[Vincent Rosati]

I try not to let clips go over 2GB, but I’ll go as large as 8GB if I’m just going to trash the source files, it’s just a personal preference. It really depends on how much editing you plan to do. I’ve done a few really big projects and I’ve had issues with gimungous (…that’s a technical term 🙂 clips.
I try to keep the source clips small enough so that I can burn them to DVD for backup.
During capture you could try utilizing the Automatic Scene Detect feature, which may or may not work so well. It largely depends on if you striped your tape before recording to it, but it may work. Ideally it would make a clip at each record start.

I think you already have the right idea.

Just some thoughts.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

First, make sure your image is the correct aspect ratio. If it’s a square pixel image you’ll need to resample it to display properly.
If that’s the case, try using the templates at the bottom of this page…
https://www.handcranked.newinelabs.com/tutorials/IFOEdit.htm

As far as motion & zoom control, You’ll have to use kayframe animation.
I’d apply Video Effect/Distort/Transform to the clip. Than go into the Effect Controls tab, position the still and add keyframes to the Position and Scale parameters, scrub down the timeline a little bit and add more keyframes to the same parameters and reposition and zoom the still.
Now, when you scrub through the timeline the clip should be animated.
If you need more help, let us know.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Welcome Kurt,

If you’re capturing DV through Premiere via FireWire, you should be using a DV codec.
However, it appears that your cam is HDV. So, you may need to upgrade Premiere to add HD support. I use PP 1.5, I’m unsure of HD support in newer versions. Check the documentation or Adobe’s site.

I don’t think you would get acceptable results capturing HD footage to DV (if that’s even possible), as the frame size is different. If the video is interlaced, and scaled down during capture, it would look like crap.

Create a new project in Premiere and select a HD (or DV) preset that is appropriate for your region – NTSC or PAL. Than, choose a Standard or Widescreen format. The Frame Size in the project should match that of your footage.

If stills look bad in Photoshop than they’ll probably look bad on screen. However DV and HD are compressed and will always contain compression artifacts. But, correctly captured HD footage should look pretty darn good.

Deinterlacing or ‘filmifying’ in AE can help to improve the look of footage. But, let’s get the capture portion of your workflow nailed down first. 🙂

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Welcome Jason,

It may sound simple… just bang out a DVD.

You’d need to know the aspect ratio of the display device – 16:9 or 4:3. And you would need to know how the player/display device is set to interpret video.
Ideally, you would want to do a test run on the display system to make sure it is set to display either Full Screen correctly or Widescreen correctly, perhaps changing the display’s settings accordingly.

The best you can do is to create a proper 16:9 or 4:3 DVD.(!)

PREP
Basically, you’re likely including 1:1 (square pixel) images into a 19:6 (wide) or 4:3 (full) video project.
The idea is that you want circles to display as circles, not ovals. Which is what will happen if you put a square pixel image into a video project.

Ideally, you should prep your images in Photoshop, before dropping them into Premiere.
Check out this link…
https://www.handcranked.newinelabs.com/tutorials/IFOEdit.htm
At the bottom of the page are two templates to help you create
‘prepped-for-video’ still images. Use the one that matches the display you will be using.

Since you’re displaying on a Plasma, and not a CRT, you won’t need to deflicker your still images.

PREMIERE
After you drop your clips in the timeline you’ll need to enable ‘Show Opacity Handles’ on the tracks that you are using (under the track name). Than, use the Pen tool to add control points for adjusting the opacity between the clips to create the fades.

If you need black video, click File/New/Black Video, and that will generate a black video clip in the project bin.

Finally, export a DVD compliant multiplexed MPEG2 file using Adobe Media Encoder or Main Concept MPEG Pro, under File/Export… Use the highest quality presets.

ENCORE
If the MPEG is encoded properly, it will import into Encore without the need to be transcoded for final authoring.
Search the Encore forum if you need tips on authoring. Or, if you have a specific question, feel free to ask.

Always burn to name-brand media at the slowest burn speed, and verify the burn if your software has that option. Play the disc in as many different standalone players as you can, before showtime.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Starglow looks really nice. I haven’t used it, but I have used Trapcode: Shine, they have really great plugins. The examples at Trapcode’s site are awesome.
Things are going pretty well. I’ve been in production-type graphics for the past few years, but I’m starting in a consultation/design position in a few weeks. 🙂
Are you doing video animation professionally?

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

YouTube video size must be 320×240, square pixel, progressive.
I’ve had the best results encoding as WMV (WM9), 1024kbps, Square pixels (PAR 1.0), 2-Pass.

As far as frame rates, I’ve only experimented with 29.97. I’d, at least, consider dropping your frame rate to 25P.
Try using Effect/Time/Posterize Time.
And, if you’re resizing in Premiere use Video Effect/Distort/Transform instead of Effect Controls/Motion/Scale, it takes a little longer to encode but the quality is better.
Also, if your source is full screen interlaced, right-click on the clip in the timeline and choose Field Options/Always Deinterlace.

Let us know your formula, once you’ve achieved acceptable results. 🙂

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

You can edit MPEG in Premiere, you may need to install Main Concept MPEG Pro, however.
I haven’t been happy with MPEG editing.

I would decompress the MPEGs before importing into Premiere.
I use AVS Video Converter to do this task. It can batch process, and even split files if they get to be too big, say over 2GB.
https://www.avsmedia.com/VideoTools/index.aspx
Decompress to ‘Uncompressed’, or Compressor: None, with PCM audio.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

The ‘corrugated’ lines in frames that have motion is interlacing. The length of the lines relates to the amount of motion.
When editing interlaced video on a computer monitor, each ‘frame’ you see is actually two separate ‘fields’ being displayed at the same time.
NTSC is described as 29.97 Frames Per Second, however if the video is interlaced it is more accurate to say that it is 59.94 Fields Per Second, or 60i.

If you are shooting interlaced, and your goal is to produce a DVD you should edit and encode as interlaced, as DVD players deinterlace when necessary. This even includes desktop DVD players such as PowerDVD or InterVideo WinDVD Player.

Deinterlacing is a destructive operation, but you can achieve desirable results when done carefully.

If you are editing for streaming or desktop display, you should deinterlace.

Potentially, there are a bunch of problems you could be seeing on your display. Video production is complicated. It’s not easy to make it acceptable. It’s even more difficult to make it nice.

Chances are, if you are in an NTSC region than your video is Lower Field First. I tell every editor to get a free copy of GSpot…
https://www.headbands.com/gspot/
You can open your video files with it to see what the field order is.

Your Premiere project specs should match your desired output. And, your source files should match your project specs.

As far as DivX, it looks great, but there are a lot of DivX videos floating around that are poorly encoded, which has left a sour taste in my mouth.
Yes, if a viewer doesn’t have the correct codec, they will have playback issues.
MPEG1 is very common, but doesn’t look that great.
MPEG2 looks great, but has playback issues.
Real looks great, but many people don’t have Real or Real Alternative.
MP4 looks great, but there are playback issues.
WMV looks great and is very common, this is what I would choose for a delivery format.
FLV is also available, it will play in Flash enable browsers, but requires an uncommon standalone player to play from the desktop.

As you know, editing and encoding are two different things. Make notes and save presets as you test your bitrate settings so you’ll know how to encode a good looking video with whichever codec you choose.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Nested sequences are automatically updated in the nest. However, if the change you make in the nested sequence results in a different runtime (longer or shorter), you would need to correct the I/O point on the nested timeline within the nest timeline.

1 – Sequence 1 (nest) is updated when Sequence 2 (nested) is changed.

2 – Unsure

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

You said…
(mpg, avi divx etc)

DivX, mpg, etc. are delivery formats. Premiere is for editing, so your files should be in an editing format.
Unless you are working with DV or HD files, you should decompress all source materials to Uncompressed, or Compression: NONE.
I use AVS Video Converter to decompress AV files.

Vince