Correct Workflows with Premiere and Apple ProRes

[Walter Biscardi]

We use the AVC Intra codecs as our standard base Sequence settings for all projects. We leave the Video Previews at I-Frame MPEG setting through all the rough cuts, but then change that over to ProRes for final renders. We’ve seen some really bad tearing and bad compression artifacts in some shows when the I-Frame compression is left there for the Video Previews.

But for rough cuts, it’s faster and just fine to leave it at I-Frame.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

“This American Land” – our new PBS Series.

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[Jeff Pulera]

I notice that your first Sequence setting uses Upper Field First, which is correct for 1080i, but the second Sequence is set to Progressive. I believe that even if your Sony camera is set to record in 1080p, it wraps that in a 60i format, so you should be editing as 1080i UFF most likely.

As for Preview render format, I don’t think that’s a big deal – when you go to do the output using AME, there is a box at the bottom that says “Use Previews”. Leave that UN-checked, and your final output will be rendered direct from the original timeline without using any intermediate codecs/renders that would degrade the quality.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Walter Biscardi]

[Jeff Pulera] “As for Preview render format, I don’t think that’s a big deal – when you go to do the output using AME, there is a box at the bottom that says “Use Previews”. Leave that UN-checked, and your final output will be rendered direct from the original timeline without using any intermediate codecs/renders that would degrade the quality.
“

It’s a big deal when you’re mastering to tape and not a file. If you leave that set to I-Frame MPEG, your final timeline renders will be less than optimal quality. We still master to tape for our broadcast deliveries.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

“This American Land” – our new PBS Series.

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[Sean ian Macgowan]

I have the solution. I hope it makes you as happy as it does me.

1. Get Premiere Pro CC
2. Select the sequence preset for DNX220X
2a. Make sure the preview file format is set to DNX220X, but you shouldn’t have to do that manually as the preset is already configured
2b. Go to the radio button for “use maximum render quality” for preview files and turn that on
3. Edit using this sequence…using any format of source material
4. Render as you go, overnight, etc. during the course of the project – this creates “preview files” in the DNX220X MXF format…which WILL facilitate your final output, whereas creating “preview files” in some other formats WILL NOT facilitate the final output
5. Your “preview files” will be created in mastering quality and will serve in the same capacity as your full-quality “render files” used to within FCP7, helping you for a faster export when the time comes, and without any quality loss, because when you export the master output, it will not re-transcode the render files…instead, it will do like FCP7 used to…if your sequence was already rendered, it would just essentially “copy” the data, rather than recalculating everything
5a. Assuming you’re locked and everything has been rendered and you’re ready to output with nothing but a green bar atop the timeline….
6. Choose export media
7. select “match sequence settings”
8. select “use maximum render quality”
9. select “use previews”
10. jump around because you’re so happy…as you watch the progress bar move about 80% faster than the last time you exported a sequence

The output will occur in approximately 20% of the duration of your sequence’s total time. This output will be of the DNXHD220X codec and MXF file type. It looks excellent and solves a huge problem.

Now, all of you FCP7 folks can carry on as though you were using FCP7…in that you can render overnight as you go, and have those render files help save you time when exporting the master.

Thank you Adobe for a fantastic Premiere Pro upgrade in Premiere Pro CC. You knocked it out of the park with this one.