Blog Post 54 - Stage 3 - Adobe Premiere - Tools Panel

I decided to dedicate a separate Blog Post to the Tools Panel of Premiere as this is a selection of Tools that will be used a lot during the course of this stage of the assignment and therefore I feel that these should be looked into fully so that the correct tools are used in the correct manner too. This Tools Panel is situated to the left of the video timeline and are very important tools within the use of Premiere. These tools, in order from top to bottom include: Selection Tool; Track Selection Tool; Ripple Edit Tool; Rolling Edit Tool; Rate Stretch Tool; Razor Tool; Slip Tool; Slide Tool; Pen Tool; Hand Tool; Zoom Tool.

Although I had looked through these tools in the tools panel I decided to carry out some more research and having summarised my findings from this source (http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/premiere/pro/tool/) below which I am sure will help me in the future of using Premiere.

The Selection Tool is very similar to the selection tools that I have previously come across in the likes of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator whereas this is the default tool whereby you can select clips in the timeline. By selecting the clips in the timeline this means that you will then be able to move them around to your chosen location, for example.

The Track Selection Tool is a tool that is in essence a quick selection tool if I was to compare to to a tool in Adobe Photoshop. The use of this tool means that you can select all of the clips on a track at a given point, or even select multiple tracks too.

The Ripple Edit Tool is a tool whereby you can move the edit point of a clip however this will also cause the rest of the timeline to move the same amount to compensate this too. To use this tool, one must select the ripple edit tool, position the mouse at the edit point in the timeline and drag to the left or the right.

The Rolling Edit Tool is a tool whereby you can move the edit point without affecting the rest of the timeline. An example of this is that the first (outgoing) clip is made shorter whilst the second (incoming) clip is made long by the same amount... Overall, therefore, the length is not effected as compensation is made between the two clips. To use this tool, the rolling edit tool is selected, the mouse positioned at the edit point and dragged to the left or the right.

The Rate Stretch Tool is a tool that is used to change the duration of the selection clip, but whilst doing this the speed is changed to compensate. For example you can stretch a clip to fill a gap between two clips, however caution should be taken to ensure that an unprofessional effect is not created especially if audio is being used too.

The Razor Tool is a tool that is particularly useful for editing clips that you have already trimmed down from your source video and placed the trimmed down clip into the timeline. It's likely that you will need to cut down a clip futher, and by using the Razor Tool you can select a point to cut a clip. Another possible route for this is in relation to wanting to apply different effects to parts of a clip.

The Slip Tool is a tool whereby you can move a clip's Mark In and Mark Out points by the same amount at the same time, thus meaning that the rest of the timeline is not affected. This is particularly useful in that the rest of the timeline is not affected if you wanted to change the selection of the clip that you wanted - for example if you wanted the selection a bit later on from the source clip.

The Slide Tool is a tool that allows you to move a clip back and forth in the timeline, and at the same time it simultaneously adjusted all of the adjacent clips too to compensate. The duration of the target clip is kept the same, however the clips to the left and right will increase or decrease to compensate in each individual case.

The Pen Tool is a tool that I have previously seen and used in that of Adobe Illustrator, however in this case it is used to create and control anchor points - for example the pen tool can be used to control how the fade of a clip is going to appear with a steed or shallow fade being able to be drawn using the pen tool.

The Hand Tool is a tool that is very simple however one that is very useful too. By using this tool you are able to drag the timeline left or right to view what you have got in the timeline. When not needing to edit and just view the timeline this is the perfect tool to use, allowing the swift review of the timeline.

The Zoom Tool is the final tool of the Tools Panel however one that is very useful. By using this you can click on the timeline to magnify the view of the timeline. By zooming in this means that you can see more details in regards to the larger area being occupied for a shorter amount of time - very useful for that of detailed clips management.

Having now fully understood and research that of the Tools Panel of Premiere, this means that I am now ready to start exploring and explaining further features of Premiere that I will be potentially using for Stage Three of my assignment.

Blog Post 53 - Stage 3 - Adobe Premiere - Getting Started

Clip imported and being viewed

As mentioned in the previous Blog Post in regards to setting up a new project, once you have selected all of the necessary settings for your project you can begin to edit your video clips. However, before you can do this you need to import some video clips. To do this, navigating to File -> Import... will allow you to find video clips on your computer and then import them into Premiere. Too keep everything in a logical order is best to make use of the Project Bins in the bottom left hand area where your clips are stored for ease of access. Clicking on the New Bin button allows the swift creation of the bins which will once clips have been imported they can be dragged to the bin to be stored in there. Now that you have imported a clip from your computer to that of Premiere the next stage is in regards to begin editing these clips... You may wish to include the entire clip that you have imported into Premiere and if that is the case then you can simply click and drag the clip from the bin or the viewfinder in the top left onto the timeline. 

Clip Trimmed and Added

However, you may wish to make use of a particularly useful tool in Premiere which is that of the Mark In and Mark Out buttons which are situated just below the video preview panel. When viewing the clip by using these Mark In and Mark Out buttons this means that you can effectively trim down the clips to the selection that you want. For this example, I decided that from this clip of 58 seconds long, I did not want the entire selection however the selection that was of chasing the criminal after jumping out of the car. Personally, the use of the Step Backwards and Step Forwards buttons were also very useful indeed as these allowed me to precisely go frame by frame through the clip to get exactly to the very start and end of the scenes that I was looking for. With the selection of the clip now selected (visible by the blue/green highlighting) I was then able to drag the selection down to the Project Bin. Once here, I could then double click on the name and rename to a sensible new name - I chose ChasingSuspect as then in the future if I needed to come back to this I would know what the clip contained. Once this was safely in the Project Bin, I could simply drag this clip onto the timeline which then populated the Audio and Video Timelines due to their being both. With this in place, the video preview area at the top right updated to the first frame that the slider was on which slows the trimming and editing was a success.

Having now got the basics in place of importing, trimming and adding a clip to the timeline, the next blog post will be in regards to how to manipulate these clips and edit them using some tools that are present in Premiere.

Blog Post 52 - Stage 3 - Adobe Premiere - New Project

Welcome Screen: Options

After a brief introduction to that of Adobe Premiere it was important to get used to this new piece of software and understand how the different functions and elements that are in the software work. To begin with, the first stage is being able to set about creating a new project in Premiere which would mean that I could then get underway with starting to create and edit some clips.

To start, after opening Adobe Premiere up you are presented with the following screen which prompts you a few options; start a new project, open a previously created project or get some help. Thankfully at this moment in time I was not needing any help (!) and so by clicking on the New Project button I was then able to start to fine tune some details so that my project is at the right specifications to what I would be intending to create. I feel that it is also quite useful that there is a "Recent Projects" area whereby Premiere will list your last few projects that you have been working on which is a nice time saving element whereby you can quickly and swiftly open from here without having to navigate to the Open Project and search for it - overall it saves time if there is just one project you are working on.

New Project: Settings

After you have selected the New Project the following screen will be displayed, which is in relation to the settings that you are able to choose for the new project you are intended to set up. Moving through the options in order, firstly starting with the General Tab, the video Display Format is set as default to Timecode however this can be changed to Feet and Frames however this is not something that will be concerning me. The Frames element is something that if one was creating cartoons or animations that you would want to change. For the Capture Format this is set as default to DV although there is the option for HDV. As the name suggests the difference here is DV stands for Digital Video and HDV stands for High Definition Video which gives the option for you to capture using a High Definition camera and the software in Premiere would cater for this. Finally the Location and Name are straightforward to understand and in regards where you want the project to be saved and also the name of the project too. 

New Sequence: Settings

After clicking OK on the New Project screen you will be presented with this screen which is in regards to the Sequence Settings for your first sequence. The sequence being that of the first sequence or section of your film that you will be making. From here there are a whole host of different options that you can chose from the available presets, and in terms of the assignment that I will be undertaking the setting that I will be choosing is that of the DV - PAL and Widescreen 48kHz. For information, the use of "PAL" is there as it was defined to allow video to be produced at a certain frame rate and resolution which the standard nowdays generally being the 25 Frames Per Second, whereas NTSC is in the region of 27 Frames Per Second. This is also rather interesting as traditional film used to be at 24 Frames Per Second, so comparing all of these together there has not been much change at all. Also worth mentioning on this window is that of the Settings and Tracks, whereby you can fine tune the information of the project to exactly suit your needs if needed. However for the case of my assignment I will not need to tweak these settings with the DV - PAL and Widescreen 48kHz being the settings that I need. 

New Project: Read to start editing

After you have selected your settings and options for your new project, once you have named your sequence and then clicked OK, you will then be represented with the following screen which you can see the timeline in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. In regards to the rest of the layout, the bottom left hand area is where you can position your different project bins where you can organise your imported video clips, audio, titles etc - and these can be previewed in the top left hand preview pane, which can also act as an effect control panel too which will be explained further in the future. To the bottom right hand area of the window you have got the timeline of the video, which can be zoomed in and out, clips added, edited etc. Finally, the top right hand area of the screen is in regards to playing back the film that you have been making, which is played back in relation to what is in the timeline below it.

Having now briefly looked into and introduced how you go about setting up and creating a new project in Premiere I am now about to move further on will exploring the features of Premiere, as personally I feel that it is beneficial to get used to and know how to work the program prior to starting the design stage and starting my promotional video.

Blog Post 51 - Stage 3 - Adobe Premiere - Introduction

Adobe Premiere Logo

Having now completed the second stage of the assignment, the third and final stage is in regards to creating a promotional video for my chosen DVD Film. For information, I will reiterate the specification for this stage below:

"Create a short (1 minute) promotional video for your finished package. This must be edited in Premiere, and you may import previously created elements from Photoshop or Illustrator. You will be expected to demonstrate, at minimum, import images and video, setting up a Premiere project with the right frame size and frame rate (and widescreen), trimming clips, adding transitions to clips, and adding titles over clips. You will submit this video as a Quicktime movie file encoded with the DV codec."

As mentioned, this promotional video will be created in the program of Adobe Premiere however elements that I have previously made and edited in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator can be imported - although at this early stage I am not sure if I will use too many items from these in the past however of course I will be looking to keep within the house style of the design. Prior to starting any work in Adobe Premiere Pro, it was apparent from carrying out some research that this program is also widely used within the video and film industry with example being the BBC using it and films such as "Monsters" using it too. All in all I am looking forward to expressing my creativity within this program it poses to be a very useful program to lean and use too which may benefit me in the future.

For my first introduction to Premiere, it became apparent to me that this piece of software is infact called a timeline based video editing software application whereby you can presented with a timeline of your video and this is where you can import and manipulate all of your different clips that you wish to use. Further examples being that you can add video and audio effects to them, and then preview you work in the preview box to the top right of the program screen. 

With a brief introduction to Stage Three of this assignment under way, the next blog posts will discuss the different elements of Premiere that I will discover and also the beginning of the design phase of the Promotional Video, followed by a documentation of the design and finally an evaluation of the finished Promotional Video when the time comes.

Blog Post 50 - Stage 2 - Evaluation

After the formative feedback in Blog Post 48, after carrying out the modifications to my design in the last Blog Post (number 49), this meant that my design for Stage Two was now officially completed and that I was ready to move onto Stage Three of the assignment. However, prior to moving on I feel that it is important to pause and take an overall evaluation of the second stage in a similar manner to that of Blog Post 29 whereby I evaluated Stage One. This might seem a bit overkill as I have methodically evaluated each and every stage of the design from the On Disc Label, however I think that an overall evaluation is also very important to see the bigger picture of the design process.

At this stage I think it is very much worth reiterating the original specification in regards to that of Stage Two of the assignment, which is below:

"Create a DVD on-disc label including a logo. This may be created in Photoshop and/or Illustrator. You will be expected to demonstrate, at minimum, use in Illustrator of the pen tool, type tool, placing images, brushes, clipping masks, guides, layers, transparencies, text wrap. You must submit the Illustrator workspace file."

Going through this specification in a check list type of fashion, I can conclude that:

Create a DVD on-disc label including a logo

I can confirm that I have created a DVD On Disc Label because in Blog Post 36 - Disc Template, I researched and set up the Adobe Illustrator file to be that of a DVD format which was specifically set up in regards to the sizes researched, as well as the inclusion of guides too. I can also confirm that I create a logo from scratch in Illustrator which can be found in Blog Post 46 - Logos. 

This may be created in Photoshop and/or Illustrator

I can confirm that I used Adobe Illustrator as the base program for the design, and I also utilised Adobe Photoshop too in regards to some of the previous elements that I had created and had to place into Illustrator - for example the placing of the Trio of Cars that I created in Blog Post 13. However Adobe Illustrator was the main program used, mainly due to it being a vectorised graphic editing program and Photoshop being a bitmap image editing program. 

Use of Pen Tool

I can confirm that I have used the Pen Tool in Illustrator, with two examples being the use of it in Blog Posts 43 - Gene Hunt and Blog Post 44 - Trio of Cars.

Use of Type Tool

I can confirm that I have used the Type Tool in Illustrator many times, with some examples being of Blog Post 42 - Titles and Blog Post 47 - Information also where a large range of different type tools were used with examples being the Type Tool, Type on a Path Tool and Area Type Tool.

Placing Images

I can confirm that I have placed images in Illustrator, with some examples being of Blog Post 43 - Gene Hunt, Blog Post 44 - Trio of Cars and Blog Post 46 - Logos.

Use of Brushes

I can confirm that I have used Brushes in Illustrator, with an example being in Blog Post 44 - Trio of Cars.

Use of Clipping Masks

I can confirm that I have used Clipping Masks in Illustrator, with some examples being that of Blog Post 43 - Gene Hunt and Blog Post 44 - Trio of Cars.

Use of Guides

I can confirm that I have used guides in Illustrator whereby in Blog Post 36 - Disc Template when I set up the original Disc Template I ensured that the guides were precisely set up so that during the design process I would be able to use these to help me with the design and generally aid the ease of design.

Use of Layers

I can confirm that I have used a vast array of different layers in Illustrator and an example of layers being mentioned are that of Blog Post 43 - Gene Hunt whereby I talk about creating a new layer and assigning selected objects to these new layers so that everything is all in order.

Used of Transparencies

I can confirm that I have used the options of transparencies in Illustrator with an example being in Blog Post 45 - Background Pattern whereby I created the pattern from scratch. Within this Blog Post I talked about that of the different gradients that I selected and also that of the transparencies that I used to ensure that the graduated effect of the pattern was in place.

Use of Text Wrap

I can confirm that I explored the use of Text Wrap in Illustrator which you can find in Blog Post 47 - Information, however I must admit that although I have provided evidence in exploring the text wrap feature I did not go ahead with adding this to my design. Just to prove that I have fully explored the Text Wrap element you will find Blog Post 34 - Text Wrap has a detailed explanation of Text Wrap which shows my understand and demonstrates me exploring the use of it in Illustrator.

With the above specification points being successfully carried out, personally I wanted to try and go above and beyond this specification and I feel that I have also done this too. My first example of this was researching, downloading and installing aftermarket fonts which were not originally available in any Photoshop package. This was because when trying the different fonts for my DVD Cover I just felt that they were not giving that right effect or impression that I was after and with this in mind I felt that I had to go further and not just settle for a substandard font and so did not want this to be the case for this stage of the assignment too. Therefore spending time and researching and finding fonts which I thought were the best for my cover was done - further details can be found in Blog Post 26 - Actor and Music Information, Blog Post 16 - Tag Line and Blog Post 15 - Title whereby these fonts were also carried over and used on the On Disc Label too. Another example of going above and beyond is that found in Blog Post 43 - Gene Hunt and Blog Post 44 - Trio of Cars, whereas I researched how to use the Image Trace tool in Illustrator which meant that I was able to convert a bitmap image to a vectorised graphic and then apply effects to the images to make them appear different to the rest used. Also, another example of this is in regards to Blog Post 46 - Logos I also researched how to create the retro logo which I went ahead and created.

To finish off this evaluation, I have decided that I will re-iterate another part of the specification which details that of the online blog project logbook which I feel is also important too:

"The logbook will show your complete project design process through images, annotations, sketches, notes, references, etc. It will also act as a design log where you record:

• What you are doing for each stage of the project.
• What works and what doesn’t.
• Why you have made decision x etc.

You should consider the logbook not only as a record of the actions you have taken, but an ongoing evaluation of your progress. You should also ensure that you also consider:

• The success of your final designs in terms of what works and what doesn’t.
• What you would do differently next time.
• What you would spend more or less time on next time, etc."

In regards to the above statements set out in the original specification, I feel that at the end of Stage Two of this assignment it is also important to evaluate my progress in relation to that too. Personally I feel that in the past 20 Blog Posts for this stage I have ventured into enough detail in regards to that of the what does and does not work and why I made each decision, for example that of Blog Post 44 - Trio of Cars and why I decided on where I would place the cars on the On Disc Label. In regards to what I would do differently next time, this is something that I've yet to think about and personally I do differently next time. However, as the saying goes hindsight is a wonderful thing and in hindsight I would of taken more care over ensuring the use of the vectorised graphic for the Age Certification Logo which can be found in Blog Post 49 - Modifications and where I found out about it in Blog Post 48 - Formative Feedback. Regarding timings I feel that I managed my time well however personally I felt that the entire design phase for Stage Two was quicker than that of Stage One. However, I think that this is in regards to there being less things to do this time around, for example I had already created the Trio of Cars back in Blog Post 13 and this was something that I was able to use in Blog Post 44 as opposed to having to create it from scratch.

To end, here is a copy of the final design for Stage Two of the assignment:

Having now evaluated this Stage Two of the assignment, this means that I am now ready to move onto Stage Three: Promotional Video.

Blog Post 49 - Stage 2 - Completed Design: Modifications

Following on from the formative feedback that I reviewed in the last Blog Post (48), in regard to this feedback that was received I felt it necessary to include a Modifications Blog Post that would detail any changes to that of my design for this stage of the assignment.

Placed together as a comparison in quality

As with all design elements, the first "final" design is always unlikely to be the actual finished piece and modifications will be carried out to just perfect it and tweak it in such a way so that the finished product is that of the best that it can be. With this in mind after speaking to Jamie in the Formative Feedback session he pointed out that the Age Certification Logo appeared to be a bit pixelated and this might be something to look into.

Having looked at my DVDDiscCase Illustrator file it appeared that the Age Certification Logo that I had used was the same one that I had used in Adobe Photoshop for Stage One of this assignment...as we know Photoshop is a bitmap editing program and even though I had previously downloaded and used the vectorised graphic from the BBFC website (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/downloads/logos) for that part, it had been rasterized in the process and therefore what I currently had in place on my On Disc Logo was not a vectorised graphic. To resolve this, I decided to revisit the above link to the BBFC website and download the vectorised file again and import it into my DVDDiscCase to replace what I currently had.

Modification carried out.

Overall I was very pleased with Jamie's comments in regards to the appearance of the Age Certification Logo and the fact that I did not have a vectorised image in place was something I had overlooked. However, testament to the entire design phase I was then able to find this out through the formative feedback, and then revisit and carry out the necessary modifications in this blog post.

With this in mind, I can now officially declare that as this modification has now been made and completed, this Stage of the assignment has now been completed. This now leads me onto the final element for Stage Two, a final evaluation of the completed design and design process.

Blog Post 48 - Stage 2 - Completed Design: Formative Feedback

Now that I have completed the design for Stage Two for this assignment and I have discussed and explained how, and also more importantly why, I went about this, this meant that during the time in the lectures it was possible for me to gain some feedback about my design. This was mentioned in the specification whereas it was planned that some feedback would be given to me so that I know how I am getting on and I personally felt that this was a really good idea as another pair of eyes is always beneficial in case I had overlooked something quite obvious, or just made a mistake somewhere along the design stage.

Feedback received from Michael

With this in mind, here is a scan of the written feedback that I received from one party, Michael, who was good to talk to and run through what I had done and reasons why as well as answering any questions.

Overall I was very pleased with the feedback received from Michael and it was nice to read that someone that was usually not a watcher of such a series appeared to like the design and also how the elements linked in with other. I was also pleased that the comments in regards to the copyright information was mentioned as it is always good to get some constructive criticism from an outside party too. However this time I feel that I must stand my ground and say that I overall prefer the look of the copyright text in the position that it is in (further details and information in Blog Post 47), and I must say that I agree that the text being placed around the edge is much common however personally I think that it's good to be different and for the reasons outlined in Blog Post 47 I have decided to place it where it is.

I was also able to gain some brief feedback from Jamie, who pointed out that he thought that the Age Certifcation Logo appeared to be a little pixelated, and this is something that I will certainly consider and look into which will take part of a Modifications Blog Post which will follow this Blog Post. Overall, though, I was very happy with the feedback received.

Blog Post 47 - Stage 2 - Completed Design: Information

My finished design for Stage Two: On Disc Logo

As mentioned in Blog Post 39, the following posts will be in regards to the explanation of not only how, but more importantly why I went about designing the On Disc Label in the way that I did. For reference, my finished design is posted here. In a similar vein to that of the DVD Amaray Cover, these posts will be split into the following elements: Background; Border; Titles; Gene Hunt; Trio of Cars; Background Pattern; Logos; Information. The final element that will be discussed is that of the Information.

Information

The final element of the On Disc Logo that I was to complete was that of the Information on the Disc that is included and is in regards to a few different things. I must admit that I was not too sure about what should be included on the disc in regards to written information so I decided to consult the previously carried out research back in Blog Post 37 - Disc Cover Research. Looking back at this research I was able to conclude that there were generally two areas of the information that are linked to the copyright side of information and also that of the DVD playing information such as the regional information of the disc. With this in mind I reverted back to my design for the DVD Amaray Cover because I remembered that I had placed copyright information on that DVD Information panel at the bottom of the rear cover, and I wished to keep with the house theme of the design and wording too. 

Placement of DVD Information Text

Having now an idea as to the wording that I was going to use, it now came to the point in placing the text. Prior to starting any placement, I decided to have a good think as to best location of the text. My first thoughts were to follow suit and place the information (as it is small print font size) around the border of the disc cover which would keep it out of the way of the design. However, upon further reflection and investigation I decided that this was not going to be viable firstly due to the space limitations and also I felt that it did not fit in with the design. With this in mind, I decided to go along the route of utilising the previously made pattern, which was about to come in very handy indeed. One of the biggest reasons that I chose this route was that by using this pattern as a base, it meant that by using two lines of text for the information they would be both symmetrical and fit the rest of the symmetrical design well too. I will admit that this is probably not the usual case of placing the copyright and information text however personally I feel that now that it is in place it works well and I am happy with the design.

In regards to how I went about this, the first stage was to make use of the Line Segment Tool which meant that I was able to draw a line in keeping with that of the pattern as to keep the angle the same on both side when I was doing the other side. Once the line tool was used, I was able to use the Type on a Path tool which meant that I was literally able to type on the previously made path that I had created using the Line tool. Personally I opted to use this method of text placement, as opposed to the standard text tool and then rotating it, as I felt that it would be more precise especially when in regards to having to do it for two sides too. Talking of two sides, once the text was typed in I was able to do exactly the same to the right hand side, once again utilising the Line Segment Tool and the Type on a Path Tool as well. 

At this stage of the Information blog post, I think that it is worth mentioning that I did consider another option for the placement of the Information in regards to the Text Wrap Tool. I tried this first, however in the end decided to not use it. I will admit that in relation to the specification it says that I should demonstrate the use of the Text Wrap too and although I had already gone through this in Blog Post 34 with my introductory to this tool, I felt that my previously chosen method using the Type on a Path tool was best in this case. However, in the image here you can see that I have demonstrated, again, the use of the Text wrap whereby it was wrapped to the shapes around it. Just to reiterate, I decided to not use this method as I felt it was not beneficial to my design and therefore chose another route in the form of the Type on a Path tool. 

Having now added the copyright information and also the Regional Information for the DVD this meant that I had added all of the different elements to the On Disc Label which I had wanted to, and therefore with all of the different stages and elements having been brought together I am now at a point of evaluating the On Disc Label as a whole. However, prior to this I will be reviewing some feedback that I have received from an outside party as to if they had any constructive criticism or not in regards to my design. With this in mind, the next stage will be in regards to feedback received.