randygurl

I have recently aquired Adobe Premiere Pro with the intention of using it to create a DVD slideshow for my parents 25th wedding anniversary.

While I'm not completely new to this by any means (I've done some dvd's before using other programs) this is the first time I've tried using Adobe Premiere Pro and I'm finding it much more complex than I'm used to. To be frank, I have no idea how to use it.

Has anyone used this program for this purpose before (I will also be adding sound files to play in the background of the slideshow)? If so, would you be able to give me a crash course in how to use it - pretty pretty please with a cherry on top??

I'm not looking to creat anything too elaborate - just a simple slideshow of pictures from throughout my parents marriage, etc. Oh and I should probably mention that I need to have this finished for November 11th - eek

Any help or suggestions will be HUGELY appreciated! Thanks in advance!

KnifeMissile

I'm familiar with the program, although I find it a little strange that you'd use it to create a slideshow. Usually, you'd use some sort of presentation program like PowerPoint, although you may prefer the free, open source, OpenOffice Impress. The only reason to make a DVD is if your slide show just had to be played from a DVD player...

I also want to make sure you understand that Premiere can't be used to author the DVD. It can only cut the video stream you intend to put on the DVD. Do you understand the difference?

Finally, if you understand everything so far and am not entirely new to video editing, then what part of Premiere don't you understand? You create a project, import media to the project bin, then move them onto the timeline to be edited. On which part are you stuck?

shakran

let's be fair KM. Premiere is quite a bit more complicated than i-movie or other normal consumer level video "editors." I can see why she'd want to do a slideshow in Premiere - namely because it's in the end a lot more flexible than Powerpoint, and as you mentioned, can be exported for play on a dvd player.

RG, I'm going to assume you're planning to use photographs for your slideshow, and I'm going to assume you have them all saved in the same place.

Open premiere, then open the directory where you have the photos saved. Select all the photos and drag them into the work bin in Premiere (unless you've messed with the standard interface, this will be on the left hand side, below or beside the video monitor)

Then simply drag the photos you want to use down into the timeline (running across the bottom). Drop them in video 1, making sure that each photo is right up against the other photos - no space between them.

Now if you click the timeline to the left of your first photo (in the timeline, it's called a clip) (you'll want to click the part of the timeline that looks like a ruler) and hit the spacebar, it will play your slideshow.

To change the duration a clip is displayed, just move the mouse to the left, or right hand side of the clip until the cursor turns into a red bracket. Click and hold, then drag left or right to expand or contract the clip.

If you want to dissolve between the photos, go to the window menu, pull up the effects, go to video transitions, go to dissolves, and click and drag "cross dissolve" directly between the two clips you want to dissolve. You'll see a little box spanning between the two clips, at the top of the clip boxes. (this will make sense when you do it). If you want to move a clip without changing its duration, just grab in the middle of the clip and put it where you want it.

If you want the dissolve to be longer or shorter, just grab the edge of the dissolve box and move right or left, just like you did with the clip.

You will presumably want to have music playing during this slide show. Simply drag whatever music file you want to use into the same bin that you dragged the photos into. Then drag the music from the bin into audio 1 on the timeline. Moving/resizing the music is done the same way as moving/resizing the photos.

Remember to save often. Premiere has been known to crash from time to time


BTW if you have Premeire Pro 2, and you have a burner that the program recognizes (and no, it does not recognize even close to all of them) (yes, that's stupid), it will author the disc from within the program. Otherwise you will need to export the premiere file to an authoring program. More on that when you're ready for it.


Be sure to post back here if you need any more help - I think you can probably get this done by the 11th.

randygurl

Thanks so much Shakran!!!

Yes, you understood exactly what I'm trying to do. The main reason that I wanted to use Adobe Premiere Pro is that I wanted to have control over the amount of time that each song is played for. Other programs give you very little control over that aspect (ie, you either have to have the pictures show for the exact duration of the song or have the song cut off abruptly, neither of which are ideal).

And yes, the main point is that I wanted to make a home video if you will of photographs (which are all digitized and on my computer) to play on my parents DVD player. I didn't want them to have to watch it on their computer but rather have the option to play it on the tv.

Shakran - I understood most of everything that you posted. The only part that got confusing was the 'authoring' of the dvd. I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by that and how will I know if Premiere will recognize my burner or not? I have just Premiere Pro (not Pro 2)

I'm going to go home tonight and play around a bit more with it, but you've been a HUGE help so far, thank you!

Oh and the other thought I had was an inquiry as to whether I can create a menu and/or chapters within this dvd. Does Adobe Premiere Pro have that capability?

And while I'm at it (haha) I have one other question. When I'm editing my photos in photoshop - to what ratio/size should I put my photos so that they won't be abnormally cropped when viewed on a standard tv? I was told a 4/3 ratio but I'm not sure how to achieve that in photoshop??

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!!!

shakran

Authoring a DVD is simply getting the movie that you make in premiere onto the DVD in a format that can be read by a regular DVD player.

Ahh, then never mind. Pro 1 will not author dvd's at all. You'll need to get a dvd authoring tool to do that. An example is Nerovision. This part isn't my area of expertise since in my video-editing world I upload all my cuts directly to a server for broadcast. But someone else here has probably done more DVD authoring and can recommend a good (hopefully even free!) authoring tool.



That's what you will do when you author the DVD. Premiere Pro 2 can do it with certain burners, but Pro 1 cannot.

Yes, a 4/3 ratio would be appropriate. the 4 is horizontal, the 3 is vertical. Standard monitor resolutions (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768) are all 4/3 ratios. So if you size them to 800x600 you're good to go.

now here's the problem - photographs are VERY rarely printed in a 4/3 ratio, so if you try to stretch the photo out to 4/3, you'll end up with very misshapen images. You'll need to put the photo in its original dimension on top of a 4/3 background.

A good trick, by the way, when doing still photos on a video is to zoom slowly into or out from the picture. Creates motion and makes for a much more viewable product. This is somewhat complicated but I'll try to make it understandable:

click on the clip you want to zoom. and then move the timeline insert bar (the red line under the blue arrow on the ruler) to the beginning of the clip.

Then click on the "effect properties" tab, which is just above the video window.

click the triangle next to "motion" and then click the little gray stopwatch next to "scale." Note the diamond that shows up to the right of the scale setting. That's called a keyframe. Move the insert bar to the end of the clip and make another keyframe by clicking on the diamond between the two arrows (just to the left of the first keyframe).

Now the trick with keyframes is that they tell Premiere how you want the video to look at that point. So if your first keyframe, on the left, is at 100% scale, and then you set the last keyframe, on the right, to 200% scale, you're telling Premeire to start at 100%, then zoom in steadilly so that it's at 200% at the last keyframe.

I know this sounds just confusing as hell (it would be so much easier if you were in my edit bay and i could just show you) but play with it awhile and I think you'll get it.

If you want to change the point you're zooming in toward, create matching keyframes in the "position" section, then move the video around until it's where you want it.

Let me know if there's anything here you need to have cleared up.

KnifeMissile

Well, I happen to know a little something about DVD authoring... but, judging from your warm acceptance of my help the first time around, I doubt you feel comforted.

Indeed, DVD authoring is actually much harder to do than video editing. Specifically, it's far more arcane. You'll need a DVD authoring program like Adobe Encore DVD. Even then, if you want to use custom menus instead of the pre-defined templates offered with the program, you'll have to make them yourself, using Adobe Photoshop.

If you're on a budget (these are all expensive software), there is a free, open source DVD authoring "package" that you can get. You can get the source code to the command-line tools here and you might be able to use a front-end GUI to these programs using this source code, here. Unfortunately, having to compile the code will make it even more arcane than the Adobe solution. I don't suppose that, even if we were to compile them for you, you'd feel confident in trying to use the command-line programs yourself? Well, according to some, you get what you pay for... There's at least a tutorial you can follow, here...

Depending on your computer skill set, you might be in a bit of a pickle, but I hope not. Good luck!

randygurl

I have Ulead DVD workshop 2 - would that work for authoring the dvd?


I do already own Photoshop CS and have used that in the past to create a custom menu so will probably do so again, but I'll check out the ones that come with the program I have, just to see....

Thanks and sorry I didn't seem accepting of your help before, I just didn't think that you understood exactly what I was asking. I'm not completely computer illiterate - at my last job, all I did was use photoshop day in and day out and I have created dvd slideshows before, but was using another program (one that didn't get me as much freedom as Adobe Premiere does) and was mainly just looking for a little help in figuring out how to get started with Adobe Premiere - but thanks for your help, it is appreciated too

KnifeMissile

As a matter of fact, that will do!

I hope you won't need any more help but, if you do, we're still here...