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Capturing Video and Adding Files
Preparing your system for capture
Adobe Premiere Elements includes all of the tools necessary to acquire the footage from
your DV camcorder so that you can begin assembling your movie. The process, called
capturing, is easy; you simply connect your DV camcorder to your computer, and then
enable the Capture command in Adobe Premiere Elements.
However, before you capture, it is important to make sure that your system is set up
appropriately for working with digital video. Following are some general guidelines for
ensuring a DV-capable system:
Note: Adobe Premiere Elements supports capture only from video camcorders, not digital
still-image cameras. To use photos from digital cameras, you need to transfer the footage
to your hard disk, and then add them to your project.
• Make sure that your computer has an IEEE 1394 (also known as FireWire or iLink) port.
This port may either be built into your computer or available on a PCI or PC card (often
referred to as a capture card) that you install yourself. A majority of computers
manufactured in the last two years include onboard IEEE 1394 cards.
• Make sure that your hard disk is fast enough to capture and play back digital video. The
speed at which digital video files transfer information, called the data transfer rate
(often shortened to data rate), is 3.6 MB-per-second. The data transfer rate of your hard
disk should meet or exceed this rate. To achieve this rate, your hard disk must be able to
operate at 7200 rpm. Most hard disks manufactured in the last five years have this
capability. To confirm the rate or rpm speed of your hard disk, see your computer or
hard disk documentation.
• Make sure that you have sufficient disk space for the captured footage. Five minutes of
digital video occupies about one gigabyte of hard disk space. Though the Capture
window in Adobe Premiere Elements indicates the duration of footage that you can
capture based on the remaining space on your hard disk, be certain beforehand that
you will have sufficient space.
• Make sure that you periodically defragment your hard disk. Writing to a fragmented
disk can cause disruptions in your hard disk's write speed, causing you to lose, or drop,
frames as you capture. You can use the defragmentation utility included with Windows
XP, located in Start > All Programs (or Programs if you are using the Classic Mode
display) > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
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