Do you need to render mts files when imported into Adobe premier?

[Angelo Lorenzo]

If the timeline shows yellow, then you are fine. Yellow means “may or may not playback in real time. Rendering is optional”. Yellow is the most common color when adding footage to the timeline without the addition of effects.

It is not like Final Cut where the timeline has to be constantly rendered if you’re using a foreign codec.

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Angelo Lorenzo

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[Ram Pn]

The time line shows red. Is that always the case with mts files?

[Gabriel Sanchez]

Are you running Premiere in “MPE only software” mode or in “GPU acceleration” mode?
Red line means that all clips under the red line need to be rendered to play fine in real time. It happens when sequence setting doesn´t match your footage format or when some filters have been applied to a clip or group of clips and need to be rendered to be shown.
When sequence settings are ok with your footage format and you´re running Premiere in GPU acceleration, you can have a yellow bar or even no coloured bar.
To check out if your sequence settings are matching your footage, drag and drop any clip to the “New element” icon in lower side of proyect pannel, this will create a new sequence based on your footage format, frame size, frame rate, etc… Check if the new created sequence still has a red line or a yellow one. If it´s yellow, then you´re ok.
Regards

[Ram Pn]

Thanks a ton, Gabriel. I dragged and dropped a file into the box you had mentioned, a new sequence got created. If I drop files into this new sequence, I now get a yellow line.

But I still have a problem figuring out the Mercury Playback engine. I have a recently installed GTX 570. I think it is recommended by Adobe itself. Yet, when creating a project or when clicking at the project settings, I cannot select the Mercury Playback Engine menu in the RENDERER drop box. Though I can see the box, it seems as if it is ‘locked’ with no options available to me. Does that mean that it is only the processor that is processing the HD footage and not the GTX? Again, have I missed out anything? How do I get that working for me?
Regards
RamPN

[Gabriel Sanchez]

GeGorce gtx570 is not certified by Adobe for PPro CS5, it was certified from CS5.5, so one option is to update to CS5.5 or even CS6.
Anyway you can make your PPro CS5 work with almost all nvidia card in GPU acceleration mode by hacking it. Have a look at this link:
https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

To sumarize briefly you have to open the file cuda_supported_cards.txt in Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, and write your card in the first line of the text, exactly the name of your card, so you might write GeForce GTX570. After this you save the file (don´t change the file name by Save as option, just Save). Go to nvidia card settings and select Compatibility mode in the GPU multiple monitor options of Adobe Premiere.exe. Next time you open PPro you´ll have the MPE GPU acceleration mode enabled.
You can see all the procedure to unlock your video card in the next page of the link mentioned, here: https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5-2.htm

Regards

[Ram Pn]

Phew!!! Thanks Gabriel. I followed the instructions on the site and the Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration option has been enabled. The MTS file still shows a yellow color line on the time line. I guess is that how it is? Ram PN

[Gabriel Sanchez]

You´re right, that´s the way it is. But now you´ll probably have smoother playback of timeline, even with several video tracks like in a multiple picture in picture, and when applying GPU accelerated filters to a clip, you´ll have it playing in real time. You can recognize them for the GPU acceleration icon in these filters.
Don´t forget doing the hack again if you update Premiere, because the cuda supported cards.txt file will be updated too and your graphics card won´t be listed again.
Nevertheless I will consider upgrading to CS6 because, among other things, MPE has been improved and everything runs faster. In addition, your graphics card was certified since CS5.5, so you wouldn´t need to unlock it anymore.

Regards