Why import failure with .prel files

[seethoff]

What are files with extension .prel and size of 15 KB? I thought they were the files that are created when work I do in PrE is saved. I thought they were called "Project Files".  I have several .prel files produced over last few months from 2 projects. When I do a search using the search window in Win 10 & the criterion *.prel, then select a .prel file from the list in the search window, I receive a "File Import Failure" box with a message that "This type of file is not supported, or the required codec is not installed". When I open Adobe PrE, > File...> Open Project...> any .prel file on list, I receive the same "File Import Failure" message. I am using PrE 2018 ver 16.0 on Win 10. I downloaded an update to PrE on 1/19/2019. I saved 1 project as an .mp4 & I am able to open it in PrE.

[Steve Grisetti]

.prel files are Premiere Elements project files. They are NOT media files. They are the files that include all of the edits for your video movie project.

Because they are not media files, you do not edit them by select Add Media. You open them by going to Premiere Elements' File menu and selecting Open.

[seethoff]

Steve does not answer my question. I have tried his method as stated in my question. I am going to delete all existing .prel files & folders & start new projects. Everyone should act as if this question is answered. I do very much appreciate the response. Thank you !!!

...Pat

[Bill Sprague · Accepted solution]

Re-reading your question suggests that the project files (.prel) are opening but the media files associated with the project have been deleted, renamed or moved. 

[geminiguy90028]

I am having thew same problem and when I try to open the prel file by going to FILE, OPEN PROJECT, and try to open the file, I get this message:

An unknown error occurred while opening the project. You may want to open the

Auto-saved version of the project from ‘Adobe Premiere Elements Auto-Save

and when I go to auto-save, the folder is empty.

[Bill Sprague]

I am having thew same problem and when I try to open the prel file by going to FILE, OPEN PROJECT, and try to open the file, I get this message:

An unknown error occurred while opening the project. You may want to open the

Auto-saved version of the project from ‘Adobe Premiere Elements Auto-Save

and when I go to auto-save, the folder is empty.

By @geminiguy90028

Without more information, a first guess would be that your .prel file was somehow damaged, or maybe moved, from the original location.  

[geminiguy90028]

I was working on a prel file last night, and today I went to work on it again and the whole video is a black screen. How do I fix this?

I can’t even open PREL files by dragging/dropping, using the elements organizer, or files and folders.

I contacted Adobe and they said since I have a refurbished laptop, the locations have previously been changed. They said I am missing a CODEC, and HEVC, and installing them would solve my problem. I don’t know if that caused my black screen problem. It’s the first time I encountered it. Yusuff, the Adobe tech told me that if I download a media file that has CODEC, it should solve the problem. I saw HEVC on the Microsoft store for $.99 but I don’t want to waste the money only to find out that installing HEVC doesn’t work.

Now I have 2 issues:

1. I cannot open PREL files on Premiere Elements 2022, or 20233.
2. I have a black screen on the video I’m working on, and I am afraid to close it, and re-open it for fear that it will permanently be black screen, and I won’t even be able to re-open it.

I should mention that Yusuff also told me that the issue is a Win 11 issue, but I have

another laptop with Win 10, and I am encountering the same issue.

I tried to render, but it didn't do anything. I tried to render again and a window popped up and said, "invalid scratch disk patch for video previews. Please change to some other location.

I also tried to save it as an MP4 file, and it didn't do anything. It gave me a message, "cannot open C; for writing. Please check the file output and file permissions if it already exists and try again.

I tried to save to C, and to my flashdrive D. It gave me the same error message.

I should also mention that I have Win 11, 64mb ram, and 1tp hard drive.

[Bill Sprague]

With all that going on, it seems to me that you are having hardware failures.  

[Steve Grisetti]

Oh. That's very different!

[seethoff]

I have Mr. G's book. It is very helpful.

[Stevie0814]

similar question as I am struggling with Photoshop. My goal is create my own video with my photos and videos. I understand that when I edit a video with Premier Elements 2020 (for Mac) it creates an edited project file - .prel.   Now I wan to use Premier elements to create this video collage and pull the edited ".prel" project into the timeline. When I go to the file menu to open these edited files, it brings me to a new time line. How do I drag the edited video into my new project. This is a headache; should be easier. Thanks

[Steve Grisetti]

Please read the rest of this thread.

.prel are video project files. They are NOT media files! You can not add them to a Premiere Elements timeline.

[Stevie0814]

Thanks Steve
Yes I understand from your prior excellent discussion that edited videos
become "projects" or .prel files.

So lets say that I want to create an edited movie (or series of videos that
have been edited). I edit a video of my dog and it becomes a prel project.
I edit a video of my cat, and it becomes another prel project. How do I put
these together on the same timeline so that you can see one edited video of
my dog and cat.
Apples iMovie seems much easier to accomplish what I want.
Thanks

[Steve Grisetti]

Select Export & Share (in the upper right of the program) and select and output template.

You may want to check out my free Basic Training tutorials for Premiere Elements on YouTube. Part 8 shows you how to output video from your project.

[Stevie0814]

I spoke with Adobe customer service and figured out my issue. I now understand that I need to convert these ".prel" projects to MP4 files which I do by Exported and Sharing and converting the files to MP4. Then you create a new project by importing these MP4 files.  Hooray!

[Steve Grisetti]

Exactly what we just said. Glad to hear Adobe agrees and that you've found a solution!