Adobe Premiere Import image size

[Graemey]

Hello All,

I asked this question before but I can't find my notes!
Please may I ask what size is good to re-size photos to so I can import them into Aobe Preiere to make a slideshow?

I found before they were too big to get some effects on them and someone on the forum suggested a suitable size.

Thank you as always,

Best wishes
Graeme

[poisondeathray]

you don't have to resize beforehand, you can resize them within premiere

By having larger photos than your composition size it gives you more options: it enables you reframe the shot and/or do stuff like panning shots and related effects (e.g. ken burns effect)

But if your export format is NTSC DVD, then the exported format has to be 720x480 - you can still use the full resolution shots within the project . If your export format is blu-ray then you have other HD resolution options

[Graemey]

Thank you my friend,

I thought that when I tried my slideshow before the original imports looked to big to handle! But maybe I was doing something not quite right. My camera is 10.2 mp and if I shoot at max they are quite large images. So if I import as they are it will be ok to start and compose my slideshow?

Any other tips you may have for a novice will be ery much appreciated,

many, many thanks,

Best wishes
Graeme

[poisondeathray]

The default mode can be switched on/off to resize the clips to fit the sequence settings . If you highlight the photos in the clip bin (marquee select or shift select), use clip=>video options=>scale to frame size to toggle on/off this setting

eg. So if you have a 1920x1080p timeline for blu-ray , the images will be resized to fit the 1920x1080 frame automatically if that setting is enabled

(you might not want that for the reasons I listed above)

If you're doing a simple slideshow and don't care for any of those things, you can resize everything beforehand (this might actually take longer, but you might prefer a different scaling algorithm for example). Then you could batch resize to fit the sequence settings in an image editor (e.g. photoshop, gimp etc...)

There are other "gotchas" like aspect ratios, but that should get you started

[Graemey]

Thank you,

I understand about the limitations of importing to scale (I think!) but is there a good universal size to import at. I'm sure once before another member said that a particular size was good. It seems that if I import at the original size things like zooming in or panning become difficult.

Thanks,

Best wishe,
Graeme

P.S. If I may be really cheeky, can I ask in a later post about exporting to disk?

[poisondeathray]

I understand about the limitations of importing to scale (I think!) but is there a good universal size to import at. I'm sure once before another member said that a particular size was good. It seems that if I import at the original size things like zooming in or panning become difficult.

You got it reversed.

If you import at the original size , it's has more data. You cannot pan at all if you import at the same reduced size as the sequence setting. Think of it as looking out a window - if that video is a poster directly against the window, exactly the same size. All you see is the poster. If you pan the poster around, black edges creep in , because there is nothing there on the edges. The poster is the same size as the window. But if you have a bigger poster, you can pan and move that poster around, and still "see" stuff in the poster all around the edges

Unless you were talking about an intermediate size , like something not too big, not too small ?

You would have to provide more details on what your goals were (how are you going to watch this? DVD? Blu-ray? Web ? PC etc...) That partially determines what sequence settings you are going to use

If I may be really cheeky, can I ask in a later post about exporting to disk?

Sure

[Graemey]

If I import the images at their original size the image is centred in the preview window. Say I import a shot of a group of people then the middle of the shot is visible, so if I would like the whole of the shot in view then zoom in to a particular part of the image how would I set the first frame up so I could do this. Say the first frame of the slideshow was a group shot?

Thank you for all of this,

Best wishes
Graeme

[poisondeathray]

It depends how much panning you want to do

If you try that "scale to clip size" mentioned above - the entire photo will be in view, but you won't be able to pan much because it's a perfect 1:1 fit, unless you're "zoomed in". Try it out. It has to be set before you drag the photo onto the timeline.

"Zooming in" is different than panning - all you do is keyframe the scale parameter (It's not like After Effects, where you actually have a 3d camera moving around; in PP, think of your "camera" as in a fixed position - i.e. your preview in the program monitor is the camera viewfinder - , and all you are doing is moving the photo around in front of the "camera"). So if the scale is increased, it "looks" like you're zooming in

If you need some intermediate size, then you have to either scale them manually in the effects control panel, or resize them before in another program

[Graemey]

Thank you for such quick replies,

I could re-size in say Photoshop but am not sure at what size.

I've been thinking about your previous reply, say using the window scenario, if the poster was visible htrough the window then my problem seems to be that only the middle of the poster would be visible, I would like the whole poster to be visible in the first frame then be able to zoom and say pan throughout the next frames until another image appears via a transition in the timeline.

Thank you, thank you

[poisondeathray]

I've been thinking about your previous reply, say using the window scenario, if the poster was visible htrough the window then my problem seems to be that only the middle of the poster would be visible, I would like the whole poster to be visible in the first frame then be able to zoom and say pan throughout the next frames until another image appears via a transition in the timeline.

If the majority of your slideshow is going to be like that (a wide shot of the entire photo, then zooming in and panning to various parts), then you can use the scale to frame parameter discussed above. The first frame will have the entire "poster" visible. You cannot pan much unless you are zoomed in first - this is one of those things that's hard to describe, so you have to play with it and see. So you would set a keyframe for the scale parameter at the current size (100%) , then move the CTI (current time indicator, or "playhead") down the timeline, then set another keyframe for the scale parameter for something larger. You can set keyframes for position , rotation as well

There should be video tutorials on youtube and adobe.tv on how to do this if you're lost

[turk690]

I know what Graemey is going through when he say's he's looking to what resolutions he can resize his pics before importing them into Premiere. A typical 4:3 10.2 megapixel digicam picture can be 3688x2766; of course 14mp and up are even bigger. Importing these as is into a 1920x1080 (or 720x480 anamorphic) frame slots a window in its middle, scale-to-frame resizes it with pillars, etc; all that is a given. But I think one problem is how tedious it becomes manipulating, and how at times Premiere can slow down while you busy yourself tinkering with the motion options, especially if each picture is to be treated uniquely as you want it on the timeline, if imported at their original humongous resolutions. A middle ground then would be to resize these hi-res pictures such that there are still some pixels comfortably left over to zoom in with, while at the same time not so small that, paradoxically, you are forced to resize it upwards in Premiere if required. For a 1920x1080 timeline, I resize all 4:3 pictures to about 3000x2250 (a little higher or lower is up to you). With this resolution, there is some leeway to still zoom in and not lose quality but at the same time not have to crawl through treacle if I had the original dimensions of, say, a 14 megapixel pic. For SD, I truncate the size even further, down to about 1000x750 or maybe 1500x1125, all before importing to Premiere. My experience has shown me this takes care of about 90% of all such cases in Premiere; in that instance where you'd really want to zoom in close, then at least you only have to worry about importing that particular pic at its original resolution. Of course resizing downwards is a destructive thing quality-wise, so every bit helps, like choosing the least compression, etc.

[Graemey]

Thank you my friend,

That is exactly what I mean, maybe I was not too good at explaining! It is the size at the beginning of the frame that I need to be of a decent area then maybe zoom in or even out.

So is there a ball park size to say re-size to before importing! I notice you give a few examples. My camera shhots at 10.2 mp.

Thank you,

Best wishes
Graeme

[Graemey]

Hello Again,

I re-sized to 1500 width but the images still seems large in the preview window. It might be normal but it seems difficult to get to the correct point when say panning. Also how do I export the movie to say a DVD to view on a television?

Thank you,

Best wishes
Graeme

[poisondeathray]

What settings are you using? You can resize it to similar size as the sequence settings - use the scale to frame size option or pre scale it

e.g. for a 1920x1080 sequence, resize it to 1920x1080 . For a 1280x720 sequence , resize to 1280x720 .

You generally don't want to go any smaller than your composition size because you won't be able to fit the whole picture in. Also you're losing fine details - so if you're zooming in, faces won't look as good with a downscaled asset

Another approach is to crop to the wanted area (if you don't want edges) , and resize. Again, aspect ratio will come into play here , if you don't do it correctly, things will look distorted

To export for DVD , export using Adobe Media Encoder using the DVD presets

DVD is standard definition. NTSC is 720x480 , so things are going to look very blurry compared to blu-ray . I would still use HD project settings, so you have the option to go to blu-ray or DVD . But if you're 100% only using SD, then you can scale it down to something smaller first .

Be careful about aspect ratios, because DVD doesn't use square pixels. Only 16:9 or 4:3

[Graemey]

Thank you,

I read that if I use the scale to frame size option or pre scale it then I am limited to zooming etc. What I have found is that if I import my images straight from my camera then zoom out in the preview window the images are massive when I click on them compared to the size of the window itself.

I think my problem is that I'm not explaining very well! I would like say the first image to be the correct size to start with so that I can then start to say pan or zoom. At the moment the image is centred and I'm thinking that this middle part of each image will only be visible in the final movie and the rest of the image will not be seen. If I zoom out in the preview window to 10% the screen is covered by the extra area of the image. I see that I could click on it and re-size by dragging the handles to the same size as the area but is this good?

Also please may I ask what this means? e.g. for a 1920x1080 sequence, resize it to 1920x1080 . For a 1280x720 sequence , resize to 1280x720 .

Thank you,

Best wishes
Graeme

[turk690]

Thank you,


Also please may I ask what this means? e.g. for a 1920x1080 sequence, resize it to 1920x1080 . For a 1280x720 sequence , resize to 1280x720 .

Thank you,

Best wishes
Graeme

I don't understand the 1st part of ur missive, but if you had a 1920x1080 timeline and do not intend to zoom in any of the pictures you will place on it, then resize all 16:9 pictures to 1920x1080, and all 4:3 pictures to 1440x1080 before importing into Premiere.

[Graemey]

Thank you,

When I import the pictures the preview pane top right only shows part of a large image. I would like to start with the whole image scene visible then zoom in and maybe pan. At the moment the image seems too big for the preview pane and I don't know where to start!

Also could you please explain when you say

but if you had a 1920x1080 timeline and do not intend to zoom in any of the pictures you will place on it, then resize all 16:9 pictures to 1920x1080, and all 4:3 pictures to 1440x1080 before importing into Premiere

Thank you so much,

Best wishes
Graeme

[poisondeathray]

What sequence settings are you using? just resize everything to that and it will fit 1:1 . Using the window analogy, it perfectly fits the window - the whole scene is exactly visible. You can zoom IN , but cannot zoom OUT . If you zoom out without zooming in first, there will be black borders around all the edges, because the picture is too small

but if you had a 1920x1080 timeline and do not intend to zoom in any of the pictures you will place on it, then resize all 16:9 pictures to 1920x1080, and all 4:3 pictures to 1440x1080 before importing into Premiere

4:3 pictures will require 1440x1080 resizing on a 1920x1080 timeline, because 1440 divided by 1080 = 1.33333 or 4:3. 1440x1080 asset in a 1920x1080 timeline is pillarboxed (i.e. black borders left and right) , thus the aspect ratio is preserved when everything is using square pixels .


If your pictures have a different aspect ratio than 16:9 or 4:3, things are going to look distorted . For example a 6000 x 4000 jpeg will have an aspect ratio of 1.5, because 6000/4000 = 1.5 . Things will look distorted if you resized to 1920x1080, because 1920x1080 has aspect ratio of 1.778. You would need the 6000x4000 image pillarboxed to preserve the aspect ratio

When I import the pictures the preview pane top right only shows part of a large image. I would like to start with the whole image scene visible then zoom in and maybe pan. At the moment the image seems too big for the preview pane and I don't know where to start!

If this is too confusing, use the scale to frame size option explained earlier, it's probably the easiest . Everything will begin with the whole image fitting the viewing area , with the proper aspect ratio (black borders)

[Graemey]

Hello,

Thank you, I'm not too sure about what sequence settings I am using, how will I know or set this up. I understand all the other parts of your reply, thank you, I think I might be explaining myself a little better now!

Best wishes
Graeme