16 Exporting Frames, Clips, and Sequences

Lesson overview

In this lesson, you’ll learn about the following:

• Choosing the right export options

• Exporting single frames

• Creating movie, image sequence, and audio files

• Using Adobe Media Encoder

• Uploading to social media and Adobe Stock

• Working with edit decision lists

This lesson will take about 90 minutes to complete. Please log in to your account on peachpit.com to download the lesson files for this lesson, or go to the “Getting Started” section at the beginning of this book and follow the instructions under “Accessing the lesson files and Web Edition.” Store the files on your computer in a convenient location.

Your Account page is also where you’ll find any updates to the lesson files. Look on the Lesson & Update Files tab to access the most current content.

• You can export to a file for posting online or create a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) file for theatrical distribution.

• You can export a single frame or a series of frames.

• You can choose audio-only, video-only, or full audio/video output.

• Exported clips or stills can be reimported into the project automatically for easy reuse.

• You can play directly to videotape.

Beyond choosing an export format, you can set several other parameters.

• You can choose to create files in a similar format and at the same visual quality and data rate as your original media, or you can compress them to a smaller size to make distribution easier.

• You can transcode your media from one format to another to make it easier to exchange with creative collaborators.

• You can customize the frame size, frame rate, data rate, or audio and video compression choices if an existing preset doesn’t fit your needs.

• You can apply a color lookup table (LUT) to assign a look; set overlay timecode and other clip text information; add an image overlay; or upload a file directly to social media accounts, an FTP server, or Adobe Stock.

• You can add timecode, name, and image overlays, and apply a video limiter or apply audio normalization, all at the time of exporting the file.

When you export a frame from the Source Monitor, Premiere Pro creates a still image that matches the resolution of the source video file.

When you export a frame from the Program Monitor, Premiere Pro creates a still image that matches the resolution of the sequence.

Let’s give it a try.

1. Open Lesson 16.prproj from the Lessons/Lesson 16 folder.

2. Save the project as Lesson 16 Working.prproj.

3. Open the sequence Review Copy. Position the Timeline playhead on a frame you want to export.

4. In the Program Monitor, click the Export Frame button on the lower right.

   If you don’t see the button, it may be because you’ve customized the Program Monitor buttons. You might also need to resize the panel. You can also select the Program Monitor or the Timeline panel and press Shift+E (macOS) or Shift+Ctrl+E (Windows) to export a frame.

   

   

5. In the Export Frame dialog box, enter a filename.

6. Use the Format menu to choose a still-image format.

   • JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP (Windows only) are universally readable. JPEG and PNG files are commonly used in website design.

   • TIFF, Targa, and PNG are suitable for print and animation workflows.

   • DPX is often used for digital cinema or color-grading workflows.

   • OpenEXR is used to store high dynamic range picture information.

   Note

   If your video format uses non-square pixels, the resulting image file will appear to have a different aspect ratio. This is because still image formats have square pixels. You can use Photoshop to resize the image horizontally and restore the original aspect ratio.

7. Click the Browse button to choose a location to save the new still image. Create a folder named Exports in the Lessons folder, select it, and click Choose.

   Note

   In Windows, you can export to the BMP, DPX, GIF, JPEG, OpenEXR, PNG, TGA, and TIFF formats. On a Mac, you can export to the DPX, JPEG, OpenEXR, PNG, TGA, and TIFF formats.

8. Select the Import Into Project option to add the new still image into your current project, and click OK.

You can apply new In and Out points by using the small triangular handles and navigator directly above the menu, by positioning the playhead in this dialog box and clicking the Set In point and Set Out buttons, or by pressing I and O.

By default, if In and Out points have already been applied, they are used to define the export range.

1. Continue working with the Review Copy sequence.

2. With the sequence selected in the Project panel or open in the Timeline panel, with that panel active, choose File > Export > Media. The Export Settings dialog box opens.

   

3. You’ll learn more about this dialog box later. For now, select the Match Sequence Settings check box.

   Note

   In some cases, the Match Sequence Settings option cannot write an exact match of the original camera media. For example, XDCAM EX will write to a high-quality MPEG2 file. In most cases, the file written will have an identical format and closely match the data rate of the original sources.

   

4. The blue text showing the output name is actually a button that opens a Save As dialog box. You’ll find the same type of text-as-a-button in Adobe Media Encoder. Click the output name now.

   

5. Choose a target location (such as the Exports folder you created earlier), name the file Review Copy 01, and click Save.

6. Review the Summary information to check that the output format matches the sequence settings. In this case, you should be using DNxHD media (as MXF files) at 29.97fps. The Summary information is a quick, easy reference that helps you avoid minor errors that can have big consequences. If the Source and Output Summary settings match, it minimizes conversion, which helps maintain the quality of the final output.

   When exporting a sequence, the sequence itself is the source in the Export dialog box—not the clips inside the sequence, which will have already been conformed to the sequence settings.

   

7. Click the Export button to create a media file based on the sequence. Note that DNxHD media files can be viewed and edited in Premiere Pro but cannot (usually) be previewed in macOS or Windows.

Choose your format and presets first, then pick the output, and finally decide whether you’d like to export audio, video, or both.

1. With the same sequence selected, choose File > Export > Media or press Command+M (macOS) or Ctrl+M (Windows).

2. In the Export Settings dialog box, open the Format menu, and choose QuickTime. In the Preset menu, choose GoPro CineForm YUV 10-bit.

   This is a rather specific-sounding preset, but it is just that—a preset, which automatically chooses options from other menus in this dialog box that you can change if you need to.

   Note

   On the Video tab, you’ll also find the option Render At Maximum Depth. When working without GPU acceleration, this can improve the visual quality of your output by using greater precision to generate colors. However, this option can add to the render time.

3. Click the output name (the blue text), and give the file a new name, Review Copy 02. Navigate to the same destination you used in the previous exercise and click Save.

   Below the Export Settings area is a tabbed group of important settings. Here’s an overview of those tabs:

   • Effects: You can add a number of useful effects and overlays as you output your media (see these options in the next section).

   • Video: The Video tab allows you to set the frame size, frame rate, field order, and profile. The settings available are based on the preset you chose.

   • Audio: The Audio tab allows you to adjust the bit rate of the audio and, for some formats, the codec. The default settings are based on the preset you chose.

   • Multiplexer: These settings specify whether the video and audio will be combined or delivered as separate files. These controls also let you determine whether the file will be optimized for compatibility with a specific device.

   • Captions: If your sequence has captions, you can specify whether they are ignored, “burned in” (added to the visuals permanently), or exported as a separate file (referred to as a sidecar file).

   • Publish: This tab lets you enter the details of several social media services for your file to be delivered to. You’ll learn more about this later in this lesson.

4. Click to select the Video tab near the bottom of the window.

5. In the Video Codec section of the dialog box, choose one of the available video codecs.

   Try the GoPro CineForm codec. This produces a high-quality (but reasonably sized) file. Make sure the frame size and frame rate match your source settings. You might need to scroll down or resize the panel to see all the settings.

   Note

   GoPro CineForm is a professional codec that is supported natively by Adobe Creative Cloud applications. Like all codecs, it will play back only in media applications that support it.

   

6. Click the Match Source button in the Basic Video Settings area.

   Below the Match Source button is a series of output format settings. If the setting is selected, the setting will automatically match the source.

   

7. Click to select the Audio tab. In the Basic Audio Settings section, make sure 48000 Hz is chosen from the Sample Rate menu and choose 16-bit from the Sample Size menu. Just below that, in the Audio Channel Configuration area, choose Stereo from the Output Channels menu.

   

   Tip

   HEVC/H.265 is a new compression system formulated by the same Motion Picture Experts Group that brought us H.264. It’s more efficient, but fewer players support it. You may be asked to supply media using this codec when producing UHD content.

8. Click the Export button at the bottom of the dialog box to export the sequence and transcode it to a new media file. Files encoded with the GoPro CineForm codec cannot usually be previewed in macOS or Windows. Import the file into Premiere Pro, to preview and edit it.

The most popular delivery format and codec is an MPEG4 (.mp4) file, using the H.264 codec. If you choose H.264 in the Format menu, you’ll find presets for YouTube and Vimeo.

Click the Source tab to bring it to the front. The Source tab gives access to cropping controls.

1. Click the Crop The Output Video button to enable the controls.

   

   You can enter specific settings (in pixels) at the top of the dialog box or drag the handles in the Source preview to crop the image.

   

2. The Crop Proportions menu has several options to restrict the settings to a particular aspect ratio. Choose 4:3 from the Crop Proportions menu. Now, if you make changes to the crop settings they will be locked to a 4:3 aspect ratio.

3. Click the Output tab to bring it to the front.

   

   The Output tab shows a preview of the video to be encoded. The Source Scaling menu let you choose the way a mismatch between the source aspect ratio and the output settings.

4. Try each of the options in the Source Scaling menu to see the results. The option Change Output Size To Match Source is not available for all export formats. It achieves the same result as clicking the Match Source button on the Video tab in the Export settings.

5. Leave the Source Scaling menu set to Scale To Fit. Switch to the Source tab and click the Crop The Output Video button to disable cropping. Switch back to the Output tab to make sure the image fills the screen.

After making changes on the Source tab or choosing a new output frame size, it’s always a good idea to check the Output tab to spot errors such as unwanted letterboxing or distortion caused by the irregularly shaped pixels used in some video formats.

By default, Media Encoder pauses encoding when you play video in Premiere Pro to maximize playback performance. You can change this in the Premiere Pro Playback preferences.

Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder can export to many formats.

1. Continue working with the Review Copy sequence. Either select the sequence in the Project panel or have it open in the Timeline panel, with that panel active.

2. Choose File > Export > Media, or press Command+M (macOS) or Ctrl+M (Windows).

   It’s best to work through the Export Settings dialog box from the top down, starting with the Export Settings area.

   Using the formats

   Adobe Media Encoder supports many formats. Knowing which setting to use can seem a little overwhelming. Let’s take a look at some common scenarios and review which formats are typically used. There are few absolutes, but these should get you close to the correct output. It’s a good idea to test your output on a short section of your video before producing a full-length finished file.

   • Encoding for uploading to user-generated video sites: The H.264 format includes presets for YouTube and Vimeo in widescreen, SD, HD, and 4K. Use these presets as a starting point.

   • Encoding for devices: Use the H.264 format for current devices (Apple iOS devices, Apple TV, Kindle, Nook, Android, and TiVo), as well as for some generic 3GPP presets; use MPEG4 for older MPEG4-based devices. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s specifications on its website.

   • Producing a DCP for theatrical distribution: Choose the Wraptor DCP and then pick 24 or 25 frames per second. If your sequence is 30 frames per second, choose 24 frames per second for output to a DCP. Settings are limited to ensure compatibility with standard cinema projection systems.

   In general, the Premiere Pro presets are proven and will work for your intended purpose. Avoid adjusting settings when using presets designed for devices or optical discs, because changes that seem subtle might make the files unplayable; hardware players have stringent media requirements.

   Most Premiere Pro presets are conservative and will deliver good results with the default settings, so you probably won’t improve the quality by making adjustments.

3. Choose H.264 from the Format menu. This is a popular choice for files you’ll upload to online video websites.

4. In the Preset menu, choose Vimeo 720p HD.

   These settings match the frame size and frame rate of the sequence. The codec and data rate match the requirements for the Vimeo.com website.

5. Click the output name (the blue text) and give the file a new name, Review Copy 03. Save it to the same destination you selected in the previous exercise.

6. Check the Summary information text to verify your choices.

   

Here’s an overview:

• Lumetri Look/LUT: Choose from a list of built-in Lumetri looks or browse to your own, allowing you to quickly apply a nuanced adjustment to the appearance of your output file.

• SDR Conform: If your sequence is high dynamic range, you can produce a standard dynamic range version.

• Image Overlay: Add a graphic, like a company logo or network “bug,” and position it on-screen. The graphic will be incorporated into the image.

• Name Overlay: Add a text overlay to the image. This is particularly useful as a simple watermark to protect your content or as a way of marking different versions.

• Timecode Overlay: Display timecode for your finished video file, making it easy for viewers without specialized editing software to note reference times for commenting purposes.

• Time Tuner: Specify a new duration or playback speed, up to + /−10%, achieved by applying subtle adjustments to periods of low action where the soundtrack is silent. Results vary depending on the media you are working with, so test different speeds to compare the end result. A continuous music soundtrack is likely to interfere with the results.

• Video Limiter: While it’s usually best to get your video levels right in the sequence, you can apply a limiter here too, just in case.

• Loudness Normalization: Use the Loudness scale to normalize audio levels in your output file. As with video levels, it’s best to get this right in the sequence, but it can be a helpful extra security to know your levels will be limited during export.

• Use Maximum Render Quality: Consider enabling this setting when scaling from larger image sizes to smaller image sizes. This option requires more RAM and can slow down the output. This option is usually not needed except when working without GPU acceleration (in software-only mode), when scaling the image down and seeking the highest quality possible.

• Use Previews: When you render effects, preview files are produced that look like your original footage combined with the effects. If you enable this option, the preview files will be used as the source for the new export. This can save a significant amount of time that would otherwise be spent rendering the effects again. The result might be lower quality, depending on the sequence preview files format (see Lesson 2, “Setting Up a Project”).

• Import Into Project: This option automatically imports the newly created media file into your current project so you can check it or use it as source footage.

• Set Start Timecode: This allows you to specify a new file start timecode. This is particularly useful if you are working in a broadcast environment where a specific timecode start may be a delivery requirement.

• Render Alpha Channel Only: Some post-production workflows require a separate grayscale file representing the alpha channel (the channel that defines opacity). This option produces just that file.

• Time Interpolation: If your exported file will have a different frame rate than your sequence, this menu lets you specify the way the frame-rate change is rendered. The options are the same as those that apply when changing clip playback speed in a sequence.

• Metadata: Click this button to open the Metadata Export panel. You can specify a wide range of settings, including information about copyright, creator, and rights management. You can even embed useful information such as markers, script, and speech transcription data for advanced delivery options. In some cases, you may prefer to set the Metadata Export Options setting to None, removing all metadata.

  

• Queue: Click the Queue button to send the file to Adobe Media Encoder, which will open automatically, allowing you to continue working in Premiere Pro while the export takes place.

• Export: Select this option to export directly from the Export Settings dialog box rather than sending the file to the Adobe Media Encoder queue. This is a simpler workflow and usually a faster export, but you won’t be able to edit in Premiere Pro until the export is complete.

Click the Queue button to send the file to Adobe Media Encoder, which starts up automatically.

Media Encoder will not begin encoding automatically. To begin encoding, click the Start Queue button in the upper-right corner.

Here are some of the most useful features you’ll find in Adobe Media Encoder:

• Add files for encoding: You can add files to Adobe Media Encoder by choosing File > Add Source. You can even drag and drop files into it from Finder (macOS) or Windows Explorer (Windows). There’s a Media Browser panel too, which you can use to locate select items, just as you would in Premiere Pro.

• Import Premiere Pro sequences directly: You can choose File > Add Premiere Pro Sequence to select a Premiere Pro project file and choose sequences to encode (without ever launching Premiere Pro).

• Render After Effects compositions directly: You can import and encode compositions from Adobe After Effects by choosing File > Add After Effects Composition. Once again, you don’t need to open Adobe After Effects.

• Use a watch folder: If you’d like to automate some encoding tasks, you can create watch folders by choosing File > Add Watch Folder and then assigning a preset to that watch folder. Watch folders exist in Finder (macOS) or Windows Explorer (Windows) like any other folder. If Adobe Media Encoder is running, media files placed into the folder are automatically encoded to the format specified in the preset.

  

  

• Modify a queue: You can add, duplicate, or remove any encoding tasks using buttons at the top of the list.

• Start encoding: You can set the queue to start automatically in the Media Encoder preferences. Alternatively, click the Start Queue button to start encoding. Files in the queue are encoded one after another. You can add files to the queue after encoding has begun. You can even add files to the queue directly from Premiere Pro while encoding is taking place.

• Modify settings: Once the encoding tasks are loaded into the queue, changing settings is easy; click the item’s Format or Preset entry (in blue text), and the Export Settings dialog box appears.

  

When encoding has completed, you can quit Media Encoder.

Click the Publish tab to bring it to the front.

The Publish settings allow you to upload exported videos to your Creative Cloud Files folder, Adobe Stock, Adobe Behance, Facebook, an FTP server (FTP is a standard way to transmit files to a remote file server), Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube when the encoding is complete.

Each platform will have its own delivery standards, though in many cases you can choose a high-quality master file and let the platform do the work of producing more highly compressed alternative versions from that file. Adobe Stock, for example, supports a range of video formats and codecs. If you produce a UHD (3840 x 2160) file, the rest can be handled by the server.

Social media platforms are increasingly important media distribution outlets, and Adobe is closely involved in developing new technologies and workflows to make it easier to share your creative work and maximize audience engagement. Click Cancel to close the Export Settings dialog box.

Premiere Pro supports EDLs, OMF, AAF, ALE, and XML import and export.

If you’re collaborating with an Avid Media Composer editor, you can use AAF as an intermediary, allowing the exchange of clip information, edited sequences, and a limited number of effects.

If you’re collaborating with an Apple Final Cut Pro editor, you can use XML as an intermediary in a similar way.

It’s easy to export an AAF or XML file from Premiere Pro. Just select a sequence you want to export and either choose File > Export > AAF or choose File > Export > Final Cut Pro XML.

For more information about best practices when sharing creative work between applications, see the online help.

Here’s how to create an OMF file:

1. With a sequence selected, choose File > Export > OMF.

2. In the OMF Export Settings dialog box, enter a name for the file in the OMF Title field.

   

3. Check that the Sample Rate and Bits Per Sample settings match your footage; 48000 Hz and 16 bits are the most common settings.

4. From the Files menu, choose one of the following:

   • Embed Audio: This option exports an OMF file that contains the project metadata and all the audio files for the selected sequence.

   • Separate Audio: This option separates all audio files, including stereo audio, into new multiple mono audio files, which are exported into a folder called omfiMediaFiles. This is a popular standard for audio engineers who are using advanced audio mixing workflows.

5. If you’re using the Separate Audio option, choose between the AIFF and Broadcast Wave formats. Both are high quality, but check with the system you need to exchange with. AIFF files tend to be the most compatible.

6. Using the Render menu, choose either Copy Complete Audio Files or Trim Audio Files (to reduce the file size). You can specify that handles (extra frames) be added to give you some flexibility when modifying the clips.

7. Click OK to generate the OMF file.

8. Choose a destination, and click Save. You can target your lesson folder for now.

   When the export is complete, the OMF Export Information dialog box appears. It displays information about the export and reports any errors that were encountered. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Now that you have completed this book, you may want to practice a little. To make this easier, the media files for a few productions have been combined in a single project file so you can explore the techniques you have learned.

These media files can be used only for personal practice and are not licensed for any form of distribution, including YouTube or any other online distribution, so please do not upload any of the clips or the results of any editing work you do with them. They are not for sharing with the public; they are just for you to practice with privately.

The Final Practice.prproj project file, in the MEDIA folder, contains original clips for a few productions.

• 360 Media: A short excerpt from an introduction to a 360 Video feature film. Use this media to experiment with the playback controls for 360 Video.

• Andrea Sweeney NYC: This is a short road-movie diary piece. Use the voice-over as a guide to practice combining 4K and HD footage in a single timeline. Experiment with panning and scanning in the 4K footage if you choose to use HD sequence settings.

• Bike Race Multi-Camera: This is simple multicamera footage. Experiment with live editing on a multicamera project.

• Boston Snow: This is a mixture of shots of Boston Common filmed in three resolutions. Use this media to experiment with Scale To Frame Size, Set To Frame Size, and keyframe controls to scale shots. Try using the Warp Stabilizer effect to lock one of the high-resolution clips and then scale up the clip and create a pan from one side to the other.

• City Views: This is a series of shots from the air and on land. Use these to experiment with image stabilization, color adjustment, and visual effects.

• Desert: Use the diverse colors to try color correction tools and combine the footage with music to produce a montage.

• Jolie’s Garden: This consists of atmospheric tableaux shot at 96fps, set to play back at 24fps, filmed for a new feature film social media marketing campaign. Use these clips to experiment with the Lumetri Color panel looks and speed change effects.

• Laura in the Snow: This is a spec commercial shot at 96fps, set to play back at 24fps. Use this footage to practice color correction and grading adjustments. Experiment with ramping slow motion and masking both the video and the effects you apply.

• Music: Use these music clips to practice creating an audio mix and editing visuals to music.

• Music Video Multi-Camera: This is a music video shoot. Practice multicamera editing skills with this media. For more information, see Lesson 18, “Multicamera Editing,” which is integrated into ebook and Web Edition versions of this book. Purchasers of the print edition can download Lesson 18 from peachpit.com along with the lesson files. See “Getting Started” in the opening pages of this book for instructions.

• She: This is a series of stylized, mostly slow-motion clips that will be useful for experimenting with speed changes and visual effects.

• TAS: This is footage from a short film, The Ancestor Simulation. Use this footage to try color grading and, as the footage is in two aspect ratios, mixing and matching the shots.

• Theft Unexpected: This is footage from an award-winning short film directed and edited by the author. Use this footage to experiment with trimming, and practice adjusting timing in simple dialogue to achieve different comic and dramatic results.