CS5 First Impressions

[John T Smith]

Computer I built is listed on my notes page http://www.pacifier.com/~jtsmith/ADOBE.HTM

Since I work for a University, I ordered the Education version of Master Collection... and Adobe seems to have their registration problem(s) fixed, since it took about 5 seconds for my Serial# to show up once I clicked the last button on the "proof" site, and all necessary numbers came back to me (I won't need them, but numbers for PPro CS4 were included, since that is included for someone buying all this without a 64bit computer)

I first made an image of my drive with http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-linux.htm and then put the 1st DVD in the drive

I had debated on what to NOT install, then decided to just install everything, in case I ever want to use one of the programs (have not, yet, installed Acrobat, since that is on a different disc and with a different Serial#)

Installing everything from the 2 DVDs took just over an hour... then a few minutes more to install the 5.0.1 update I had already downloaded

At first start, and first project, I selected AVCHD 1080i30 (60i) square pixels, which is 16:9 interlaced 29.97fps 48khz audio (which is, as far as I know right now, what my Canon Vixia HFS100 produces at the setting I am using) and the default is upper field first

I only have 2 very short clips (been raining a lot and I'm not about to take a $1k setup out in the rain, and wife is a designer and won't let me film inside until she is "ready" for her work to show on screen) but they do load into the program and all 2 minutes plays properly

I dropped a simple transition between the clips and then, since my output is going to be DVD, I exported to AVI just to see what the result would look like

When I use a DV preset there are THICK black bars on top and bottom, but the full width

When I use a DV Widescreen preset the output preview fills from top-to-bottom and with narrow black bars on either side

It's clear I need to do a LOT of reading to figure out how to get the output video to completely fill a Widescreen screen... if that is possible

Anyway... exported to DV and played back in Win Media Player... which is MUCH better than any of the video that I ever produced from my old DV tape camcorder

I was hoping that starting from HD and down-rezing to SD would produce a better SD... and it does seem to work as I hoped

Next step will be to do some more recording (and a lot more reading) and then give an AVI to Encore and author a quick DVD... seeing how the final product looks when played on a TV is going to be the real proof

Did I mention that I need to do a lot of reading?

[shooternz]

Your post leaves a lot of open questions!

Start with...why do you want to shoot HD for a SD output?

Use an HD preset that matches your camera first ( that eliminates the "bars")

BTW Part I: seems a long time to install.

I installed from a download file and t was all over in about 10-15 minutes.  Easiest ever and issue free.  (Maybe DVD file speed)

Reading is good if you are new to PPRO.

BTW part II: Tell your wife to not be so fussy. Shoot what you want.  You live there as well ( I assume)

[John T Smith]

I film at HD 'cause the camera is HD, and I want to have the maximum quality possible for editing... the video quality of the SD output is FAR better than anything I obtained before, with my SD camcorder, so that part is working well... I just need to read more about settings to see if I can have SD Widescreen that doesn't have bars

My project preset DOES match the video file and during editing everything fits perfectly on the screen... it is only when exporting to DV that bars appear... and I'm going to do some searching in help and/or PDF to see if there is anything I can do about that (and, I have also pre-ordered Classroom in a Book at Amazon, so will have that one of these days)

As I mentioned... I installed the entire Master Collection from the 2 DVDs, so I don't think just over an hour to be too bad

To have enough to work with, I do plan to do some filming this weekend (inside if it's raining, otherwise outside) and then I'm going to jump over to Encore and build a "simple" DVD to play on the TV

Right now, my #1 task is to try and figure out if it is even possible to create SD output from AVCHD that does not have any bars at all... if not, the Widescreen setting creates an AVI with just narrow bars on each side, and I can live with that

[the_wine_snob]

John T.,

First thought is that you are using 1920x1080 PAR = 1.0 and are going to a DV 720x480 PAR = 1.212 output. It might be that you'll need to Scale by something like 101 - 102%.

There is also a recent thread on the "thin black lines," and I seem to recall Jeff Bellune commenting on those. I just do not recall those comments.

Good luck, and please keep the reports coming.

Hunt

[jeremy d.]

shooternz wrote:

BTW part II: Tell your wife to not be so fussy. Shoot what you want.  You live there as well ( I assume)

You must not have a wife

[Jeff Bellune]

[Bob Dix Photographer]

Jeff,

I hopeyou are right, as the old 5 year old Premiere Pro 1.5.1 HDV is working very well., and has in the 3.2GHZ machine, but, now in the Quad Core even better.So,I may take the plunge shortly, it seems a lot are having troubles.? So, Premiere Pro CS5 is on the horizon. I went to an Adobe Seminar in Brisbane, Australia, about 2 months ago, and only about a dozen of 1,000 attendees had it installed ???????????????.REGARDS,

[shooternz]

shooternz wrote:

BTW part II: Tell your wife to not be so fussy. Shoot what you want.  You live there as well ( I assume)

You must not have a wife

I didnt say that I would actually take my own advice... but it was easy to tell John T Smith to do so.

[Harm_Millaard]

Graig,

Do you know the definition of marriage?

It is an effort of two people to solve those problems they never would have had, had they stayed single...

[John T Smith]

>Do you know the definition of marriage?

Hmm... I was once told that people get married so the wife always has someone to order around... and a man gets married because his girlfriend TOLD him that's what he needed to do!

[the_wine_snob]

Craig,

Now you're gonna' get poor John T. hurt. We'll find his bloody, battered body behind the dusty plastic plant in the Lounge with a note: "This can happen to you too!" signed The Wives.

Hunt

[Colin Brougham]

When I use a DV Widescreen preset the output preview fills from top-to-bottom and with narrow black bars on either side

It's clear I need to do a LOT of reading to figure out how to get the output video to completely fill a Widescreen screen... if that is possible

Yep, it's possible. Just crop off either 8 or 12 pixels from the top and bottom in the Source tab of the Export window, and be sure Scale to Fit is selected in the Output tab. I'm not sure if it'll be 8 or 12 pixels, so start with one and if that doesn't fill the frame, try the other.

[Harm_Millaard]

8 on the top and 8 on the bottom to reduce it to 704 x 480 / 576.

[John T Smith]

Thanks to Bill & Colin & Harm

Once I have 15-20 minutes of test footage, I will export the entire timeline "vanilla" and then again with your instructions, then write both to DVD so I can see how everything looks on my TV

As for the idea of ignoring my wife and filming anyway... surely you jest !!!!!

Well... she's out of town this weekend visiting an old aunt, so I AM going to film what I want... but I will also be prepared to delete the files once she returns and can see what I've done

And, before anyone says anything, my chosen work flow is to export AVI and then let Encore take care of the encoding to MPG to create the DVD... I just really don't care to get into all the bit settings needed to export from PPro to MPG... Encore uses the same coding engine, and just letting it chose the settings has always worked for me

[the_wine_snob]

John,

For the vast majority of my Projects, En's Auto Transcode works just fine for me. I seldom bother with bit-budgeting, unless i start bumping against space limitations, or have rapid motion.

Good luck,

Hunt

PS - I also understand having a wife. As you have referenced, "she, who must not be ignored... "

[Colin Brougham]

And, before anyone says anything, my chosen work flow is to export AVI and then let Encore take care of the encoding to MPG to create the DVD... I just really don't care to get into all the bit settings needed to export from PPro to MPG... Encore uses the same coding engine, and just letting it chose the settings has always worked for me

Totally acceptable workflow, but there's no need to export an intermediate AVI. Just use the File > Adobe Dynamic Link > Send to Encore command and your sequence will be sent to Encore. When you go to build your DVD, Encore will transcode the DL'ed sequence as if it were an intermediate AVI.

[Ann Bens]

Don't export HD content to avi and then to dvd. Bad idea, this will cost you quality. HD is not DV.

Export directly to mpeg2-dvd either in Premiere or Encore. If you want to use Encore for encoding use Dynamic Link and use default settings but make sure the field order is upper.

Dont crop off the black bars on the side due to the way it is scaled down.

Just leave it, you'll get used to it.

Have fun.

[John T Smith]

>use Encore for encoding use Dynamic Link and use default settings but make sure the field order is upper

I've never used DL before, but I'll also give that a try and compare results on DVD and at my TV

[flbreen]

John

I am interested to know how smooth the video looks when you edit on Premiere Pro.
Last year I put CS4 on a new Dell and as I fast forwarded and jogged through the video it hesitated and was jerky.

I had to regress back from CS4.1 to CS4.0 to get a smooth fast forward.

I hope that when I fire up Premiere Pro CS5 on my new PC that you designed there will be no hesitation or jerky look as I fast forward through the video.

Thanks

[John T Smith]

I have noticed no problems at all... but my testing so far has been with only a short (under 20 minutes) timeline 'cause it's been raining a lot here, and I'm not about to take a brand new $1k camera out in the rain

I snuck in a small amount of in-house video while the wife was out of town visiting an Aunt... and she griped that I had not "made the room pretty" before filming... completely ignoring the half-dozen times I told her it was a TEST of the process

Grumble.Grumble... woman is going to drive me crazy some day nit-picking everything I do

Anyway, back to technical... I am VERY happy with the results so far

Do read http://forums.adobe.com/thread/653789?tstart=0 which talks about going from AVCHD to DVD

[Harm_Millaard]

John, a rain slicker is a very useful accessory. Look at Porta Brace for a good one.

[John T Smith]

More on going to DVD from AVCHD...

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/653789?tstart=0

[John T Smith]

One added comment... the MTS files produced by my Canon Vixia HFS100 do not seem to require copying an entire folder structure from memory card to hard drive (to include metadata?)

I simply put the SD memory card in a card reader adapter and plug into a USB port, then copy individual files to the project folder on my data drive using Windows Explorer

These MTS files import into PPro with everything that is needed to edit (well, all there is, is sound and video)

I have read that other brands of camera do things differently, so you either need to use the software provided by the camera maker to transfer the information to a computer, or if you use Windows Explorer you have to copy the entire folder, not just individual files

[Kona_Bob]

In the case of Sony AVCHD, I can import directly from the card to PPro, but I lose the metadata and the Sony file naming (which is useful to me because it includes the date each clip was shot). Also, when I import directly from the card, the filenaming is not unique- just simple sequences- 001, 002, 003... For me, that could create some confusion as clips accumulate

Consequently, I usually import with the Sony software.

[Tim_Kolb]

I'd recommend transferring the media as it is structured on your SDHC card onto your harddrive into

folders you label by date, or whatever is meaningful to you.  As others have said, there is a ton of information included in the files you are leaving behind, and you may want that info some day.  Also, it's far less messing around to dive way in and extract the MTS files.

I transfer the whole folder, then import it as a folder into PPro CS5, it leaves behind what it doesn't recognize (and "warns" you about it...unnecessary drama) and it's all in a bin ready to rock.

As far as workflow, I don't care what you want to output to...editing the footage on a sequence with settings that are made for it will be much smoother.

In Encore, simply import your PPro sequence (no export necessary) and then author...done.

I've done it on a PC with ProRes even...  http://tv.adobe.com/watch/digital-video/production-premium-cs4-creating-an-event-dvd

Easy.