Premiere Pro Feature Film Workflow

[Pilar Rico]

Thanks so much Oliver. I do have footage from the ARRI and removing the LUT did lower the project size. But I have been running some tests and it seems like the Proxy Workflow does increase the size of the project. I created a new project with only the proxy files and the production sound and that is only 6MB. The same project with the RAW media is 15.7MB after deleting the ARRI Lut, but after I attached the Proxies files to the Clips it went up to 32MB and it seemed to duplicate the LUT. I turned off the LUTs again and the project went down to 25MB, so it’s 19MB larger. It seems like the merged clips and Multicam sequences we created were doubling the size of the project too. Since this is a feature documentary with lots of media, I’m wondering if it might be smarter to start all over with a new project just with the 720 transcodes and forget about the Proxy workflow. It seems like the merged clips are also bigger if you create them with the proxy workflow than with just traditional transcodes as it’s taking the RAW media as baseline. Is this possible?

[Oliver Peters]

In the grand scheme of things, your project size isn’t bad. Heck, in the FCP7 days, projects would often get up to and over 100MB. But if you are concerned, then I’m inclined to agree that working only with low-res proxies would be best for your needs.

In that case, make sure that all of your footage has valid timecode and a frame rate that matches your project. Make sure all file names are unique. Any media that doesn’t match these specs should be fixed/transcoded before you create proxies. Do all of this before you bring it into Premiere, so that inside Premiere you are working with the proxy media as if it were your master source files.

The reason to be very regimented with your file management is so that everything correctly relinks at the finishing/”online edit” stage. When you get to that point, send an XML to Resolve and then in Resolve, link to the high-res media. Make any size/position adjustments as needed. Of course, all color grading in Resolve, too. Complete in Resolve or send files back to Premiere.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Pilar Rico]

Thank you so much Oliver. I’m concerned about the file size because we still have not started making selects or cuts and we have some more media to add in the next weeks, so I would rather start a new project that I know will save me time later on.
As for your suggestions for the transcodes, I was planning on using the Proxy files we created through the Premiere proxy workflow, but removing the word Proxy from the file names. I understand in a new project, they should behave like if they were new regular transcodes created outside the project, but please let me know if you think we might run into any issues.

[Oliver Peters]

[Pilar Rico] ” I was planning on using the Proxy files we created through the Premiere proxy workflow, but removing the word Proxy from the file names”

I’m not quite sure if there’s other data embedded into these files by Premiere. I would recommend starting fresh. Make all of your editing files 720p, ProRes Proxy or ProResLT. Use Adobe Media Encoder or Compressor to create the files.

Also make sure that the audio channel configuration is identical to the camera masters.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Giulio Dimitri]

Hi Oliver, i’d just like to humbly enter this discussion, i totally agree every point of your post, i’m doing researches that’s why i landed here, on using Premiere for Finishing, basically your point 11.
How do you bring everything back to Resolve? I mean without loosing your mental health? In my experience there’s no way other than doing it manually, Premiere really lacks in conforming tools. Relinking tools are not based on TC as far as i know, so relinking shorter clips from resolve won’t work.I tried exporting another XML back to Premiere but this doesn’t really help since clip speed is messed up. I work in a post facility and this job here of course it’s done in Smoke/Flame. I follow some jobs that i need to end within the Premiere/After Workflow except for the grading phase done in Davinci,luster or Baselight. How do you actually bring everything back in Premiere? Many thanks!

[Oliver Peters]

[Giulio Dimitri] “How do you bring everything back to Resolve?”

Hi,

If you are editing in Premiere, then sending an XML to Resolve should be just fine. Generally it’s worked well for me, although sometimes I have to correct sizing issues. My normal workflow would be to edit in Premiere, color correct in Resolve (render out individual clips at source resolution), and then send back to Premiere via XML. This has worked for me. You have to be careful to always have unique file names. If you have mixed frame rates, then while editing in Premiere, do not alter clip fps. Rather, use slomo functions.

Hope that helps,
Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Giulio Dimitri]

Many thanks for your kind reply Oliver, so with unique file names you mean a different file name between the graded and the original ? Yeah i know that clips with the same name are a nightmare for Premiere. Using the same file names as we use to do in the traditional workflow, is a mess with premiere and totally random. BTW back in premiere , esporting xml from resolve i have speed and sizing issues as you confirm , so the problem is still there . all the material was 25 fps.

[Oliver Peters]

[Giulio Dimitri] “so with unique file names …”

Many cameras, like DSLRs, simply use something like C0001, etc. as the clip name and will repeat names between cards. This is a huge no-no. So before you ever start editing, you should append information or something that makes them unique, like Camera letter, Card or Reel number, and Date. This way you *should* end up with a unique name for every clip in your project.

[Giulio Dimitri] “…between the graded and the original “

If you render out of Resolve, typically you should render the timeline as individual clips, with handles, render at source resolution, use source name + unique suffix. So a clip that is A001_C001 in Premiere becomes A001_C001-V001 after the render out of Premiere. However, the new Sequence from your exported Resolve XML will correctly link to this new files.

[Giulio Dimitri] “BTW back in premiere , esporting xml from resolve i have speed and sizing issues as you confirm , so the problem is still there . all the material was 25 fps”

If your clips are 25fps, your timeline should be 25fps. Make sure it matches in Resolve, too. Any clips that aren’t 25fps should be not altered in Premiere during the course of editing. So if a clip is 29.97, drop it onto your Premiere timeline and use a speed effect to adjust the speed to 25 (slomo). In theory, this *should* translate correctly in the roundtrip. Size changes, because or reframing and repositioning, are often a mess and need to be fixed manually. You will probably also have to copy & paste clip effects from your final sequence (before Resolve) to each clip on your imported sequence (from Resolve).

Of course, the alternative to all of this is to do all of your grading using Lumetri and staying inside of Premiere.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Robert Pugh]

This is a great post. will come in handy for myself next week. Thanks

[Matt Scholes]

Hi Pilar,

Can I ask how this went for you?

I’ve just begun prepping a feature doc and it’s been a headache. I started using the proxy ingest workflow with the intention of just the toggling on and off function, BUT the original RAW media was spanned across 6 different drives, so when I ejected the first one to started transcoding the next batch, Premiere wouldn’t link to just the proxies, it wanted the RAW media , even with toggle mode on, and if I tried to offline it it became a real mess. (FCPX does do this really well, you can edit with just the proxies and the raw media no where near your machine but I’m too far deep in the transcoding now so cant start again with FCP).

So my idea is the same as yours, essentially using all the hundreds of proxies I’ve already made from Premiere and using them (minus the proxy name suffix) as original media, and then on completion link back to the raw material (once its all collated onto one large 12tb! drive) . So before I’m in too deep I want to be certain it will all link up. I’ve done a couple of quick tests bit I find Premiere a bit unstable and it always seems to offer up unpleasant surprises ☺

So would love to hear how this went for you

If you aren’t willing to change you shouldn’t be editing” – Richard Marks