After editing is completed, you will want to export the video for use in broadcast, on-line, or DVD. In this lesson, you will gain an understanding of options for deployment and factors that influence the quality of exported video.
What you’ll learn in this lesson:
- Understanding different output formats
- Using the properties of video files
- Exporting a file for deployment to mobile devices
After editing is completed, you will want to export the video for use in broadcast, on-line, or DVD. In this lesson, you will gain an understanding of options for deployment and factors that influence the quality of exported video.
Starting up
In this lesson, you will work with the project files from the pr09lessons folder. Make sure that you have loaded the prlessons folder onto your hard drive from www.digitalclassroombooks.com/epub/premierecs6. The Starting up section at the beginning of this book provides detailed information about loading lesson files, resetting your workspace, locating missing media, and opening the files in CS6. If you have not already done so, please review these instructions before starting this lesson.
When opening the Premiere Pro project files used in this lesson you may experience a missing media message. You must locate any missing media before trying to proceed through the lessons. For more information refer to “Locating missing media” in the Starting up section of this book.
Output for the Web and desktop
In recent years, the Internet has become a popular medium in which to display video projects, especially because bandwidth has increased and the Internet offers better support for rich media. In addition, and with the proliferation of corporate video, Premiere Pro can and has been used to create content for presentation graphics and mobile devices. However, Premiere Pro continues to be a tool for storytelling and a way of creating engaging video projects that you can deploy to any medium.
When you create video for the World Wide Web or for computer systems, you should be aware that there is no single standard for web and desktop video, and there are several types of video players, some of which are explained in the next subsections.
Flash video and the Flash player
Flash video is the native video format supported by the Adobe Flash platform and it is widely used in the delivery of online video content, which makes it the most ubiquitous video format on the Web. Flash video is widely used by companies and individuals for its ease of deployment and player customization.
Windows Media and the Silverlight player
Windows Media Video (WMV) is the video format created by Microsoft, the makers of the Windows operating system. A variation of WMV is used for Silverlight video, which has been used by companies such as NBC Sports for their live Olympics coverage and Netflix for delivering streaming video content. Windows Media is also a supported format on some multimedia players and mobile devices, such as the Zune and Windows-based phones.
QuickTime video and the QuickTime player
The QuickTime format is controlled by Apple computers and for years was the de facto standard for web-delivered video. The QuickTime player is freely available, it is compatible with MAC and PC operating systems, and it is required to view QuickTime movie files. QuickTime video format is also supported on some mobile devices, such as the Apple suite of iPods and iPads. In addition, you must have this player when using Premiere Pro on a computer running the Windows operating system.
HTML5 Video
HTML5 (Hyper Text Markup Language) includes features that let you play video without the need for a plug-in, such as Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight. Currently there are two competing standards for native HTML5 video support: H.264 and OGG Theora. A disadvantage of native HTML5 video is that different browsers could choose to support one video standard over another. In addition to its use as one of the HTML5 video standards, H.264 video has also become a de facto format for desktop based distribution. Since it’s tied to a single specific player like Windows Media or Apple QuickTime, you can play H.264 video using a wider variety of applications.
Understanding formats and codecs
The difference between codecs and video formats can be confusing. Most computer users are familiar with the term formatwhen describing files. For example, people with a design or graphics background are familiar with files of different formats, such as JPEG or TIFF; casual computer users are familiar with formats such as Word documents or PowerPoint files. However, when you are working with video, you need to understand more than the format. Video formats such as QuickTime, AVI, Windows Media, and Flash Video are containers, much like a briefcase. The contents of the briefcase are written in a specific language that you need to understand. This is the relationship between formats and codecs: formats are the containers, and the codecs are the language the contents are written in.
Codec is a conjunction of the words compressor and decompressor. Codecs are mathematical algorithms used to reduce audio and video files to manageable sizes. Video files can be very large; for example, 20 minutes of NTSC DV video from a standard definition miniDV camcorder is over 4 GB in size, which is the capacity of one single layer DVD. Without codecs, you could not easily store and save video footage for archiving, and you could never watch video online, by e-mail, or on a mobile device. To view an audio or video file, you must have a player compatible with the format and you must have the same codec used to compress it available on your computer so you can decompress it.
For example, suppose a friend shoots a short video of his dog doing a back flip, edits it, adds background music and sound effects, creates a QuickTime Movie using the H.264 codec, and e-mails it to you. To view the video, you open the movie in the latest version of QuickTime Player, VLC Media player, or one of several other media players that support the playback of QuickTime files, and it plays without a problem: you are able to see the video because you have a player that is compatible with the QuickTime Movie format (.MOV) and you also have the H.264 codec installed on your computer. You probably didn’t install the codec yourself: Your operating system comes with some codecs installed and many popular media players automatically add additional codecs when you install them.
When working with video editing and animation programs, you might encounter issues of format incompatibility that will not let you import or view specific file types; however, often the problems are caused by missing or unsupported codecs.
Understanding temporal and spatial compression
There are two types of compression that video codecs use to reduce file sizes: temporal and spatial. Some formats use one or the other compression type, but most formats use both types to reduce audio and video files to manageable sizes.
Spatial compression is very similar to the compression used in image formats such as JPEG and GIF. This image compression is usually lossy, works on each frame in a video file individually, and it is sometimes called intraframe compression.
Temporal compression, also called interframe compression, compares a video frame to the one preceding it and only saves the data that is different between the two frames. This type of compression can become problematic if the original frames are removed or damaged.
As mentioned above, codecs can use either or both types of compression. Codecs that only use spatial compression, such as the DV codec, are preferable for editing because frames can be independent from each other. Codecs that use temporal compression, such as MPEG-2, offer better compression ratios, but can be problematic for editing because of the interrelationship between frames.
Understanding bit rate
Bit rate is the amount of data allocated to each second of video, and it is a major determinant of file quality. Usually the bit rate value is displayed as kbps (kilobytes per second); for example, the average bit rate of DVD video is 5,000 kbps. In general, the higher the bit rate of a video file, the better the quality will be. These are some comparative examples: Standard Definition DV 25 (mini DV) footage is approximately 25,000 kbps; DVD quality video is approximately 5,000 kbps; VHS video has a bit rate of approximately 1,200 kbps. Understanding the relationship between a file’s bit rate and its quality can help you determine the best export settings for your video project.
Understanding frame rate and resolution
Video is a series of individual images shown in quick succession. The frame rate of video is measured by the number of frames it contains each second, and it is usually denoted as fps. Different video standards have different frame rates; some support a variety. American television is broadcast at 30 fps, PAL is 25 fps, and film uses a frame rate of 24.
In design, resolution is a term that refers to pixel density: the number of pixels in a given amount of space, usually an inch, and denoted in ppi (pixels per inch). For example, images created for high-quality magazines are usually 300 ppi; images created for the Web usually have a resolution of 72 ppi. In the field of video and digital photography, resolution refers to the pixel dimensions of an image; in other words, the number of horizontal and vertical pixels that compose the image. In this field, ppi is not used to address resolution.
When creating or optimizing graphics in pixel-based programs, such as Photoshop, the default resolution for video graphics is 72ppi, as it is for web graphics. Vector-based applications, such as Illustrator, don’t use pixels and only let you set the pixel dimensions of your project file.
Understanding aspect ratio and pixel aspect ratio
Different devices and camera formats can often have radically different aspect ratios.
Aspect ratio and pixel aspect ratio can be confusing when working with video formats. The aspect ratio, also called image aspect ratio, is the proportion of the width of an image to its height. This value is usually expressed as two numbers separated by a colon; for example, 4:3 or 1.85:1. Sometimes, aspect ratio can be referred to in more generic terms, such as standard and widescreen mode. In videography, the two most common aspect ratios are 4:3 (sometimes denoted as 1.33:1) for standard definition display and 16:9 (sometimes denoted as 1.78:1) for widescreen or high definition formats. Film uses different aspect ratios than video and broadcast television; two well-known ones are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1, which accommodate a wider vista and can better simulate human vision.
The differences in aspect ratio become apparent when video is displayed on a television screen with an aspect ratio different from that of the video itself. For example, when displaying widescreen video (16:9, 1.85:1, 239:1) on a 4:3 television or computer monitor, the video covers the full width of the screen, but two black boxes appear at the top and bottom of the screen in a technique called letterboxing. You can see this effect when you play a film transferred to DVD on a television or computer monitor. Footage that is created using a 4:3 aspect ratio, and then displayed on a widescreen device might appear with black bars to each side in a technique called pillarboxing. You can also have a video image that is displayed with simultaneous letterboxing and pillarboxing; this scenario is called windowboxing.
Letterboxing and pillarboxing are how display devices cope with video that does not match the device’s own aspect ratio.
Pixel aspect ratio is the proportion of the width of the pixels that compose a video or still image to their height. A pixel is the smallest individual unit of a digital image; pixels can be of different shapes and sizes. The pixels used by a computer monitor are square in shape and have a pixel aspect ratio (par) of 1:1 (1.0); many of the standard video formats have rectangular pixels. For example, standard definition D1/DV NTSC footage has a par of 0.9 : 1 (.9); widescreen NTSC footage has a par of 1.21:1 (1.21); and high-definition HDV 1080 and DVCPro HD 720 have a par of 1.33:1 (1.33).
Pixel aspect ratio is the reason that NTSC and NTSC widescreen have the same pixel dimensions, but different aspect ratios.
When footage is interpreted incorrectly, it can appear squashed or stretched, causing circular objects on screen to appear ovular. Graphics programs such as Photoshop create content using square pixels, but they have presets and previewing modes for video projects that provide a good representation of the graphics as they might appear on a television monitor. When creating graphics in Photoshop and Illustrator, we highly recommend you use their video presets and choose one that matches your Premiere Pro sequence.
Progressive display vs. interlacing
Most modern televisions and other electronic display devices are progressive displays.
The two methods of displaying images on a video screen are Progressive display and Interlacing. In the United States, and before changing to a digital broadcasting system, televised images were sent as interlaced signals in which every frame of video was made by combining two half-images called fields.
Before the advent of high-definition LCD and Plasma screens, televisions were made by wrapping a plastic or wooden frame around a large glass device called a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). These CRT television screens were composed of a series of even and odd numbered lines called scan lines, and each frame of video was displayed by illuminating these lines starting at the top of the screen. Interlacing was created to display video signals on this type of TV set and worked by illuminating one set of lines first (even or odd numbered), and then moving back to the top of the display to illuminate the other set. In this way, the display would show the second set of lines when the first set began to fade; the result was a complete picture for the viewer. This process occurred 60 times a second with NTSC broadcast television. Unlike Interlacing, Progressive display illuminates the scan lines sequentially from top to bottom.
Most modern televisions can display in interlaced and progressive mode, and the ATSC (American Television Systems Committee) includes broadcast standards for both, while all computer monitors use progressive display only. The difference between the two display methods occurs in video camera formats as well; older NTSC or PAL cameras can only shoot interlaced video, but many newer cameras let you choose between interlaced and progressive shooting modes, for example, 50i (25fps), 60i (30fps), 30p (30fps) or 24p (24fps).
Exporting an H.264 file for mobile devices
The H.264 format contains presets to produce video for a wide variety of mobile devices and online distribution services. Some examples of supported services and devices are Apple TV, YouTube, Vimeo, TiVo, the iPod, and mobile phones.
In this section of the lesson, you will export a Premiere Pro sequence in a variety of formats.
You can find all the files used in this project in the Werewolves in Central Park folder in the Media Library. The Reporter at Crime Scene.avi file is located in the A Roll folder; the remaining footage is located in the B Roll folder.
1 From the Premiere Pro welcome screen, click the Open Project button, or with Premiere Pro already open, chose File > Open Project. Navigate to the pr09lessons folder that you copied to your hard drive and locate the pr0901.prproj file. Double-click the file to open it. This project contains a single sequence called Reporter at Crime Scene.
2 Click the Timeline panel to make it active. The reason you want to make sure the Timeline is active is because you can use the Export command to export whatever is selected; the Source Monitor, a clip in the Project panel or the Timeline.
3 Choose File > Export > Media to open the Export Settings dialog box.
The keyboard command to export media is Ctrl+M (Windows) or Command+M (Mac OS).
The settings in the Export Settings dialog box default to the export settings you used last.
4 In the Export Settings dialog box, choose H.264 from the format drop-down list on the right to set the choices available in the Preset drop-down list.
From the Preset drop-down list, choose Apple iPad 2, iPhone 4S – 1080P 23.976. Setting the preset fills in all the menus and switches to produce video files optimized for display on this device.
This specific preset is designed to create a file that is compatible with the current generation of Apple devices. It preserves the high-definition size and quality of the footage. Depending on your intended output destination, you will want to choose a preset that best represents your own needs.
5 Click the name of the file adjacent to the Output name field to open the Save As dialog box. Change the name of the file toReporter at Crime Scene-iPad version, then navigate to the pr09lessons folder on your hard drive and click the Save button.
By default, the exported file is saved into the same directory as the last file you exported, and the file’s name is automatically set to the name of the sequence you are exporting.
6 Click the Export button to begin the export process and the Encoding Status panel opens. This panel provides a status bar and a counter to show the estimated time remaining until the completion of the encoding process.
When exporting, the application renders or encodes a video file with the settings you specified and saves it to your hard drive. Creating a video file from your Premiere Pro sequence can be time- and processor-intensive. The duration of the encoding process depends upon the footage being encoded, the specific codec used, and the speed of your computer.
The dialog box closes once the process is complete.
7 To preview the file, minimize the Premiere Pro application and navigate to the folder on your hard drive where you saved your file. Double-click the Reporter at Crime Scene-iPad version.mp4 file to preview it in your default video application.
8 Return to Premiere Pro and choose File > Save As. In the Save Project dialog box that appears, confirm that you are still in the pr09lessons folder, rename your file to pr0901-working, and click the Save button.
Do not close this file; you will need it in the next part of the lesson.
A. Source and Output monitors. B. Export settings.
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Creating a custom export preset
You can use Premiere Pro’s built-in presets for different output requirements, but occasionally, you might have to create your own customized settings to output video. In such cases, you will need to determine the video resolutions the target device supports; the best video format and codec to use; and the frame rates the target device prefers. Some useful sources of information are the device manufacturers’ websites, white papers, technical sheets, and encyclopedic or knowledge-based sites such as Wikipedia (wikipedia.com).
In this part of the lesson, you will create and save a new preset for exporting video to display on a computer screen. You will reduce the output size of the video to compensate for differences between the size of the video frame and monitor display.
1 With pr0901-working.prproj still open, click the Timeline panel to highlight it and make it active.
2 Choose File > Export > Media to open the Export Settings dialog box.
3 In the Export Settings section of the dialog box, set the Format drop-down list to H.264, and the Preset drop-down list to Apple iPad 2, iPhone 4S – 1080P 23.976. If you are continuing from the previous part of the lesson, the menus will already be set to the last settings used.
We highly recommend you base your new export preset on an existing preset that matches some of the settings you expect to use, and then modify it as needed.
4 Click the Output Name field, navigate to the pr09lessons project folder, and change the file name to Reporter at Crime Scene-desktop. Click the Save button to return to the Export Settings dialog box.
You can use the Output Name field to specify the name and location in which to create the exported file.
5 There is a great deal of variation in the screen size of modern monitors. The video frame dimensions are 1920 × 1080 which can actually fill the entire screen for some users. To compensate for this you will reduce the video’s export dimensions so that they are smaller. In the Video tab, confirm that the link button (
) to the right of the Frame Width and Frame Height values is enabled. This button ensures that changes to either value result in a proportional change that will not distort the video. Click the value for the Frame Width property and change it to 1280 pixels. The Frame Height property value automatically changes to 720 pixels.
) to the right of the Frame Width and Frame Height values is enabled. This button ensures that changes to either value result in a proportional change that will not distort the video. Click the value for the Frame Width property and change it to 1280 pixels. The Frame Height property value automatically changes to 720 pixels.
When enabled, the button to the right of the Frame Width and Height fields maintains their proportions.
You can click any empty area of the Export Settings dialog box to exit text editing mode.
6 Scroll the Video panel to the Bitrate Settings section. The original preset is designed for video displayed on television sets and has a Target Bitrate of 5 Mbps and a Maximum Bitrate of 6 Mbps. The bitrate of a file contributes to that file’s size and quality. Raise the target bitrate to 10 and the Maximum to 12.
For a variable Bitrate files you can set values for both a target and maximum Bitrate for the encoded file.
The lower the bit rate of a file, the smaller the resulting file will be when stored on your hard drive or device. Notice that the reduction in bit rate produces a smaller estimated file size for the exported file. For future projects, we recommend that you experiment with different devices and footage to find the settings that work for you. For complex graphics, background, text, and transitions higher bit rates to display well when exported to video.
7 Click the Save Preset button (
) located to the right of the Preset drop-down list to open the Choose Name dialog box. Change the preset’s name to 720P Desktop and click the OK button to save the preset.
) located to the right of the Preset drop-down list to open the Choose Name dialog box. Change the preset’s name to 720P Desktop and click the OK button to save the preset.
You can access custom presets from the Preset drop-down list just as you would built-in presets.
Don’t close the dialog box; you will need it to complete the next portion of this lesson.
Exporting with the Adobe Media Encoder
Earlier in this lesson, you exported footage directly from Premiere Pro. The problem with this approach is that you cannot work with your editing application while the files are rendered. A solution to this problem is to use Adobe Media Encoder for all Premiere Pro’s exporting tasks. You can send a file to the Media Encoder’s render queue and continue working in Premiere Pro. The Adobe Media Encoder is a separate application that exists not only to function as a render queue for Premiere Pro but also as a stand-alone media transcoder. This allows you to change media from one format into another without having to first import the file into Premiere Pro.
In this part of the lesson, you will send a file from Premiere Pro to the Adobe Media encoder to be rendered.
1 With pr0901-working.prproj still open, the Export Settings dialog box still active, and the Reporter at Crime Scene-desktop.mp4 file ready to be exported, you can begin this portion of the lesson.
If you skipped the previous portion of this lesson, you will want to set your format and preset menus now.
2 Confirm that the Preset drop-down list is still set to the 720P Desktop preset you created in the previous part of the lesson.
3 Click the Queue button at the bottom of the dialog box to add the current export job to the Adobe Media Encoder Queue. After a few moments the Adobe Media Encoder application opens.
The Adobe Media Encoder is a render queue: you can add multiple export jobs to it and they will be completed in sequence.
4 In the Media Encoder, click the Start Queue button (
) to begin the video rendering process. The video is created using the settings specified in Premiere Pro and saved into the folder you specified in the Export Settings dialog box. The render progress is visible in the Encoding panel in the Media Encoder.
) to begin the video rendering process. The video is created using the settings specified in Premiere Pro and saved into the folder you specified in the Export Settings dialog box. The render progress is visible in the Encoding panel in the Media Encoder.
5 To preview the file, minimize the Adobe Media Encoder and Premiere Pro applications and navigate to the pr09lessons folder on your hard drive. Locate the Reporter at Crime Scene-desktop.mp4 and double-click the file to preview it in your default video application.
6 Return to Premiere Pro and choose File > Save or press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS) to save these changes to your project. You can now close this project; you have completed this lesson. Minimize Premiere Pro and return to the Media Encoder and close it as well.
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Self study
Create and save a custom preset to view video on a Smartphone or other mobile device, such as a BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, or Sony Playstation Vita.
Review
Questions
1 What are the four major players in the web and desktop video deployment market?
2 What are video codecs?
3 What is the advantage of using the Adobe Media Encoder to export your project instead of using Premiere Pro?
Answers
1 The four major players in the deployment of video to the web and desktop are Flash Video, Windows Media Video, QuickTime video, HTML 5 Video (H.264)
2 The word codec is a conjunction of the words compressor and decompressor. Codecs are mathematical algorithms used to reduce audio and video files to manageable sizes so they can be displayed on the Web, e-mailed, or written to a DVD.
3 Using the Media Encoder lets you continue working on editing projects in Premiere Pro. The Media Encoder also offers additional features for exporting multiple files from a single source.
