Adobe Software - Video and Audio

Edit storyboard style

Before shooting any footage, filmmakers usually create a storyboard�a series of sketches that depicts each shot in the finished program. Planning each shot in a storyboard can save you enormous amounts of time, money, and energy in production. In postproduction, you can use a similar storyboarding technique to plan a rough cut and instantly assemble it into a sequence, again saving time and energy.

In Adobe� Premiere� Pro, setting the Project window to icon view allows you to arrange clips in a storyboard fashion. If you want, you can open the clips in the source view to set In and Out points as well. Once your storyboard is complete, use the Automate to Sequence command to assemble the selected clips into a sequence. Premiere Pro can even add the default video and audio transitions between clips.

In this tutorial, we�ll show you how to do storyboard editing using the Automate to Sequence command in Premiere Pro.

Get started

To add clips using the Automate to Sequence command:

In the Project window, do one of the following:

Sort the clips in the order you want them to appear in the sequence (from left to right and top to bottom in icon view, or from top to bottom in list view) and select them (Figure 1).

Figure 1: With the Project window set to icon view, arrange the clips as on a storyboard and select the ones you want to add to the sequence.
Select the clips in the order you want them to appear in the sequence.

In the Project window, click the Automate to Sequence button (Figure 2). An Automate to Sequence dialog box appears.

Figure 2: Click the Automate to Sequence button.
Choose an option from the Ordering drop-down menu (Figure 3):

Figure 3: If you�ve arranged the clips in storyboard fashion, select Sort Order from the Sort Order drop-down menu.

Sort Order: Arranges clips in the order in which they are sorted in the Project window.

Selection Order: Arranges clips in the order in which they are selected in the Project window.
Specify how the clips are added to the program by making a choice from the Placement drop-down menu (Figure 4):

Figure 4: In most cases, you�ll choose Sequentially from the Placement drop-down menu.

Sequentially: Adds the clips in the timeline one after the other.

At Unnumbered Markers: Adds the clips in the timeline at unnumbered program markers.
Specify the editing method used to add each clip to the sequence by choosing an option in the Method drop-down menu (Figure 5):

Figure 5: In the Method drop-down menu, choose whether to add the clips using insert or overlay edits. Then specify the other options you want.

Insert Edit: Adds the selected clips to the sequence beginning at the current time, using insert edits.

Overlay Edit: Adds the selected clips to the sequence beginning at the current time, using overlay edits.
Make a choice from the Clip Overlap drop-down menu to specify the length of transitions between clips and the time unit:

Frames: Interprets the value you enter as frames, at the frame rate you set in the project settings.

Seconds: Interprets the value you enter as seconds. If you want only cuts between clips, with no overlap, enter 0.
In the Transitions area of the dialog box, select the options you want:

Apply Default Audio Transition: Applies the default transition between audio clips if you specified a positive value for Clip Overlap in step 6.

Apply Default Video Transition: Applies the default transition between video clips if you specified a positive value for Clip Overlap in step 6.
In the Ignore Options area of the dialog box, select the options you want:

Ignore Audio: Excludes audio from being added to the sequence.

Ignore Video: Excludes video from being added to the program.
Click OK. The selected clips are added to the sequence beginning at the sequence�s current time according to the options you specified (Figure 6).

Figure 6: The selected clips are added to the sequence at the sequence�s current time according to the options you specified.

Tip

Automate to Sequence ignores target tracks and always adds clips to video track 1 and audio track 1 (unless they are locked). But, as usual, if the audio clips don�t match the audio 1 track�s channel type (mono, stereo, or 5.1), they will be added to the next compatible track, or a compatible track will be created automatically.

Tips

If you plan to print the still image, you should know that standard-resolution video always translates to 72 dpi, regardless of the camera�s tape format. This is fine for small, low-resolution printouts. But if you want to create a press kit or other printed materials, be sure to take production stills with a film camera or a high-quality digital still camera.

If you plan to use the image in a still-image editing program (such as Adobe Photoshop�), export the highest image quality possible. Don�t resize the image or even deinterlace it. Photoshop�s tool set is superior for any image editing you want to do.

Most stills taken from DV or other video capture cards must be deinterlaced and resized to compensate for differences in pixel aspect ratios.

You can also export all or part of a clip or program as a filmstrip file. Appropriately enough, a filmstrip file in Photoshop looks like a filmstrip: a single still image that contains the frames of video arranged in a long column. You manipulate the frames of video using Photoshop�s tools, using a technique similar to rotoscoping in traditional film.

Export single still images

You can export the current frame of video from the sequence or source clip as a single still-image file.

To export a single frame:

Do one of the following:

To export a frame from the sequence, cue the sequence�s CTI to the frame you want to export.
To export a frame from a clip, open a clip in the source view and cue the source view�s CTI to the frame you want to export (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Cue the clip of sequence�s CTI to the frame you want to export.

Choose File > Export > Frame. The Export Frame dialog box appears.

Click Settings. The General panel of the Export Frame Settings dialog box appears.

From the File Type drop-down menu, choose a still-image format (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Choose a still-image format from the Type drop-down menu.

Do one of the following:

To open the exported still image automatically, click Open When Finished.
To specify options for CompuServe GIF images, click Compile Settings.

To specify Video options, select Video on the left side of the Export Frame Settings dialog box.

Usually, you don�t need to change these settings. However, if you want to retain alpha channel information in the still image, choose Millions+ of Colors from the Color Depth drop-down menu (Figure 7).

Figure 7: If you want to retain alpha channel information, choose Millions+ of Colors from the Color Depth drop-down menu.

To deinterlace the exported frame, select Keyframe and Rendering from the left side of the Export Frame Settings dialog box and then select Deinterlace Video Footage.

This option removes one field from an interlaced image, which can remove the combing effect sometimes apparent in still frames taken from video that contains objects in motion.

Click OK. The Export Frame Settings dialog box closes, and you return to the Export Frame dialog box.

Specify a name and destination for the still image and click Save. The frame you specified is exported as a still-frame file in the format and location you set.

Export a still-image sequence

To export a still-image sequence:

In the Export Movie dialog box, click the Settings button (Figure 1).

Figure 1: In the Export dialog box, click the Settings button.

The General panel of the Export Movie Settings dialog box opens.

From the File Type drop-down menu, choose a still-image sequence format (Figure 2).

Figure 2: In the General panel of the Export Movies dialog box, choose a format that supports still-image sequences.

CompuServe GIF, TIFF, Targa, and Windows Bitmap formats support sequences.

Using the Range drop-down menu, specify how much of the program you want to export (Figure 3):

Figure 3: Choose how much of the sequence you want to export from the Range drop-down menu.

Entire Sequence: Exports the entire selected sequence.

Work Area Bar: Exports only the part of the sequence below the work area bar.

Set the following options: Open When Finished: Opens the rendered movie automatically upon completion.

Beep When Finished: Alerts you when the rendering process is complete by making your computer beep. If you don�t want to use these options, leave them unselected.

If you�re exporting a CompuServe GIF sequence (also called a GIF sequence), you click the Compile Settings button in the Export Movie Settings dialog box to access additional options.

On the left side of the dialog box, click Video and specify the options you want, such as color depth, frame size, and frame rate.

On the left side of the dialog box, click Keyframe and Rendering to access these options.

In the Keyframe and Rendering panel of the Export Movie Settings dialog box, specify the following options:

Fields: Choose how to export video fields from the drop-down menu. For most DV projects, choose Lower Field First.

Deinterlace Video Footage: Select this option to remove interlacing from each frame before exporting. This option reduces resolution but may be desirable to remove field artifacts.

In the Export Movie Settings dialog box, click OK. The Export Movie Settings dialog box closes, and you return to the Export Movie dialog box.

Specify a destination and file name and click Save (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Specify a destination and file name and click Save.

A Rendering dialog box appears. Adobe Premiere Pro exports the range of frames as a sequence of still image files in the format you specified.

Freeze frames

Excerpted from �Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 for Windows: Visual QuickPro Guide� by Antony Bolante.

Want an easy way repurpose images from a movie clip? Perhaps to make a complementary brochure or publicity piece? It�s easy to do with Adobe� Premiere� Pro. In this tutorial, we�ll show you how to export still-image sequences, or single still images.

When you export a program or clip as a sequence of still images, Premiere Pro numbers the frames automatically. Many animation and 3D programs can import video images only as a numbered sequence of still-image files.