Converting Cuts to Clips

[borgie]

I have just had an 8mm movie (I shot in 1960's) digitized into one 15-minute .avi clip. I have painstakingly cut it into sections using the Timeline and the 'C' tool so that I can trim, swap, apply effects, etc on individual 'clips'. But I find that my 'clips' do not behave as normal clips at all. For example, when I double-click a clip in the Timeline I get the whole 15-minute in the Source monitor showing only the IN and OUT for the selected cut.

Is there a way that I can get Pr (or perhaps some other application) to convert these cuts into 'normal' clips?
Thanks
borgie

[Steve Grisetti]

Scenalyzer can cut a DV-AVI into pieces based on content (or some other criteria). Although the software has been discontinued, it looks like the person who created it is now giving it away free! Might be worth a try.
http://www.scenalyzer.com/

[Bob]

Borgie,

You don't need a separate program, you can do it easily from Premiere Pro. From the menu, select Project>Project Manager. When the project manager window opens, select create new trimmed project. This will create a new project with individual files for each of the clips segments you've used. By default, it will retain 30 frame handles on each side of the cuts. If you've used transitions, you'll definitely need to retain these. Select the target destination and click ok to process the file and create the cut files. This will retain only the used portions, anything unused will be dropped. I would recommend renaming the individual clips as Project Manager can use those names for the file name when creating the new clips.

[borgie]

Thanks Steve. Thanks Bob.
I did download Scene Analyzer. However, using the Project Manager is definitely much quicker and easier. Will look into Scene Analyzer later. At the moment I'm still trying to recover from a major PC crash.
Thanks for the quick response.
Borgie

[borgie]

Project Manager doesn't seem to work. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong. Here's what I have done:
I start with one .avi file (about 2.5GB) - used 'C' tool to cut into about 180 clips and renamed each using unique name.
Started Project Manager with following settings:
- Source: Name of sequence containing the cut clips
- Resulting Project: Created New Trimmed Project selected.
- Options: Include handles.... ticked
Rename media files to ..... ticked
- Project Destination: same as Project file.
Clicked 'Calculate' button - I have 2.06 TB available!!
Click OK
I answer Yes to Continue (to save project)
Dialog box "Project Manager Progress" Trimming Media ..... took about 1 minute to complete.

Result: A new folder is created called the project name preceded by Trimmed_ which contains a .prproj file which, when I open it, I get exactly the same .avi file that I started with. There is no sign of any individual clip files anywhere.

The Screen Anaylzer app needs a tape-indexed file. All I have is a huge .avi file.
Borgie

[Bob]

Did you every have one of those "D'oh!" moments? Well, I just had one. Project manager will not create new files that way. I'm sorry for giving you the wrong information.

To get separate files, each segment must be exported separately. That's a lot of work for 180 segments. Do you really need to do that? What is it that you want to do that you can't do with the cut segments that you have? Is it only the issue of how it displays in the preview monitor, or is it something else? -- Other than that, I can't think of anything you can't do with what you have. Let us know what it is you want and we'll do our best to help you achieve that.

[borgie]

Not to worry, Bob. I made the same mistake - went to Prel 10 Organizer and tried it. After 3 hours, ended up with 180 files of 3.3GB each!!!!

Actually, this project consists of 3.3GB x 4 = 13.2GB. It was taken between 1961-63 when I was stationed on Fanning Island (today known as Tabuaeran). My objective is to separate the material into, initially, 2 separate projects: Family and Non-Family shots. I thought that if I could break 4 big files into several clips easily then I can separate these into folders on the HD - a better storage system and easier to plan and implement separate projects.

But, life wasn't meant to be easy!! If it can't be done, then the next thing, I thought, would be to put the same cut-up file into say 2 separate sequences and work from there. However, I am open to suggestions.
I thank you for your response.
Borgie

[Bob]

If you want to have the 4 big clips cut up into smaller files on the hard drive, the only way to do that is to cut up the file and export each individually. That's true whether you use Premiere Pro or some other program. Scenalyzer might be able to automate that. It tries to recognize changes in scene to identify segments and export them. Normally, it's used to capture from a tape based camcorder. But, if your files are dv-avi format, I think you may be able to open a file in Scenalyzer and split it.

You don't really need to separate it into individual files though. Premiere Pro has capabilities that will allow you to keep the original files intact and logically break up the files into reusable segments, organize them, and use them to create multiple videos. You can create multiple videos in one project using multiple sequences,or, if you want separate projects, you can import a base project containing the file and clip information into a new project for creating your video.

Normally, you would import the file to be split, open it in the file viewer and then go through the file, mark in and out points for a segment then drag and drop from the viewer to the project media bin to create a subclip. Premiere Pro allows you to create folders in the media bin and you can drop the clips into an appropriate folder as you go and name the subclip. You can create a folder hierarchy just like you would have on the hard drive. By the time to go through all the clips, you will have everything organized in appropriate folders ready to create and video you want. Incidentally, when you double click on a subclip, you won't see the entire original file like you did when you simply cut the footage.

In your case, you already have the segments cut in the timeline, but they are not subclips. You can create a subclip from a segment by right clicking on it in the timeline and selecting "Make Subclip...". This will create a subclip in the media bin, but it will not replace the segment on the timeline. That's ok, you generally only use that sequence to split the clips and can then discard it afterwards. If you want, you can drag the subclip from the media bin and drop it on the segment to replace it. Create the folder hierarchy in the media bin first, select the folder the subclip should go into and then use the Make Subclip command. Save the project. You now have a base project that you can import into any other project and retain the folder and subclip information.

Sequences are independent. So, you can create a sequence for each movie you want to make in the same project and export them individually. Or, you can import the base project into a new project and create the new sequence there. Your choice. You would use the subclips just like any real clip. Instead of importing a file, you simply select the folder in the media bin containing the subclip and drag the subclip to the timeline.

One warning. If you create subclips, don't use the project manager to copy or trim the project. The Project manager will create a new copy of the large original file for each subclip in the project. You don't want this!

[borgie]

Thanks Bob. Your very detailed instructions have been copied and pasted in my notebook.
My file is not dv-avi formatted. Scenalyzer will not have a bar of it! So, I will following your instructions.
Thanks.
Borgie