Live Video Capture?

[RWMOREY71]

Hi --

Is it possible with Premiere Pro to do live video capture? I hav a Canon EOS RP connected via USB to my computer and the software from Canon can operate the camera / capture video but I can't figure out how to do this with Premiere Pro. 

Is this something that I could do with Premiere Rush? (I thought Rush was basically Premiere Elements, renamed.)

Rich

[Michael Grenadier · Accepted solution]

nope, not via usb,You haven't given us a clue as to what kind of computer you're using or what version of premiere you've got installed.   Once we've got that info, we may be able to suggest some third party cards that might be able to make this work for you.

[RWMOREY71]

Hey -

I am running the latest version of Premiere Pro 2020, 14.7.0 (Build 23) on a Windows 10 PC.

I actually found the open source project OBS Studio v26.1.1 which allows me to do what I want with my Canon EOS RP.

I'm surprised that Adobe does not have a product that offers this capability since this was the core functionality of the software suite Adobe got when they acquired Serious Magic back in 2006. I guess some of the product offers that were part of that company got mothballed?

Rich

[Ismael5FFD]

Hi Rich, 

Any solutions to this? I m also surprised you cannot do video capture via USB on Adobe Premiere Pro 2021.

[Conrad C]

There are two types of video input being discussed here:

• HDMI port on camera to HDMI input, connected through capture card to USB port or slot on computer
• USB port on camera, connected directly to USB port on computer

They do not do the same thing. Live view through USB used to be only for tethered still shooting. With the rise in live streaming (e.g. OBS) and online meetings (Zoom), demand grew to repurpose DSLR-type cameras as webcams. When you plug most DSLR-type cameras in through USB, it is not using the type of signal that a professional capture application expects. It is using a webcam protocol.  The EOS RP appears to the computer as a USB-type webcam.

To explain this from the HDMI side: If you connect the EOS RP through HDMI and a traditional computer interface like a capture card, it will not appear in Zoom, because Zoom is looking for a USB webcam. But it might show up in the Capture window in Premiere Pro.

Most pro editing software has not caught up with USB-based video capture. Premiere Pro, and as far as I can tell, its direct competitors as well, do not support direct live capture from cameras through USB webcam protocols. It is exactly the same reason you won’t be able to use Premiere Pro or its competitors to capture live video from a $70 Logitech C920 webcam. They don’t do USB webcam protocols. (I am not familiar with what Serious Magic used to offer, but I am guessing their products were not designed for today’s USB capture workflows.)

OBS was built for webcam streaming first, partly because it has a significant base of gamers. Their audience buys cheap USB webcams for streaming, or they have a nicer camera and plug it in through the USB port (webcam protocol). That is the opposite orientation from video editing applications like Premiere Pro, which expect to edit files that are already recorded. Or, if you use the Capture window in Premiere Pro, it is again not oriented toward webcams the same way OBS is. The Capture window system requirements tell you it’s set up for the equipment found in (older) professional video studios; it has not been updated for things like the USB webcams found on work-at-home desks in 2021.

Support for direct USB input in the Capture window is a legitimate feature request, though. But if you need to capture from USB soon, use OBS or any other software designed to capture from a source that uses a USB webcam protocol. On a Mac, the bundled free QuickTime Player will do it.

@RWMOREY71 wrote:

Is this something that I could do with Premiere Rush? (I thought Rush was basically Premiere Elements, renamed.)

---

Don’t know, Rush is more mass market but it is very oriented to phone-first capture or editing captured files, not direct webcam input as far as I can tell. But it’s worth checking.

Rush is not the same as Elements:

• Premiere Elements: Home/casual use, desktop only, local files only, traditional file editing.
• Premiere Rush: Same app across desktop and mobile, written from the ground up so that the same project can be cloud-synced across desktop and mobile. This makes it possible to start a Rush project by recording and doing a rough cut on your phone, sync it up to cloud, then pick up the same project in Rush on desktop or iPad and work on it some more. Or open it in Premiere to apply its better tools. So Rush is more of a mobile-first cross-device workflow system.

[Steven5C9C]

One huge detail to mention here is that Premiere Elements does support USB video (e.g. webcam) capture. Which is further reason why it's so puzzling that Adobe hasn't implmemented it in Premiere Pro.

[Andrew345132506bic]

"Most pro editing software has not caught up with USB-based video capture."  That's quite surprising since I was able to do this in Premier 6.0 back in the early 2000s.  They actually had this feature working in their old software but it dissapeared as newer versions came out.

[John T Smith]

Adobe programs have never used USB for capture, only Firewire or a 3rd party hardware solution

[Jason Scarabin]

But why? Really why, Adobe? Seems like a staple item in at least Premiere Pro but nope. 😞

[Andrew345132506bic]

It was like 20 years ago, but I remember capturing images from a USB webcam in premier 6.0.  Premier did at one point support this far in the past.

[Conrad C]

If you were doing that 20 years ago, it was very likely a completely different thing compared to what we’re talking about here.

20 years ago, in the early 2000s, video capture was primarily done with cards directly installed into a computer, or through an IEEE 1994 (a.k.a. FireWire or Sony i.Link) cable. If USB was used, it was probably proprietary, and probably using extremely slow USB 1.1. It wasn’t until USB 2.0 became common in the mid-2000s that it started to be more used for video, but even then, it was more often used for capture from tape, not live streaming. Premiere Pro itself has never really been built for live capture, not even in its traditional Capture window.

What we are talking about today is capture from live streaming USB webcams, and that specifically means from cameras using the UVC (USB Video Class) specification. UVC is very widely used now, and is the reason you can pick up a box that says “USB webcam” at Office Depot or Best Buy and when you plug it into a PC or Mac it will just work, without needing to install any additional drivers or hardware.

But UVC did not become widespread until maybe the early 2010s, when H.264 support was added. And from then until now, it has been more of a consumer standard. This is why only the latest pro still+video cameras by major makes such as Sony are supported for live USB video streaming; earlier models could only do capture to card which is all pros really wanted back then.

Because UVC has been mostly a consumer standard, pro level video editors such as Premiere Pro have not supported live capture from USB webcams. It would be nice if it did, but the Premiere Pro team may not think it’s a priority. They might think that if someone is that pro, they’re going to be using pro cameras connected to a pro hardware live capture solution such as a recording SSD connected to an Atem switcher.

How does Premiere Pro competition handle this? DaVinci Resolve appears to work like Premiere Pro: Resolve apparently doesn’t do live capture, so capture your live video in something else, and import that recording into the post editor. Final Cut Pro has some live recording instructions, but it talks about connecting with FireWire (which is no longer available on any new Macs), so either the instructions are out of date, or it just doesn’t support USB webcams. If that is the case, then none of these Big Three — Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro — will let you do live capture from a USB webcam. It is possible all of those teams think that a post production editor is not an appropriate tool for live capture.

[Warren Heaton]

That was Premiere before it was Premiere Pro.

I was sad to see that feature not continue in the new version.  It was excellent for stop motion and worked extremely well for pencil tests for hand drawn animation.

[Andy 1968]

I know it is an old thread but the asnwer to your question is yes. You cannot use the cheap USB to HDMI capture devices but Blackmagic Design used to sell the Intensity Shuttle  (Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0). You can buy them used. The video below should give you a basic idea of what to expect. Having said that AJA and Blackmagic Design have Thunderbolt devices that can do live capture fom a DSLR or mirrorless camera. 

[Heather27712606gtpq]

Hi, I am trying to do the same thing using the HDMI port on my on my mac with my Canon DSLR. I am trying to set it up to capture live video in Premiere but it does not seem possible. Do I need a video card? I'm a rusty designer getting back into it.  Thanks

[Conrad C]

Hi, I am trying to do the same thing using the HDMI port on my on my mac with my Canon DSLR. I am trying to set it up to capture live video

By @Heather27712606gtpq

Unfortunately that won’t work as described, with any application. The reason is that the HDMI port on your Mac is for output only. The only thing you can do with that HDMI port is send the Mac video signal out to a display that has an HDMI in port, including TVs and projectors. If you want to capture video from a camera’s HDMI or USB port, it has to come into the Mac through a USB port on the Mac.

To connect a camera to your Mac for live video capture: 

• If you want to use a camera’s HDMI out port, most Macs and PCs cannot receive that live video signal on their own. A Mac or PC must have some kind of HDMI-compatible video capture device attached between the cable and the computer. A desktop tower computer can use a video capture card. A laptop, iMac, or Mac mini can use an HDMI to USB capture adapter such as an Elgato CamLink (I have one of those attached to my MacBook Pro), video switcher (such as an Atem Mini), or pro capture deck. 
• Newer cameras can send live video to Macs and PCs using a USB cable connecting the camera to the computer. This is an alternative to HDMI. If you use the USB method, it may help to use the Canon EOS Webcam Utility but I’m not sure if it’s necessary.
• Premiere Pro doesn’t do live video capture. Older Mac versions of Premiere Pro could capture digital video from old miniDV tapes through FireWire, but those capture features were removed some time ago. They weren’t live capture anyway, only for digitizing recordings already on tape.

The good news is, you can easily do live video capture using QuickTime Player, which comes with your Mac, and drag the recording into Premiere. To do the actual live video capture:

1. Connect the camera to the Mac. Exactly how you do this depends on which Canon model you have and how old it is. For casual use: Connect camera directly to the Mac using USB; it might help to use the Canon EOS Webcam Utility that makes the camera appear as a USB webcam. For professional use: Connect the camera’s HDMI port to an HDMI to USB capture device/deck/video switcher, and connect that device to a USB 3 port on the Mac. You may have to put the Canon camera into a special HDMI-out mode that also hides the on-screen display; I’m not sure because I use a different camera brand. 

2. Do the capture: In QuickTime Player, choose File > New Movie Recording. A live preview window opens. Select the video input device (your connected camera) and audio input device from the menu next to the red record button; the preview window should now show you what your camera sees. Use the red record button to start and stop recording the live video you see in the preview window.

3. Drag into Premiere. After you stop capturing, save the captured video into the folder where you want to store it when editing. Then just drag the video file from the desktop into Premiere Pro, and drop it into the Project panel or a bin. 

[Heather27712606gtpq]

Hi, thank you so much for clearly explaining that now I understand. I will try the card reader for HDMI to USB and play around. I might have a follow up if that's ok... 

[Conrad C]

I will try the card reader for HDMI to USB and play around. I might have a follow up if that's ok... 

By @Heather27712606gtpq

Sure. Both ways will work, choose the one that’s more convenient for you. If you are OK with just recording video to the camera card and copy the video files to the Mac later, that’s great. In that way it’s no different from any other time you take photos or video with the camera.

But, for example, if you are using the Canon camera to do a live stream on the Internet through your Mac and the camera can’t record internally while it’s streaming, that’s one reason to use the connected Mac to record the video from the camera.

[Warren Heaton]

The HDMI port on Mac hardware, if present, is Video Out only.

You would record video to the memory card of your Canon DSLR and then copy that to your Macintosh HD or other local storage for import into Premiere Pro.

[Heather27712606gtpq]

Thank you for responding!

[Jason Scarabin]

Any chance anyone knows these seemingly related questions:

1. Adobe, leader of the creative world, chooses zero video (vhs) capture options. Why? When will they add that (again)?

2. See 1

Thank you,

Jason

P.S. Used VidBox with OBS on Macbook Pro (M1 chip) last year with no issues but MacOS Sonoma wiped that possibility out

[Michael Grenadier]

at a certain point, the economics of supporting old technology make it difficult to justify...   and I doubt the numbers are going to change.

[Jason Scarabin]

Agreed, Michael and thank you for the reality check. Just a downer when one just has a few more old tapes that keep popping out of garages... and quite frankly, it's fun. Sigh.

[Michael Grenadier]

there are 3rd party solutions out there, just not integrated into Premiere.     I used to have a blackmagic intensity shuttle but... guess what....  blackmagic stopped supporting it in recent operating systems...  It's not just Adobe.  It's the world.   

[Conrad C]

Adobe, leader of the creative world, chooses zero video (vhs) capture options. Why? When will they add that (again)?

By @Jason Scarabin

Tape-based capture is sort of a different subject than the original live capture subject of this thread, but Adobe did make an official announcement about tape last month:

Tape-based workflows retired in Premiere Pro (October 10, 2023)

Part of their rationale in the article above is that tape-based workflows “are little used today.” So maybe some competition still supports it, but Adobe might believe that would have a relatively small effect on whether or not someone chooses to use a competitor over Premiere Pro.

This is a good reminder for me to see if the software for my old USB consumer VHS digitizer still works on the latest macOS...

[Jason Scarabin]

You're so right and thanks so much, Conrad. I guess I'm incorrectly looking at it like we don't use horse and buggy as primary transportation anymore but one can do so in many towns. In the meantime, in search of a better analogy because I just don't see the harm in keeping the option.