Problem with Adobe tools (Secondary Audio -- Auto Screen Size)

[TimeHorse]

I have been using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 mainly and although I find it good the fact that I had to go and buy Encode (which I haven't yet installed) to put more than 1 Sequence on a DVD was annoying!

That said, can anyone help me with the following problems:

1) Is there a way to encode a single video with MULTIPLE audio tracks. That is, say one track which is an isolated music score and another which is a commentary track such that on the DVD the Video track is not repeated and wastes space, that that track contains fully the two audio streams and that a standard DVD player can use the Audio Selection buttons to switch between Audio tracks dynamically.

2) Secondly, when I import some 16:9 video and view it in the Sequence, it always has a double border. That is, just like a 16:9 broadcast on a 4:3 screen which is a 4:3 broadcast on a 16:9 screen. Is there some way to 'auto size' and 'auto center' the video output in the Sequence for a given clip such that the image is centered and if the height is greater than 9/16 the width that it sets the height to screen height and adjusts accordingly. OTOH, if the Width is longer than 16/9 the height, then set the width to the width of the screen and adjust the height. Seems to me that is a pretty basic function. Doing so manually when a computer could do so much better just seems silly. Especially when one considers the money I've spent so far!

Thanks in advance!

[guns1inger]

1. Is done at the authoring stage. Produce your audio as elementary streams, then author the title with as many as you need.

2. Are you trying to mix 16:9 and 4:3 material on the same track ?

[TimeHorse]

1. Is done at the authoring stage. Produce your audio as elementary streams, then author the title with as many as you need.

2. Are you trying to mix 16:9 and 4:3 material on the same track ?

Thanks for the quick reply! So I take it 1) is done in Adobe Encore (the Authoring tool)? And I can just have one video sequence and at authoring apply 1 or more additional audio tracks from existing WAV/MP3s, is that it?

And for second, I think the source material was letterbox converted to 4:3. But Adobe correctly detects that the image in 16:9 -- it does not include the horizontal black lines with the image. I however have started a 16:9 project so the video is 16:9. When I drag the video clip into the Sequence (it is the only clip in the sequence at this point), it appears too small, with the black lines as I described above, below, to the left and to the right of the image. This is what I'd like to eliminate automatically rather than manually.

Thanks again guns for the advice and I'll try and get Encore installed this weekend to try it out!

[guns1inger]

Assuming encore supports multiple audio tracks and you are happy to trust it to transcode. My preference is always to prepare assets with the right tools, and just author with the authoring tool. Your call though.

Sounds more like the original is 4:3 letterboxed, so Premiere will treat it as 4:3 (because it is). If all the material is like this, make it a 4:3 project. Otherwise it will have to be cropped and resized.

[TimeHorse]

Many thanks for the reply.

Assuming encore supports multiple audio tracks and you are happy to trust it to transcode. My preference is always to prepare assets with the right tools, and just author with the authoring tool. Your call though.

So, can you recommend a better Authoring tool than Encore as I could still return it? The tool that came with the DVD Writer isn't much help.

Sounds more like the original is 4:3 letterboxed, so Premiere will treat it as 4:3 (because it is). If all the material is like this, make it a 4:3 project. Otherwise it will have to be cropped and resized.

Also, the video may have originally been 4:3 but the thing is, when I select the video for placement, it does not select the black lines. In other words, it KNOWS the video is 16:9 it just does not stretch it to the available space. If I leave it as is, I get the same huge black border on the HDTV when viewing. I want it to fill the screen (available space). I can do it manually, but then it's by eye when the effect I want is better generated by a computer (fill as much screen as possible without getting cropped. It's very strange that the Auto Gain... works so well but they don't have an auto image size that I can find. Or am I missing something?

Thanks again guns!

[guns1inger]

Encore may well do what you need - I don't use it myself, but I'm not a huge adobe fan when it comes to video. I use photoshop extensively, and after effects from time to time. But I have never had any luck with Premiere - even on professionally built dedicated AV PCs it has always been unstable and unpredictable for me.

If you did want to consider another authoring tool, I would suggest you llok carefully at Ulead's DVD Workshop 2 or DVD Lab Pro.

That said, the issue is more about how you prepare your projects. If you want to have the most control, correct preparation of assets is one of the most important aspects. To me that means using video software for video preparation, ad audio software for audio preparation. The authoring tool should only be used to bring all the pieces together at the for final assembly. This is regardless of what authoring tool you ultimately choose to use.

As for your video, can you post a still from the clip, and if possible a screenshot of the Premiere preview window ?