[Bob Ramage]

The Mac version of CS3 had serious problems with audio sync when capturing DV. I thought it had been fixed in CS4. I’ve captured numerous tapes with CS4 on my Mac Pro and everything has been good. In the past, these problems were caused by tape glitches – usually at the beginning of the tape – and the program’s inability to compensate. Even slight glitches would throw the audio out of whack.

If the audio is out of sync from the beginning of the tape, one solution is to advance the tape and capture from the 30 second point. If it goes out of sync later, you have to find the point where audio loses sync and capture from there. Alternatively, you might try capturing with iMovie then import the DV files to Premiere for editing.

[Bob Ramage]

Another thought. The project I had been working on originated in CS3. When I upgraded, I opened it in CS4 to continue work. I did the same with another DV project. in both cases, I noticed that performance seemed sluggish compared to CS3. And of course eventually I started getting the “ImporterProcessServer” freezes/crashes with the EX1 project.

As I mentioned, when I renamed the “BPAV1” folder to “BPAV”, I had to manually re-import and link all of the EX1 footage. It’s possible that it was this process which inadvertently solved my problem, and that it was the translation from CS3 to CS4 which caused it.

After I had reimported the footage, the freezes/crashes stopped and CS4’s performance became fast and smooth. I noticed however, that two previously edited multi-cam sequences were screwed up. Edit points no longer made sense and clips had shifted mysteriously.

Bottom line: it’s possible that the conversion process from projects created in older versions of PPro to CS4 doesn’t work correctly, and can lead to the “ImporterProcessServer” problem.

[Bob Ramage]

I found the solution in my case. It seems that Premiere Pro doesn’t like having the default BPAV folder for EX1 footage named anything but BPAV. I had used the names BPAV1 and BPAV2. I noticed that PPro CS3 wouldn’t import the BPAV1 footage (declaring mp4 footage as “not supported”). When I renamed the BPAV1 folder to “BPAV” the footage imported correctly to CS3.

Suspecting a similar problem in CS4, I opened up the project that had been causing the “ImporterProcessServer” freezes/crashes. Since the source folder had been renamed from BPAV1 to BPAV I had to manually relink all of the EX1 footage – a royal pain. It was worth it in the end though, as it appears to have solved the problem. Footage plays very smoothly and despite my best efforts I haven’t been able to provoke a freeze or crash.

Seems like the “ImporterProcessServer” is somewhat fragile. I would recommend making sure you use the default folder structure as originally transferred from the SxS cards.

[Bob Ramage]

I think the problem is a memory leak in Premiere Pro. I tested my RAM (I have 16 GB) and it was fine. I’ve got CS3 on the same system and it works great with EX1 footage. My interim workaround will be to revert to editing with CS3.

[Bob Ramage]

I’m having a similar problem with EX1 footage using PPro CS4 on Mac OS X (on a Mac Pro workstation). I can edit for a while, but eventually the program locks up. I started watching the OS X Activity Monitor while editing and noticed that a CS4 application that loads with PPro called “ImporterProcessServer” seemed to be the culprit. When PPro locked up the ImporterProcessServer suddenly spiked in both CPU (to 100%) and RAM usage. You might want to check the Task Manager in Windows and see if the ImporterProcessServer is doing the same for you.

For me, the problem seemed to crop up after I updated After Effects to 9.0.1. Prior to that PPro had been solid.

[Bob Ramage]

I’ve successfully burned Blu-ray discs directly from Encore CS3 on my Mac Pro, but there are problems with menu features in the resulting disc. CS3 definitely works better in Windows. Hopefully CS4 will be an improvement, although I’m still undecided about whether or not to upgrade. I’d like to see what Apple has planned for the next version of FCS first.

[Bob Ramage]

Flash export from Encore CS3 definitely does not work on the Mac when using any version of Quicktime newer than 7.3.1. It works correctly in Windows.

Apparently Flash export works correctly in Encore CS4 on the Mac. Nonetheless, the fact that Adobe was well aware of the problem for more than a year and chose to blame Apple rather than patch it is disconcerting to say the least. Will a future Quicktime update break it again?

[Bob Ramage]

I’m not aware of any overall list. You’d have to check by manufacturer. I know that in Red Giant’s case they have a page showing application compatibility.

https://www.redgiantsoftware.com/support/compatibility/host-applications/

[Bob Ramage]

Colorista doesn’t work with PPro on the Mac. Magic Bullet Looks does work, however. My experience has been that for Premiere Pro on the Mac it is best to check carefully first to see if a given plug-in is compatible. A lot that work with AE will not work with PPro. Hopefully this will change as time passes and the program becomes more mature on the Mac platform, but for the time being it appears that most plug-in authors are focussed on Final Cut and After Effects.

[Bob Ramage]

My experience has been that the Windows version of Encore works better than the Mac version. Not sure why. I haven’t had your problem, but I would suggest encoding your H264 or MPEG2 files outside of Encore (Premiere works well for this) and then importing them after. This will avoid having to transcode in Encore.

Another thing to try, particularly if you’ve made any changes to media or menus, is to delete the “AuthorScriptHDMVSessions” while your project is still open in Encore. This is a known workaround for the dreaded “Code 6” error and will also often solve build problems. It’s a pain I know, but it works.