I just installed the trial version of Premiere Elements 8. I wanted to test its ability to
render high-quality avi files. I am able to play in Windows Media Player uncompressed avi files produced by other video editing packages; I wanted to see how Premiere Element's uncompressed AVI files compare.
I took two, 7-second avi clips, put them into the timeline, and added a simple dissolve
transition between them.
Under the Share section, I chose Uncompressed AVI as the format.
As my clips lacked audio, I specified that audio should not be rendered. I rendered the clips.
It created a large (apx 400 mb) file. When I tried to play it in Windows Media Player (v11) I
first saw a message saying, "Looking for codec" (or words to that effect), followed shortly
after by a message saying "Codec acquired". But then I got a message saying that the file was
unplayable, and offered on online Microsft link to solve the problem. It took me to an audio-
related page which seemed to be of no particular help.
So I tried rendering as uncompressed audio again, this time specifying that audio should also be
rendered (even there is no audio with my clips). I chnaged the sample rate from 48 khz to 44
khz, a rate I usually use with Windows Media Player.
When I tried to view the result in Windows Media Player, I got no error messages. Instead I just
got a black screen. I could see that a file was playing (the navigation slider at the bottom was
moving, and the time counter was progressing) , but there was no image.
What might I be doing wrong?
I've used Premiere Elements 1 for years. But if version 8 cannot handle this very simple task, I
won't buy it.
