Getting Started with Adobe Premiere Pro (CS4, CS5, & CS5.5)

[Kevin Monahan]

Hi All,
I just wanted to point people new to learning Premiere Pro to a blog post I wrote called, "Getting Started with Adobe Premiere Pro (CS4, CS5, & CS5.5)." In it, I have my top recommendations for learning materials, including: blog posts, book excerpts, and video tutorials. Please take a look if you need a place to get started learning Premiere Pro.

Getting Started with Adobe Premiere Pro (CS4, CS5, & CS5.5)

[David Knaggs]

Thanks for that, Kevin.

I'm going to bite the bullet and properly use PPro for the first time today. I've got an existing FCP project and I'm going to try and open it with PPro.

I believe that there will be problems with its interpretations of the 3 way color corrector from FCP and that I will have to manually adjust them one by one. It's already a large project, but I don't care. I want to get the project away from the dead FCS software (where you have to live with the constant concern that an OS update might break it) and onto an NLE that is going to be maintained and keep up with the times. I often get asked to go back to old (corporate video) projects and update parts of them to keep them fresh and current, so I'd like to shift a lot of old projects onto Premiere Pro as well.

It just depends on how awkward it will be with translating the color correction filter or any other "gotchas".

I guess I'll find that out today.

[David Knaggs]

Wow. That was incredibly disappointing.

I watched the tutorial on Adobe TV ("XML Workflow Overview - Exchange with Final Cut Pro") concerning how to export the XML of your FCP sequence and then import it into PPro.

So I exported the XML from FCP. Then I started a new PPro project and set it up with the same settings (XDCAM EX 1080p25) and then imported the XML.

All I get is a screen saying, "File Import Failure" and "Error message - The importer reported a generic error."

I tried to import again and got the same message.

The primary "tipping point" for me in adopting PPro was the stated benefit that I would be able to open my old FCP projects in PPro (unlike FCP X).

So I'll be very grateful if someone can give me a clue as to how I might overcome this "generic error".

I've got hold of the 443 page manual (pdf) for PPro and will use it to re-trace my steps and see if I have better luck than I've had following the video tutorial.

[David Knaggs]

I've had no luck with the manual. I'm running FCP 6.0.6. Would that make any problem for the XML? Will Premiere only import XMLs generated by FCP 7?

If so, the irony would be that there is finally a feature in FCP 7 that I actually need. (Not to mention the fact that Apple no longer sell it!)

[Bart Walczak]

David, Premiere Pro on a PC can't read XDCAM EX files in MOV container. It's the PC Quicktime issue. Perhaps this was the reason?

[Kevin Monahan]

I hope you have found a solution to the problem. If you have a specific problem, please create a new thread for it going forward. Thanks!

[David Knaggs]

What has confused me, Kevin, is that this thread was made into a sticky AFTER my 3 posts - presumably by Chris (?) - which made me think that Chris might have decided to make this thread into the sticky which we were discussing here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/final-cu...ml#post1671436

However, the fact that you have just requested me to depart this thread - which is fair enough, actually - leaves me wondering just where those from the Mac platform (like me) who are "Getting Started with Adobe Premiere Pro" are supposed to take their common experiences and workarounds.

I reckon this is what will happen on this board over the next couple of months. An unprecedented number of FCP editors will adopt PPro (and Prod Premium) due to the offer of 50% off. This will dwarf the earlier numbers of FCP editors who adopted PPro. Functions, which were thought to be stable under the smaller sampling, might encounter problems with a larger user base simply because there is now a greater variety of situations (such as importing FCP projects of varying length and complexity). This sort of thing happens all the time with new cameras. That's why Sony went from the EX1 to the EX1R. And this is where DV Info really shines, in terms of providing solutions and workarounds so that people can get out their products with these tools in the meantime. Then, I reckon, after about 3 months it will all settle down again. Maybe even sooner. And, to help us through that period, it's great to have Adobe Reps such as yourself on this board, Kevin.

[Chris Hurd]

Kevin put in a request to promote the thread to sticky status when
he originally made the first post. I didn't actually get around to doing
it until after the thread started receiving replies.

leaves me wondering just where those from the Mac platform (like me) who are "Getting Started with Adobe Premiere Pro" are supposed to take their common experiences and workarounds.

To a separate discussion thread, I guess... I believe Kevin's goal was
to simply have his post act as an "announcement" of sorts. I might
prune all replies after the OP and set them as a separate topic.

[Bill Pryor]

I sent one FCP project over to PP and didn't have any trouble at all. It even read my Motion stuff. The FCP color effects were funky but opened up as PP color effects and it was simple to retweak them. An ending title looked a little stretched, so I redid that. There must be something wrong with your initial export; it's not an intrinsic PP problem.

[David Knaggs]

Hi Bill.

I'm starting a new thread concerning this topic, but thought I'd first reply to your thoughts as posted in this thread.

When I stripped off my animation tracks, music tracks, sound effects tracks, then cut the sequence length from 110 minutes down to 2 minutes and 50 seconds, the XML imported into PPro. Everything played and worked. The dissolves were there and all clips were there. Totally useless, of course, because it's the full 110 minute sequence that I need, but it was a "Proof of Concept". It did take a very short XML sequence and open it up in PPro.

The latest Adobe TV tutorial says, “I’ve put together a pretty simple sequence and that’s actually a really big point. We’ve found that this process of handing off a project from FCP to PPro generally works best at the beginning or initial stages of an edit."

Peachpit TV for Video - Importing a Final Cut Pro Project | Adobe TV

How long was your project, Bill?

[Kevin Monahan]

Hi,
If you are using Creative Cloud, please see this page for learning more about Premiere Pro and other applications: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-clo...tutorials.html

Here is the one specifically for Premiere Pro: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-clo.../premiere.html

This is high quality training I'm sure you will really enjoy.

Thanks,
Kevin