x264 Plug-in For Premiere Pro

[Jeff Bellune]

A new plug-in for Premiere Pro has been released that uses the x264 encoder to export to H.264 and H.264 Blu-ray.  I've had a chance to use it a fair bit, and the quality is excellent compared to Premiere Pro's built-in MainConcept H.264 encoder.  It's also fast -- as fast as the Premiere Pro plug-in architecture will allow.

Details here:

x264 PRO | Adobe Creative Suite H.264 Encoder

Disclaimer: As a beta tester for this plug-in, I received a license for x264 PRO as a gift.  But I wouldn't announce the plug-in here if it didn't deliver it's promised quality.

Jeff

[Paul_Mc_Bride]

I have just tried a short 5min segment x264 encode using VBR instead of CBR and it imported to Encore in about 30secs which is pretty fast for the system I have.( Sorry not in front of my Pc at the moment but approx I5 Quad Core 16GB memory ) Not in the same league as may be required but I still think it should be reasonably functional for this scenario.

I will try a much longer segment using VBR and see what kind of results I obtain.

Hopefully Jeff may be on to something here re: CBR v VBR but early days!!

Paul

[Rallymax-forum]

Hi all,

It's not appropriate for x264pro to make any comments on interactions with Adobe engineering on this forum.

They are aware of the import problem and are addressing it with our help.

there is something you can all do though.

What is the import time of the same clip back into Premiere? Does it index? (note make sure you have the xmpses file next to it)

This will narrow down the problem to the importer vs PPro/Encore.

thx.

Email me or support@3amDigitalStudios.com if you want to discuss offline.

Edward.

[ExactImage]

I really wish there was a Mac version

[Rallymax-forum]

Spread the word around and get them to email support@3amDigitalStudios.com . If there is enough interest we'd be glad to port it across.

[Paul_Mc_Bride]

Edward,

You sent me a private email saying 'what is your Trial registered email?' to which I am unable to send a reply.

Not quite sure what you mean by trial registered email?

Just to clarifiy matters and avoid muddying things further.

( As I have already stated  )I am NOT using x264Pro to encode, I am using Video Mastering Works 5, Adobe Production Suite 5.5 and Encore 5.1.

I queried this problem with Jeff and seem to have opened a can of worms.( No harm in that ! )

I do experience similar problems on import to Encore as SOME others do with x264 Pro yet some do not appear to have the same difficulties.

Bottom line is I can import a 10 minute x264 encoded file into Encore without any problems at all but as soon as I go up to hour with a file size in the region of 13Gb, problems arise.

Import as timeline takes approximately 30 mins and thereafter Encore will not  display anything in the monitor window and predominately displays 'not responding'

So far I haven't managed to find the file size where things go 'belly up' in m my case.

My system is possibly way underpowered and if that is the problem then I will take the necessary steps to remedy that.

The only possible link I can come up with at the moment is that VBR encoding appears to perform slightly better than CBR in my case.

My personal opinion is that I think that Encore 5.1 has problems with large x264 files on certain minimal hardware configurations but hope I am wrong and a solution is found.

I know there are guys out there a lot cleverer than me working on this but hope this clarifies matters to some extent from my point of view.

I look forward to further developments.

Paul

[Rallymax-forum]

Hi all,

3am Digital Studios/ x264 PRO  just released 1.2.0.3 that works around the Adobe H.264 Import issue...

"We are pleased to announce that x264 PRO version 1.2.0.3 is available for Trial and Purchased users.

New Features of 1.2.0.3:

• A DRAMATIC speed increase opening x264 PRO created files in Encore and Premiere!
  With the aid of Adobe Corporation the video output from x264 PRO has been slightly modified so that it is now understood by the Adobe H.264 Importer used by Encore and Premiere. As a result files are now almost instantly loaded."

http://www.x264pro.com/

[tfi_productions_44]

hello all,

i am very interested in getting this plug in

but i need to upgrade to cs6

(currently i am at a very stable version of cs5.03)

however,

reading a lot of the forums regarding cs6 PPRO

(and other programs (AE, AME, Encore))

have many issues/problems thus far

even after the 6.02 update...

my question to other forum users:

if anyone is successfully running cs6 PPRO, AE, Encore, AME

can you please respond to this post

stating your specs...

( i don't know if this should be a new thread or not)

the x264 plugin now has a specific BD component, too...

but i don't want to upgrade to cs6 if it's crashing frequently...

thanks for your help,

jeffrey

[Jon Geddes]

There are many people using CS6 with little to no problems.

Here is one of our system's specs that we would consider average:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

CS6 Master Collection

Intel i7-2600K @3.4Ghz

Noctua NH-D14 Heatsink/Fan

Asus P8Z68 Deluxe Motherboard

EVGA GTX 570 Video Card

16 GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 RAM

120 GB OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS Edition SSD System Drive

32 GB Intel SLC SSD Cache Drive

3x1TB Samsung F3 Hard Drives in Hardware RAID 0

2x Pioneer BDR-207 Blu-ray Burners

Antec 1200 V3 Full Tower Case

Corsair HX750 Power Supply

Hopefully that list was detailed enough for you. It was built approximately 9 months ago, and there have been new components released since then that are better (such as solid state drives and the new Western Digital RED drives for the RAID).

[tfi_productions_44]

hello all,

to Jon:  what version of PPRO are you running?

6.00, 6.01, 6.02?

actually, it is the phrase "little to no problems"

that i'm trying to clarify...

is your pc system stable, or do you "sometimes"

have errors...if so, can you explain them briefly...

(also, i started a thread in the PPRO cs6 forum

under the title "what systems are successfully running PPRO 6.02")

thanks a lot for your help,

jeffrey

[Jon Geddes]

Our system is stable and does not have problems, though most of our work is done in After Effects, AME, Photoshop, and Encore. We only do minor work in Premiere (small projects).

My "little to no problems" statement was referring to the majority of Premiere users. Usually when people have a problem, they go to the forums (not just Adobe, this is true for many product forums). When they don't have a problem, they tend to not visit the forums as much. This causes the forums to fill up with lots of people who are having issues, and very few people who are running stable. This gives forum visitors the impression that a great number of people are having issues, when in fact most people are running just fine and not reporting their success.

We always use the latest version. Currently 6.02

[tfi_productions_44]

hello all,

thank you jon for your enlightening and soothing answer

i feel much better

i am running a very stable 5.03 pc editing rig

but like to keep up with what's going on in the forums

and i understand the 'dynamic' of postings now

from your stated answer...

fyi:  the thread  "what systems are successfully running PPRO 6.02"

has since been moved to the hardware forum...

if you can to answer one more question regarding x264pro

have you been able to successfully encode 2 pass vbr BD discs

through encore cs6 without encore wanting to re transcode?

any insight/advice/suggestions on this would be great...

i want to start using x264pro because of quality reasons

but i need to get cs6 first...

talk to you soon,

j

[Jon Geddes]

We use the x264 Pro plugin to encode all our Blu-ray video. All of our 2-pass vbr h.264 encodes are loaded by Encore without the need to re-transcode. We encode to raw .264 files with the plugin, and use the Adobe Blu-ray encoder to create the ac3 Dolby Digital audio files.

[Paul_Mc_Bride]

Great work guys and thanks for all your ongoing tests and results.

Jeff Bellune wrote:

For En CS6, after 10 hours, the same clips never finished importing.

Jeff,

That is fairly typical of the results I was having with CS 5.5 hence the reason for my original post although I must re-iterate that I am using Video Mastering Works to do the x264 encodes.

and all my encodes have been done CBR so interesting if that may be having some influence.

I don't have any of the codecs installed which you mention.

I haven't had any any problems with m4v files although they do still take about 20 mins ( 16Gb ) on initial import into Encore - thereafter ok.

Unfortunately, I have other priorities at the moment and can't assist very much in the way of testing etc so I am really grateful to yourself and Roger

for all your efforts in trying to find the solution.

Paul

[erikvliet]

One observation as a long time journaist/reviewer who has copies of Episode Engine 6.3.x with the x264 codec plug-in, of Squeeze 8.5 Pro which has the x264 codec built-in and of Media Encoder and Compressor (both without x264 support): the plug-in offered by 3am Digital Studios costs 599 USD normal price and 299 USD promo price.

That's quite a steep price, especially if you consider Telestream selling an x264 plug-in for any Episode version at 80.65 USD.

If you have to buy this plug-in at its normal price, it's actually more expensive than the normal version of Episode with the x264 plug-in added to it (575 USD)!

[excited_Genie16B8]

Not to mention the fact that you can get x264 encoding outside of PP for free!

[Jon Geddes]

I suppose it really comes down to convenience and speed. Exporting directly from Premiere or in AME with x264 Pro has been a huge time saver for us. With the use of AME's presets and the fact that x264 Pro is optimized with the best quality/speed settings, we don't have to mess around with intermediate files, finding decoders for the various video codecs we receive, etc... it just works. Import any clip into AME, and if AME can decode it, x264 Pro will encode it. We deal with a massive amount of different codecs from our clients, and this has really helped our efficiency as AME acts like a frameserver for x264 with the x264 Pro plugin.

If you only do h264 encoding once in a blue moon, and you are already happy with a x264 workflow using an intermediate file, then I can see how it may not be worth it. But when you encode as much material as we do (every day), you really see the benefits and time savers of having the plugin built directly into the Adobe software.

[UlfLaursen]

Jon Geddes wrote:

I suppose it really comes down to convenience and speed. Exporting directly from Premiere or in AME with x264 Pro has been a huge time saver for us. With the use of AME's presets and the fact that x264 Pro is optimized with the best quality/speed settings, we don't have to mess around with intermediate files, finding decoders for the various video codecs we receive, etc... it just works. Import any clip into AME, and if AME can decode it, x264 Pro will encode it. We deal with a massive amount of different codecs from our clients, and this has really helped our efficiency as AME acts like a frameserver for x264 with the x264 Pro plugin.

If you only do h264 encoding once in a blue moon, and you are already happy with a x264 workflow using an intermediate file, then I can see how it may not be worth it. But when you encode as much material as we do (every day), you really see the benefits and time savers of having the plugin built directly into the Adobe software.

I agree with you Jon. I am in a position, where I think, well is it worth it for me or not? No doubt the quality and speed is fine, but you have to consider how much you use it, and for what kind of projects (paying clients or not) - I am stil considering

/Ulf

[Rallymax-forum]

x264pro is offering a Black Friday (week) deal with the bundle priced at $199. It will return to a standard price of $299 on Monday.

[Jon Geddes]

I forgot to mention...

The x264 Pro plugin is MPEG-LA licensed, so it can legally be used on commerical releases. x264 by itself is not. If you are creating any Blu-ray discs for replication, you should be using an MPEG-LA licensed encoder or else you could face legal trouble if it is discovered that you didn't.

[Rallymax-forum]

Thanks to all the positive feedback and requests for a Mac version of x264pro I'm excited to announce that it launched this morning supporting CS5.5 and 6.0 running on 64bit OS X 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion). 10.6 (Snow Leopard) is in the works.

Thank you everyone for your continued support of x264pro.

[Yellamokara]

Well, I requested a demo version X264 Pro, but the download link sent to me by their customer service got blocked by Norton. Apparently it contains the virus Suspicious.Cloud.7.EP

[Rallymax-forum]

Hi,

this is a known false-positive. The copy protection software used scrambles the program so that it can't be hacked. The act of scrambling it sets off the "Suspicious.Cloud.7.EP" rule.

We are investigating ways of Digitally Signing the program so that this goes away.

[Mappi75]

Is this plugin still alive?

I sent two different emails for asking the trial and sent other emails with questions.

But no response..

Or does this plugin makes absolutly no sense for a private home user?

Or does it make no sense because the x265 is coming?

DivX, MediaEncoder & Internet friendly media encoder supports NOW x265.

[Rallymax-forum]

Hi,

Yes x264pro is alive and well.

All requests for trial are evaluated for merit before being granted.

Replies to sales queries can also take a day or two.

[Mappi75]

Hi Edward,

thanks for the information and the trial link, i tested it and bought it instantly (you know) because  i'am very happy with the way how easy too use the plugin and how fast it works,

it use a lots of RAM for encoding (uses 27GB of 64gb).

Now i have a little problem that i cant find the x264 plugin in my (german)  Adobe Media Encoder CS6.

I wrote you an email concerning this.

Regards