Creating Your Artifact

1. Export your animation (will create a sequence of consecutively numbered frames)
   
   • If your artifact uses your particle system, remember to toggle 'Simulate' before you generate your rendered frames.
   • Make sure the FPS slider is set to 30 frames per second.
   • File->Save Movie As...
   • Provide a name that will be the prefix for the file names of each of the frames you generate.
   • 'Ok'


2. From here on out we'll be using Adobe Premiere (Pro 4.0). The help site may be useful.
   


3. Create a new project in Premiere. Select the "Custom Settings" tab (as opposed to the "Load Preset" tab). Select "General" from the list on the left and give your project a name. There are a few things you want to be sure of:
   • General->General->Editing Mode: should be Desktop.
   • General->General->Timebase: should be 29.97 frames/second (since that's what you exported earlier). If you exported at some FPS other than 30, make the appropriate adjustment.
   • General->Video->Frame Size should keep same aspect ratio as generated frames (e.g. 680x592, 640x480, etc.)
   • General->Video->Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan), because your input has no fields.
   • General->Audio->Sample Rate: should match your soundtrack (probably 44100 Hz)


4. Import your sequence
   
   • File->Import...
   • Select the first frame in the sequence and check 'Numbered Stills' (in the lower area of the dialog box)
   • 'Open'
     
     • the sequence will appear in the Project container
     • if the import was done correctly, the icon for the sequence should look like a filmstrip.
   • Drag the sequence into one of the video channels in the Timeline window.
   • Make sure its left edge is precisely at 00:00
   • Adjust the work area slider (at the top of the Timeline window) so that its length equals that of the animation you just dragged there.


5. Import any audio.
   
   • File->Import...
   • Select the audio clip you want to import.
   • 'Open'
   • Drag the imported audio clip to an audio channel.


6. Make any adjustments necessary.
   
   • multiple sequences can be added to either video channel.
   • To cut a sequence into two pieces (for compositing, or time editing),
     
     • find the Razor Tool in the toolbox in the left part of the Timeline
     • cut the sequence/file at the desired time position
   • To change the length of a sequence
     
     • find the Rate Stretch Tool (Click and hold the Rolling Edit Tool to access it)
     • drag either end of your sequence to change the length
   • To edit audio, we highly recommend the free tool Audacity. Premiere can also do some simple audio editing, such as fade-ins/fade-outs.
   
   
   • Preview
   
   
   • If satisfied with the preview, export.
     
     • File->Export->Adobe Media Encoder...
     • Click on the Output tab.
     • In the Export Settings section set Format to H.264.
     • Also in the Export Setting section, set Preset to HDTV 720p 23.976 High Quality. After setting this preset, make a couple of adjustments: edit the Frame Rate to 29.97 and bring the bitrate down a bit (you can play with it, but Target: 3Mbps and Maximum: 5Mbps ought to be more than enough).
     • Make sure that the other export settings are set to the correct frame size (we will be projecting it on a 1024x768 projector so keep your resolution within reason) and Field Order, which should be set to None (Progressive). Double-check that you've made these settings appropriately.
     • Click Ok.
     • Specify movie name and save location. If your animation has audio, please have the suffix "_with_audio.mp4" in the file name so we can test to be sure the audio is working, for example the save file might be "fancy_movie_with_audio.mp4".
     • Ok
   
   
   
   • Make sure you check your artifact before submitting it! It should work (audio and video) decently in Windows Media Player and Quicktime.