Premiere Pro CS6

David Del Real

David Del Real

Well-known member
Okay, so please forgive my seemingly stupid questions but I'm coming from FCPX.
I downloaded the Premiere Pro CS6 trial and was wondering how to transcode my DSLR (h.264) footage to ProRes
within Premiere Pro? (as in FCPX) Also, FCPX has templates for Lower Thirds texts/graphics, are there
any such thing in PP? Oh, and why when I go to export does it always default to 720 x 480 DV?
 
David Del Real said:
Okay, so please forgive my seemingly stupid questions but I'm coming from FCPX.
I downloaded the Premiere Pro CS6 trial and was wondering how to transcode my DSLR (h.264) footage to ProRes
within Premiere Pro? (as in FCPX) Also, FCPX has templates for Lower Thirds texts/graphics, are there
any such thing in PP? Oh, and why when I go to export does it always default to 720 x 480 DV?
Click to expand...

I don't have the details, but I recall when I was more active with FCP/FCE that Pro Res was bundled with FCP, and so, if one transitioned to Premiere, Pro Res was something the Quicktime libraries could provide, and therefore Premiere could provide. If one didn't have FCP, such as I didn't because I used FC Express, Pro Res wasn't there and Premiere does not include it, as it is an Apple proprietary code.

The approximate equivalent as I have read is DNxHD, an Avid intermediate codec, and is free from the Avid site, and Premiere can use.

I use After Effects, and so I tend not to know what is available in Premiere for certain 'graphics' type things...

As for the default setup... You may need to create a preset with your favorite settings, since some of the 'straight out of the box' presets are set for the lowest common (or uncommon...) denominator.

Inside of Premiere at least for the AVCHD variety of 'h.264' encoded media, there is no need to transcode. Just create a timeline with the frame rate that is required, drop in the clips and Premiere will conform them. I do mostly 24p with the GH-1, and that is encoded with a 3:2 pulldown, and with appropriate sequence parameters, that is 24p, the pulldown is removed.

Since I work with After Effects, I've been moving towards just importing (haven't worked much with dynamic linking...) my Premiere projects into After Effects, and again no transcoding is required.
 
Thank you for your quick response! I like not having to transcode but I thought it was better to do that for grading/correction.
Anybody want to chime in on the lower thirds question?
 
David, as j1clark mentions the idea of Premiere is "native format editing." This means that, ideally, you don't have to transcode the footage if your computer is powerful enough and a recent Macbook Pro should be able to handle AVCHD on the timeline. One of our suites is running an old 1,1 Mac Pro and it handles AVCHD on the timeline just fine!

Regarding transcoding for grading/fx, if the pipeline itself is high-bitrate (say your after effects project is set to 32bpp float or something like that) then it makes no difference what the source footage is provided the original format has not been degraded.

That is to say that the 8-bit 4:2:0 AVCHD can't be improved (ie you cannot inject information that was already lost due to compression) by transcoding. The precision of the effects and grading pipeline is far more importantant.

And, if we're being nit-picky (why not right?) any transcoding, even to ProRes will result in some loss, if imperceptibly so. In the case of ProRes and DNxHD, it was an answer to high-compression codecs that couldn't be easily processed/played on older machines or machines with some limited power behind them like iMacs, Laptops and some consumer desktop systems. Codecs like ProRes, to clarify, ease up on computational requirements by requiring higher storage requirements, both in terms of space and speed.

My Core2Duo MacBook Pro (2008), for example, does struggle with AVCHD playback on the timeline in Premiere.

Now, for lower thirds. This is something that's still missing from Production Premium when compared to the Motion/FCP (and Motion/FCPX) interaction. You either use the titler in Premiere or use Dynamic Link from AE. Dynamic Link can work quite well and both applications share the same RAM pool so running both at once is commonly done. Essentially AE becomes a very fancy titler.

The missing functionality (CS7 maybe?) is that it would be nice to be able to edit text elements from AE within Premiere so you don't have to flip back and forth but that's something from the FCP world that could be improved.

We made the switch on three workstations to CS5.5 in the fall, after trying out CS5.5 in a single suite for about 6 months, and haven't really looked back. There have been some issues, but nothing serious and any time wasted on those issues was more than saved by not having to do any transcoding whatsoever.

The biggest "native editing" caveat, and one thing to be ready for, is the long final export from Premiere. The flip-side of no transcoding and heavy dynamic linking means that a final export (especially if you're exporting a timeline to multiple target formats using AME) can take a long time. In the FCP world the time (rendering) was often spent during editorial, which could interrupt the creative flow (in my opinion.) Because of this method where everything is rendered at export, some of what we gained in editorial flow is lost (if we have to see it in that light) during export. However after nearly a year of native editing, I believe the time gained within the Premiere Editorial process, with all it's quirks and "I wish it would be more like this-es" we haven't rally questioned our decision.

Sometimes theres an NLE... sometimes, theres an NLE. Wow, lost m'train of though here.

;)

But seriously, I don't think my work has been made any better by Premiere. It's helped speed things up for sure, and sometimes I feel that the speed has helped explore some ideas we might not have had the time to, but I also imagine a good artist with lots of knowledge in front of any NLE will do the trick, so have fun and good editing!
 
Last edited:
Wow, thanks for your reply. I totally understand and agree with your assertions. I'm already getting to know PP and think the CS6 Suite via Creative Cloud will be a welcomed addition to my toolset. I still like FCPX and may use it for the easier/less complicated projects and maybe even to throw in a lower third on the fly. I just have to become more familiar with the workflow as far as round tripping After Effects and such. Are there any tutorials yet with regards to CS6 specifically?
 
Petros Kolyvas said:
Now, for lower thirds. This is something that's still missing from Production Premium when compared to the Motion/FCP (and Motion/FCPX) interaction.
Click to expand...

The Premiere Titler includes a whole bunch of lower 3rd presets. They are included in the additional installation files when installing Premiere, though might not be included with the trial download, which could be why the OP can't find them.
 
deltoidjohn said:
The Premiere Titler includes a whole bunch of lower 3rd presets. They are included in the additional installation files when installing Premiere, though might not be included with the trial download, which could be why the OP can't find them.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was only discussing the ability to create animated lower thirds in motion and then change text in FCP vs having to do everything in after effects or the premiere titler. We don't use presets so I often miss that in conversation! Thanks for clarifying. :)
 
how to transcode my DSLR (h.264) footage to ProRes
Click to expand...

You don't. Just go ahead and use the original media. (This has long been one of PP's strengths.)


are there any [title templates] in PP?
Click to expand...

There will be yes. Just not in the trial yet.


why when I go to export does it always default to 720 x 480 DV
Click to expand...

Because the export settings stay the same until you change them. This makes is easier to export out multiple sequences to the same format.

So...change them to what you need.
 
Petros Kolyvas, I have to say you one of the few FCPro users that make scene, your understanding and insight of some of Adobe down falls/lack in some areas and in others the advantages, it offers, After seeing CS6 and the improvements over cs5.5, it makes me very happy there is a route for FCP user to go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top