files. Digital audio is stored as binary data readable by computers. Most digital audio is
stored on computer hard disks, audio compact discs (CDs), or digital audio tape (DAT). If
you have capture hardware that can read digital audio data directly, such as an IEEE 1394
(FireWire/i.Link) connection, you can preserve the quality of your digital audio source
when capturing audio with the Capture window. When transferring digital audio to your
computer, use digital connections where possible. Any analog connection, such as
connecting a compact-disc player to a computer through analog audio jacks, reduces
audio quality.
For maximum editing performance, Adobe Premiere Pro conforms each imported audio
channel to 32-bit floating-point data at the project’s sample rate (see “Conforming audio”
on page 192). All imported audio is conformed, even audio tracks in video files.
Note: When you want to capture an audio-only file from a digital audio source, choose
Audio in the Capture window’s Capture pop-up menu.
For details about digital and analog sources, see “About digital and analog sources” on
page 92.
Using audio from Adobe Audition
You can use Adobe Audition to perform advanced audio editing. If you export the audio
from Adobe Audition to an audio file format compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro, you can
import the audio into your Adobe Premiere Pro projects. If you turn on the Project Linking
option as you export audio from Adobe Audition, you can use the Edit > Edit Original
command in Adobe Premiere Pro to open an audio clip’s Adobe Audition project directly
from within Adobe Premiere Pro. See “Editing a clip in its original application” on
page 145.
Using CD audio
You can use CD audio (CDA) files in a project, but before you can import them into Adobe
Premiere Pro, you need to convert them to a supported file format. You can convert CDA
files using an audio application such as Adobe Audition. Once you’ve converted the audio
file to compatible file format such as WAV, import it using the File > Import command.
Note: Make sure that you own the copyrights or have licensed the copyrights to any CD
tracks you use.
Using compressed audio formats
Music stored in formats such as MP3 and WMA are compressed using a method that
removes some of the original audio quality. To play back compressed audio, Adobe
Premiere Pro must decompress the file and may need to resample it to match your output
settings. These conversions are likely to degrade audio quality. For this reason, use an
uncompressed or CD audio version of the audio clip whenever possible.
Using Help | Contents | Index Back 79
Adobe Premiere Pro Help Capturing and Importing Source Clips
Using Help | Contents | Index Back 79
Capturing analog audio
If you want to use audio that is not yet in digital form, such as an analog cassette or a live
voiceover, you need to capture it. With the proper audio- or video-capture card, Adobe
Premiere Pro can capture audio that is synchronized with its source video or that is
independent of it.
The quality of digitized audio and the size of the audio file depend on the
sample rate (
the
number of samples per second) and
bit depth
(the number of bits per sample) of the
digitized audio. Also, digitizing stereo audio requires twice as much disk space as mono
audio. These parameters, controlled in the Capture Settings section of the Project Settings
dialog box, determine how precisely the analog audio signal is represented in digital form.
Higher sample rates and bit depths reproduce sound at higher levels of quality, but with
