ProRes 422 HQ 1080p 25 fps 1080i/50

Everything AWH11 has said and yes 'upper field' first. I'm in Australia and I've yet to see a lower field first HD format. All broadcast deliveries I create or receive come in as upper field first at the TV Network I freelance at.

If your project is entirely frame based (like your camera) is there a reason you want to output at 50i?

If it's for broadcast I understand but if it's not ...?

Hi Pete,

Timeline: It's probably just best to start with a "Custom" editing mode and build this out yourself. Set your timebase to 25fps, 1920x1080, Square Pixels, and most importantly to achieve your interlaced deliverable, set Fields to Upper or Lower Field First. Specifically, I think you will be using Upper Field First, because I believe PAL/50Hz frame rates have always been Upper Field first (I think it was just NTSC DV tapes that were Lower First) but I'm not 100% sure on this. Just double-check I suppose with what your intended delivery is. Set the rest of the settings as you like. For your Preview File Format, you could opt to also use ProRes 422HQ to match your source footage. It will run great but your preview files will take up more space compared to a smaller codec. Up to you. Again, this is just for previews. It can make your final render faster if you opt to Use Previews on final export but personally I prefer to not use previews though for final exports.

Export Settings: What is your intended export codec. Is it also ProRes 422HQ? H.264? If you have the latest version of Premiere, you can actually opt to deliver ProRes 422HQ in a .MOV or .MXF wrapper. I digress, whatever export format you need, select that. Then in the video settings tab, make sure that Resolution is 1920x1080, Frame Rate is 25fps, and Field Order is Upper First (or whatever your timeline is). You could alternatively check the "Match Source" boxes for these assuming your timeline settings are correct. Set everything else the way you need it to be.