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Workflow Changes Moving from Mac to PC
Hello all,
I am considering moving my company’s production from Mac to PC as we are likely upgrading to CS6 to get away from Final Cut. We shoot in AVCHD with basic effects, titles, and color correction. It has been so long since I’ve worked with video editing software on a PC that I’m unfamiliar with the optimum formats for storing/exporting video.
What is the best workflow for AVCHD video in a PC CS6 system? Should I keep the raw files in their original .mts format since I don’t need to transcode for PP? What is the best format for exporting uncompressed videos? Any issues encoding to .mp4 for final delivery? Anything else I should be worried about?
Thanks!
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9 Replies
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Andrew –
Here’s some information to get you rolling:
https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/for-final-cut-pro-users.html
Here’s some other workflow stuff which should help:
https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/extend.displayTab2.html
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Andrew I just made the switch as well. To maximize the Mercury Playback Engine I got the most Powerful combo of CPU (2-Sandy Bridge EP 2687ws) ram (645GB), GPU (Nvidia PNY GTX 570) and a raid (Dulce ProDqg2 16TB) to insure I could handle whatever I need to.
I play files native on the timeline and use DNxHD which is an industry standard codec. Uncompressed files are to large and not usually deliverable.Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRIg6h-LIm0
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid -
Just edit raw native files as much as you can. You output the final to whatever codec you want. We use both DNxHD and ProRes as our output codecs depending on the machine (we use both Mac and PC)
One caveat to editing on Windows and that the XDCAM QT codec is not readily available for the PC so you need to purchase a plug-in from Calibrated Software to play this. We discovered this on a project that has about 300 clips that came to us already converted to QTs and we could not play them on the PC. We ended up moving the project over to the Mac.
It’s a relatively easy switch, particularly once you’re inside the application.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“This American Land” – our new PBS Series.
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Thanks for the responses! This is extremely helpful.
Walter, do you just export from PP to Media Encoder directly to a compressed format (mp4) when delivering a file? Any need to export or store less-compressed files like in FCP going to .mov first?
I’ve been playing with the trial and am loving the ability to export directly to a compressed format. One step and done. It’s a phenomenal workflow experience. I know FCP and Compressor allowed this, but we had some quality issues and it never felt as smooth or as elegant as the CS6 flow.
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Most editors and facilities I know will create a Master file (for me on a PC thats now DNxHD). Then any dubs needed for air or clients can be quickly made from this master (like h.264 or whatever). This is especially helpful for longer form projects. Export once, then make dubs as necessary.
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRIg6h-LIm0
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid -
[Andrew Bergner] “Walter, do you just export from PP to Media Encoder directly to a compressed format (mp4) when delivering a file? Any need to export or store less-compressed files like in FCP going to .mov first?”
Yes we send the file to Media Encoder using the Queue function so we don’t have to just let Premiere Pro sit there while rendering out the file. To date we are not delivering any files to broadcaster, we still deliver HDCAM Masters so Tape Capture / Layback is still of paramount importance to us, still an area where PPro is very very weak.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“This American Land” – our new PBS Series.
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Thanks, Tom and Walter, for your responses. Hearing about the workflows is really helpful. It’s tough to move away from a trusted and proven workflow, but good to know there may be similar alternatives. Just means lots more research for me…
Thanks again, all. Very, very helpful.
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Andrew, one last thought. I found Richard Harringtons book really allowed me to make the transition in an informed manner. It helped me understand the way PP worked as opposed to FCP. I highly recommend it.
https://www.amazon.com/Editors-Guide-Adobe-Premiere-Pro/dp/0321773012
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRIg6h-LIm0
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid -
[Andrew Bergner] ”
Walter, do you just export from PP to Media Encoder directly to a compressed format (mp4) when delivering a file? Any need to export or store less-compressed files like in FCP going to .mov first?”No need to export a file first and then go to Media Encoder. We generally will export a full resolution ProRes or DNxHD file for archival, and export whatever the client has requested for final delivery.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“This American Land” – our new PBS Series.
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