- Setting Up a New Project
- Diagnosing Settings-related Issues
- Working with Project Preferences
- Customizing the Workspace
- Review Questions
- Review Answers
Working with Project Preferences
For the most part, once you have the right project setting selected, you can jump in and begin editing with Premiere Elements. However, at some point you may want to adjust several program preferences that impact your editing experience. Here are the preferences that will prove relevant to most video editors.
- To open the General Preferences panel, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Adobe Premiere Elements 10 > Preferences > General (Mac OS). Multiple preferences are in this panel; most important are the Video and Audio Transition Default Durations and the Still Image Default Duration. The latter controls the duration of all still images added to your project.
- Click Auto Save to view the Auto Save preferences.
- Click ScratchDisks to view the ScratchDisks preferences. These preferences identify the folders used to store audio and video clips that Premiere Elements creates while producing your project. This includes clips captured from your camcorder, video and audio previews, and media encoded for recording onto DVD or Blu-ray Disc. By default, Premiere Elements stores this content in the same folder as the project file. If you run short of disk space, you can change the location of the scratch disk by clicking the Browse button next to each category of content and choosing a different location on a separate disk. Close the Preferences dialog.
The preceding preferences are the most critical to consider before starting your first project. With these settings configured, let’s explore other options for customizing your workspace.