Saving Multiple CLips

[fls1945]

I am digitizing some (10 - 12) old compilation VHS tapes. Thus on any given tape there will be 4 or 5 content categories e.g. Family; Holidays; Sports Events etc. Here is what I would like to do:

1. Digitize a complete VHS tape on to my hard drive

2. Divide up the clips appropriate for each category using PE 12.

3. Copy each clip from step 2 in to a file somewhere else on my hard drive.

4. Repeat steps 1 - 3 until all of the tapes have been processed / digitized.

5. Using PE12 assemble all of the clips from each category in to one specialized video file e.g. a single video file containing all of the Sports clips from 1985 thru 2000; another video file containing all of the Family clips from 1985 thru 2000 etc.

It all seems very doable, but I do no know how to copy the clips as described in step 3. Can anyone provide advice / insight please.?
Regards,
Frank Sheehan

[Dave McElderry]

There are several ways to do this, depending on what's most comfortable to you. Here's what I would probably do. After adding a captured file to your project using Add Media, from Project Assets double-click on it to open it in the viewing window. Set the in and out points for the clip that you want, and then drag from the window to the timeline (or right-click and choose insert). Return to the window and set the in and out points for the next clip and repeat. Do this for each captured file that you have in your Project Assets.When you have all of the clips on your timeline you can then edit, add effects, transitions, and titles as desired, and use Publish+Share > Computer to output to the appropriate file. Since your project will be standard definition choose AVI if you plan to do further editing, or MPEG to store for playing or creating a DVD in another program. You can, of course burn to DVD straight from PrEl by using Publish+Share > Disc. A word of caution - it sounds like you have the potential for some pretty large files. For a single layer DVD most people will start to see noticeable degradation in quality at about 90 minutes of content. I personally try to keep it below 75 minutes if possible. The maximum would be 120 minutes, which I wouldn't recommend.

An alternative to the above would be to drag the entire clip from your Project Assets to the timeline, edit out the parts that you don't want, add effects, transitions, and titles, then output through Publish+Share. Whatever fits your workflow and makes sense to you.

[JmOMP]

This is exactly what I am wanting to do also. I am looking for information on how this integrates with the Organizer. I want to use the power of that to extensively tag and organize the clips so I can always add them to different projects.

One main concern I have been trying to find an answer to is: Can any action I take in PreE12 actually make changes to my original file? I want to be very careful not to do that! I have done a lot of detailed photo editing and have always been very careful not to corrupt my original file(especially if I have just a jpg to start with). Is it necessary to take precautions to not edit the original video media (mine are 2-hour chunks in AVI-DV format)?

So when/how is a 'split apart' chunk of the original media captured by the Organizer? Is it when you see and label it in the Assets Panel, or do you have to put it separately on the timeline and 'save' from there? I also want the 'chunks' to be separate, unchanged, unedited and uncompressed files (AVI-DV) that are tagged in the Organizer. Then I want to delete the 2-hour long AVI-DV's from my working hard drive to save space (they will stay stored on an external drive as my original 'RAW') so I can't just have the Organizer 'pointing' to a position in the original file for the clip. I have recently bought the Muvipix.com Guide to Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements12 by Steve Grisetti and it is great, but I have not had time to find the answers to these questions.

On Lynda.com there are a few topics of the training for PreE12 (which seem awesome) and your answer to the original question above sounds like what is called the 'clip monitor', is that correct? They also mention an AutoAnalyzer, which sounds ideal for what we are trying to do -- split up long captures from older (26-year old in my case) 2-hr VHS tapes.

Thanks for help on the above questions, and any resources in general that explain when and how PreE12 interacts (saves to?) the Organizer.

[fls1945]

Thanks for the feedback. I probably did not describe my situation effectively, because After adding a captured file to your project..................That is where I have my problem. I may be misunderstanding your direction, but it seems to me like your solution assumes that my problem has been solved i.e. that I have somehow been able to capture my various segments to my hard drive, so that I am able to "Add my media". My problem is that I do not know how to capture / isolate / save the various clips in the first place.

Suppose in my original digitized file I identify five separate segments that I wish to store elsewhere on my hard drive. Being extremely original in my thinking, I will call them segment 1 thru segment 5. How do I save Segment 1 as a file by itself? and then Segment 2 etc. Then later when I am about to assemble my final masterpiece I can add Segment 3 and 5 as the captured files.

I'm not sure if that clarifies or confuses my problem description. In spite of that, I would still appreciate any more assistance.

[JmOMP]

I hope I did not confuse the discussion by adding additional questions. My desire is also to 'capture my various segments to my hard drive' as separate files.

[Steve Grisetti]

The challenge is that you're capturing VHS video (ideally through a good DV bridge, like the Grass Valley ADVC). This tape will not have timecode then, and so it's not going to automatically break scenes for you. You'll have to do that manually by starting and stopping the capture recording.

[Dave McElderry]

Thanks for the feedback. I probably did not describe my situation effectively, because After adding a captured file to your project..................That is where I have my problem. I may be misunderstanding your direction, but it seems to me like your solution assumes that my problem has been solved i.e. that I have somehow been able to capture my various segments to my hard drive, so that I am able to "Add my media". My problem is that I do not know how to capture / isolate / save the various clips in the first place.

Suppose in my original digitized file I identify five separate segments that I wish to store elsewhere on my hard drive. Being extremely original in my thinking, I will call them segment 1 thru segment 5. How do I save Segment 1 as a file by itself? and then Segment 2 etc. Then later when I am about to assemble my final masterpiece I can add Segment 3 and 5 as the captured files.

I'm not sure if that clarifies or confuses my problem description. In spite of that, I would still appreciate any more assistance.

The VHS tape can be captured/digitized with a converter. Unless you purchase a used one from eBay or somewhere I don't think there are a lot of choices anymore. The Canopus ADVC 110 is good for this.

http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc110

It uses a FireWire connection to capture in real time, so your computer has to have FireWire. If you don't already have it you can purchase an expansion slot card to give you that capability. Other units that are no longer manufactured but may be available used would be the ADS PYRO Analog to DV Video Converter, or the Canopus ADVC 300 (kind of pricey but a high quality unit). Once connected Premiere Elements will recognize the ADVC 110 as a DV camcorder from Add Media. It will capture in real time as an AVI file.

If you want to store segments as individual files for use later, add them to a project using the method I described in the first post as the only content and then use Publish+Share to output and save to a name and location of your choice. After doing so you can clear the timeline, add another segment, perform another save, and repeat as many times as you need. Note that if you want to use these later for editing in a project you'll want to save them as AVIs. You should be aware that an hour of AVI will require approximately 13GB of hard drive space.

Post back as you begin to sort this out. There are always people here who will be glad to answer your questions.

[Dave McElderry]

This is exactly what I am wanting to do also. I am looking for information on how this integrates with the Organizer. I want to use the power of that to extensively tag and organize the clips so I can always add them to different projects. <snip>

I don't use the Organizer so I'll have to leave it to someone else to answer those questions for you. You asked about changes in the editor affecting your original clips. No, you won't affect the originals. It's known as "non-destructive editing." The Premiere Elements project file only keeps track of the editing you've done; it doesn't do anything to the originals. The only way that you would hurt the originals would be if you output an edited file as the same file type to the same location as your original and saved it as the same name. If you keep your originals in one set of folders and your outputs to another location you'll be fine.

And yes, the Clip Monitor is probably the correct terminology for the window that I described.

[fls1945]

I have already done the conversion. I have read the converted file in to PE12. I have created the clips in PE12. Within my timeline I now have five or six seperate clips My problem is how to save them as separate entities that I would be able to access to add to other projects.

I do not understand how to do what you are suggesting her: If you want to store segments as individual files for use later, add them to a project using the method I described in the first post If you could try one more explanation I would really appreciate it.

[JmOMP]

The challenge is that you're capturing VHS video (ideally through a good DV bridge, like the Grass Valley ADVC). This tape will not have timecode then, and so it's not going to automatically break scenes for you. You'll have to do that manually by starting and stopping the capture recording.

My limited knowledge of video editing terminology got in my way (I used the word capture differently than I should have). I already have an AVI-DV file created by a service from my original 2-hour VHS tape on my hard drive. Will the PreE12 'auto analyzer' work on that file to break it into segments that I can then somehow write back individually to my hard drive with different names (still as AVI-DV files)? Thanks for everyone's help!

[Dave McElderry]

I have already done the conversion. I have read the converted file in to PE12. I have created the clips in PE12. Within my timeline I now have five or six seperate clips My problem is how to save them as separate entities that I would be able to access to add to other projects.

I do not understand how to do what you are suggesting her: If you want to store segments as individual files for use later, add them to a project using the method I described in the first post If you could try one more explanation I would really appreciate it.

If you want to save sections of the timeline as individual clips you can select them with the Work Area Bar and then when you go to Publish+Share you can specify during the export process that you only want to export the section under the Work Area Bar. For more information on the WAB see the tutorials at the bottom of this page:

http://muvipix.com/products.php?subcat_id=6

They're from a different version of Premiere Elements, but the process is very similar. The setting that I'm referring to in Publish+Share looks like this:

Share WAB only.JPG