"How do I change the Timeline still duration for all my Timeline stills so that I get the same new duration for each all at one time?" is a frequently asked question. This can be done
- BEFORE import: Edit Menu/Preferences/General and re-setting its Still Image Default Duration (works for all stills imported after the setting has been changed)
- AFTER import: Selecting* the involved Timeline stills all at one time, right clicking anywhere in the selection, selecting Time Stretch in the menu that appears, and then using the Time Stretch dialog's duration to change the still image duration for all those stills which were selected.
Recently a Premiere Elements 13/13.1 user asked about changing the Timeline still image duration for 4 stills all at one time, was given the instructions for the AFTER import/Time Stretch way, and reported that it did not work. Why?
SOLUTION
The AFTER import/Time Stretch way works only when all the stills in the selection have the same duration before the attempted duration change. If one of the stills in the selection has a duration different than the others in the selection, then, when the Time Stretch dialog opens, the duration field is found inactive. The forced decision is then
- do the still image duration changes for the Timeline stills individually
- set the Still Image Default Duration in preferences BEFORE import of the stills to the Timeline.
The AFTER/Time Stretch way is possible only in Premiere Elements 8.0/8.0.1, 9.0/9.0.1, 10, 11, 12, and 13/13.1. And, the Copy/Paste Effects and Adjustments (or Copy/Paste Attributes*) is not a workaround for AFTER import/Time Stretch in these versions.
COMMENTARY
Occasionally a user with a Time Lapse video project*** will report that he/she could not change the duration of all the stills in the Time Lapse sequence using the AFTER/Time Stretch way. In those cases, it was found that somehow a video clip got mixed in with the still sequence on the Timeline. And, video is more likely to have a different duration than stills. Interestingly, if stills were 5 seconds and 12 seconds video was trimmed to 5 seconds and included in the Timeline with the 5 seconds stills, then the AFTER/Time Stretch way would work to change duration for the Timeline 5 second video and each of the 5 second stills to a new duration.
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* To select more than 1 still at a time
- as the Shift key is being held down, click on each of the stills wanted
- with the mouse cursor, draw a rectangle around the stills wanted to select them
*** http://atr935.blogspot.com/2013/07/pe-time-lapse-video-basics.html
ATR
