Premiere

bit.ly/scoepremiere

Adobe Premiere is a robust video editing program. It has recently been used to edit blockbuster movies such as Gone Girl, Deadpool, and Hail Caesar. Do not let that frighten you away from using it, though, as this basic introduction will have you editing with Premiere in no time.

"Steal" content from pixabay.com or pexels.com.

Creating a Project

After opening Premiere, select New Project. Once selected, a box will automatically load. Here you can name your file and choose where it is saved on your machine.

Tip: Do not worry about the other settings and stick with the default options for now.

In this example, I named my project "Testing for Class." Another example might be "Period 3 Debate" or "8th Grade Graduation 2017."

Workspace

Premiere will open up in one of many different areas. This is called your "Workspace."

Depending on what tab you have selected, you will see a different view. I start with the Assembly tab, shown below.

If you start in the Editing tab, your view might look something like this.

Not too important, right now, but something that many get confused about.

If Premiere did not open up on the Assembly tab, click on that now.

Assembly

From the Assembly tab, you can find content to add to your project. Just like you would browse for files on your machine, use the folder structure to find your content (video, photos, audio, etc.).

Tip: To find content on your Desktop select "Local Drives," "C:," "Users," your user name (the example shows my user name bschut), and then Desktop. You can also find your "Pictures" and "Videos" folders under your user name.

When you have found a clip or photo to add to your project, click and drag it into the Timeline.

Tip: The blue circle shows the clip before it is released into the Timeline. Notice the title of the clip is shown.

Once the clip has been placed into the Timeline, and after a short time to process, you will see a colored block in the Timeline.

Tip: The clip shown below does not have any audio so only shows up in the V1 field (Video 1).

Clip with Audio and Video shown below.

Cutting Content

Cut, or split, a clip into pieces by using the Razor tool.

Tip: Place your mouse over the spot of your clip you want to cut. It will not cut if the tool is used on blank space.

After using the razor tool, the clip will be split. You will see a line as well as another clip name to specify the cut.

Selecting Content

To select content, click on a specific clip. The selected clip will turn white.

Tip: You can delete a selected clip by clicking the delete key on your keyboard.

Effects and Transitions

Effects will be listed in a couple of different places, depending on your Workspace view.

If you are in the Editing view, you will see it on the bottom left of your screen, as shown below.

If you are in the Effects view, you will see it on the top right of your screen, as shown below.

These Effects folders will allow you to add audio and video effects to your clips. These effects include fading out volume (Crossfade Audio Transition) and fading clips in and out (Dissolve Video Transitions).

Click and drag an effect or transition to your clip. The clips will be highlighted when the effect is appropriately placed in the project, as shown below.

Once it has been placed in the clip, your project will look similar to what is shown below.

Zoom

You can zoom in and out of your project by using the scroll bar at the bottom of the Workspace.

Clicking on one of the white boxes on the scroll bar and pulling out (to zoom out) or in (to zoom in) will adjust your timeline for editing and viewing transitions of your project. In the example shown below, I zoomed all the way in, making my timeline show hundredths of a second.

Tip: Do not get frustrated with the zoom function. It does take some time to master.

Exporting Your Video

Once you have edited your clips into one complete piece you must export the content before it can be viewed and/or shared outside of Premiere. To do this, click File, Export, and then select Media.

Export Settings will be the window that opens. From here you can select format as well as where it is saved.

Tip: I recommend selecting H.264 as the format. That translates to .mp4, which is playable by most media players.

Click on Output Name to choose a file name as well as where it will be saved.

This will open up a "Save As" screen.

Tip: Click "Use Maximum Render Quality" for best results. Depending on the length of your video, however, this will add to your encoding (processing) time.

When you are ready to export, click on the Export button. Again, depending on the length of your project, this process may take some time. For example, and depending on the machine you are using, exporting a 30 minute movie may take an hour or more.