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Exporting a Compressed Movie, for Playback Purposes
Before you export a movie file from Premiere, you should make a folder called “exported movies” in your project folder (if you haven’t done so already). This is where you will keep the “stand-alone” movie files that you render from the software.
To prepare a final rendering of a Premiere project, you should use the Work Area Bar in the Timeline to select the section that you intend to export.
Then, referring to Premiere’s Main Menu, go to File > Export > Media, to organize and prepare the rendering process.
H.264 or MP4, for Playback Purposes
This is a good, straightforward, and recommended output compression for both Apple and Windows operating systems, particularly for the workstations in the Animation Studios.
From the Export Settings Monitor Window, click on the Output tab:
- Deselect the “Match Sequence” option in this case.
Format: Choose “H.264” and make sure to “check/select” both:
- Export Video, and
- Export Audio
Output Name: Click on the blue, underscore name. Locate where you intend to save the movie file>
- Save in: Scratch Disk / your project / movies
- File name: Give the movie a short one-word name, without spaces in the name
Select the Video tab. Under “Basic Video Setup,” click on the Match Source button. Doing so will plug in the dimensions, frame rate, and aspect ratio of the sequence settings you started with.
For Audio Settings, click on the Audio tab:
Under “Basic Audio Settings,” make sure the following are set:
- Audio Codec: AAC
- Sample Rate: 48000 Hz
- Channels: Stereo
- Audio Quality: High or Medium
Finally, go to the bottom of the Export Settings Monitor Window and click the Export Button.
QuickTime Movie with H.264 Compression, for Playback Purposes
With QuickTime, you have the option to adjust dimension settings and choose various compression options.
From the Export Settings Monitor Window, click on the Output tab:
- Deselect the “Match Sequence” option in this case.
Format: Choose “QuickTime” and make sure to “check/select” both:
- Export Video, and
- Export Audio
Output Name: Click on the blue, underscore name. Locate where you intend to save the movie file>
- Save in: Scratch Disk / your project / movies
- File name: Give the movie a short one-word name, without spaces in the name
Select the Video tab:
- Video Codec: Choose “H.264”
From the “Basic Settings,” choose:
- Quality: Choose from 80% to 100% (lower quality will reduce the file size, but don’t reduce the quality too much)
- Deselect the Link button
For a full-size movie, keep the same dimensions as your original project settings:
- Width: Enter “1920”
- Height: Enter “1080”
Alternatively, you could also scale down to the lower HD resolution, 720p, to reduce the size of the movie file:
- Width: Enter “1280”
- Height: Enter “720”
The Frame Rate and Aspect Ratio should be as follows:
- Frame Rate: 24
- Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
Click on the Audio tab:
- Audio Codec: Choose “Uncompressed”
- Sample Rate: Choose “48000 Hz”
Finally, go to the bottom of the Export Settings Monitor Window and click the Export Button.
Exporting a Lossless QuickTime Movie, for Intermediate Processing or Archiving Purposes
To begin, you should render a project in an “uncompressed or lossless” version, for further processing in a program like Adobe After Effects or to back-up and archive. However, you will not be able to play such a file, especially if it’s in high-definition format. Therefore, you will need to export an additional QuickTime file.
Before you export a QuickTime from Premiere, you should make a folder called “movies” in your project folder (located, as usual, on the Scratch Disk). This is where you will keep the “stand-alone” movie files that you render from the software.
To prepare a final rendering of a Premiere project, you should use the Work Area Bar in the Timeline to select the section that you intend to export.
Then, referring to Premiere’s Main Menu, go to File > Export > Movie, to organize and prepare the rendering process.
From the Export Settings Monitor Window, click on the Output tab:
- Deselect the “Match Sequence” option. We’ll override the Presets in a moment.
Under “Format,” choose “QuickTime” and make sure to “check/select” both:
- Export Video, and
- Export Audio
According to “Output Name,” click on the blue, underscore name. Locate where you intend to save the movie file>
- Save in: Scratch Disk / your project / movies
- File name: Give the movie a short one-word name, without spaces in the name
Select the Video tab. Referring to “Video Codec,” choose “Animation” as the compressor. Under “Basic Settings, select the following:
- Quality: 100%
- Deselect the Link button
- Width: Enter “1920”
- Height: Enter “1080”
- Frame Rate: 24
- Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
Click on the Audio tab and choose:
- Audio Codec: Choose “AAC”
- Sample Rate: Choose “48000 Hz”
Finally, go to the bottom of the Export Settings Monitor Window and click the Export Button.