Premiere Elements 11 - poor render quality?

[Prizm4]

I was reading a review of Premiere Elements 11, and it was noted that PE11 had limited render options which can result in poor quality output files:

"Rendering quality is limited to the original format, which is usually consumer-grade and heavily compressed, so adding an effect can degrade the video quality in the final rendered version when viewed at full size, especially in fast-moving scenes. Changing the preferences to slower/better quality helps, but does not eliminate this problem."
http://www.techhive.com/article/2010628/review-adobe-premiere-elements-11-offers-an-easy-fast-and-si...

Does anyone have any feedback on this? Are the rendering options limited?

I am currently downloading the trial to test it. I tried using the "Adobe Download Assistant" but the download speed was poor, so I had to switch to a scene release on a filehosting site instead (good one Adobe).

thanks

[Steve Grisetti]

Not in my experience.

There are, in fact, dozens of possible output options, every one of which is customizable so that it's optimized for whatever use you select. So you can certainly get a video output that looks virtually identical to what you put in.

Of course, a lot depends on what type of video you're using as your source. High quality hi-def videos, like HDV and AVCHD, are obviously going to produce sharper, higher def videos than video shot with an iPod.

But the quality of the output from Premiere Elements is every bit the quality of output from Premiere Pro, Final Cut, Vegas or any other semi-pro or professional video editor.

[Steve Grisetti]

I've just read the review you linked to, and I disagree with that reviewer on a number of issues. He says, for instance: "importing digital assets into the Organizer, even from iPhoto, it makes a separate copy of each image or video to the Adobe folder" -- which isn't even remotely true.

Although I do agree that "Rendering quality is limited to the original format." Because, well -- duh, you can't get high-def output from standard definition video.

If you've like to know about my thoughts on the program and its features, based on my 9 years experience using it and several weeks of working with version 11, you can check out my reviews on the left side of this page:

http://Muvipix.com/pe11.php

[Prizm4]

Thanks for your input Steve.

"Although I do agree that "Rendering quality is limited to the original format." Because, well -- duh, you can't get high-def output from standard definition video."

I wasn't sure what the author meant by "original format". I thought he was talking about file format or video format (whether interlaced or not, how many FPS, etc), though of course that's very limiting. He never mentioned anything silly like wanting to convert something to high def and expecting HD quality. But are you saying rendered files can't be upscaled?

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm saying you can't produce a high quality file at 1920x1080 from a video that's 720x480.

You can still PRODUCE the file. It's just not going to look good. And that's true no matter what video editor you use.

[the_wine_snob]

Upscaling is ALWAYS going to degrade the Video, as one is creating pixels, where none existed. It is the same with digital Still Images.

I do not know that reviewer, but many seem to have no clue, when it concerns digital Video, and digital Still Images. They might know IT subjects, but when it comes to processing pixels, they appear to come up very short.

For upscaling from SD to HD, about the best that one can do, is to use a program, like Red Giant's Magic Bullet Instant HD (there are a few others too), but as the quality will never be equal to HD, so the editor needs to decide if the quality is acceptable, or not. For some users, programs, like Instant HD, DO create acceptable results, but for others, it is not good. One must test with their footage, and with their eyes, to determine if the results are satisfactory. Unfortunately, it appears that Instant HD Advanced has been discountinued. Here is a possible alternate program: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-compositing-effects/127157-topaz-enhance-vs-instant-hd-advanced....

Good luck,

Hunt

[Valdo_PT]

The Mpeg rendering have such bad quality in APEleements, and it trembls so much whenever there is movement in the vídeo. I have Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11.0 and the quality for the same videos is so much better. I wanted to buy APElements also, but watching the APE rendered film, made me not want to buy it anymore. (My camera is a Sony HDR-XR550 with AVCHD quality.

[A_T__Romano]

Valdo_PT

A major factor in the type of issue that you describe goes to how the project was set up and the selection for export.

For us to rule in or out those types of factors, more information is needed.

1.Computer operating system....?

2. Project Preset.....Are you setting the project preset manually or are you letting the project it do it automatically based on the properties of the first file that you

drag to the Timeline? See Edit Menu/Project Settings/General.

3. Properties of the source file(s).....You say they were videos recorded with Sony HDR-XR550/AVCHD video compression..... are they 1920 x 1080 @ 29.97 interlaced frames per second or something else? What is the file extension?

4. What is your export selection?

Are your major problems in Edit area or Export area? Have you applied Field Options to your video if your camera is recording interlaced and not progressive video?

Let us start here and then decide what next.

Thanks.

ATR

[A_T__Romano]

Valdo_PT

Go idea to start your own new thread rather than to tack onto an older thread.

Problems with the same symptoms can (often do) have different causes.

And, we need to focus in on your specific situation which will be defined by your subsequent

details.

Thank you.

ATR

[Valdo_PT]

I had started, but it was deleted. So I started again now:

Rendering quality bad using Adobe Premiere elements.

[John T Smith]

Importing Video http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1065281

Saving & Sharing http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1051093

Sharing for Computer http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1058237

[Guest]

Another season, another review, and again far from the facts. This is only slightly better than the outright dubious ones by some weirdos in the previous releases!!

I have just downloaded the trial version and have done "rendering" and "export" and so I have no clue what he is talking about!! I tried an AVCHD clip and changed the opacity so that it requires rendering. I also added Guassian Blur to get it to need render (It used to be a Red line till PrE10, it is Yellowish now..). What I noticed was that the rendering happened very quickly and the rendered file was 1/2 the height and 1/2 the width. I find that verrrrry convenient, because when someone does rendering, it is because they want to have a quick look at how the composition looks like with their effects, titles, transitions, PiPs etc. It is done only to get an idea of what it looks like and is in no way related to how the exported output will look like. To get a preview of that this quickly is a good feature. Then I noticed an option in the preferences where they have given the option to change the render quality and hence speed back to the Full Quality - Slower Speed. but you know what? I don't think the reviewer is even looking at this.

What he means is the exported output. The ones under Publish/Share tab in PrE11. In my tests I find that the render quality has no impact on the exported quality. I exported it to a AVCHD-1920x1080-30p preset and I found it to be just as good as it was in PrE10. Same file size and same bit rate, just to confirm. "Rendering is limited to the original format.." What does he mean? If he meant export, I can again confidently say that you can export the same AVCHD file to NTSC DV Standard, WMV (WMV9), QuickTime (MOV wrapper) and multiple other formats. The export presets can be chosen immaterial of the input videos/timeline. If he means rendering (The one where you hit "Enter" on the timeline), the format is and has been "All-I-Frame-MPEG2" - that is Fixed.

I can assure you that the quality of finished output has and will depend on the combination of choice of the file (it's properties), the project setting (that is automatic - again!), the export preset resolution and frame rate (choose this as close as the original for best results) and the bit rate (higher is better - mostly). And this is no different from PrE10, 9, 8, 7, ..... The very fact that PrE has been giving the user options and control and at the same time makes it easy for novices over the years, is good enough reason for me to continuously go for it.