50th Anniversary video – Problem importing stills

[Mike Velte]

Pretty Strange! Suspect memory overload. PSD’s are pretty big files. Try importing 100, then save the project and then another 100. Or batch convert all to .bmp’s.

[Peter Corbett]

Ron,

There’s a known issue with PSD’s and memory hogging in 1.51. Batch change your PSD’s in PS to Tiffs, Targas or JPEG’s then reimport. Also with 1-gig of RAM and 120+ 4K x 4x, you are dead set certain to blow all your ram on load up. Also make sure the color mode for the pics is RGB.

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
Australia
http://www.php.com.au

[Ron Moody]

Thanks, I guess I just assumed that since both are Adobe, Adobe would have optimized its app to work best with its own file formats. I’ll convert to jpg and try again. And by the way, I’ve already downsized all the files to around 2000×2000 or below. I wanted to be able to zoom around in them without obvious bitmapping.

Oh, and one other thing. I tried importing them into AfterEffects and had no problem at all. In fact, I think you can even go over 4k by 4k – but I’m not sure so I’d better just shut up.

Since I’m on a roll, one more thing. I often use stills in Premiere at work and have found another wierdness. When I import a still, it often won’t appear in the monitor window. Instead, I see a green ‘placeholder’. I’ve tried rendering so I can see exactly what I’m getting, no good; it renders around the still but won’t display the still. Since I can’t see the actual graphic as I am building the project, it’s hard to position where the text or graphic elements fall on the screen. But if I turn out a DVD, the graphic is in there, so it does work.

I’ve become so frustrated with Premiere that I’ve ordered a copy of Final Cut to try out. And this is from a guy that spent $1,400 on Adobe’s video production package (the one that includes PhotoshopCS – which is the most amazing program I’ve ever used by the way, followed not far behind by After Effects. Premiere falls somewhere in the middle and Encore is way, way, way, way back in the rear.)

ron

[Tim Mirande]

Ron,

Have you considered picking up a copy of Imaginate from Canopus? The combination of Premiere & Imaginate works wonders on photo work.

Tim

[Ron Moody]

Thanks on the Imaginate idea. I already have AfterAffects and it just feels like it would be wasteful to throw the extra money at it when I have a tool that will already accomplish the same thing. I’m sure though, that Imaginate would do it much quicker though.

I did re-save every photo as a JPG and guess what… it works perfectly. Apparently Adobe products work better with file formats other than their own. Good to know! Now to get down to the job of editing.

Thanks all on your input.

It’s interesting that no-one ever responded to my previous post about other Premiere and still photo problems. Oh well, my main issue is resolved. Time to get to work.

Thanks again!

a tip for anyone reading. Want to create customized countdowns in Premiere? Create a normal countdown in Premiere, then use a luminance key to key out the grey or white (however you have it set up) background, replacing it with your own video. Throw your own audio underneath with beeps on the second and you have something that is unique to you with minimal work.