Adobe Premiere & Premiere Pro discussions from 2005

[Christopher Lefchik]

1. Premiere Pro/Encore DVD both use the MainConcept MPEG-2 codec, which is the same one used in Discreet cleaner XL, Sorenson Squeeze, Sonic DVD Producer, and Ulead DVD Workshop. There's no other MPEG-2 codec included in the Video Collection that I know of. Personally, I can't tell you how the MainConcept encoder stacks up against other MPEG-2 encoders, as I haven't compared them. But from the products it is included in it looks to be among one of the better ones. (See http://www.mainconcept.com/company.shtml.)

2. I can't answer this, as I don't know what MPEG-2 encoder Avid uses. It may depend on which Avid application, as well. Which Avid program were you looking at?

I haven't noticed any artifacts/blockiness in the little bit of encoding I've done so far. I would imagine the encoding technology would have improved in the years since Premiere 6.5. Again, look at the list that use the MainConcept codec now.

3. Adobe just released a free update that adds HDV support. It can capture direct into Premiere.

4. No, you shouldn't have to render.

5. You would have to create an .avi file.
EDIT: Just discovered that Canopus says ProCoder has an export plug-in for Premiere Pro, so it looks like you could export from within Premiere using ProCoder.

6. I'm not sure what exactly you mean. The only thing I can think of is that if you want full use of the Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder you would have to pay $300 to unlock it. But you probably don't need to mix surround sound for the weddings and documentaries you'll be doing, and would find the included Dolby Digital stereo encoding sufficient.

The only thing I would add is make sure you have a beefy system (check the recommended system specs). Premiere Pro uses all the speed you can throw at it.

[Ed Smith]

Hi Jon,

I never heard of a 10 pin video out port???

You do NOT use your computers graphics card to display the picture on your TV.

Normally you either go though your camcorder or you use a hardware accelerator card, as explained in my previous post.

Can you give us details on your setup, i.e. computer hardware specifications, with details about manufacturer and model for each PC component.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Christopher Lefchik]

The Avid Xpress Pro Features page (http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/features.shtml) lists the "Full version of Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite for Flash output, DVD compression and more." So it looks like you'd get the same MainConcept MPEG-2 codec regardless of whether you get the Adobe suite or Avid. Note that if you buy the educational version of the Avid software you don't get the third party software (Sorenson Squeeze, Sonic ReelDVD LE, etc) that is normally included. See http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/faq.shtml.

[Steven Gotz]

I just wanted to compliment Christopher on his detailed and accurate response. I can't fault the tiniest part of an answer. Very well done.

And then he follows up. Very cool.

I spend a lot of time on forums, this and others, and I answer a lot of questions. Christopher might just inspire me to answer more completely than I have been lately.

[Josh Hibbard]

I am editing in Premiere Pro like I always do after I have just moved into my new office.

My setup, audio one: left channel is a lapel mic, right channel is a handheld mic, audio two is my camcorder mic.

Audio two is a WAV file, audio one is attached to the video.

When I import the video into PP I can hear both channels no problem, but when I try and break out the left and right audio channels into mono clips the audio becomes silent

And by silent I mean I didnt know there was even audio left untill I turned the gain up to 40db then i could hear a terrible muffled voice from the original sound, which was perfectly audible as a stereo clip.

This only happens when I try to turn the stereo track into two mono tracks, by 'filling right' and 'filling left' respectively; If i turn off the effect the problem is solved. Similarly, if I "breakout to mono clips" the audio also becomes silenced.

The tracks are enabled, the audio works on stereo clips, and the track levels show up in the audio mixer as if it were playing audio you could hear, I just cant hear it.

Any ideas? Troubleshooting? I'm against a wall, and my editing is sort of at a standstill today.

[Brent Ray]

I would recommend using a separate piece of audio editing software to do this. Adobe Audition is great, but even a more simple free program like Goldwave can probably do this. Copy each channel of the stereo track independently and paste them into separate mono files. Save each one independently and import them as two separate files. This is probably the easiest and most effective way of doing this. Hope this helps.

[Josh Hibbard]

Its working now, for reasons unknown... I dont think I did anything in particular, but all the mono clips sprang back to life.

But yes I think I will do that in the future, Premiere seems a bit finicky now.

[Christopher Lefchik]

Steven,

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate them.

James,

I missed the part about the DV codec. Hopefully someone with more knowledge can help on this one, but it's my hunch that unless effects are applied/rendered it doesn't make much difference. After all, the transfer from DV camcorder to computer is bit-for-bit.

I do remember something I read about a comparison between the Avid codec and another one, which may have been Final Cut Pro. If I remember correctly, the Avid codec gave a slightly softer image while the Apple codec emphasized edges more. Basically it was a matter of preference.

The DV codec Adobe chose for Premiere Pro is from MainConcept.

And I can't tell if it was DV or MPEG-2 blockiness the editor at your station was referring to from your post, but if it was DV then I think he was mistaken. I can't believe Premiere users would have put up with the application if it was that bad at DV editing.

Hope this helps.

[James Darren]

hi chris,
thanks for the detailed reply...

in regards to question 6, i meant to say do you need to buy any additional plug-ins, software or hardware to do the types of editing i mentioned. it seems the adobe collection is pretty complete. i have premiere 6.0 & like the layout & features of it so i want to upgrade it now i'm doing more "professional" work.

i downloaded the trial of premiere pro 1.5 but only got to use it a couple of times as i went away for a while during the 30 days of trial! from memory it was reasonably similar in interface to prem 6.0

now my next questions are regarding what PC set-up/hardware etc to use for it but i'll start another post regarding that one.....

[Steven Gotz]

I'll put in my two cents worth here. The package is complete. You don't need anything else (except perhaps the Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder ).

Having said that, there are numerous plgins that people like to use. Some with Premiere Pro, but mostly with After Effects.

Tracode's "Shine" is commonly used, and Profound Effects has some interesting products. But these can be added as you expand your knowledge and reach. If you find yourself limited by what the programs can do, there are plugins available to help out.

So start with the basic Pro package, and grow as you need to.

[Yegor Sak]

I’m having a problem with starting a project. I shot something on miniDV, in "widescreen" mode on my sony trv, which I suspect simply cuts off top and bottom of the frame. Im having trouble starting a project that matches the dimensions and aspect ratio of the video I shot. In the scene monitor, the black regions on top and bottom of the frame are missing, and the widescreen video is simply stretched to 4:3.

I tried standard, and I tried widescreen, and neither of them work correctly.

Any ideas?

[Vance Osborne]

Hello all,

From Premiere Pro 1.5, I am trying to render out an important video section as an mpeg1. It is only 5 minutes of video, but once it's rendered and viewed, the video and the audio become out of sync very rapidly.
The file size must not go above 80mbs, so what are the absolute best settings in Pro 1.5 for an mpeg1 render to ensure the video and audio remain in sync?
Any help would be very, very appreciated because this is an urgent problem..

Thanks!

[Yegor Sak]

problem fixed.

nevermind....

[Jim Gunn]

I use a small tv hooked into my DSR-11 DV/DVCAM deck which connects thru Firewire to the computer. Video plays out thru Premiere Pro just fine. (works with Scenalyzer, my DV capture app as well)

[Jon Turner]

many thanks

i will try firewire thru XL2 to tv.