Premiere Elements 14 Spec Questions 6-13-17

[PremiereAndy327]

1. Is there a way to determine, within the program, the quantity and file size of all the pictures that I added to my slideshow?
   I ask, because there are many hundreds (750 +/-) of photos, plus I’ve placed transitions between each, music embedded in entire project, etc.
2. Upon completion of project in Premier Elements 14, I attempted to “Export & Share” via a “Disc” with a selection of AVCHD at 1080.  Using a 4.7 GB
   Disc, the initial size required showed 12.39 GB.  Upon selecting “Fit” to available space, the size was reduced to 4.91 GB, however this is still above
   the 4.7 GB available on a DVD disc.  My questions here are:
   1. If I reduce  the size (e.g. convert a number of current 20MB TIFF pics to 1 MB JPG pics) of a number of pictures to reduce the overall file size, by say 250 MB (.25GB), will the “Fit” size be reduced directly by that (250MB) amount, or is there some ratio of reduction that is not 1:1?
   2. If the answer to above is some ratio, then what is the  ratio?
3. How much memory is required on the disc writing end per each 1 sec transition in a project?
4. How much memory is required on the disc writing end per each title/sub-title page added to a project?
5. How much memory is required on the disc writing end to add a menu-based scene menu?
6. I made an ISO image for a SD 720 x 576 and burned it onto a DVD, however the disc will not play in my Samsung (model BD-C6800) 3D-Bluray player.  Why would this be?
7. Interestingly, for a SD DVD selection, the file size required was shown as 1.21GB, however when I selected the option to “Fit” into available space, the file size
   actually increased to 4.35GB, which I used to create the ISO Image noted in #6 above and subsequently used to burn the 4.7 DVD.  Why did the file size increase using the “Fit” selection?
8. Why does Premier Elements 14 program freeze up during the insertion of a “Transition”?  This has occurred numerous times, including just
   now, which caused me to remember to ask.  The only way to get my computer unfroze is to perform a CTL-ALT-DEL, which I then loose anything up to that
   point that I have not yet saved.  Takes 12 minutes to get back to where I was working before the freeze.  All freezes have been associated with transitions thus far.

[Steve Grisetti]

It might be better to ask one question at a time instead of piling them on like this. That way we could focus on each answer rather than just giving brief responses.

1. Your slideshow will be video -- so, regardless of how high a resolution or how large the photo you add to it, it's still only going to come out as 720x480 pixels (DVD) or 1920x1080 high def. That's why, for optimal quality and performance, I always recommend using photos no larger than 2500x1875 (72 ppi) in my books. Larger photos don't give you better looking slideshows. They just slow down the process.

2. Once again, the size and resolution of the photos in your video is irrelevant. Your finished product will be video. And you can fit about 20-30 minutes of high-def video on a DVD.

3. The composition of the video is irrelevant. Video is video and the number of transitions doesn't affect its size.

4. Again, video is video. What's in the video doesn't matter.

5. Depends on content of the menu. Is it a motion menu? Does it have music? Does it loop every 30 seconds? There is no set answer here -- although, because of the limitations of Premiere Elements' Movie Menu system, the composition of your menus won't add significantly to the size of your DVD or BluRay.

6. Did you burn the ISO to a disc or did you burn a DVD disc from the ISO? You can't play an ISO. It's an image file. You need a program to output DVD files from it.

7. I don't know.

8. There's no way to answer this without knowing more about your particular situation including your processor, RAM load, space on your hard drive, your operating system, the camcorder your video was shot on and how long your movie is. In short, there is no canned answer. You'll need to troubleshoot your specific situation and resources.

[PremiereAndy327]

Steve,

Thanks for quick (and complete) response.  I do have a couple of follow-up questions/comments.  Numbers of items below correspond to original questions.

1.     I understand you to say is that no matter how large the files, nor the number used for an all still picture video (slideshow), the final size is determine by the length of the video slideshow. Is this correct?

2.     My first draft of this project (50 yr HS reunion) was put together using MS Windows Live Movie Maker.  I was able to put it on a DVD at 1080 HD (Fit to Available Space); and the length of the video is 1:08.  My issue was that when I attempted to edit the draft that I presented to the reunion committee, the program kept crashing... and then I learned that MS stopped supporting the program in Jan this year.  After multiple attempts to edit Movie Maker, I gave up and then started over using Premier Elements 14.  The slideshow is now at 1:34, however I don't believe that I've added many more pictures over the first draft.  There isn't any video in this project, just still pictures... other than the title/subtitle slides created within the program,.and continuous music (always a different song, no looping)...

If I reduce the number of seconds that each picture is shown (e.g. 2 sec x 800 = 26 min), then can I assume that the current space (4.91GB) required for 1080 HD when selecting "Fit..." will be reduced to an acceptable number to fit on a 4.7 DVD?

3.     Understood

4.     Understood

5.     I've not yet attempted creating menu's, however what I envision is a Play button for start to finish, and 6 individual sub chapters, e.g. "40 Year Reunion" ...

6.     You were right on.  I burned a copy of the ISO, rather than a DVD.  Did it again and got it right this time and it played.  Thanks!

8.     Particulars for my computer are:  hp Pavillion P7-1227c w/ 2n Gen AMD Quad Core A10-5700 Processor; 12GB DDR3; 2TB (1.2TB free) Hard Drive; Windows 10 V1607; no camcorder/video used, all still pictures, approx. 800.  The program continues to freeze, only when inserting transitions.  I read on line that others using previous versions of Premiere have/had the same issue when adding transitions.

Thanks again for you support.

Sincerely,

Andy

[Steve Grisetti]

If you cut your video to under 30 minutes, you should be able to fit an AVCHD video onto a DVD.

However, note that this will NOT be a DVD! In  other words, AVCHD video will NOT play on a DVD player. AVCHD is a form of BluRay and an AVCHD DVD will play on most (but not all) BluRay players.

So I don't know what your goals are or how you plan to display your video but, if you plan to play it on a DVD player, you'll need to create a DVD, not an AVCHD video.

And, in any event, make sure you give the disc a test drive ON THE EQUIPMENT YOU PLAN TO PLAY IT ON FOR YOUR AUDIENCE.

[PremiereAndy327]

Please answer/confirm my statement posed in #1 above. I like many others that purchase products like Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 14 are nowhere near experts in the use, or even the terminology used.  We don't want to train to be experts, but we do want to put together the best videos/slideshows that we possibly can.  None of training videos that I have viewed thus far on Premiere Elements have addressed the areas for which I have asked questions. However, I have found the training videos to be quite good and informative.

Cutting this video to under 30 min is a non-starter for me.  There are approx. 800 pics, which for a 30 min video would equate at best, to 2.25 sec per pic, which would be far too fast.  A transition itself is 1 sec, thus 1.25 sec for the pic... far too fast.

As noted in my previous reply, I initially used MS Live Movie Maker and recorded the video using AVCHD on a DVD disc, which produced a 68 min, WMV movie, at 1920 x 1080 resolution.  Do you have any best guess as to the maximum length video length, that can be recorded to a DVD using AVCHD?

While the DVD will be played at the reunion on a side TV, every classmate in attendance will receive their own copy to take home.  I don't know what version of a player that they may have at home, however I believe most will have a Blu-ray player.

Thanks again!

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

What device will you be playing your video on?

You would be hard pressed to fit an hour's worth of high def video on a DVD disc. And, as I said above, there would be a number of liabilities to doing so. A WMV is an option -- as is an MP4 -- but would not work if you are planning to play the DVD on a DVD player.

So you need to start at the end to get to the beginning. What is your end goal and how do you plan to use it? What device will it be played on?