Best File format transcode for 2k for slow/old mac?

[John Heiser]

ProRes is always a better option than h.264, especially on underpowered computers. H.264 requires a lot of computing power to calculate frame-accurate edits and playback; ProRes (or DHx or Cineform) is a robust codec which, while making much larger files than h.264, will playback and scroll more smoothly.

Transcoding “in Premiere” is done either in the process of creating proxies (typically for editing 4k or larger media) or simply during the import process. In the Media Browser (you ARE using the Media Browser for importing, right?), click the wrench icon at the top and setup the Ingest process by checking Ingest.

If you’re going to edit with Proxies, choose Create Proxies and select a ProRes preset that matches your footage aspect ratio (see this chart: https://www.dylanosborn.com/do/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ProxyFrameSizeChart.pdf)

If you just want to edit with transcoded media, choose Transcode and select the ProRes preset you want to use (on my system, the choices are PR422 and PRLT).

Set the destination for your new files and click OK.

Be sure to Uncheck the Ingest box at the top of the Media Browser after you finish, or everything you ever import will be transcoded, whether you want it or not.

Here’s more on the proxy workflow:
https://vimeo.com/183599454
https://vimeo.com/185423559

John Heiser
Senior Editor
o2 ideas – Birmingham, AL

iMac Retina 5k, 27-inch, 2017
4.2 GHz i7, 32GB RAM, Radeon Pro 580 8GB
G-Speed Studio TB-2 12TB RAID-5

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[Justin Cordes]

Hey John! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.