As one of the focal points of the VLACH is the video platform, the creation, editing and publication of the clips are described in detail here. Before the videos are prepared for publication, they should be cut and mastered. The following description describes the whole process when working in Adobe Premiere.
Step 1: Preparation
Download the latest version of folder “Manuals and intros” from the VLACH Studio at ÖAW Austriaca on your computer. If you do not have acces, ask us to providde you with the folder which contains all the necessary files. Find VLACH Muster in the folder.
When you open the Muster, if Premiere does not have access to the files, please click on the offline media under the new file path manually by right-clicking> Merge Media> Search. Premiere then connects and automatically links all other missing files in the appropriate folder.
Make a copy of this file and save it as a reference and every time you need a new project, you change the name of the copy to the project name.
Step 2: Import files
Click [Import> Import] to add video and other files to the project.
Step 3: Save and name (ID-number)
Please save the project again, so that the pattern file is not changed! To do this, go to the top left [File> Save as ...> NameXY].
The naming of the file should correspond to the ID number of the clip, which is composed as shown in the table. Consult Glottolog data base for the glottocode. In case we do not have many recordings from a variety, we prefer a glottocode from a higher range and mention the exact variety in the intro.
The ID number has 16 digits. When the clips go beyound 10, one zero has to disappear:
- megl1237GRV0001a
- megl1237GRV0010a
When we publish clips from the same variety, but another country, numeration starts from 1 again:
- megl1237MKV0001a
- megl1237MKV0002a
- megl1237GRV0001a
For the moment, mostly all our clips are a-versions. We name it b, c, d version when there was more than 10% changed or added.
Step 4: Set cutting area
Step 4: Set cutting area
Drag and drop the video into the editing area and adjust it to the green marked intro and outro. The video file should be in video track one (V1). Pull the rows for the subtitles into video tracks V2 + V3 as needed. When you move the mouse pointer over the edges, a parenthesis symbol appears, with which you can draw the ligaments.
General:
- Ctrl + Z to undo the last step.
- Use + and - to zoom in and out in the section area.
- The Magnet Tool makes it easy to seamlessly adjust the tracks.
- Left click on an empty space + del clears the gap and lets the files slip on.
- Overlaid files disappear! Take care when dragging and dropping!
- Press "C" to turn your mouse pointer into a razor blade for cutting.
- Press "V" to get the old mouse pointer back.
Step 5: Adjust video
If the video is recorded in a resolution larger or smaller than 1080x1920, you can scale the video to the correct size. To do this, go to the "Effect settings" tab on the top left. You can now adjust the video under> Motion> Scale.
Step 6: Create subtitles
If you are using the latest version of Muster the subtitles are already placed as shown in the image.
Rules of thumb for subtitles:
The editor decides after feeling how long a title has to stand. However, the subtitle should start with the first transcribed sound. In addition, the title should never break off before the last word is spoken. On the contrary, the text should still stand a bit, if speech pauses allow it.
See also captions help and this tutorial.
Step 7: Edit subtitles
New subtitles are added by the "+" symbol. The new title appends to the previous title. A newly created subtitle takes over the settings of its predecessor. A subsequent change of all titles is not possible with one click. Set all the settings as shown.
Letterbox: To remove the black bar of the letterbox, first click on the red boxed icon. Then set the % number next to the pen icon to 0% to maximize transparency.
Font color: White for the lower subtitles, yellow for the upper subtitles. Tip: click in the intro to accept the color code or type in the code: FFB227.
The font size of the subtitles - original language is [60] and for the translation is [55]. These variables should not be changed.
The text background should be black and set on 40% for both languages.
The position of the subtitles is indicated by the matrix marked here in blue. If you were to place the point in the middle of the example above, the title will be centered there as well. Lines that are too long are automatically left justified by Premiere. To understand when a line is too long, you can activate "Safe areas" (wrench icon in the program window). If a line goes beyond the inner line, it is too long. Divide lines that are too long into two shorter subtitles.
Step 8: Intro and Outro
To edit the name and descriptions in the header, double-click the title file "IntroTEXT". The title text field will open in the middle of the screen. You can now edit the text. Do the same with the credits. Double-click "OutroTEXT" etc.
- First write the new text behind the sample text! Then delete the sample text. Otherwise, the font size or color can change!
- Click on the text layer with the timeline cursor as in the example image. The text always appears on the background where the cursor is, not where the title is.
If you use ELAN templates or Subtitles edit to create the subtitles, you should export the srt files and try to import them into Adobe Premiere. Unfortunately, in our experience, errors occur.
If you create and use subtitle in Word templates (for example, VLACH Transcription), you will need to manually transfer each subtitle from the transcription tables and check afterwards.
Rules for the layout intro and outro:
- The last version of intro/outro is in the Vlach Share Lab (intranet):
- VLACH_INTRO_H264
- VLACH_OUTRO_H264
- When there are two performers, they must be named in one line in alphabetic order and separated by a comma. Three or more persons must be named in one line each.
- When adding lines, delete free lines to keep the distances.
- When we mention roles of performers, we deviate from alphabetic order and establish an order of importance, e.g. singer, main instrument, accompanying instrument.
- We use the n-dash (not hyphen/minus) in titles, youtube, intro. Between location and region there is a n-dash. Between the region and the country there is a comma.
- Use Latin characters also for the original languages.
- In principle, the location in the INTRO is the location where the interview happened. When an interviewed person is living at least half of the year at another place or when an interviewed person has migrated to the location of interview less than 25 years before and is an active speaker of the variety spoken in the location of origin, we may indicate additionally another location.
- When you combine more than one story or song in the title, do not use "and", but the & symbol in the intro.
- Categories of the outro are named in this order:
- camera
- interview
- transcription
- english translation
- interview assistant
- local assistant
- scientific advisor
- project coordinator
- editor
- copyright year
Step 9: Corrections
The "Auto Color" and "Auto Contrast" effects create an automatic, usually convincing color correction. The "Fast Color" Correction effect lets you make the correction manually. If further processing is needed, the user can utilise the cutter.
The sound display can be found to the right of the editing area. Good sound levels usually peak between -12 and -6 decibels and never go into the red area. You can also vary the volume under "Effect settings".
Step 10: Export
Step 10: Export
Before exporting, the workspace must be marked. Make sure that the "Workspace Bar" is enabled in the timeline panel.
Then set the working area to the entire length! Everything within the workspace is exported. Outside it, nothing is exported.
If the workspace is highlighted correctly, press Ctrl + M to open the export settings. Select the settings as shown.
To find the correct output settings, click "Match with source". As soon as you change the settings individually, the default changes to "Custom". By the end, the settings should be as shown here.
With "exporting“, you request the video out immediately. The Queue field places the export job in Adobe Media Encoder CC. You can collect multiple projects in the Media Encoder. You start the queue through the green arrow / triangle in the top right corner. Since exporting the videos takes a lot of time and computing power, it is advisable to use the Media Encoder and to accumulate a certain amount of video projects, then leaving the PC to perform the encoding. We strongly advise against users with PCs with less than 16 GB of RAM from using the PC during exporting.
