Changing Frame Size in Adobe Premiere Element 13?

[pone44]

I have a 1280x720 source video that I want to reframe to 1240x400 and save as MP4. Ultimately I will reducing the resolution down for a GIF. In Premiere Elements 13, what is the easiest way to change a frame size?

Apparently Premiere Pro now has a concept of "Sequences" that appears to be perfect for this requirement, but that feature is not in Premiere Elements.

If there is a better video editor for this making this kind of operation simple, what is it? I am using Windows.

The ideal user interface for this operation would be to put up a 1240x400 frame, and then allow me to move that around against the video to determine the part of the original frame I want to capture in the adjusted frame.

[_Al_]

These are basic operations, Elements should handle that as well. Have project set to 1240x400 and import your clip, then resize that clip to your frame keeping or disabling aspect ratio. It might just resize automatically to 1240x400 frame, so if this is undesirable, you should disable it somewhere in the menu.

[pone44]

These are basic operations, Elements should handle that as well. Have project set to 1240x400 and import your clip, then resize that clip to your frame keeping or disabling aspect ratio. It might just resize automatically to 1240x400 frame, so if this is undesirable, you should disable it somewhere in the menu.

You would think this would be basic. Unfortunately, in Premiere Elements 13 when I create a new project and "Change Settings" you only get to choose from a list of specific digital formats that Adobe chose to include. There is no provision for customizing resolution, frame speed, bit rate, etc. Maybe someone who is familiar with changes over time in Premiere Elements could identify when custom project resolutions started to be supported?

Since my ultimate goal is to save clips as GIF files, is there a reason to prefer the full-blown Premiere Pro instead of Elements? It looks like Premiere Elements 2018 supports GIF but it is not clear what the additional GIF features might be in Premiere Pro

[_Al_]

You might want to check Vegas Movie Studio software, pretty cheap and effective. It might be allowed to custom change project resolution or export resolution. And using pan/crop.