Is there a way to set the render settings (to ProRes 422 HQ) for editing XDCAM-EX clips?

[Walter Soyka]

[Bob O'Brien] “I am trying to maximize quality. In FCP7, I can edit my XDCAM-EX clips natively, while setting the sequence render settings to ProRes 422 HQ. Is there a way to do this in Premiere Pro CS6, or does it just re-compress the XDCAM-EX files?”

Premiere Pro doesn’t do “smart renders” like FCP7 did (by which I mean copying raw frame data from a source or render container into the final output container), except for a handful of formats.

That said, XDCAM is among the select group of smart-renderable formats, subject to a few caveats; if you acquire XDCAM and deliver XDCAM, you can avoid the decompression/recompression cycle.

https://blogs.adobe.com/kevinmonahan/2012/10/11/smart-rendering-in-premiere-pro-cs6-6-0-1-and-later/

[Bob O'Brien] “And if it does do this, then when I export a final ProRes h22 HQ file, does PPro go back to the original media and re-render everything in ProRes?”

Premiere Pro will always go back on output to the original media and render effects on the fly, unless you manually select “Use preview file” in the output window. If you use preview files, it will skip rendering, but it will decompress/recompress the preview files to output as necessary.

[Bob O'Brien] “If not, I am considering using Prelude to transcode all my clips from the get-go to ProRes since that is my final output. Thoughts?”

Since Pr does not smart-render ProRes, this will cost you a generation if you check “Use preview files.” The ProRes renders will be decompressed and recompressed on output.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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