Narration File Problem

[abbaker2]

I am using Adobe Premiere Elements 4 on my PC to develop a slide show of old family photographs. My PC is running Windows XP Professional.

I have placed all of the slides and title screens into the timeline and have successfully added timeline markers together with 2 small menu screens.

I am now trying to add short narrations at various points in the timeline via the “Add Narration” microphone icon. I set the current timeline marker at the point where I want the narration to begin but as soon as the recording starts (after the 3 second countdown), the timeline jumps back to a previous title and begins the recording there.

Since I have used this technique successfully in a previous slide show, I have compared all of the settings I can find between the 2 files but I can find no difference.

I have also tried clearing all of the menu markers but that does not help.

The only difference between the files is that, in timeline view in the problem file, a small grey area appears just above the timeline markers at a point above the narrative files (see attached photo)

AudioProblemTimeline.jpg

. I don’t know what that is for, and I can’t get rid of it.

Does anyone know what the problem is and how to get rid of it?

[Steve Grisetti]

First, have you ensured that your photos are all no larger than 1000x750 pixels in size?

Then try rendering the timeline by pressing Enter. The red line above your clips will turn green.

And then try resetting the Work Area Bar. (That's the small gray area along the top of your timeline.) You'll note in your illustration that currently this bar covers only a small segment of your timeline. Extend it to cover your entire timeline and see if that makes a difference.

[RJ Johnston]

That grey bar is not the Work Area Bar. It is the elusive "In / Out" bar.

If you are in the properties panel, you can press "I" for input or "O" for output. Press "G" to clear it. The properties panel has to have the focus when you press those keys. It can't just be open, you have to go over and click on it somewhere first. This isn't a very well documented feature in Premiere Elements, and Adobe probably wanted to drop it completely from the Premere Elements versions. There are keyboard shortcuts that make use of the In/Out bar.

[Steve Grisetti]

Good call, Robert! You're right. It's not the Work Area Bar after all. But it does seem to be the key to the problem.

[abbaker2]

Steve, RJ

Thank you for the response. As per the recommendation in your Guide to PE 8, the photos were already reduced in size.

I rendered the timeline but did not get a proper audio file until I also expanded the Work Area Bar (WAB) to cover the entire timeline.

The problem is resolved but I’m not sure why. There is very little written about WAB and nothing written (that I could find) about the “In/Out” Bar

Why did repositioning the WAB effect the placement of the audio file?

Thanks again for your help.

[Steve Grisetti]

As I explain in my books, the Work Area Bar isolates a segment of your timeline so that certain features (rendering, for instance) affect only that segment of the timeline. That's its job.

In most cases, the Work Area Bar will automatically resize itself as you add to and delete from your timeline. However, in version 9, for some reason, once you resize the Work Area Bar manually, you will need to continue to resize it manually as you work.