Create your first movie

Last updated on May 16, 2021 01:38:02 PM GMT

Now that you have imported and organized your media, you are all set to make some quick edits. Adobe Premiere Elements workspace presents an easy-to-use interface for video enthusiasts.

Video Editor workspace

There are three views in the Adobe Premiere Elements workspace, which give you different levels of editing capabilities. Start with Quick and Guided. When you have gained some experience, explore the powerful tools in the Expert view.

The Quick view lets you quickly perform the most common editing tasks. Use this mode to add titles, effects, transitions, background music, and graphics to your clips.

The Guided view offers a set of built-in Guided Edits, which take you sequentially through a series of steps to help you perform a specific editing task. This guided approach helps you easily learn Adobe Premiere Elements and turn your video clips into professionally edited movies. For more information, see Guided mode.

The Expert view lets you edit and enhance your videos using the complete set of powerful tools available in Premiere Elements. This view includes more options for effects, transitions, and tools as compared to the Quick view. Also, this view allows you to perform advanced audio and video editing.

Make video adjustments

Adobe Premiere Elements lets you modify the inherent properties of your clip, such as color and lighting. You can also enhance the quality of your video footage by using the Smart Fix tool in the Quick view.

To display the Adjustments panel, select the clip from the timeline and then click Adjust on the right side of the workspace.

Apply effects to a clip

From the Quick view timeline, select the clip.
On the Action bar, click the Effects control.
From the Effects panel, drag an effect (for example, the Lens Flare effect) on to the clip to apply the effect.

Lens Flare effect selected
(Optional) Use the options in the Applied Effects panel to modify the effect you applied.

Applied Effects panel

Add motion titles

You can design custom titles and graphics with Adobe Premiere Elements. Titles serve many purposes, from identifying people and places in your movie to providing movie-style credits. You can create your own title text for your clip or use a Title template.

Motion titles are ready-to-use and customizable. They are preloaded with animated graphics, stylized text, and background styles.

In the Quick view timeline, drag the current time indicator (CTI) to the clip to which you want to add a title.
On the Action bar, click Titles & Text.
From the Titles & Text panel, select a category of your choice from Motion Titles, pick a theme, and then a template.

Titles & Text panel
Drag the selected template to the timeline.
If necessary, use the Adjust panel to modify the properties of the title.

Assemble movie clips

The quickest way to assemble movie clips is to use the timeline in the Quick view. The Quick view timeline presents a simplified interface where you can edit your clips quickly.

To assemble the movie clips:

In Video Editor, click Add Media and select Elements Organizer.
Drag-and-drop the clips you want to use in your movie onto the timeline.
Change the order of your clips as required by dragging them to where they need to be on the timeline.
Click the Play button to view the assembled movie.

Edit movie clips

Adobe Premiere Elements has video-editing tools that meet many needs. You can split long clips to manage them better and preview or trim clips to keep only the precious moments. You can also configure clip properties, such as speed, direction, and duration.

Split a clip

If you have long clips, you can split them into smaller clips. Smaller clips are easier to manage and edit.

From the Quick view timeline, select the clip.
Drag the current time indicator (CTI) to the point where you want to split the clip.
Click the Scissor icon to split the clip into two sections.

Split a clip with the Scissor icon
Select the section you want to remove, and click Delete.

Trim a clip

Trimming helps you to keep a movie clip at a desired duration. You can also remove those not-so-perfect moments from the beginning or end of a clip.

From the Quick view timeline, select the clip.
Drag the vertical edges of the clip to the left or right to shorten the clip.

Add a transition

Transitions help you to add visual continuity between consecutive clips and create smooth movements from one moment to another in your movie.

From the Quick view timeline, select the clip.
On the Action bar, click Transitions.
From the Transitions panel, drag a transition (for example, the Cross Dissolve transition) between two clips to smoothly move from one moment to another with visual continuity.

Select a transition
(Optional) Modify the properties of the transition in the Transition Adjustments dialog box.

Modify transition properties
Click Done.