Friday, January 31, 2014

PE: Instant Movie Theme "Outdoor Adventure" Glitch

INTRODUCTION

A Premiere Elements 12 user recently asked "Why am I getting color media offline displays at several places in my Instant Movie when I use the Outdoor Adventure theme?" At first, I pressed the user for the details of the "Where is the file....?" message that typically is associated with media offline and its displays, hoping to find the name of a missing file causing the problem. The user insisted there were no "Where is the file....?" messages, just instances of the colorful media offline displays in the Instant Movie playback in the Edit Mode monitor.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Specific to Premiere Elements 12 HD Project

Basic

When I road tested the problem with Premiere Elements 12 with a HD project preset (NTSC/AVCHD/Full HD1080i30), I got the same displays of media offline scattered in the Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure as the user who reported the problem, and no "Where is the file...?" message(s) to give me a clue as to what was missing. Two examples of the scattered media offline displays in the same Instant Movie can be seen in Figure 1 and 2.

Figure 1. Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure Display of Media Offline Disturbances. Premiere Elements 12 With NTSC/AVCHD/Full HD1080i30 Project Preset. Same Instant Movie Expert WorkspaceTimeline As In Figure 2.

Figure 2. Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure Display Of Media Offline Disturbances. Premiere Elements 12 With NTSC/AVCHD/Full HD 1080i30 Project Preset. Same Instant Movie Expert Workspace Timeline As In Figure 1.
However, when I opened Expert workspace Project Assets where the folder with the files for the Instant Movie resided, I found the problem file there by its media offline markings. It was "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png". See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure Folder Opened In Premiere Elements 12 Project Assets. Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure File Being Sought By The Instant Movie Feature Is Seen To Be "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png"
Next, I selected the built Instant Movie on the Timeline, right clicked in the selection, and selected Break Apart Instant Movie in the pop up menu that appeared. I found each use of the "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png", disabled each by right clicking the file, and removing the check mark next to Enable in the pop up menu that appear with the right click. The media offline displays now disappeared when the Instant Movie was played back at the Timeline level. This maneuver might be a corrective measure if you want to use this Instant Movie, either leaving the file "disabled" or replacing it with a file of your choice.

Intermediate

The "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png was traced back to

Local Disk C
Program Data
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
Online
Movie Themes
All_Lang
Event
Outdoor Adventure

but, in the Outdoor Adventure Folder, the file seems to appear with the name "outdoor-adventure_texture.png" not "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png. That I think is part of the whole problem.

But, here arises the possibility for another corrective action if you want to use this Outdoor Adventure Movie Theme without media offline scattered pop ups as the Instant Movie plays.
In Premiere Elements 12 Expert workspace/Project Assets, double click the Movie Theme's Folder. In that folder, right click the file with the media offline markings, select Replace Footage. Then navigate to the "outdoor-adventure_texture.png" file in the path cited above, and, in the Replace Footage dialog, select that .png, and click Open. This action will replace the missing media in the Project Assets and the missing media will be reconnected....no more media offline in the Outdoor Adventures for that project.

Possible Permanent Fix

Go to the file "outdoor-adventure_texture.png" at the end of the path (Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit)

Local Disk C
Program Data
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
Online
Movie Themes
All_Lang
Event
Outdoor Adventure

In the Outdoor Adventure Folder make a copy of the "outdoor-adventure_texture.png" and then rename it "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png" (Do not bother deleting that original that you just copied.)

When you open a Premiere Elements 12 project and opt to use the Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure theme, this should be a permanent fix for the immediate situation using a variety of project presets, SD as well as HD.

Premiere Elements 11, 10, and 9.0/9.0.1 HD Projects and Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure

The same media offline displays are scattered in the Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure in Premiere Elements 11 and 10, not 9.0/9.0.1, when the project preset was HD (NTSC/AVCHD/Full HD 1080i30). Other Premiere Elements versions were not looked at.

The Problem and SD vs HD Project

The issue presented was not found to affect the SD projects of Premiere Elements 12, 11, and 10, only HD. Premiere Elements 9.0/9.0.1 was unaffected by the issue presented whether its project was SD or HD.

Premiere Elements 12

NTSC DV Standard
outdoor-adventure_texture.png in Project Assets Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure Folder
NTSC AVCHD Full HD 1080i30
outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png in Project Assets Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure Folder
Source File
only outdoor-adventure_texture.png

Premiere Elements 11

Same as for Premiere Elements 12

Premiere Elements 10

Same as for Premiere Elements 12
(this is interesting since 10 involved Content installation from disc whereas 11 and 12 Content was downloaded kind from Adobe.)

Premiere Elements 9.0/9.0.1

NTSC DV Standard
outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png
NTSC AVCHD Full HD 1080i30
outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png
Source File
only outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png

SOLUTION

The suggested solution for Premiere Elements 10, 11, and 12 to avoid scattered instances of media offline displays in the Instant Movie Outdoor Adventure is
Go to the file "outdoor-adventure_texture.png" at the end of the path (Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit)

Local Disk C
Program Data
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
Online
Movie Themes
All_Lang
Event
Outdoor Adventure

In the Outdoor Adventure Folder make a copy of the "outdoor-adventure_texture.png" and then rename it "outdoor-adventure_s_texture.png" (Do not bother deleting that original that you just copied.)

COMMENTARY

At this time, there is no telling how many other Instant Movie themes are similarly affected. The whys behind all this probably lead back to the creation of the outdoor-adventure_s_.mvth, outdoor_adventure_w_mvth, and outdoor-adventure_hd_.mvth.

ATR