Catalyst Prepare

[Mike Watson]

I edit native in Premiere Pro straight from FS5 (and others) - I have little need for transcoding in my workflow. That said, from time to time I hire a producer to log and write.

I installed Catalyst Prepare and was easily able to export and embed timecode to a number of clips. I am apparently in a "trial mode" of Prepare and for just $150/year (I love renting software!) I can un-cripple the system and easily export proxy files.

I would sooner sell my camera and buy a Canon than pay $150/year to make proxy files.

What methods are you using to do this?

[Rajiv Attingal]

Hi,

Adobe Prelude would do almost all or even more than Catalist would do.
It is on rental, maybe cheaper too.

Rajiv

[Kevin Langdon]

You can transcode footage with Catalyst Browse and the bonus is it's free.

[Lee Berger]

Yes I agree with Rajiv on Adobe Prelude because it comes with the Adobe suite and can transcode. You can also drop the MXF files into Adobe Media Encoder and batch transcode there.

On another note, because the FS5 does not give its clips a unique name, I use Prelude to batch rename files and then send them over to Premiere. Of course it doesn't change the original clip name, only the name in PP.

Also I think Sony's Catalyst Browse is a fantastic free browser/transcoder. I discovered that you can use it to browse the clips and then drag clips from Catalyst to Premiere. I was putting together a reel of sample shots and this was an easy way to cull clips from different projects.

[Mike Watson]

Can I ask what your renaming strategy is?

[Lee Berger]

Originally Posted by Mike Watson

Can I ask what your renaming strategy is?

I simply put a prefix containing a few letters or a word that identifies the project or location, and then I let Prelude add three sequential digits. So if I shot a pizza restaurant it might be pizza001.