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Repeated Application of "Adjustments"?

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Repeated Application of "Adjustments"?

Postby HSA » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:44 pm

Theory Question:
Possible Degradation of Video from Repeated Application of “Adjustments”

I’m using Premier Elements 11 and Windows 7, but the question is one of general application.

As a long-time user of the FULL version of Photoshop, of course the theory is never to make edits to the “Background” layer (unless required) since all edits to the Background layer are a bit destructive to the image, which begins to become visible after a series of edit-and-save routines. The problem was addressed in 1994 or 1995, when Photoshop added “layer” functionality. Edits on layers are non-destructive (until the single merge/flatten at the end).

I am a beginner at Premier Elements. Working on my first project, I’ve completed all splitting, trimming, audio adjusts, etc. Now I’m ready for my first “Adjustments”, which will include brightness, contrast, color and saturation fixes ---- to be applied to the whole twelve-minute project, not merely a few clips. The source was old VHS tapes that were poorly recorded and need lots of correcting.

Since I assume I’ll never get all the Adjustments “right” on the first try, that means many Adjustments repeats. Returning to Photoshop theory: do many such applications of Adjustments in Premier Elements portend additive destruction to the underlying video? Is it something to be concerned about, or is it all so low-resolution (compared to a Photoshop image) that any degradation due to repeated application of Adjustment will never be noticeable?

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Closely related: I’m using Steve’s book as a learning source. He therein explains how to apply an Adjustment across many clips, not just one clip, as well as copying an Adjustment to another clip or clips.

If it is correct that Adjustments of the sort mentioned above are gradually destructive to the image, would the following workflow (reminiscent of the early, pre-layer, days of Photoshop) help?

(1) After the project on the Premier Elements timeline is otherwise complete but BEFORE the application of gamma, color, contrast and other Adjustments, copy all timeline clips to the Video 2 track so that only the Video 2 track is visible (opaque to the Video 1 track).

(2) Make all gamma, color, contrast and other Adjustments to the Video 2 track, which may require multiple iterations.

(3) When satisfied, copy all Adjustments (just the Adjustments) from the Video 2 track to the original, Video 1 track, thereby “adjusting” the Video 1 track ONLY ONE TIME.

(4) Delete the Video 2 track, leaving only the completed Video 1 track.

Has anyone tried this? Is it necessary or helpful?

Thank you,

Howard
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Re: Repeated Application of "Adjustments"?

Postby Bob » Fri Mar 01, 2019 1:55 am

It's totally NOT necessary. Everything inside the editor is non destructive. The source video is not altered and each frame is rendered on the fly as you preview in the monitor. Make as many adjustment changes as you need. You can even save the project and make adjustments in subsequent sessions. Changes only become destructive when you export the project to a video file. And, only the exported file is baked in. The project itself is still non-destructive.

If you export a video and use that as source media in another project you will get accumulated degradation when you export. But, you can generally go through several such cycles before it becomes noticable. It depends a lot on the CODEC used and the degree of compression.

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Re: Repeated Application of "Adjustments"?

Postby HSA » Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:57 pm

Bob wrote: . . . Everything inside the editor is non destructive. . . . Make as many adjustment changes as you need. . . . Changes only become destructive when you export the project to a video file.

. . . If you export a video and use that as source media in another project you will get accumulated degradation when you export. But, you can generally go through several such cycles before it becomes noticable. It depends a lot on the CODEC used and the degree of compression.

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______________________________________________

Thank you, Bob.

You've just saved me from a LOT of additional work that I thought might be needed.

I shall "Adjust" away!

Howard
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