Mixing file formats in edit (prores and .mp4)

[erich68979135]

I have 4k Sony (.mp4/ xavc) footage and 4K prores (Atomos Ninja V) footage for a 4 minute music video. I have been using AME to change the Sony footage into prores 422 under the assumption that editing with the same formats in Premiere Pro 2020 will edit smoother, especially when I create proxies of everything. I've done this to avoid crashes and lags, I also use lots of effects and Lumetri. Have I wasted my time and a tonne disk space doing this? Does Premiere work smoothly with mixed file formats (.mp4 and prores)? It's been difficult to find a solid answer in searches, I appreciate any insights.

[Ann Bens]

I would have done the same converting the sony footage.

You provided no info on OS, comp and Pr build so up to now its just guessing.

[Averdahl]

Premiere Pro works well with .mp4 and ProRes in the same project. The question is how your computer will handle the intensive task of decoding the 4K .mp4 files. That will be the problem on a weak computer.

[erich68979135]

Thank you for speedy response! 

[erich68979135]

Thank you for a speedy response. Yes, I apologize about the specs: Msi laptop, windows 10, 32gb ram, nvidia quadro P3200, NVME HD internal, NVME M2 external HDs 

[R Neil Haugen]

I would definitely work with transcodes on that rig. Or proxies.

Neil

[erich68979135]

Thank you Neil, I have spent the week re-budgeting my life to get an extra ssd to work with these big .MOV files created from transcoding all sony .mp4's. So now I'll have all .MOV from the two sources. I will then make proxies of them all and will work with those proxies.

Do you think working with proxies would have negated the need for me transcoding at all?  I'm ok with final renders taking an extra long time as Premiere does its magic deciphering the different media codecs and putting them together (depending on the rig), I just don't want to have errors from my proxies being sourced from different file formats and making Premiere do something it wasn't made for. 

Is the software built with the conviction that it can mix different formats when exporting media to final renders? Is Premiere built with the idea that it can mix various formats from different cameras on the editing timeline if say, you had the greatest/ fastest editing machine known to humankind? These are questions that keep me up at night and I have not been able to pinpoint a source for this specific information. Any insights are welcome,

Cheers,

Eric

[R Neil Haugen · Accepted solution]

Eric,

It can, in many cases, work ok with all sorts of mixed media. I would guess more editors especially with "upper" gear do so regularly.

Another mixed way to work is to start with original media, but when you've got your sequence down, and are ready to start the polishing stages of color/graphics/sound, select your sequence, and do a Render & Replace to your chosen high-quality "digital intermediate" format/codec. This way you only need t-code (essentially) the parts you're using.

That said, I do know that many top line video post folk routinely t-code to a specific format for their editing/vfx/color work. Even with "big iron" as it's called ... it's been a workflow for them for years, they know it's solid and always works seamlessly in the workflow. ( "It's what the night and batch processing are for ... " )

A number of the colorists I know will look at the media for a project, and decide which format they're going to work in, and do an input transform of all media to that format. A lot of times, for their work, it will be say RED log wide gamut, or Arri log. Every clip in the project is first converted to that, then all clips have the same starting 'feel' and work the same through the project.

So back to your questions ... yes, Premiere can work with mixed formats on a sequence, and often do just fine. Especially with a good machine. But it at times is wiser to do a bit more prep before starting the edit to make the edit go better.

[erich68979135]

Amazing! Thank you, I can sleep better now that this has been so well illustrated! Thank you for taking the time to reply.