Problems with importing a big image.

[Ht Davis]

Does it freeze on import?

[Ht Davis]

Yes. It is an effect. Simply placing it on a timeline is not, but it is bigger than your sequence. It is rendering a lot off-screen, in areas that are completely undefined for the video.

Zooming is an effect. Playing video is an effect, it’s just a bunch of stills being played really fast. FCP?
What version? FCPX? IT conforms your input on import. Premiere expects that you know what the hell you’re doing, that you are professional enough to conform your material to your sequence if it is too much different. If you are hoping to get a zoom from a large still that goes far beyond your sequence, you need to do so in a program that handles a larger workspace.

Plus:
Don’t discount file errors. PNG has it’s limitations. Look them up. I’ve had similar issues with a WAV file that went beyond the standard WAV spec (it was a 6gb file and WAV supports 4gb). Check your resolution and file size against PNG specifications. It may be that you have gone beyond that spec and premiere doesn’t like that. After effects was made for working with files like that. It only defines them loosely. You could put it in AE and then bring in the comp. That would allow you to set your zooms from a rendered or ordered clip. Premiere wouldn’t bat an eye at that, as it wouldn’t have any attribute except being video data. You should be able to play then.

[Dan Pullit]

Yep, that’s what I did. I put them in AE. It works.

I could not find any limit (at least not one I’ve crossed) for .png.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4109447/file-format-limits-in-pixel-size-for-png-images

https://www.libpng.org/pub/png/spec/iso/index-object.html#11IHDR

Ah, so that’s why it worked in FCPX. I would bring in big images and put them on the timeline.

Is this standard procedure? Always resizing before bringing into PP?

Sorry for the silly questions but my main app is Houdini and I regularly bring in 16k maps for texturing. I use NLE’s like PP to stitch things together and I don’t know their limitations.

[Ht Davis]

Again, you kind of missed the point of the limit discussion…
They talk about pixel limits… Not the same as file size. Two images of the same pixel dimensions can have drastically different file sizes for a number of reasons. IF they are of different subjects, the amount of color info will be different. IF they are photos of the same subject but exposed differently, the same is true. If one is black and white (greyscale) and the other color, the representation will be different. If the bit width of color values is different (8bit vs 16), etc, they will take up different amounts of space on a hard drive. Check to make sure that the space requirement for the PNG matches the standard premiere can handle.

And remember, Premiere handles a PNG like a title. If it’s an image, it has trouble. IF you put it in AE first, it will see video information with an alpha channel, instead of a title image.

Final cut sees all as video first. You have to make your own titles as video, not as images. Premiere can use exports from illustrator as titles; great for making many titles or subs quickly. I use to make a HUD for a choir group. The Maestro uses it to keep pace with video pieces he plays in the background during his performances (and he has to time just perfectly so the math is crazy sometimes when the piece changes from ¾ to 5/4 midway).

[Dan Pullit]

I understand now but still find it hard to make sense. It’s an 8mb image, 8 bit.

So is this the de facto way of working with big images in PP? Taking them to AE and then bringing them into PP? I’m asking because I have a lot of big images and in some cases I want some panning across or some zooming in.

I’d like to have the full resolution picture to work with if possible.

Your project sounds very interesting. Synching live music to video always fascinated me.

[Daniel Waldron]

I would keep searching for a solution. I just completed a project that had several images larger than the one you described, and other than needing to render them in the timeline to avoid laggy playback, everything works fine. I have zooms, blurs, and several color correction filters on them too.

Sorry for the mini-rant, but I’m tired of the cop-out answer that you should just go to After Effects to solve your Premiere Pro problems. I love AE, but going to AE for simple techniques like zooming on a photo or feathering a mask (thankfully fixed in CC!) is a cumbersome workaround of a flaw that shouldn’t be there to begin with. I think the latest version of Premiere is a huge step forward in solving a lot of these issues, as well as introducing some fantastic new features, but once in a while there are still odd bugs and it seems like the standard go-to response is “just do it in After Effects,” while basically blaming the editor for even thinking Premiere could handle it. It’s a solution that is good to have (better than nothing!), but should not be the default answer when other NLEs have found solutions years ago. Again, going to AE is better than not having any solution, but I think more of the blame needs to be placed on Adobe for taking so long to fix these issues than on the person using their software.

[Alex Udell]

Here’s a question….

are you using mercury engine in hardware (gpu) or software (cpu) mode?

toggle that…and see if it makes a difference…

maybe the GPU doesn’t like mapping images that large (dimensions) ?

shot in the dark…

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX

[Dan Pullit]

[Alex Udell] “Here’s a question….

are you using mercury engine in hardware (gpu) or software (cpu) mode?

toggle that…and see if it makes a difference…

maybe the GPU doesn’t like mapping images that large (dimensions) ?

shot in the dark…

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX”

Aaaaaarghhhh –
I need to buy you a beer Alex.

That was IT! It works perfectly now!

THANK YOU for preventing my visit to the looney bin 🙂

[Dan Pullit]

[Daniel Waldron] “I would keep searching for a solution. I just completed a project that had several images larger than the one you described, and other than needing to render them in the timeline to avoid laggy playback, everything works fine. I have zooms, blurs, and several color correction filters on them too.

Sorry for the mini-rant, but I’m tired of the cop-out answer that you should just go to After Effects to solve your Premiere Pro problems. I love AE, but going to AE for simple techniques like zooming on a photo or feathering a mask (thankfully fixed in CC!) is a cumbersome workaround of a flaw that shouldn’t be there to begin with. I think the latest version of Premiere is a huge step forward in solving a lot of these issues, as well as introducing some fantastic new features, but once in a while there are still odd bugs and it seems like the standard go-to response is “just do it in After Effects,” while basically blaming the editor for even thinking Premiere could handle it. It’s a solution that is good to have (better than nothing!), but should not be the default answer when other NLEs have found solutions years ago. Again, going to AE is better than not having any solution, but I think more of the blame needs to be placed on Adobe for taking so long to fix these issues than on the person using their software.”

Hi Daniel

I’m hardly a PP expert but thank you for not making me feel stupid by thinking that such things should be normal in an NLE! I finally figured it out thanks to Alex.

I agree, the AE trip should not occur for such trivial things. For me it presents problems – For example: I don’t know how to include audio clips (non related to video – narration) in this round trip to AE from the PP timeline. All I get in AE is just the video clip. And I had to cut this zoom to certain words….

augh… thank goodness I don’t have to do it.

[David Roth weiss]

Good guess Alex!!! And, one for the Premiere FAQ… I’m sure Kevin and the gang at Adobe HQ will love this great find.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.