Importing, transferring, capturing, and digitizing

To operate Capture panel controls using the keyboard, see the tool tips in the Capture panel. You can change the shortcuts by choosing Edit > Keyboard Customization. To shuttle a tape quickly to a specific frame type its timecode

into the Capture Panel’s current timecode field, to the lower left of the monitor. Press Enter (Windows) or Return Mac OS).

Disable device control

Note: When device control is disabled, start playback on the device manually.

Capture without device control

If you do not have a device that Premiere Pro controls, you can capture video manually. You manually operate both the playback device controls and the Capture panel controls in Premiere Pro.

Note: Preview HDV footage on an external TV monitor, or, if the source is a camcorder, on the camcorder viewfinder while shuttling, logging, and capturing on Mac OS. The preview pane in the Capture panel shows the words Previewing On Camera.

1Make sure that the deck or camcorder is properly connected to your computer.

2Choose File > Capture.

3(Mac OS) If a QuickTime Capture Settings dialog box opens, choose video and audio settings appropriate to your project.

These settings are preserved for the project, but you can set them again for each new project.

4In the Setup area of the Logging pane, choose your media type from the Capture menu.

5Use the controls on the deck or camcorder to move the videotape to a point several seconds before the frame where you want to begin capturing.

6Press the Play button on the deck or camcorder, and then click the red Record button in the Capture panel.

7Record a few seconds beyond the end of the footage you need, to provide room for editing. Press the Esc key to stop recording.

When the Save Captured File dialog box appears, enter logging data and click OK. The new file is listed in the Project panel and is saved to the disk location specified in the Settings pane of the Capture panel.

Capture with device control

After a device and the project are set up properly, you can begin capturing clips using device control. You can capture an entire tape or you can mark In and Out points for each clip, and then capture the clip. You can log In and Out points for any number of clips and have Premiere Pro capture as many as you like in a batch. Premiere Pro supports FireWire device control, but supports serial device control by third-party drivers only.

Note: On Mac OS, preview HDV footage on an external TV monitor, or, if the source is a camcorder, on the camcorder viewfinder while shuttling, logging, and capturing. The preview pane in the Capture panel shows the words Previewing On Camera.

Last updated 1/16/2012

Importing, transferring, capturing, and digitizing

Note: When capturing with In and Out points, the earliest allowable time for the In point is 2 seconds. If the provided In point is earlier, it will be automatically adjusted to start at 2 seconds.

For details about capturing tape from an AJA device and setup in Premiere Pro CS5.5 and later, see this video by Walter Biscardi.

More Help topics

“Set up device control” on page 81

Capture an entire tape or portion of a tape

1Choose File > Capture.

2(Mac OS) If a QuickTime Capture Settings dialog box opens, choose video and audio settings appropriate to your project.

These settings are preserved for the project, but you set them again for each new project.

3In the Capture panel, make sure that the device is online, as indicated above the preview.

4Insert a tape into the device. Premiere Pro prompts you to name the tape. Be sure not to give any two tapes the same name.

Including a unique number in the name can help you avoid using the same name twice.

5In the Setup area of the Logging pane, choose the media type from the Capture menu.

6Rewind the tape to its beginning, or to the beginning of the portion you want to capture.

7To create a separate file (Windows) or a subclip (Mac OS) for each new scene on the tape, select Scene Detect in the Capture area.

8You can capture frames that extend beyond the In and Out points of each clip. Enter the number of frames in the Handles box in the Capture area.

9Click Tape.

10To stop capturing at the end of a portion, click the Stop button. Otherwise capturing stops when the tape comes to its end.

Select and capture a clip

1Choose File > Capture.

2(Mac OS) If a QuickTime Capture Settings dialog box opens, choose video and audio settings appropriate to your project.

These settings will be preserved for the project, but you may need to set them again for each new project.

3In the Capture panel, make sure that the device is online, as indicated above the preview.

4Insert a tape into the device. Premiere Pro prompts you to name the tape. Be sure not to give any two tapes the same name.

5In the Setup area of the Logging pane, choose the media type from the Capture menu.

6Use the controls in the Capture panel to move to the first frame you want to capture, and click Set In. Then move to the last frame you want to capture, and click Set Out.

Note: If capturing HDV footage on Mac OS, you must preview on an external TV monitor or camcorder viewfinder while logging. The preview pane in the Capture panel will show the words Previewing On Camera.

Last updated 1/16/2012