Screen Aspect Ratio in Premiere Elements 10

[danielm97377054]

I was editing a video in Adobe Premiere Elements 10. At some point, the aspect ratio of the preview screen in Premiere changed from 16:9 to 4:3. This causes the video to be surrounded with black bars. I Right clicked on the video in the Project pane and I chose 'Interpreting Footage'. It allows me to change Pixel Aspect Ratio of a clip there but it only stretches my video. Saving in 16:9 aspect ratio only cut the corners of my video and saved as 4:3. When I start editing a new project from the begining, it seams to keep the screen aspect ratio correctly at 16:9.

How do I change the aspect ratio of the Premiere's screen so my 16:9 video is not inside 4:3 screen? In other words, how do I tell Premiere that the video I work with is 16:9 not 4:3. I need the 16:9 video to be in 16:9 screen in Premiere. Take a look at the photo examples:

[Steve Grisetti]

What are the specs of the very first video on your timeline? By default, Premiere Elements automatically sets up your project based on the first clip on your timeline. (This feature can be over-ridden.)

[danielm97377054]

The very first video is a Still Title. I just deleted it, saved, and restarted Premiere, but it did not change the preview screen to 16:9. The very first video is 1920x1080. How could I overwrite the settings so the screen shows as 16:9? Here is a screenshot of the very first video's specs: 

[Steve Grisetti]

Version 10 is apparently too old to recognize MP4s and base project settings on them.

Start a new project. On the project set-up screen, select the project preset that represents Full AVCHD 1920x1080.

It's not easily possible in Premiere Elements 10 to change project settings mid-project.

[danielm97377054]

It has had the correct aspect ratio through some of the project until it changed at some point. I am afraid that if I start the project from the beginning and put the 10 hours I need to complete it, it will revert the aspect ratio at some point again.

I just purchased Adobe Premiere Elements 2020. I am wondering if I can install it alongside the Adobe Premier Elements Version 10. 

If so, I will try to open the project I created in Elements version 10 in the very latest version of the Adobe Premiere I just purchased.

[danielm97377054]

So I found the reason. The 'Frame Size' should be set to 1280x720, but instead it is set to 720x480. Below is the screenshot. The only problem is that the Frame Size is grayed out. I know that I would be albe to adjust it as long as the 'Editing Mode' (below) is set to 'Custom', but this is also grayed out. How do I adjuste these grayed out settings?  

[Bill Sprague]

Premiere Elements does not allow changing of project settings after the project is started.  You can only set up the project settings at the initial launch of a new project. 

[danielm97377054]

I actually tried something very interesting. I opened up the project again. All of the project files showed up in the Project pane and the whole project showed up in the timeline. I then added a single video clip to the project. Before I dropped on the timeline, I copied and then deleted everything from the timeline so I can paste it back when needed. When I dropped the new file on the timeline, Premiere asked me: "The setting of the project changed, are you sure you want to apply new settings?" I said 'yes' and then, whala, appropriate aspect ratio came back. And within the same project. The only problem was that I could no longer copy paste the project back on the timeline. So I got the correct aspect ratio, but wihout the files on my timeline.

P.S. If you do that then you won't be able tot 'ctrl+z' your way back to your project anymore. If you try, it will remove all the files and video-clips from the Project pane. It will also corrupt your project .prel file and you will lose your project. In my case, I lost my project file (it would open blank project only) and, surprisingly, I also lost the buckup .prel file I created a minute before trying this. I was only saved because I had a copy of the project on my usb flash drive. 

[Galaxy719]

Hb