PE 13/13.1: Hardware Acceleration Preference

INTRODUCTION

Premiere Elements 13 was released with a "Use Hardware Acceleration (works on Intel HD Graphics 2000 and higher)" preference in Edit Menu/Preferences/General. This preference is enabled by default and is specific for the HD Graphic 2000 and higher video card/graphics card. It does not apply to the video card/graphic card named just Intel HD Graphics. The enabled/disabled setting for this preference has been associated with no plugin.dll messages and an assortment of export issues including failure to find export files after a supposed successful export.

In September 2014, shortly after the release of Premiere Elements 13, Adobe's PRE_help (Premiere Elements Team) offered the following details in the Adobe Premiere Elements Forum about this "Use Hardware Acceleration..." preference. The Premiere Elements Help team wrote (see gray shaded quote that follows)

Premiere Elements 13 does not support CUDA.

We do support Intel based hardware acceleration on 64-bit Windows installations. If you have the Intel HD Graphics display adaptor, look for the version number. If it is Intel HD Graphics 2xxx, or above (3xxx, 4xxx, 5xxx), the following features are accelerated
1. Rendering
2. Publish/Share (MPEG and AVC presets)

This is governed by a setting in preferences (Edit -> Preferences -> General -> Use Hardware Acceleration... checkbox). It is turned ON by default.

This is only for the mentioned Intel hardware. Even if you have a nVidia/ATI display adaptor that is generally considered "more powerful", the feature will not work unless the supported Intel display adaptor is available.

Regards,
Premiere Elements Team

CUDA which is not supported by any version of Premiere Elements is a NVIDIA technology which works on certain NVIDIA video cards/graphics cards. Premiere Pro and CUDA are described HERE by Adobe's Todd Kopriva.

ISSUE 

Since Premiere Elements (any version) does not support CUDA, it is frequently assumed that Hardware Acceleration* does not exist in any version of Premiere Elements.

SOLUTION

See the Adobe PRE_help statement confirming the existence of Hardware Acceleration for Premiere Elements 13/13.1 "Rendering and Publish+Share (MPEG and AVC presets)" when the computer uses specifically Intel HD Graphics 2000 and higher video card/graphics card and Hardware Acceleration is enabled in preferences. See Figure 1.
 

Figure 1. Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Preference "Use Hardware Acceleration (Works On Intel HD Graphics 2000 And Higher)" Found Edit Menu/Preferences/General.

To identify video card/graphics card in Windows - see Device Manager/Display Adapters/.

COMMENTARY

None of our computers use an Intel HD Graphics 2000 and higher video card/graphics card, so we have not been able to gauge how much faster "render and Publish+Share/MPEG and AVC presets" go in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 when using a computer with an Intel HD Graphic 2000 and higher card and "Use Hardware Acceleration (works on Intel HD Graphic 2000 and higher)" enabled in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 preferences. We will be watching for some quantification on that point from Adobe and/or others.

Update October 30, 2015.
The "Use Hardware Acceleration (works on Intel HD Graphics 2000 and higher/newer)" preference appears to available in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 or 14 when the program is on a Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 64 bit computer. From all reports, the preference is not found in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 and 14 on Windows 32 bit and Mac.


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*Hardware Acceleration as defined in this case as using a video card/graphics card (GPU) to perform some functions faster than would be the case on CPU.

ATR

PE 13/13.1: Missing VBR, 2 Pass Bitrate Encoding Choice

INTRODUCTION

Soon after the release of Premiere Elements 13 in September 2014, forum threads began to appear asking "What happened to the Bitrate Encoding option of VBR, 2 Pass* in Premiere Elements 13?" And, subsequently in October, 2014, Adobe's PRE_help (Premiere Elements Team) responded in one of those threads

We acknowledge the missing 2-Pass Encoding as a bug and will look at it the next version.

When we looked at the issue then in the early days of Premiere Elements 13, it was found that VBR, 2 pass option was available for the presets under Premiere Elements 13 Advanced export settings for Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG or Windows Media, but not Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD or XAVC-S.

On February 5, 2015, Adobe released the 13.1 update for Premiere Elements 13. Details of the 13.1 update's features and fixes can be found in the February 5, 2015 blog post "PE 13: Adobe Releases Premiere Elements 13.1 Update". The 13.1 update did not address the missing Bitrate Encoding option of VBR, 2 Pass for Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD or XAVC-S.

ISSUE

Not only did the 13.1 update not address the issue of the missing VBR, 2 Pass for Publish+Share/Computer AVCHD or XAVC-S, but it added to the missing when it removed the VBR, 2 Pass option that did exist in the 13 version under Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG. However, the 13.1 update did not remove the VBR, 2 Pass options that existed in the 13 version under  Publish+Share/Computer/Windows Media.

SOLUTION***

For Premiere Elements 13 users wanting VBR, 2 Pass for Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG, do not install the 13.1 Update. If VBR, 2 Pass is needed for Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD or XAVC-S, it would appear purchase of the next version** is the only solution if Adobe decides to include Bitrate Encoding VBR, 2 Pass in feature set of the next version..

Based on the findings, the situation that now exists..

Premiere Elements 13 Users...

Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG
Bitrate Encoding options:
CBR
VBR, 1 Pass, 
VBR, 2 Pass

Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD or XAVC-S
Bitrate Encoding options:
CBR
VBR, 1 Pass

Publish+Share/Computer/Windows Media
Bitrate Encoding options:
CBR, 1 Pass
VBR, 1 Pass
CBR, 2 Pass
VBR, 2 Pass Contrained
VBR, 2 Pass Unconstrained

Publish+Share/Computer/AVI or QuickTime does not offer Bitrate Encoding options in Advanced export settings.

Premiere Elements 13.1 Users...

Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG
Bitrate Encoding options:
CBR
VBR, 1 Pass

Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD or XAVC-S
Bitrate Encoding options:
CBR
VBR, 1 Pass

Publish+Share/Computer/Windows Media
Bitrate Encoding options:
CBR, 1 Pass
VBR, 1 Pass
CBR, 2 Pass
VBR, 2 Pass Constrained
VBR, 2 Pass Unconstrained

Publish+Share/Computer/AVI or QuickTime does not offer Bitrate Encoding options in Advanced export settings.

COMMENTARY

The fate of the Bitrate Encoding VBR, 2 Pass option in the new Premere Elements version will be reported in this blog post once the new version in released (assumed end of September 2015). Premiere Elements 12/12.1 does have the Bitrate Encoding VBR, 2 Pass choice under Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG, AVCHD, XAVC-S, and Windows Media.


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*Rough description: Bitrate Encoding option VBR, 2 Pass...analysis during first pass, encoding during second pass...VBR, 2 Pass choice often made for quality considerations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_bitrate
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd743105%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

**If history repeats itself, Adobe should be releasing a new version of Premiere Elements in September-October 2015 (presumed named version 14). Typically new features and what remains and what is removed from the previous version are known to the user only at the moment of release of the new version.

***Study done on Windows 7 64 bit and Windows 10 Pro 64 bit with tryout and purchased Premiere Elements 13 with and without the 13.1 update.

PE 13/13.1: Failure to Add Media from Mobile Albums (Adobe Revel)

INTRODUCTION

The Adobe Revel presence in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Editor is seen at the import and export levels.

• On the Import side....In the Editor's Expert and Quick workspaces' Add Media includes an Elements Organizer choice for accessing source files for the project from Mobile Albums (Adobe Revel) as well as from Local Albums. 

• On the Export side....A project's Timeline content can be uploaded as AVCHD.mp4 (1280 x 720 @ 29.97 progressive frames per second) to Adobe Revel using Publish+Share/Private Web Album.

The same Mobile Albums and Local Albums seen in the Editor under Add Media can be seen in the Elements Organizer workspace's Album Column to the far left of that workspace. And, files in these albums can be introduced into the Editor by right clicking the file's thumbnail in the Elements Organizer workspace and selecting "Edit with Premiere Elements Editor" from the drop down menu that appears.

That is the way that these Adobe Revel features work in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 or, we thought that they did.

ISSUE 

It has been found that the Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Editor user cannot get source files for the project from Mobile Albums using the Editor's Add Media/Elements Organizer and the choice of files in any of the Mobile Albums. This situation exists in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 on Windows 7 Professional SP1, Windows 8.1 64 bit, Windows 10 Home 64 bit, and Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. The problem does not exist in Premiere Elements 12/12.1 on the same computer with Premiere Elements 13/13.1.

In looking at this Add Media from Mobile Albums problem closer, it is seen that highlighting/selecting the Mobile Album's file and clicking Add Files results in two error messages.

• Downloading Files dialog - "Gathering account Info"

         and

• Error dialog - "Could not collect login info".

 See Figure 1.

Figure 1. Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Add Media/Elements Organizer And Mobile Albums File Selected/Highlighted And Then Add Files Clicked Resulting In Two Error Messages Different Than Those Displayed In Figure 2.

And, then when Mobile Album file's thumbnail is dragged to the Editor's Timeline, two other error messages appear

• Downloading dialog - "Checking for asset revision"

         and

• Download Unsuccessful dialog - "Couldn't download files. Please check your network connection.

See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Add Media/Elements Organizer And Mobile Albums File Dragged To Editor Timeline Resulting In Two Error Messages.

All other Adobe Revel features in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 appear to be working as expected, with the exception of the Editor's Add Media/Elements Organizer and specifically Mobile Albums. The Local Albums do not appear affected by this matter.

SOLUTION

The cause of the failure to Add Media from Mobile Albums (Adobe Revel) was found to be related to the Premiere Elements 13.1 Update. The problem does not exist in Premiere Elements 13 and in Premiere Elements 12/12.1. It is not known what in that 13.1 update could have triggered this particular Editor Add Media failure. Confirming information is being sought.

Two possible workarounds might be

 Do not update 13 to 13.1  
This situation exists in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 on Windows 7 Professional SP1, Windows 8.1 64 bit, Windows 10 Home 64 bit, and Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.
 

or 

Bring the Mobile Album files into the Editor workspace from the Elements Organizer workspace directly instead of using the Editor's Add Media/Elements Organizer with its Mobile Albums choice. 
Files in these Mobile Albums can be introduced into the Editor by right clicking the file's thumbnail in the Elements Organizer workspace and selecting "Edit with Premiere Elements Editor" from the drop down menu that appears.

COMMENTARY 

Work in progress.


ATR

PE 13/13.1: Adding User Sounds Under Audio Tab

INTRODUCTION

Under the Audio Tab of the Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Expert and Quick workspace are Music Scores and Sound Effects.

Music Score has 7 subcategories and a total of 51 free soundtracks, customizable according to SmartSound concept, but this is not SmartSound . The Music Score subcategories and the number of soundtracks in them are Ambient (6), Atmospheric (8), Blues (2), Country (5), Rock-Pop (22), Urban (4), and Weddings (5).

Sound Effects has 13 subcategories and a total of 268 free sound effects. The Sound Effects subcategories and the number of sound effects in them are Ambience (49), Animals (10), Cartoon Effects (20), Crashes (10), Fire and Explosions (18), Foley (30), Impacts (20), Industry (10), Liquids (10), Science Fiction (30), Technology (30), Transportation (11), and Weather (20).

Recently the question was asked about adding user subcategories and sound effects to the existing Adobe ones. This blog post will focus on a suggested how to for doing that.

HOW TO ADD USER SOUNDS UNDER AUDIO TAB

STEP 1. 
Follow the path to the Sound Effects in the Program Data. In Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 64 bit, use the following path

Local Disk (C:) 
Program Data
13.0
Online
Sound Effects
All_Lang
in the All_Lang Folder are the  13 subcategory folders cited in the INTRODUCTION.

STEP 2.
Example being given is for adding one new subcategory which is titled "My Special Sounds" and the sound placement of a user Door Closing sound (.wav or .mp3) in the Program Data - Online Folder route so that the sound can be accessed under the Audio Tab of an opened Premiere Elements 13/13.1 project...Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 computer.
 
(a) Right click anywhere in a blank area in the opened All_Lang Folder, and create a new folder and name it "My Special Sounds".

Figure 1. Premiere Elements 13/13.1 "My Special Sounds" Folder Creation In All_Lang Folder.

 (b) In the "My Special Sounds" Folder create another folder and name it Door Closing. 

(c) The Door Closing Folder should contain

• the sound file named door closing_prv.wav (using that naming format)
• a copy of the manifest.txt file borrowed from one of the Adobe sound effects 

The WordPad document for the manifest.txt file reads the same for all the Adobe sound effects.

Figure 2. Sound Effects Metadata.Xml WordPad Document.

Preliminary tests seem to indicate that a door closing_prv.mp3 would also work. Variations in the duration of the sound file in the door Door Closing Folder has not been fully tested, but preliminary findings suggest OK to at least 2 minutes. 

COMMENTARY

Planning new subcategory folder strategy and placement of sound file in its folder needs to be done beforehand to avoid confusion between existing and new Sounds Effects under the Audio Tab. The above is just a quick look at the basics of adding user sounds under Audio Tab/Sound Effects.


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ATR
  

PE: Premiere Elements On Windows 10 Daily Discoveries

INTRODUCTION

On July 29, 2015 Microsoft started delivering free Windows 10 to the computers belonging to those who had reserved a copy beforehand. Apparently it can take days to weeks before all those reserving Windows 10 will actually get them. And what one gets will depend on the existing computer operating system of the computer receiving Windows 10. Two examples of possible Windows 10 edition that might be expected

• If currently Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit, then Windows 10 edition will be Windows 10 Professional 64 bit

• If currently Windows 8.1 64 bit, then Windows 10 edition will be Window 10 Home 64 bit

Full description of Windows 10 editions, what edition to expect, and features of the editions can be found HERE.

Many Premiere Element users are asking "Is Premiere Elements this version or that compatible with Windows 10?" And, others who have begun to work with a Premiere Elements version on Windows 10 and run into a project problem are asking "Is this or that problem because I am running my version of Premiere Elements on Windows 10?"

The following blog post will focus in on Daily Discoveries related to this matter.

DAILY DISCOVERIES

001. Getting Windows 10 Now If Sending Of Reserved Copy To Your Computer From Microsoft Is Delayed

The following was done to obtain Windows 10 Home 64 bit to replace Windows 8.1 64 bit operating system which had installed on it Premiere Elements 10, 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1.

Step 1. Downloaded the MediaCreationTool64.exe by clicking on the Download Tool Now (64 bit version) button in the following link
 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Step 2. Right clicked the MediaCreationTool64.exe and selected Run As Administrator to open the Window 10 Setup Dialog. The Windows 10 Setup Dialog asked "What do you want to do?" and gave two choices

Upgrade this PC Now
or
Create installation media for another PC

Selected Upgrade this PC Now.

Step 3. The stages that followed the selection of "Upgrade this PC Now" were

Downloading Windows 10
Creating Windows 10 Media
Preparing
Getting Updates
License Terms
Choose What To Keep
Getting Updates
Making sure you're ready to install
Ready to install with two options preselected
              Install Windows 10 Home
              Keep personal files and apps
Installing Windows 10
Restart of computer

The Restart of the computer included 3 phases before Windows 10 Home 64 bit opened
Coping files
Installing features and drivers
Configuring Settings
This three phases took over 2 hours to complete.

Step 4. Quick checks of Premiere Elements survival during the operating system upgrade included Premiere Elements 13/13.1 and Premiere Elements 11 burn to disc DVD-VIDEO Widescreen on DVD disc and burn to disc AVCHD on DVD disc. All were completed successfully. At this time, there is no indication of app changes before versus ofter Windows 10 install.

Step 5. The above was repeated to obtain Windows 10 Pro 64 bit to replace Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit operating system which had installed on it Premiere Elements 12/12.1, and 13/13.1. All went well, except, when Windows 10 opened after the Restart operations, problems were run into and corrected
a. No sound...had to reinstall the prior audio driver
b. Windows 10 notification that a DirectPlay feature needed to be installed, so permission was given to install it.
c. Screen Resolution settings were found lowered and had to be increased to the native resolution of the monitor (1400 x 900).

Step 6. If the decision is to go back to Windows 8.1 64 bit after install of Windows 10 Home 64 bit, this "option is available for only a month after install of Windows 10", using Start button/Settings/Update & Security/Recovery. Same is true for going back to Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit after install of Windows 10.

002. Premiere Elements 10/NVIDIA GeForce Issue Same On Windows 10 As With Earlier Windows Editions

The Premiere Elements 10/NVIDIA GeForce issue is the same before and after install of Windows 10. Again, up to date NVIDIA GeForce driver version is not the answer to the display issues specific to Premiere Elements 10/NVIDIA GeForce. Driver roll back to about May 2013 continues to be the answer to this issue unresolved by Adobe and NVIDIA.
http://atr935.blogspot.com/2014/02/pe10-nvidia-video-card-roll-back.html

003. TS File Support Or Non Support Is The Same Whether Premiere Elements Elements Organizer 12/12.1 and 13/13.1 Are On Windows 10 Home or Pro 64 bit Or Windows 7 Professional S1 64 bit or Windows 8.1 64 bit.

Windows 10 Home or Pro 64 bit
Premiere Elements 12/12.1 Editor, MPEG2.ts file imported
Elements Organizer 12/12.1, MPEG2.ts file would not import
Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Editor, MPEG2.ts file imported
Elements Organizer 13/13.1, MPEG2.ts file would not import

Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit
Same As Above

Note. With Premiere Elements Editor 8.0/8.0.1, 9.0/9.0.1, 10, 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1 all on the same Windows 7 Professional SP 64 bit computer, import results for the same MPEG2.ts file were
MPEG2.ts would not import in 8.0/8.0.1 and 9.0/9.0.1
MPEG2.ts would import into 10, 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1
First impression is that these findings are not consistent with a missing codec behind the results.

004. Microsoft's Free Windows 10 "Windows DVD Player" And Its Playback Of Premiere Elements Produced DVD-VIDEO Standard And Widescreen On DVD Disc  
Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit was upgraded to Windows 10 Pro 64 bit as described in Item 001 of this blog. Under the circumstances, it became eligible for the free Windows 10 "Windows DVD Player" from Microsoft.

The free Windows DVD Player is delivered to Windows 10 as a Windows Update KB3081704 according to the details given HERE.

"Video could not be decoded" was the message from that player whether playback was sought for DVD-VIDEO on DVD disc from Premiere Elements generated DVD-VIDEO on DVD disc or from store purchased movies as DVD-VIDEO on DVD disc.

The current free VLC Player (version 2.2.1) was downloaded and installed to Windows 10, and no problems were found getting playback from these same DVD discs with menus.

005. QuickTime 7 Requirement For Premiere Elements On Windows 10
IMPORTANT: See Update 01/29/2016 at bottom of this Item 005.

System Requirements for Premiere Elements include the installation of QuickTime 7 latest version on the same computer with Premiere Elements. And, the following source of the QuickTime 7 download has been  
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
That Apple web site is now displaying QuickTime 7.7.8 as the current version of QuickTime 7. This source for QuickTime latest version install has met the requirement for Premiere Elements when Premiere Elements was installed on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit. Now, if that link is used for the current version of QuickTime 7 (7.7.8) on Windows 10, the installation of it fails on Windows 10 with the message that the download is only for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The current online solution for this matter seems to be to stay with QuickTime 7.7.6 for Windows 10. Suggested download of 7.7.6 is from https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1822?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US if it is not already installed on Windows 10 64 bit.

The situation that exists for our computers in this regard is conflicting

Laptop Windows 10 Home 64 bit (upgraded to from Windows 8.1 64 bit)
Control Panel. QuickTime 7. Version 7.76.80.95
QuickTime Program. Version 7.7.6 (1680.95.31)
QuickTime Status. Up to date.

Laptop Windows 10 Pro 64 bit (upgraded to from Windows 7 Pro SP1 64 bit)
Control Panel. QuickTime 7. Version 7.77.80.95
QuickTime Program. Version 7.7.7 (1680.95.51)
QuickTime Status. Up to date.

Desktop Windows 7 Pro SP1 64 bit
Control Panel. QuickTime 7. Version 7.78.80.95
QuickTime Program. Version 7.7.8 (1680.95.71)
QuickTime Status. Up to date

QuickTime and Premiere Elements versions on all 3 of those computers are working without issues.

Although neither Window 10 computer could be updated to QuickTime latest version 7.7.8, Windows 10 Pro 64 bit was found with QuickTime 7.7.7 instead of 7.7.6 after the upgrade to Windows 10. The thought is that Apple will resolve this QuickTime for Windows 10 matter soon.

Important: Update 01/29/2016 to this Item 005. 
QuickTime 7 has since been updated by Apple from 7.7.8 to 7.7.9. Premiere Elements - Windows 10 64 bit - QuickTime 7.7.9 seem to be compatible with each other. However, automatic updating of QuickTime 7 by the installed QuickTime player has been found to be undependable. Consequently, periodic check of Apple web site for QuickTime 7 updates is recommended, and, if indicated, install the update from there. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/


More Daily Discoveries will be posted as the discoveries are made.

Work in Progress.

ATR