Capturing and Importing Source Clips > Importing clips
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Importing clips


You can import clips into Premiere as a single clip, multiple clips, or an entire folder of clips directly into the Project window. If you want to examine a clip before importing it into the project, open the clip in a Clip window and then move the clip to the Project or Timeline window. Clips cannot exceed 4000 x 4000 pixels. If the software you use to create art does not let you specify pixels as a unit of measure, specifying points may be sufficient. If the file does not include pixel aspect ratio information, Premiere uses the Interpretation Rules.txt file, which can be customized, to determine the pixel aspect ratio based on codecs, image sizes, and other parameters.

By default, Premiere alters the size and aspect ratio of a video clip or still image to match that of the video frame you specified for your project. Premiere displays images with the correct frame aspect ratio in the Monitor and Trim windows. For more information on aspect ratios, see About D1, DV, and various pixel aspect ratios.

Premiere can import a number of video and audio formats.

Video formats: Type 2 AVI, MOV, and Open DML (Windows only)

Note: Type 1 AVI clips must be rendered before they can be previewed from your DV device. To render a Type 1 AVI clip, add it to the Timeline in a DV project, and build a preview file of that section of the Timeline.

Audio formats: AVI, MOV, AIFF, WAV (Windows only), the Macintosh Sound Format, (Mac OS only), and Sound Designer I & II (Mac OS only)

Still-image and sequence formats: AI and AI sequence, PSD and PSD sequence, GIF and animated GIF, Filmstrip, JPEG, PICT and PICT sequence, TGA and TGA sequence, TIFF and TIFF sequence, PCX (Windows only), FLC/FLI (Windows only), BMP and BMP sequence (Windows only), and PICS animations (Mac OS only)

File format support is provided by plug-in software modules. Over time, additional or updated file formats may be available from Adobe or other manufacturers, such as QuickTime.

To import one or more clips into the Project window:

Do one of the following:
  • To import a single clip, choose File > Import > File. Locate and select the file, and then click Open.
  • To import multiple clips in Windows, choose File > Import > File. Hold down Control as you select each file you want to import, or hold down Shift and select the first and last files of a range you want to import. Click Open.
  • To import multiple clips in Mac OS, choose File > Import > File. Hold down Shift as you select each file you want to import. Click Open.
  • To import a folder of clips, choose File > Import > Folder. Locate and select the folder you want to import, and then click OK (Windows) or Select foldername (Mac OS).

    • To examine a clip before adding it to the project:

    1 Choose File > Open.

    2 Locate and select the file you want to examine, and then click Open. The clip appears in the Monitor source view or in a Clip window.

    3 Examine the clip. If you decide to add it to the project, position the pointer inside the clip display and drag it to the Project window or choose Clip > Add Clip to Project.

    Note: To control the window in which a clip opens, choose Edit > Preferences > General and Still Image, select or deselect the Open Movies in Clip Window option, and click OK.

    Capturing and Importing Source Clips > Importing clips

    Related subtopics:

    Importing still images
    Importing Adobe Illustrator files
    Importing Adobe Photoshop files
    Importing an animation or still-image sequence