• Adobe Premiere Pro

  Best Workflow for DSLR – Premiere Pro – After Effects?

  Posted by Michael Kellam on April 1, 2014 at 8:45 pm

  Hi Everyone,

  I have read many many posts and am more confused than when I started, so I’d really appreciate some direction with a workflow. 🙂

  I am editing a project I shot on a Canon T3i DSLR, which creates h.264 mov files. The project will be about 30 minutes TRT when complete.

  I will be editing in Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and also applying effects using After Effects CS 5.5.

  I’m doing most of the cutting on a 2010 iMac, which does not have as much CPU or memory resource as I would like (3.2 Ghz i3 maxed at 16 GB Ram), so I would like to follow the most efficient process.

  For workflow, what is the best way to proceed? Would it be wise to edit natively with the DSLR preset or convert to a codec like Prores? (I am not at all familiar with Prores.) Final output files will be h.264 Quicktime and possibly Prores.

  Here’s what I have done in the past:

  —I previously edited a project from this camera using the Premiere Pro DSLR 1080P30 sequence setting. At that time, I exported certain clips from Premiere as movie files, imported into AE, created the effects, exported out of AE and reimported into Premiere Pro, but I suspect this is an inefficient way to proceed and one which probably degrades the image quality, even though I didn’t notice that visually on the previous project. Also, when I exported AE files, they were greater than 10x larger than the original footage, so I know I could have done something better there.

  —I am confused why when I edit using the DSLR setting in Premiere and don’t apply effects I’m still required to render the entire timeline.

  —I experimented with dynamic link, not enough to be good at it, but I would be willing to try if that seemed wise. I wasn’t sure if my older computer would be happy using it.

  Any thoughts on the best way to set this up to be most efficient and retain the highest quality possible from the original DSLR footage?

  Thanks!

  Michael

  Michael Kellam
  https://www.kellammedia.com

  Lance Bachelder replied 12 years, 1 month ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Lance Bachelder

  April 1, 2014 at 10:57 pm

  I prefer to convert my DSLR footage using 5DtoRGB Batch and convert to ProRes HQ or 444 – it’s a great tool and really makes a difference when it comes time to do some color work.

  Lance Bachelder
  Writer, Editor, Director
  Downtown Long Beach, California
  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680680/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
• 

  Michael Kellam

  April 2, 2014 at 12:03 am

  Thanks, Lance.

  So is converting to ProRes better than cutting native h.264 if you’re planning on doing color grading?

  I am unclear – One you convert to ProRes, does it stay ProRes all the way through the process or do you then have to convert it to something else once the edit is complete? I keep hearing it called an “intermediate” codec, which suggests that the end product is something else.

  Thanks again for answering.

  Michael

  Michael Kellam
  https://www.kellammedia.com
• 

  Lance Bachelder

  April 2, 2014 at 5:38 pm

  Personally I think using 5DtoRGB gives you a better master to color etc than keeping files native. Yes I edit the ProRes HQ and 4444 files and then render a master of my finished show at the highest quality ProRes 444 – from that master I can create any type of deliverable – web, broadcast, Blu-ray etc.

  You can also output your deliverables directly from your sequence without rendering a master – every show is a bit different in its workflow depending on the intended delivery…

  Lance Bachelder
  Writer, Editor, Director
  Downtown Long Beach, California
  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680680/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

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