13:01:42 [Mitch] just to make it obvious, these are discussions and questions are encouraged, particularly for this session
13:02:13 [FM] k
13:02:20 [Mitch] i'll get started
13:02:32 [Mitch] First I would like to mention some resources
13:02:49 [Mitch] http://www.wrigleyvideo.com/ has some great short video tutorials and a forum
13:03:02 [Mitch] http://www.digitalvideofuel.com/ has some tutorials on different topics and a forum
13:03:18 [Mitch] Adobe's premiere forum is a good place for getting specific error message questions answered http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?14@@.1de9c1bf
13:03:38 [Mitch] Also, think about buying a complete tutorial like adobe's classroom-in-a-book
13:03:53 [Mitch] or the Total Training DVDs
13:04:04 [Mitch] Steven Gotz's web site, http://www.stevengotz.com/premiere.htm has all sorts of useful links
13:04:17 [Mitch] There was a previous discussion on Premiere Pro Tips that will be useful for people who have used previous versions of Premiere at http://www.sizzlingvideo.com/dislogppro.htm
13:04:38 [Mitch] I want to go through some terminology first. You'll hear iLink, firewire, and IEEE 1394 as ways to connect a camcorder to your PC.
13:04:57 [Mitch] They all mean the same thing...just different marketing/standards terms
13:05:14 [Mitch] Other than a professional DV camera, everything else will give you poorer results
13:05:32 [Mitch] ...like MicroMV....
13:05:51 [Mitch] or some of the MPEG2 camcorders on the market
13:06:07 [Mitch] Ok now that you have your camera hooked to your PC, go to File>Capture within Premiere to bring the video into Premiere.
13:06:23 [Mitch] I highly recommend that you capture and name short clips, usually just a few seconds.
13:06:40 [Mitch] This will greatly simplify the process of organizing the video.
13:06:53 [Nancy] question
13:06:58 [Mitch] Before you start creating your video, you should have: all the clips you need, a master plan or idea on what you want to do with the video, and any additional photos and audio/music you need.
13:07:05 [Mitch] ok
13:07:14 [Nancy] every time I stop recording on the camera, does it make a file that would be considered a short clip?
13:07:53 [Nancy] or do I make them short clips by stopping the capture in Premiere?
13:08:04 [Mitch] yes, when you tell Premiere to stop recording, Premiere will prompt you for a file name and description
13:08:14 [psturgill] I have another question after Nancy
13:08:37 [Mitch] you want to control your camera from within Premiere
13:09:07 [Mitch] the IEEE 1394 allows the PC to control the camera
13:09:16 [Mitch] Nancy, Ok?
13:10:07 [Mitch] Paul, go ahead...maybe we lost her
13:10:15 [Nancy] ok
13:10:19 [psturgill] If I am using "Scene Detect", is there a setting for it to prompt me for the name after it detects a new scene? It uses the default name while appending numbers at the end for the names by default.. can I override those before it moves on to the next scene?
13:11:07 [psturgill] I find myself going back over the clips and renaming them... kinda pain
13:11:16 [Mitch] Here's an honest answer: I don't know...I don't use scene detect....
13:12:08 [Mitch] I'm guessing you'll have to rename them...but I don't know
13:12:11 [FM] But it seems that scene detect is the answer to Nancy's first question or am I wrong?
13:13:20 [Mitch] could be a different question...
13:13:24 [psturgill] probably FM
13:13:31 [FM] ok
13:14:08 [psturgill] So Mitch, you sit and watch the video and start/stop the video to extract what you want?
13:14:09 [Mitch] i don't use scene detect because I use capture as the first edit step...
13:14:17 [Mitch] yep
13:14:54 [Mitch] and by the time i'm done i know pretty much which clips i'll be using and how
13:15:00 [psturgill] ok... I have always sucked down the entire video using scene detect and then go through and pick what I want... maybe I should change my work habits
13:15:11 [Nancy] that makes a lot of sense to me.
13:15:25 [Mitch] but that's just how i find it works best for me
13:16:32 [psturgill] I thought that by using Scene detect, it would save wear and tear on the camera deck.. no?
13:16:35 [Mitch] i name my clips but generally don't add a description...if i was working on a large project, i would do that also
13:17:15 [psturgill] I could be overly cautious
13:17:16 [Mitch] hmmm...i don't think so with Premiere, I've heard it stops and starts for each clip
13:17:48 [Mitch] when doing scene detect
13:18:34 [Mitch] my personal opinion is that cameras are like computers, they are obsolete before they wear out...im most cases
13:19:06 [FM] lol! yeap!
13:19:22 [Mitch] back to it...
13:19:35 [Mitch] The most important item is to understand what message, emotion, or idea that you're trying to communicate and make all the parts focused entirely on that goal.
13:20:19 [Nancy] the story -- do you do some of that "on paper" then first?
13:20:22 [Mitch] a few technical items:
13:21:52 [Mitch] sometimes...most of my stuff is fairly routine...i know ahead of time that I want to say..for scripts (what people say)...definitely do that ahead of time for a commercial video
13:22:30 [Mitch] for events (weddings, etc.) the overall plan is dictated by the event itself
13:22:57 [Mitch] you still need something special at the opening to "wow" your audience
13:24:10 [Mitch] if you want to make something you haven't done before...lay out all the pieces ahead of time on paper if you need to
13:24:27 [Nancy] ok
13:24:59 [Mitch] my mind is a bit blank but KingLeonard posted an article about how a professional film maker lays out his films, worth reading
13:25:27 [Mitch] he uses like 3x5 card or photos of the scenes...same concept
13:25:52 [Nancy] thanks
13:26:07 [Mitch] back to the technical bits...
13:27:06 [Mitch] oops
13:27:29 [Mitch] sorry having a little technical problem here..hold on
13:27:43 [Mitch] A couple of items to keep in mind: if you're going to be displaying the video on a TV, only the area within the "safe areas" will be visible.
13:28:09 [Mitch] this is important both while you're videoing and editing
13:28:36 [Mitch] When you make titles, you want the titles to stand out from the background video.
13:29:02 [Mitch] I frequently use an outer stroke in the titler of a slightly different color to make titles stand out.
13:29:21 [Mitch] Also, people don't read much from video, so don't make title or text very wordy.
13:29:48 [Mitch] One of the frequent questions is how to manage the large files used in video after the project is completed.
13:30:12 [Mitch] If you might need to re-edit the video:
13:30:28 [Mitch] If you've captured small clips and kept everything for a project in one folder then:
13:30:42 [Mitch] Delete the Premiere work files and clips you haven't used.
13:30:57 [Mitch] Backup the remaining files to DVD data discs or simply buy additional hard disk storage.
13:31:17 [Mitch] CDs are usually too small to backup video files
13:31:36 [Mitch] If you just need the final video, backup the video to digital tape or the final DVD image.
13:32:27 [Mitch] i do recommend doing interim backups for significant projects.
13:33:30 [Mitch] Don't overuse the fancy transitions....these can be used with title for some nice effects
13:33:34 [Nancy] ok
13:34:20 [Mitch] Probably my most used effect is Level. It can greatly enhance the visual quality
13:35:01 [Mitch] If you want to create video for PCs, the Web, etc. Fernando and I will be covering that in some detail in the Fun with Codecs discussion in 2 weeks.
13:35:40 [Mitch] That's really all I have prepared...any questions?
13:35:41 [FM] yap!
13:35:55 [FM] side note: KingLeonard post - http://www.digitalvideofuel.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=413
13:36:12 [Nancy] yes, another question.
13:36:20 [Mitch] thanks fernando
13:36:27 [Mitch] go ahead Nancy
13:37:22 [Nancy] if a project is being made to eventually be on DVD, but you wanted to have some sort of small demo on the web, you would just made a short version using the work bar area?
13:38:16 [Mitch] generally, yes...
13:38:29 [Nancy] ok
13:38:49 [Nancy] and I have some questions on sequences
13:38:49 [Mitch] The web is a bit different environment..and it displays things differently
13:39:27 [Nancy] right - I was thinking in reference to the safe areas - but it would be best to make it to fit on DVD,
13:39:53 [Mitch] 1st you see the whole video, not just the safe areas, this may be important if you've captured video from VHS...you would see some bad stuff around the edges that isn't visible on a DVD
13:40:02 [FM] safe areas are just a good habit even for the web
13:40:15 [Nancy] that's good news *S*
13:40:30 [Nancy] okay - I can remember that rule FM
13:40:38 [Mitch] also the compression formulas used on the web tend to make motion graphics look bad
13:40:59 [Nancy] and I just recently figured out how to turn them on for the monitor window. I'd had them in the titler
13:41:16 [Mitch] in fact high action movement generally may look bad with Web compression
13:41:55 [Mitch] another difference is that the viewing area is much different on the web than TV
13:41:58 [Nancy] that makes sense
13:42:43 [Mitch] with people bieing able to change their screen size on a PC, the viewable video size is variable
13:43:30 [Nancy] ok
13:43:35 [Mitch] titles that look the right size for a DVD can be too hard to read on the Web, likewise titles that look good on the web might be too large on a TV...
13:44:24 [Nancy] so, the end result would probably determine that?
13:44:27 [Mitch] it is perfectly reasonable to put video for a DVD on the Web but some unwanted things mentioned above can happen...
13:44:58 [Nancy] ok
13:45:06 [Mitch] yea...you need to know your primary audience
13:45:41 [Nancy] makes sense.
13:45:44 [Mitch] within the web environment, people with high-speed connections have a different experience than dial-up users...
13:46:05 [Nancy] how true
13:46:21 [Mitch] that was a long answer...
13:46:38 [Mitch] any other questions?
13:46:39 [Nancy] yes, but it made sense to me.
13:46:46 [Nancy] sequences
13:46:58 [FM] I tend to target all my web videos to broadband
13:47:47 [Mitch] i usually create 2 versions, broadband and dial-up
13:48:02 [Nancy] here's what happened - I was working on a project - and decided several things needed adjusted, so I wanted to make a sequence of one part. but then the audio got messed up.
13:48:10 [Mitch] depends...on your audience
13:48:39 [Nancy] when I inserted the sequence, I thought it had no audio, but it still inserted a block into the audio track. can I prevent that?
13:49:31 [Nancy] I would target broadband also, except in my area the biggest percent of users are dialup.
13:50:11 [Mitch] i'm not sure...when you create a sequence, try creating it with no audio tracks
13:50:50 [Mitch] generally you will get an audio track with a sequence even if there is no audio there
13:50:53 [Nancy] I am pretty sure that is what I did - but possibly not.
13:51:22 [Nancy] okay I'll try no audio tracks
13:51:31 [Mitch] having an audio track with no actual audio in it shouldn't cause a problem
13:52:10 [Mitch] just a little confusing
13:52:13 [Nancy] I did figure out that I can do all the sequences, delete the audio after inserting into another sequence. so I would just do the final audio after all the sequences were done.
13:52:41 [Mitch] one thing to be aware of with sequences...
13:53:30 [Mitch] even if you've rendered the video in the sequence, if you include the sequence in another sequence, PPro will re-render the video and conform the audio
13:54:06 [FM] outch, thats BAD
13:54:12 [Mitch] any other questions?
13:54:44 [Mitch] yea...hopefully fixed in the next version...
13:54:50 [Nancy] does a project need to be rendered before exporting?
13:56:08 [Mitch] generally, yes...if you have a fast enough computer it may be able to do the rendering on the fly but rendering first may provide better results
13:56:36 [Nancy] ok
13:56:42 [Mitch] i always render but then mp PC isn't that fast
13:57:14 [FM] I think it's also a good habit to always render
13:57:22 [Nancy] I hadn't - but then my things have been very beginner and very short.
13:57:56 [Mitch] if you use the Adobe Media Encoder, it will also re-render your video
13:58:33 [Nancy] I've been using the Windows Media Encoder.
13:58:42 [Mitch] more questions?
13:58:54 [Nancy] a million - but not today LOL
13:59:23 [FM] I'm ok
13:59:23 [Nancy] unless you want to discuss timeline markers - and why they should/would be used
13:59:31 [Mitch] thanks everyone for coming! I'll get the log posted within a few days
13:59:51 [Nancy] thanks Mitch. a learning experience as always.
14:00:01 [FM] thanks mitch!
14:00:23 [Mitch] timeline markers are used to skip to parts of the video or create chapters
14:00:46 [psturgill] oh geez... I got caught up with work.... is that it?
14:00:51 [Nancy] oh okay. makes sense. thanks
14:01:33 [Mitch] that's it...but if you have any questions, go ahead
14:02:16 [psturgill] do you try and keep sequences within a certain time frame? Under 5 mintes?
14:02:45 [Mitch] fernando, let's discuss the codecs discussion in the next few days
14:02:57 [Mitch] nope
14:03:24 [FM] yes?
14:03:28 [Mitch] things get grouped in logical areas, regardless of length
14:03:41 [Mitch] within sequences
14:03:53 [psturgill] what is ideal for an editing system as far as specs?
14:04:41 [Mitch] as fast as you can buy at the moment with the maximum memory and hard disk space
14:04:59 [Nancy] two hard drives right?
14:05:04 [psturgill] is a gig of ram average ?
14:05:21 [Mitch] today's ideal is tomorrow's junker lol
14:05:23 [psturgill] does anyone use a RAID?
14:05:25 [Nancy] I'm going for 2G of ram
14:05:35 [Mitch] yea 2 hard drives are recommended
14:06:01 [Nancy] I put 1G of ram in this PC two years ago - so the next one gets 2
14:06:07 [Mitch] i have no idea what the average is, 512mb is about the minimum
14:06:18 [Mitch] for ram
14:06:41 [psturgill] does anyone know if PPro works with Windows Server 2003?
14:06:55 [Mitch] personally, i'm not convinced raid is needed but it could be in some cases
14:07:05 [Mitch] no...XP only
14:07:31 [psturgill]
I just got a 25 license server 2003... just checking..
14:07:43 [Mitch] and only certain processors that run XP
14:08:08 [psturgill] really... it is down to the processor
14:08:40 [Nancy] you think there is enough difference to choose the AMD over a P4?
14:09:04 [psturgill] what is FM building these days?
14:09:53 [Mitch] with previous releases of premiere, the amds worked better, generally the P4s are preferred with PPro
14:10:12 [Nancy] good - I prefer the P4 also.
14:10:14 [FM] Pentium IV 2.3 1GB with Matrox rtx100
14:11:09 [psturgill] here is a stupid question... what does the specialized graphics card help with? Importing DV? Do they matter all that much?
14:11:47 [FM] system HD 80GB AVDisk 200GB Export Disk 80GD
14:12:21 [FM] graphics or video card
14:12:23 [Nancy] 3 hard drives?
14:12:32 [FM] that was a question...lol
14:12:52 [FM] yep 2 drives
14:12:55 [psturgill] well, you mentioned the Matrox... I see alot about it, but not really sure how it will help me over an ATI 9800 ...
14:13:04 [FM] 3 drives.. lol
14:13:46 [FM] Matrox is a video card. ATI 9800 is a graphic ard with Firewire
14:13:52 [Mitch] yea...and DVD writer drive
14:14:21 [psturgill] so the Matrox is an addin card that helps with what?
14:14:36 [FM] rtx100 has a on board render engine for both dv & mpeg
14:14:59 [FM] render engine
14:15:02 [psturgill] oh