Premiere Elements 4 Stuff

[Chuck Engels]

Paul, I downloaded the file and imported into v4 but all I got was audio.
This might be due to the project just being standard NTSC, what type of project should I be using?

[Gerry]

BUT... I don't ever recall anyone asking that the video and audio track be paired! I'm sure I will get used to it, but I don't recall it ever being a request.

Chuck or Steve -- do you have any idea what the rationale was for pairing the video and audio that way?

[Briantho]

I have seen conflicting reports as to whether AVCHD is supported or not. I do know that the JVC Everio MOD files are now suppose to be supported for sure.
Paul, do you have a small file you could send me to test with? I could give you a FTP site to upload it to if that would be easier.

Ah! My daughter has just bought a JVC Everio GZ-MG505 and we all agreed they should use 16:9. However, when importing the MOD files everything becomes severely squished. Is this the problem that is being seen elsewhere? Thanks in advance.

[Paul LS]

Chuck, you would need to use the AVCHD file in a "HDV 1080i 30" preset.

[Paul LS]

Brian, regarding your squished files you need to click on the clip in the Media Bin and select Interpret Footage and then in Pixel Aspect Ratio select Conform To and select the widescreen preset.

Maybe they fixed this in PE4.

[Steve Grisetti]

Gerry, I do see a couple of really nice advantages for pairing the audio and video tracks.

In previous versions, have you ever tried to place a video clip on Video 2 and the audio track isn't quite sure where to go, if you've already got something on Audio 1? With the new system, you don't have to worry about that.

Meantime, I'm curious. I saw a tiny screenshot of Premiere Pro CS3 and it looked like it was using the paired tracks timeline also. Can anyone confirm that? It could just be the way things are going.

[Wheat King]

At first I was thinking I'm not sure about this paired audio video track thing but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Especially since you have audio tracks still dedicated to narration and soundtrack. Having these two tracks and audio paired together can reduce some confusion on the timeline.

Question. Can you still delete or remove audio tracks that are paired (that have nothing in them)? I like my timeline as clean as possible if I'm not using a track I want to remove it to save space and from scrolling up and down.

[Steve Grisetti]

You certainly can, Jamal.

[UKPal]

Questions, questions, so many questions! Hehe!

Haven't seen USB microphone input mentioned. Chuck/Steve - d'ya know if they're supported in V4?

Thanks guys.

[Briantho]

Brian, regarding your squished files you need to click on the clip in the Media Bin and select Interpret Footage and then in Pixel Aspect Ratio select Conform To and select the widescreen preset.

Maybe they fixed this in PE4.

Thanks Paul! That's certainly cleared up the squishing BUT I still have the other problem (not mentioned here previously) of random distortions appearing every 5 to 20 seconds or so. Had this been a tape based camcorder I'd have cleaned the heads - it's small sections of the image shifting a few pixels left or right or remaining on screen for a few extra frames when the rest of the video has moved on. Am I making sense? Perhaps it's something to do with the way PE3 works with MPGs?

The latest trial versions of Cyberlink PowerDirector and Ulead v11 don't have this problem although there are other issues with the latter that are making me look seriously at PowerDirector IF Elements 4.0 produces the same distortions. Fortunately my daughter isn't putting me under pressure to make a recommendation just yet!

[Chuck Engels]

I don't remember any conversation during the beta about USB microphones and I don't have one to test with.
Plus, we are still on the last beta and I know that they have made changes since then (mostly bug fixes I'm sure).
The product that ships is always a little different from the last one we get to see during testing so you never know what they might decide to add at the last minute.

[Chuck Engels]

Chuck, you would need to use the AVCHD file in a "HDV 1080i 30" preset.

Thanks, that is what I figured but wanted to be sure. I will test it again tonight.