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PPRO CS4 export to Apple Compressor?
Hello,
It is possible to export a file from Premiere CS4 to Apple Compressor? If so, what settings might I use, i.e. format, codec, etc? To be sure, the idea is to export an uncompressed file for Compressor. And also I wonder if there is a way to do this which doesn’t take very long on my system? Converting the file to Apple Intermediate Codec, for example, takes long.
Perhaps there is some XML option? In the way that FC PRO files can now be imported into PPRO CS4? I guess if one can export an XML file from Premiere to FC PRO then my question is answered as well. But I don’t think that this XML option is possible the other way around … Or is it?
I work on a 3.06 GHz Intel Mac with 4 GB RAM. My PPRO file is 1080 by 720 and the original footage is HDV / NTSC. The pixels are square. The file is one hour long.
Thanks,
Roger
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4 Replies
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I think some specifics about what your proposed workflow is doing would be helpful…
PPro CS4 will import FCP XML types 2,3 and 4 in my experience other than FCP specific effects, etc.
The FCP project needs to be dealing with a codec that can be read by PPro…and on a Mac I’m unclear as to whether codecs like ProRes and the DVC ProHD QT codec are allowed to be read by PPro. I know that those codecs are not made available to PC users… Even HDV that has been through FCP has a proprietary QT wrapper…it’s no longer a native HDV MPEG file as FCP only edits QT so every piece of media brought in has to be converted or rewrapped to be a QT file…whereas PPro handles HDV MPEG and DVCPHD and XDCAM MXF files natively.
Adobe’s Media Encoder has most popular output formats available…Compressor has Sorenson of course, but Flash is quickly taking over internet deployment…
For those reasons…I think some specifics about what you are trying to do would be helpful.
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
Thanks for your response.
What I’m creating is a one-hour movie to be encoded in the Quicktime H.264 format. It will be available for download from a website and as a DVD-ROM. It consists mostly of talking head footage, captured in HDV (NTSC) on the Canon HV20, 24 fps (1080i), but also files created in After Effects CS4 and Illustrator CS4. The original footage is in 1920×1080, but it is cut down to 1280×720 (which is my sequence setting). The idea is to ultimately export a file that’s 640×480.
I would use Final Cut Pro 6, but PPro has my preference because of the integration with the Suite. Also, as much as I want to like FCP, I just don’t. However, it comes with Compressor, which I would nonetheless prefer to use for compression, rather than having to now invest in Sorenson Squeeze 5. Hence my attempts at finding some workaround that enables the exporting of PPro files for Compressor.
So, it’s not the case that I want to import FCP files into PPro, but rather the opposite – assuming it isn’t possible to create a file for export directly to Compressor.
All of this, of course, is in the assumption that Adobe Media Encoder is inferior to Compressor or Squeeze. I wouldn’t know. I just know that – according to the tutorials in ‘Internet Killed the Videostar’ – it is not recommended to use your video editor for compression.
I’ve tried to export the file in some codec that approximates the native quality (for example HDV 1080p30), but I keep getting the black bars on the side. Perhaps this has to do with square pixels being the only option in the HDV 720p30 sequence setting in PPro?
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Well…the Adobe Media Encoder is not the video editor…it’s a file transcoder just like Compressor.
If you want to encode H.264, buying a 29.95 version of QT Pro will take care of that if you have some issue with the Adobe Media Encoder.
I’m not sure why you’re shooting 16:9 (HDV 1080-NOT NTSC, NTSC is SD video there is no NTSC or PAL in HD, just framerates), editing in 16:9 (1280×720), then targeting 4:3 for output (640×480).
The black bars are due to the fact that you’ve changed your aspect ratio on the output file.
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
I mention ‘NTSC’ because it says so in the Canon manual and because the Adobe Encoder mentions it also (besides ‘progressive’) when encoding the 720p24 HDV file. Don’t know why that is.
Using 720 of 1080 enables a little more flexibility in the presentation of the image without squeezing or stretching. (It’ll be exported as 480, but at least that’s kind of symmetric.) And it allows me to cut out unwanted stuff around the edges (a piece of mic or light).
If I could get that crisp HDV feel with SD I would, but as far as I can tell that’s not possible. So the HDV choice is not so much about the format as it is about the quality of the image. I could be lacking in understanding here, but so far this seems to look best.
Anyway, as for the compression, I am happy to stick with the Adobe Encoder. I quite like it. But I wonder how favorable it rates compared to Compressor or Squeeze? I mean in terms of achieving a lower file size with the same quality? In other words, would I be able to get the same quality for less MBs? Or would there only be a noticeable difference if my footage consisted of fast action transitions?
Thanks.
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