Ryan Holmes
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COW Coins
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Always, always, always use ProRes (or similar codec like DNxHD). h.264 is a delivery codec; not an editing format. It is not a friendly post-workflow codec. Additionally, it does not hold up well for color correction and compositing. If you plan to go out to Apple Color or DaVinci Resolve or whatever, ProRes is designed for multiple generational use – it’s designed to be re-encoded without losing quality. The (LT) variety is a bit lighter weight than it’s siblings. I generally recommend the Apple ProRes422 codec for the majority of projects that originate from HDSLR’s.
h.264 is an awful codec to edit in for the reasons Karsten gave (which make me wonder why they then recommend you use it!?). I never recommend an h.264 workflow unless you’re on a time crunch and can’t transcode to a better codec (i.e. ProRes, DNxHD, etc.). If you have the time editing is smoother, color correction is easier, and the footage stands up to multiple re-encodes which tend to happen in the post-workflow.
My overall summation:
h.264 = bad
ProRes = goodRyan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
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What is your paused and playback resolution set at? If it’s set at anything less than “Full” (i.e. 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16) then your text won’t look sharp because PP is reducing the resolution to ensure smooth playback.
Also what is your player scale set to? If it’s on “Fit” depending on the resolution of your monitor then it may be scaling up the resolution to fill the canvas. Just set it to 100% so you see exactly what it looks like. It’s easy to change – just look underneath the video (in between the timecode markers) and you’ll see a drop down menu where you can select the scale of the player. If it’s on anything except 100% realize that you are seeing either an upscaled or downscaled version of your timeline.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
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We shot on Canon 7D’s over here (big brother to the t2i). We transcode all our footage to ProRes422. Because the camera encodes the video to h.264 (highly compressed format) transcoding to Uncompressed is a waste of space, IMO. If you’re going to be doing heavy compositing or color grading I might chose ProRes HQ.
ProRes (LT) isn’t a bad choice, but it doesn’t hold up as well as it’s bigger brothers when re-compressed several times. But if all you’re doing is editing the footage and doing a 3-way color corrector, then (LT) is more than sufficient. If you’re editing the footage then going to After Effects and then to Color or Resolve I would step up to ProRes422.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
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I’m not entirely clear on what you’re asking.
If you’re pic-in-pic fx are simply x/y translations in Premiere then those will come across in Resolve. If you’ve used plugins or custom masks in Premiere than those won’t transfer over to Resolve. Resolve is opening your project up based on a XML. XML’s by nature can only carry certain types of data (much like an EDL can only carry in/out points and simple dissolves).
Additionally, if your gfx are baked into a Quicktime movie (i.e. not an After Effects project embedded in your Premiere Pro timeline) then those will transfer to Resolve.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
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How is the hard drive attached? Firewire? USB? Internal?
Is the footage sitting on the boot drive of the machine?
How full is the hard drive? (430GB of a 500GB drive). A full hard drive has a harder time serving up fast video.
If you move to an intermediate codec I would recommend either Apple ProRes or DNxHD depending on where else you may be moving the footage (Avid, FCP, Resolve, Smoke, After Effects, etc.).
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
I’ve been through this with PP as well. There’s usually no rhyme or reason for it and it’s one of things that drives me crazy about this program. It’s like PP has so many great features but then it does flaky stuff like this and you just stare at it (or start cussing) and begin to question if this app is really ready for PrimeTime.
Here’s my $.02
(1) Repair permissions on the drive where the media exists.
(2) Update PP if necessary (5.5.2 – assuming you’re running CS5.5).
(3) Resave project file as a different name
(4) Restart machine
(5) Pray it works.Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
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Why HQ? If your original format is HDV and you’re capturing at HQ instead of standard ProRes 422 all you’re really getting are larger file sizes. The added data rate isn’t going to do anything for you.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
What format are you going to? DPX, Quicktime, MXF, etc.
What codec are you using? ProRes, DNxHD, etc.
Have you tried using a different transcoding software – Quicktime Pro, MPEG Streamclip, 5DtoRGB, etc.?
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
If we use Color on a PP project it looks like this:
Premiere Pro export XML. Open XML in FCP7. Send timeline to Color from FCP7.
When it works it’s great.
DaVinci Resolve workflow:
Premiere Pro (or FCP or Avid) export out XML (or AAF). Open in Resolve.Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
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Right on. Both panels makes more sense. I thought you were trying to run one instead of the other. You could probably gain some interesting functionality by combining them.
I don’t have the room for that many panels on my desktop. I would swing by their NAB booth and talk with some reps about it. See if it’s been used that way.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.com
vimeo.com/ryanholmes