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Eric Holtz
Eric Holtz
Known Participant
March 5, 2017
Question

Exporting A Video with Several Audio Formats: Premiere Pro CS6

  • March 5, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 8772 views

Hello,

I have a Premiere Pro CS6 sequence with audio and video from a VHS tape. The video (and scratch audio) was originally recorded onto DVD at 9,100 Kbps using a Panasonic DVD recorder, connected to a separate VCR for the tape's playback. I used another program to passively import the disc's VIDEO_TS files into one .mpeg file, which was then imported into Premiere. The audio was captured simultaneously from the VCR at 32-bit (float)/48kHz using Audition CS6, where a copy was edited (eq, multiband comp), and saved as a 24-bit/48kHz file. I imported that file into Premiere and aligned it with the scratch audio from the DVD.

The video looks great, needing only a slight black/white levels adjustment, and a narrow crop at the bottom, so keeping it high quality is a must. The big question is about exporting the same video with several different audio formats. Should I leave the 24-bit/48kHz file in the timeline, and let Premiere (or Media Encoder) convert it to ac3, AAC, and 16-bit, uncompressed LPCM files on export? Conversely, should I use Audition to take the 24-bit/48kHz file and "Save As" each of the aforementioned formats, which would then be imported back into Premiere sequences? Would it be more efficient for Premiere to export the H.264 (AAC), and MPEG2 (ac3, WAV) video files with their corresponding audio already encoded at the correct spec beforehand, or does it even make a difference? Should I export using Media Encoder instead? The audio is live music from some shows I played with a group some time ago. It sounded good raw, and now really sounds good after the appropriate editing, so keeping that high quality level is paramount. In my years of using Premiere, I'm not experienced enough in video editing where the audio is a mission-critical, analog tape music source, so I don't know which direction to take. I do know that It is destined for DVD, and for online viewing.

I value all input. Thank you.

Eric  

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1 reply

R Neil Haugen
R Neil Haugen
Legend
March 6, 2017

In general, I would just use the high-quality audio you've got as the sequence audio, and export via PrPro or AME. AME is handy, as it can export in the background while you're working, or you can queue exports over to it as you work, and then when done working for the day tell it to start the rendering while you get dinner and go to bed.

As always, one tests the exports to make sure you're doing things right, but with a decent setting for the audio parameters in the Export dialog box, you should be fine.

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Eric Holtz
Eric HoltzAuthor
Known Participant
March 6, 2017

Thank you for the reply Mr. Haugen. I do wish to have a version of the video with the original, uncompressed 24-bit/48kHz audio for DVD-Video and Blu-ray destinations. Regarding DVD-Video and Blu-ray, can I simply send the 24-bit audio to the authoring program (Encore or NeroVision) and add it to the MPEG video, or does it need to be at 16-bit? The DVD-Video spec allows for 24-bit audio, but I've read many who recommend using 16-bit, without giving concrete answers as to why. Others have also mentioned encoding the audio as Dolby Digital 2.0 (ac3). I have used Dolby Digital for DVDs where there is mainly dialog, but not for live music audio.

The other issue is for video that is destined for the web. It appears that AAC 48kHz is required for YouTube, so will the audio quality take a major hit when converting from 24-bit to 320kbps AAC? I've used Media Encoder for numerous encoding requirements and can attest to your appraisal of the program. I was wondering if it would be more efficient and yield higher quality results for Media Encoder (or Premiere) to simply encode and export video without it having to do anything to the audio, which I would have encoded beforehand in Audition? Am I wrong in assuming that it takes away video processing resources to also process audio?

Update:

I have exported the 720x480 sequence as 1280x720 using the following Media Encoder settings:

H.264 - HD 720p 29.97

1280x720

Field Order: Upper First

Level: 3.2

Aspect: D1/DV NTSC (0.9091)

Target Bitrate: 9 Mbps / Maximum Bitrate: 15 Mbps

AAC 320 kbps 48kHz

The resulting video looks really good on YouTube, while a video exported using the "YouTube SD 480p 29.97" preset did not.

Is there anything inherently wrong with using these arguably unorthodox settings?

Eric

W
Community Expert
Warren Heaton10841144Community Expert
Community Expert
March 9, 2017

Using PCM audio was the plan, and since the video is only 40-min long, I could have the best quality for both audio and video.

The problem I discovered is that I cannot export 24-bit audio from Media Encoder; it only exports at 16-bit, which requires adding dither when coming down from the 24-bit file. That was the crux of my question about using Audition to add the dither and encode as 16-bit, then export that file (along with the video) using Media Encoder. There's not much difference (if any) in audio quality between the 24-bit file used for editing, and the 16-bit file used in the final deliverable. Not applying dither to the 16-bit file first could prove a disaster for the end quality.

Eric


The MPEG2 Media Encoder presets do limit you to either Dolby Digital or MPEG for audio.  It would be great if there was an uncompressed audio option when MPEG2 is set in the Format pop-up menu, but ME assumes that a user who needs Linear PCM will add an Output for Audio Only.

Speaking of Audio Only, have you found the "AIFF 48 kHz" preset under System Presets > Audio Only in the Media Encoder presets browser?  It's set to 16-bit, but can be changed to 24-bit (and saved a custom preset for future use).  Just click on the preset name after applying it to your source.  The "WAV 48 kHz 16-bit" preset can also get bumped to 24-bit.

Of course, check which audio format that your DVD authoring application supports (Nero, right?).

I'm sure that you're aware that you can save directly to a WAV or an AIF at the settings that you're looking for from Audition with no need to go through Media Encoder at all.  In DVD authoring, Linear PCM deliveries are just AIF or WAV files that sync to the corresponding MPEG2 stream.  However, if Nero will only accept a video file and it handles the encoding for picture and sound, you'll need to export from Premiere or Media Encoder with the Format pop-up menu set to a format that supports 24-bit audio (DNxHD, MXF OP1a, QuickTime, etc.).

-Warren

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