PE4 and H.264 ?

[Barb O]

Does Premiere Elements 4 support H.264?

I have PE 7 but not PE 4 and I am trying to help someone who has PE 4. She has tried the .mov H264 file in the Photoshop Elements 6 slide show editor which rejects it (I am not surprised). Since she has PE 4, I wonder if it is even worth trying PE4 or if conversion with Quicktime Pro or Prism is the only route?

Yes, the just try it approach is possible: however since I don't think she is experienced with video editing I would rather recommend something with a good probability of success.

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Barb,
I exported a video from Premiere Elements 4 as a H.264 Mov file.
Then imported the file back into the Premiere Elements 4 project without any problems.

I then opened a AVI file in Quicktime Pro and exported a H.264 Mov file.
Imported that file into a Premiere Elements 4 project without any problems.
So yes, it seems to work just fine

[Barb O]

thanks Chuck

[Barb O]

oops, I did not originally think to ask

What project setting should be used in PE4?

The inputs to the PE 4 project will be :
-- multiple .mov H264 clips (640x480 30 fps stereo)
-- plus photos arranged in the PSE 6 slide show editor (probably multiple Send Slideshow from PSE6 to PE4 ) .

The desired final output is a standard def DVD (NTSC I think, but will verify) I think it will be full screen (but will verify).

Note: I have done the multiple send slideshow in both PE 3 and PE 7, so I expect that should be OK. As I recollect it always positions at the end of the current timeline no matter where the CTI is - but that is workable.

[Steve Grisetti]

Premiere Elements can be a bit inconsistent when you're using MP4s as source files, Barb. She may have better luck if she uses the AVCHD project preset (assuming it's a hi-def file), but even then it's hit and miss.

Since she does not have Premiere Elements 7, she can't use the Send to Premiere Elements feature that a "matched set" of Elements programs usually has. The best solution is to output a 640x480 WMV file and bring that into Premiere Elements. It will likely need to be rendered on the Premiere Elements timeline before she can do much more with the project though.

[Chuck Engels]

Just the standard NTSC project setting will be fine. The mov clips may need to be scaled up a little but that shouldn't be a problem.

[Chuck Engels]

I see that Steve and I crossed paths and have different opinions. I have used h.264 Mov files in projects without any problems at all. Steve has obviously had different results. Personally I would recommend using the Mov files in a standard NTSC project and see what happens. We can always troubleshoot problems if they come up.

[Steve Grisetti]

BTW, Barb. Where is the option to save the slideshow as an H.264?

I'm only seeing options for WMV, PDF, Burn to Disc and send to Premiere Elements.

[Chuck Engels]

Steve, the user is trying to add a H.264 Mov file to a slideshow in Photoshop Elements and it won't take it.
They would like to do the slideshow In Premiere Elements but wanted to make sure that Premiere Elements can handle the files that Photoshop Elements can't.

[Barb O]

Yes as Chuck said the objective is to use an H264 .mov file from the camera. It is SD because the doc I found for the camera is 640x480 30 fps. She has PSE 6 and PE 4 so that is a matched set.

Now I am not overly concerned about the quality of the output to DVD as long as it is Standard Definition output: that is because I have seen other Canon still cameras with similar specs that gave usable video. This is a Canon Powershot SX10 IS and I have experimented with some similar .mov H264 Canon still camera video in PE 7 and it seemed OK. Now that does not eliminate all risk of non-conforming video, but I think it is less likely.

My primary hangup here has been that I can experiment with PE 7 but don't have PE 4.

I do know several people who have Canon Powershot long zoom cameras so I am also "casting a net" to see if I can find someone I know who has the same model camera and also PSE 6 - PE 4.

Chuck,
another question for you - do you have any ADDITIONAL H264 codecs installed on your machine or would your tests have been using whatever codecs (probably Main Concept) that were installed for PE 4?

Thanks both Chuck and Steve.

[Chuck Engels]

I have not installed any H.264 codecs myself. I have Premiere Elements 3 - 8 installed, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Quicktime Pro. I also always install the KLite Mega Codec Pack but don't know if that includes any H.264 codecs.

[Steve Grisetti]

We're then dealing with video from a still camera that's using some form of H.264 compression -- and I think that's likely the problem, Barb.

I don't think it's going to go. Not on a typical machine anyway. Maybe on Chuck's computer -- but I don't think his is a typical experience with video from still cams.

[Chuck Engels]

My Kodak still camera shoots video in mov format and I can edit those without any problems.
I say just give it a try and see what happens. My guess is that the files will work just fine in Premiere Elements

My computer is more bare than the average user as far as codecs and software goes. Nothing out of the ordinary, no strange video converters, just very common software. If mine is not an ordinary experience then if it works on mine it should work on most others as well.

[Barb O]

Thanks Chuck and Steve.
If I can get a sample of video from her camera and make it work in PE 7 or if someone I know has made video from that same camera work in PE 4, I will tell her to try it in PE 4.

I recently installed Prism to convert cellphone H264 video (where the audio was "mangled" in PE 7 with the original video clip). I guess that would be a possibility for this video also. But now I also wonder if the Prism Uninstall will remove whatever codecs it installed?

Barb

[Barb O]

FYI
Here is a response to the thread over at the Adobe forum that is interesting of itself, but I am not going to recommend that this person upgrade to version 8 for the purpose of this specific project.

Photoshop elements 6 slide show does not support MOV files. PEPE 8 bundle supported mov files in slideshow. First you need to activate H264 codec in Premiere elements the you can use the video clips in slide show. But some mov files does not support the slide show it is because of the different codec.

What is very interesting is (if I read that correctly) it says a Premiere Elements 8 codec will be used by the Photoshop Elements 8 slide show code. You might think that logical for a common Organizer.

HOWEVER, the reason that surprises me is that I have not seen any other case yet where it was evident that code running in the Organizer workspace was using a codec from Premiere Elements. In fact I think there were posts that thumbnail generation in the Organizer for AVCHD files still seems to be a problem - no image in the thumbnail. And that was suspected to be caused by lack of a codec available to the Organizer. Will be interesting to see what unfolds. ....