In a recent lecture that I have attended I got to know about Adobe Prelude as a means of transferring / copying files from cards to computer.

Has anyone used it before? Is it an alternative to Sony's XDCAM browser (assuming that the main reason for using it is purely to copy files in their original format)? I am at the moment using it for the first time and I am copying some files. One of the beauty of it that I found is that it has the hover function as well and hence can do a very quick and rough check of the shots. The downside is that it does not show an activity bar to show you how much it has copied from the card and how much longer it has to copy - or at least I do not know how to activate such a function. (Edit - I did found out: it's at the left hand bottom corner).



Any ideas on this software?

Hi Brian. I'm by no means an expert, but I've started using it since buying the Larry Jordan tutorial package for Premiere Pro. I've been in a slow transition from FCP7 so I'm trying to figure out the best workflow for both my EX1 and my new FS100. Your assumption about Prelude being a substitute for Sony's XDCAM Browser and/or Clip Browser is correct, too.

As you've discovered, the ability to hover and scrub through footage is great. Also, it has great flexibility for adding Markers and Metadata along with In and Out points. However, if you DO set Ins and Outs, you HAVE to transcode your footage. And, if you look at the Transcode options list, it's VERY limited re: HD choices. Jordan walks you though creating your own HD presets inside of Adobe Media Encoder which then appear in Prelude's pull-down list. I created a ProRes setting as one of my options as that was usually the way I liked to edit my EX1 footage.

The one thing you'll have to determine for your own workflow is whether you want to work in the native XDCAM format or if you want to transcode during Ingest. Since Premiere Pro doesn't have major issues editing compressed formats, you don't necessarily HAVE to transcode. For example, the .mts files that my FS100 creates would drive FCP nuts but PP would be okay with them.

I'm still working my way though the tutorials and I'm pretty happy with it so far especially the subclipping capabilities.