1080/25p in Premiere?

[Ann Bens]

Trialversion does not support anything related to mpeg.
If there is no preset you can always make it yourself, but there is a 1080 25p preset for avchd.

[Sylvia Porter]

The .mts file format is based on mpeg.

But you need to think about why you’d want to do that (import highly compressed files), especially before paying the price for professional software.

Exporting is understandable, but I don’t suggest editing in anything compressed. The processor has to spend a lot of time “re-creating” information. Also and more importantly, you will have no idea whether your edits are actually accurate with compressed formats.

As gospel, I never edit with a format that is compressed. Not even just fooling around with edits or effects.

Edit uncompressed for absolute accuracy, then export compressed for smaller file sizes…and easier “sharing”.

So, my suggestion, take all of you footage from that camera and convert to .avi or Quicktime and set codec to none, import those much larger files…then edit.

[Sylvia Porter]

Also, take note that on the Panasonic website page for that camera, they ‘suggest’ editing with Edius….HOWEVER, prior to editing, the footage must be converted…and in the demo video, the converter is converting to AVI.

https://www.panasonic-broadcast.com/en/products/high-definition/avccam/AG-HMC151E.php

click on the graphic “AVCHD Edius Neo2 Workflow Video”

[Duncan Wilson]

Thanks Sylvia,
That’s great advice, can you recommend a good tool for converting the footage (on a mac), or would you recommend using Premiere to make ‘uncompressed’ versions first, then start the editing process?

Regards,
Duncan

[Sylvia Porter]

On the mac I wouldn’t know of any tools for this other than what I would assume comes with the full Mac version of CS5 (the entire suite). I would and do use the Adobe Media Encoder to do all conversions, simply because it allows me to use other tools at the same time.

You might also try throwing it into After Effects and just rendering it with the default lossless setting. A lot less fussing about.

I can’t really help too much with your particular workflow, but I’ll just say that once you get yours worked out, you should be set for awhile with it.

[Duncan Wilson]

That’s brilliant, thanks again.

I’ve got the full version of premiere on its way so I’ll have a go then.

Duncan

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Duncan,

Sylvia is correct that uncompressed video offers the very best quality, but it’s probably overkill for most users. Please consider that uncompressed 1080 HD requires roughly 400GB PER HOUR of storage, plus a fast external drive array to play back that data rate.

On a properly equipped system, CS5 will handle AVCHD natively much better than CS4. Another option is to use the Cineform NeoScene intermediate codec. This will convert AVCHD clips to a much more edit-friendly codec, a few times larger than original clips. Much more practical than attempting an uncompressed workflow.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Ann Bens]

If your mac cannot handle avchd then use ProRess or have a look at NeoScene from Cineform (which Jeff already pointed out, by the way i love NeoScene: visible lossless).
But if your mac can handle avchd then edit in AVCHD that is what CS5 is capable off. Export is not unstable and with a cerified graphicscard you can edit avchd in realtime with unlimited effects with unlimited tracks.

[Matthew Laurence]

I know it’s a little late in the game, but I would recommend creating your mezzanine files (transcode files from MTS to more edit-friendly format) using the Cineform NeoScene codec and Adobe Media Encoder. In addition to MTS video compression, the audio is compressed, and that was at the heart of many of my problems. I was having similar issues and converting to Cineform made my workflow a DREAM.

https://www.cineform.com/neoscene/

It is a paid encoder format, but the decoder is freeware so as long as you buy the full codec for conversion, you can work with the footage on any machine (it outputs a Quicktime .MOV).

Bear in mind, by now (May 2011) Adobe has worked a lot of the kinks out of CS5, and you can work with native MTS files with almost the same ease. I still prefer working with the Cineform files, but if I don’t have enough time or space to transcode everything, I can work right out of the gate in Premiere and AE easily. And as CS5.5 comes out I imagine we’ll see some tightening up of things as well.