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Opening Premiere Pro cc2018 project files in Premiere Pro cc2017
I have a project (ProRes) which forced me to upgrade to cc2018 due to the format the project was submitted for VFX, color correcting and audio cleanup. Having been burnt from the problems from the cc2015 to cc2017 upgrade I wanted to avoid upgrading until stability issues were resolved, but was forced to upgrade.
In Premiere Pro cc2018 this project would freeze just about every 5-6 changes. After reinstalling Windows 10, cc2018, making a new project and copy-pasting all time line objects, still no resolution. The problems incrementally became worst with each update.
I tried exporting to XML and opening the export in cc2017, but lost all applied effects, and titles with a few other gotcha’s. I calculated it would take months to correct these issues.
In investigating any possible solution, I found a comment in the Adobe Premiere Pro User forum which revealed that the PP project file is a renamed XML gzip file. XML files are just text files which can be opened in a text editor, like Notepad. Here is a link to reveal the steps to HACK a PP project file to allow it to open in earlier versions of PP:
I was successful in this downgrade and did not loose any work performed over the past 6 weeks.
The only two items in cc2018 I miss, was the ability to open multiple project files and the shot comparison feature…both of which I can live without in the interest of mental/physical health (stress has been removed) and workflow stability.
I hope this shared link can bring peace of mind to those in need.
Break a Leg.
Joseph
PS I opened a number of earlier projects with no issues at all, just this one project has been problematic.
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7 Replies
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I’ve had file linking problems with the latest version of Premiere Pro CC 2018, so I downloaded the older (but more stable) CC 2017, and used the project file hack (Mac version) to allow the CC 2017 version to open a file created with CC 2018. I was very relieved that the hack worked, and my stress level immediately went down.
Adobe insists on forcing its customers to have the latest version of Premiere Pro, and not allowing the “save as” to a legacy format. And that’s not terrible, if the updates work. But with this latest update, it’s a mess, and they don’t let you go back. So I’m with you. I couldn’t care less about opening up two projects, if it means that other must-have functions don’t work at all. From now on, CC 2017 will be my tool until Adobe gets their act together.René Borroto
Senior Editor
Multivision Video & Film -
Pre-CC you could open the project file in notepad and change the version number to allow backwards compatibility. What is the CC version of this?
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Hi Mike,
Premiere Pro cc2018 ver.12.1.1 was program version “35”. I change it to “1” and when opened by cc2017, the standard conversion dialogue box appeared. By changing the version number to “1”, I presume one could possibly use much earlier versions of Premiere Pro.
Here is the XML line to change:
FROM:
TO:Maybe starting with creative cloud, Adobe gzipped and renamed the project files to hide the XML code from prying eyes.
I agree with Rene that a “Save As” function would be desirable. It would alleviate much anxiety and misery with the user base.
In looking at the XML, I was surprised to see so many Lumetri references, especially since I had used “Remove Attributes” to delete all Lumteri references because of persistent “Low Level Exception” errors with Lumetri.
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Looks like posting XML code is not permitted….the example was removed…
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take a screen grab and post as an image
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good to know – thanks
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