What Premier Elements Presets to Use when Editing Phone Videos

[CDNW]

I've recently started recording videos for my YouTube channel using my Google Pixel phone (rather than my old JVC Everio Camcorder). I'm trying to find the right preset (in the Change Settings menu when I start a new project). I've set my phone to record videos in 1080p - 29 frames a second (I think). Problem is that there's no obvious preset for phone videos - the closest being DSLR 1080p25 - which is obviously only 25 frames a second not 29/30.

Has anyone else had this problem and what would they recommend? Does it have any obvious effect on video quality if you get the presets wrong? It's surprisingly difficult to find anything on the internet or Adobe help on this, which is why I'm on the forum!

Thanks

Charlie

[Steve Grisetti]

It depends on your phone's camera software and what format and resolution of a file it is creating.

Also, have you ensure that you shot your video with your phone held landscape (sideways) rather than upright (portrait)?

I'd recommend you open one of your videos in the free download MediaInfo. Set MediaInfo's View menu to Tree and copy and paste the report it generates to this forum. With that information, we can tell you the video's resolution, frame rate, codec and other relevant data.

[CDNW]

Cheers Steve, really appreciate this! Info as follows:

General

Complete name                            : H:\Home\Vlogs\Videos\Kitchen Lights\VID_20170923_123432.mp4

Format                                   : MPEG-4

Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2

Codec ID                                 : mp42 (isom/mp42)

File size                                : 764 MiB

Duration                                 : 2 min 32 s

Overall bit rate                         : 42.0 Mb/s

Encoded date                             : UTC 2017-09-23 11:34:32

Tagged date                              : UTC 2017-09-23 11:34:32

com.android.version                      : 8.0.0

com.android.manufacturer                 : Google

com.android.model                        : Pixel

Video

ID                                       : 1

Format                                   : AVC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec

Format profile                           : High@L5.1

Format settings                          : CABAC / 1 Ref Frames

Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes

Format settings, RefFrames               : 1 frame

Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=30

Codec ID                                 : avc1

Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding

Duration                                 : 2 min 32 s

Bit rate                                 : 42.0 Mb/s

Width                                    : 3 840 pixels

Height                                   : 2 160 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9

Rotation                                 : 180°

Frame rate mode                          : Variable

Frame rate                               : 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS

Minimum frame rate                       : 15.000 FPS

Maximum frame rate                       : 43.062 FPS

Standard                                 : NTSC

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.169

Stream size                              : 762 MiB (100%)

Title                                    : VideoHandle

Language                                 : English

Encoded date                             : UTC 2017-09-23 11:34:32

Tagged date                              : UTC 2017-09-23 11:34:32

Color range                              : Limited

Color primaries                          : BT.2020

Transfer characteristics                 : BT.601

Matrix coefficients                      : BT.2020 non-constant

mdhd_Duration                            : 152192

Audio

ID                                       : 2

Format                                   : AAC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec

Format profile                           : LC

Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2

Duration                                 : 2 min 32 s

Source duration                          : 2 min 32 s

Source_Duration_FirstFrame               : 9 ms

Bit rate mode                            : Constant

Bit rate                                 : 96.0 kb/s

Channel(s)                               : 1 channel

Channel positions                        : Front: C

Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz

Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Stream size                              : 1.75 MiB (0%)

Source stream size                       : 1.75 MiB (0%)

Title                                    : SoundHandle

Language                                 : English

Encoded date                             : UTC 2017-09-23 11:34:32

Tagged date                              : UTC 2017-09-23 11:34:32

mdhd_Duration                            : 152768

[CDNW]

Steve, just a few thoughts..

Looking at the file, it's really interesting, because both my JVC Everio (GZ V515BEK) and my Pixel smartphone shoot in AVC format (I knew my JVC did, but not the Pixel). And it would appear that I need to set the preset at NTSC/Full HD 1080i 30 - as this is for editing videos with a frame rate of 29.97fps. The JVC doesn't specify a standard, leaving me to opt for PAL I guess as I'm in Europe.

However in phone settings, it appears that the front and back camera resolutions are 1080p. Is there any significance to the 1080i / 1080p - or is this only significant for the end user, and their TV setup/size etc - as there's no comparable 29fps in the 1080p preset - AVCHD 1080p60?

Is there any merit in me updating my software (I'm currently using Premier Elements 13) - I just wonder whether PE15 will have a wider list of presets?

Thanks again!

Charlie

[Steve Grisetti]

The issue is that your camera app is shooting video with a variable frame rate -- which makes for nice, compact files but can give video editing program fits.

Unless you can figure out how to reconfigure your camera app to shoot editable video, your best solution is to convert the video using Handbrake. I've posted a link to my tutorial on Handbrake below.

Note that your video is 4k (3840x2160) rather than 1920x1080. But other than that, the process is the same.

Fixing video with Handbrake - YouTube

[Bill Sprague]

This probably doesn't help much, but....

A couple years ago I bought an (Android) Samsung Galaxy S5 phone because it would shoot Full HD and 4K video.  I never tried it until this afternoon because I also bought a 4K camera at the time.  Motivated by this thread (and older ones) I shot two clips, one at each resolution.  Premiere Elements 15 on my PC imported them through the Add Media routine without hesitation in "test" projects at each resolution.  It was no different than any other clips from cameras that shoot at a fixed frame rate. 

Media info showed both resolutions were at a variable frame rate. 

The only anomaly was that there was the amber render line above the time line.  

[CDNW]

Hi there! Thanks for the comment - that's really good to know! I too edited some video clips yesterday (Premier Elements 13) - based on some footage I recorded a few months back. I suspect in PE15 you don't have to set the presets, but in PE13 I set the Presets on NTSC/AVCHD/FullHD/1080i30 (29.97fps) - you can see the results here How to Fit Battery Operated Roman Blinds - YouTube This video was recorded in 1080p, rather than Full HD.

Things to note: like you I didn't have any of the audio out of sync problems that Steve talks about in his video, although like you I did have the amber render line above the time line. PE13 doesn't support 4K videos, so I think it might be time to upgrade to PE15. Also PE15 automatically sets the right format for saving down/uploading videos to YouTube - which I like the sound of.

So I think I'll download PE15, and Steve, I'll definitely resort to handbrake to resolve any audio sync/ framerate issues.

Steve, if we don't have the audio sync issues, does converting the video in Handbrake enhance the quality of the edit at all?

Thanks again, both!

[CDNW]

Hi Steve

I'm busy converting files in Handbrake - huge thanks for the recommendation!! It's left me wondering why even my JVC Full HD AVCHD camcorder, with its variable bit rate (MediaInfo doesn't specify a variable frame rate for these files) produces the same tell tale amber bar in the Premier Elements time line. Do I need to convert every file in Handbrake assuming, as appears to be the case, that I cannot alter the settings on the camcorder, or, provided the audio isn't out of sync, is it actually no big deal?

Cheers

Charlie

[Steve Grisetti]

I don't know what JVC camcorder you are using at what settings -- but if it's shooting standard AVCHD, you should not need to convert video from that camcorder.