Uncompressed Premier Export for Windows

[Shane Ross]

ProRes is compressed…just FYI. But a GOOD compression. ON Windows, the good alternatives are DNxHD and Cineform. DNxHD is available from Avid.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Robby Monk]

Thanks again Shane. You’re helping me a bunch.

So my format in Premier, I’m choosing DNxHD MXF OP1a. What should my Preset be? There are a ton of the DNX options (i.e. DNX 36, 50, 115, 175, 175x, etc.). Also, for my resolution, is there a recommended setting there?

[Jeff Pulera]

The number next to the profile name is usually the data rate, higher number = higher data rate = less compression = more quality. However, if for example you are starting out with AVCHD footage recorded at a measly 24mbps, do you need 220mbps in the intermediate file? Maybe the 150mbps version is sufficient based on the source you are using. There is a point of overkill.

Depending on Premiere version and such, the preset naming may differ, for instance on my version the DNxHD options are listed as SQ, HQ, and HQX, assuming Standard Quality, High Quality, and Extra-High-Quality.

Again, if recording some kind of 10-bit high-bitrate RAW or ProRes file in camera, then you may want to stick with an HQ or HQX (or high-bitrate) option, but if source is AVCHD or similar highly-compressed source, then maybe SQ is “good as it gets” in that case and using a higher quality intermediate will only bloat file sizes and not improve quality. Make a few test clips at different settings and check for yourself.

Whenever exporting, make certain that the Frame Size, Frame Rate, Fields (Upper, Lower, or Progressive), and Pixel Aspect (usually 1.0 for HD) match the source video. At top of Export Settings panel, you can see the SOURCE and OUTPUT settings grouped together, do a quick visual check that specs match.

Thanks

Jeff