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This quick guide is designed to provide a reference to the use of Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing in the ITC Mini-TV Studio. It will help you in taking the raw footage you have created and putting together a final movie, and will take you through the basic functions needed to do so. It is not designed to give you a full knowledge of the many features of Adobe Premiere. For help with more advanced features available, please use the help feature built into the program itself, including a number of useful tutorial videos at http://tv.adobe.com/#pg+1600

Getting Started

To begin editing movie footage, start Adobe Premiere Pro by double clicking the shortcut icon located on the desktop of the TV Studio Thinkpad. After a short loading period, a screen should appear asking if you wish to start a new project, open an existing project, or go to the help menu. If you have already begun editing footage, and want to resume where you left off, select open existing project, or select the project from the list of recently opened projects presented.

If you are starting a brand new project, select the new project option. This will open a dialog box allowing you to adjust settings in regards to your film itself as well as give the project a name and a location to be saved. Select the appropriate settings to your footage, widescreen mode in the Mini TV Studio, give your project a name, and select a location in which to keep your files. A good suggestion is to create a folder with your last name in the My Videos folder in Userdata, and save all projects and footage there to make it easier to locate. (Note: Make sure to back up any files to removable media, such as a CD-R or flash drive, before shutting down the Thinkpad. ITC is not responsible for any data left on the machine, and any and all files are subject to being erased at anytime.)

Once done, hit the OK button to proceed to the main screen of Premiere. You should notice a number of different tabs in which your footage will be edited. Each of these can be moved or closed to your liking.

Importing Data (Videos, Pictures, Music)

To import your resources into Adobe Premiere Pro, go to File>Import, or press Control + I. This will open up a window allowing you to open any files you wish to use in your film. Navigate through the folders to find the files you wish to use, including movie files, pictures, music clips, etc., select these files, and hit the Open button. The file should now appear in the Project window located in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Repeat the process for all files to be used in the project.

Editing Video Footage

Once you have imported your data, you can begin creating your movie. Click and drag a video clip you wish to edit from the project screen into the source screen located in the upper middle of the window. A preview of the video should appear on screen. Below this preview is a list of controls, you can mouse over each icon to get a basic understanding of their function or refer to the in-program help guide located in the help menu.

The most common editing needed for footage is cutting pieces of the clip. Doing so removes extra parts of the clip and leaves you with only your desired footage. In the source screen, you will notice a timeline located below the preview and above the control panel. Use the mouse to move the small slider to the beginning of the desired clip, and use the Left In Point button, which appears as a { icon, to set an In point. Now drag the slider to the end of the desired clip and use the right In Point, which looks like a } Icon to set a right In Point. You should notice that the desired footage is now highlighted on the timeline. Click and drag the preview screen to the video 1 channel in the timeline tab at the bottom of the screen. You should now see the clip, both a video and audio track, appear in the timeline, as well as a preview appear in the program tab located in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This is how your final product would look if you compiled to movie now.

You can now add addition clips to the timeline using the above method. CAUTION! If you drop a clip over a clip already in the timeline, it will replace the older clip. If you would like to rearrange clips, put both in the timeline, and click and drag one while holding the Control Key. This will allow you to move clips ahead of one another while pushing the other clip to the end.

Once a clip has been added to the timeline, in can be removed by selecting it with the mouse and hitting the delete key. You can also use the Razor icon, located in the control panel next to the timeline to make quick cuts separating a long clip into two clips at the point clicked.

Adding Pictures and Sounds/Music

Adding other forms of content works just like adding video. Simply import them into your project window using File>Import, and drag them from there into the timeline. You can still pictures directly into the video 1 channel for them to appear as their own separate clip in the movie, or place them in one of the additional video tracks to create layered effects.

Pictures and videos placed in the higher video tracks, video 2, video 3, etc. will appear over the footage below. You can adjust the opacity of these by dragging the yellow line located in the middle of the clip down, making the image more transparent. If you can’t see the yellow line, you probably need to expand the video track by clicking the white arrow next to the track name.

You can also adjust the scaling of images by right clicking the image in the timeline and clicking the “Scale to Framesize” option, or editing the image in Photoshop. You can also adjust the duration that the picture plays in the movie by mousing over the edge of the clip until a red bracket with arrows appears. Click the edge and slide the clip to the desired duration.

Another handy feature of Premiere is the ability to import Photoshop files directly, meaning you can piece together and animate each layer of an image created in Photoshop, as well as overlay image layers over movie footage.

Music files work much the same way as picture files. You can add music directly to the main track or to one of the other Audio tracks, adjust the volume of the clip by using the yellow line, and change the duration of the music playing.

Transitions and Effects

Premiere has a giant library of effects and transitions to add to your movie file. These can be located in the library tab in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, under “effects”. You can find everything color corrections to camera blurs, and apply these to your clips. To do so, search through the folders to find the effect you want to try, and drag it onto one of your clips. You can then edit the effects by highlighting a clip and going to the Effects Control Tab in the Source Tab. Here you can adjust numerous settings for the video clip and the effect itself, as well as turn the effect completely off if so desired. Usually, the best way to learn about effects is to try them out, and find the best setting for your film. If you are looking for specifics on each effect, simply go to the Help menu and search for that effect.

Also available within the effects menu are a number of presets that can be used and edited. You can also create custom presets by saving the effect settings you have created on a clip already. Simply go to the edit screen and right click the effect title, and save preset. This allows you to apply the same effects to multiple clips quickly and easily, instead of having to make adjustments to each clip independently.

Transitions are very similar to effects in that they are drug from the effects library onto the desired clip. However, they differ from effects in that they appear directly on the timeline on the clip desired, and can be adjusted in length in the same way pictures and music were, by dragging one end to the proper duration.

Another useful tool in regards to transitions and effects is the ability to define keyframes in your media. Keyframes are anchor points located on the yellow line mention above, controlling opacity and volume, and can be set by selecting a clip, sliding the timeline slider to the desired point, and pressing the icon that looks like a small white circle in the track header. A small white dot should appear on the yellow line in the middle of the clip, indicating a keyframe. By establishing another somewhere else in the frame, you can gradually fade in and out both opacity and volume in respective media just by dragging a keyframe maker up or down.

It may seem tempting to load your video down with numerous transitions and effects, but often this approach leads to very messy and amateurish finished projects. Much like PowerPoint presentations, it is often simple, clean transitions and well placed effects that make the best videos.

Creating Titles and Credits

To add a title to the movie, click on the Title Menu and go to new title. You will be prompted to give a name to the title, after which it will appear in your project tab. A dialog box will open giving you a wide range of options in regards to your title. Here you can input text, select from numerous options such as font size, color, shape, opacity, movement, etc. Once you have finished editing your title, simply close the dialog box and drag the title from your project tab onto your timeline, just like any other media clip. Credits work through the same process.

Finishing the Movie

Once all editing is complete, make sure to watch the preview in the program tab to see how the final product will look. Once satisfied, go to File>Export>Adobe Media Encoder. A dialog box should open, allowing you to save your movie as a number of different file formats, including formats for the computer (AVI, Flash, Quicktime, Windows Media) as well as DVD and Bluray options. Select the format you prefer and hit OK to begin the rendering process. This may take a while, up to twice as long as the actual footage in some cases. The program should give you the option as to where to save the movie, preferably your folder in My Videos.

Once the Video is done compiling, close out of any windows still open and make sure your movie is acceptable. You can now save to disc or flash memory, or upload the video for viewing over the Internet.