of a video taken with the camera, it shows that the fps are 50fps. We bought the camera here in PAL Land, and as you know
we are 25fps. What does this mean?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,

[Paul LS]

Editing AVCHD or AVCHD Lite requires a fast computer. If the clips play fine and you can edit them OK then there is no need to convert. Converting to high definition MPEG2 is useful if you have an older or slower computer as HD MPEG2 takes fewer computer resources than AVCHD. If your final output will be to standard definition you could also convert your files to SD DV-AVI which will use even less computing power.

Regarding your 50fps... either the clip frame rate is being misinterpreted, 25fps is made up of 50 interlaced fields per second or they are indeed 50fps... 50p (progressive) is becoming more common.

[Bob]

Regarding your 50fps... either the clip frame rate is being misinterpreted, 25fps is made up of 50 interlaced fields per second or they are indeed 50fps... 50p (progressive) is becoming more common.

It's not really 50 frames per second. It's 50 fields per second. It's 25p recorded as two non-interlaced fields per frame (actually one field with a repeat flag for this camera). You'll also see some camcorders (e.g. Canon) recording progressive as two interlaced fields per frame with each interlaced field generated from a single sensor capture. As Chuck says, it's getting much more common to see this.