PPro CS4 Nanoflash-based projects to PPro CS5
 

Premiere Pro CS5 plays nanoflash-based MXF files. PPro CS4 plus the Main Concept plugin plays nanoflash-based files. I currently have both PPro CS4 and PPro CS5 installed on the computer. I recently updated PPro CS5 to 5.0.3

I have been unsuccessful in opening nanoflash-based PPro CS4 projects directly in PPro CS5. PPro CS5 creates a new named project and attempts to "convert", but essentially never succeeds.

I also cannot import medium-sized nanoflash-based PPro CS4 projects into PPro CS5 without PPro CS5 freezing and ultimately crashing. Sometimes a small project will import, but once I try to work with it extensively the CS5 program locks up and crashes.

I have been working with Adobe Support since Dec 7 on this issue. They have been very cooperative and helpful in this and related issues, but the comment today seems to be final:

" I would like to inform you that as your applications are working fine, but you are not able to convert the CS4 project into CS5 application. I would like to inform you that it is a because of many things which are
different in CS4 and CS5 applications, like presets, transitions and effects, and the coding of the application. Because the coding is also different in CS5 from CS4 Premiere Pro in regards to functionality.
That is way, it might not possible to convert the project from Premiere Pro CS4 to CS5."

I am not in any real difficulty because I can continue to complete the CS4-based projects in CS4 and start new projects in CS5, but I confess I was hoping to use a couple of new features in CS5 on my CS4 projects.

Has anyone had more success with nanoflash-based projects moving from CS4 to CS5?

Many thanks,
Alan

Do you have CS4 installed?

If yes:
1. Open the Project in CS4 and make all media Offline using the Make Offline command. (You can make multiple assets Offline in one go)
2. Save the Project in CS4
3. Exit CS4
4. Launch CS5
5. File > Import and select the Project file from CS4
6. Use the Link Media command and link up the footage in CS5

- If you create a new Project in CS5, can you import any nanoFlash .MXF files?
- How much RAM do you have in your computer?

Hi Roger,

Yes, I have both PPro CS4 and CS5 installed. Yes, a new project in CS5 imports and plays MXF files just fine. I have 16GB of RAM, 13 of which are allocated to PPro. I have the NVIDIA Quadra FX3800 card and am using the accelerated Mercury engine with the program set to memory performance.

I'll give this a try and let you know how I made out.

Many thanks,
Alan

Hi Roger,

Many thanks for the suggested protocol. It works with small to medium-sized projects just fine, However in larger projects, I can overwhelm the computer by trying to do too much all at the same time. For example if I load up too many media links at one time and/or if I don't let the computer complete conforming enough files before adding more media links, the computer freezes.

I will try a couple more large projects leaving ample time for each stage to clear the computer and let you know if that solves everything.

By the way, I heard more from Adobe, but with essentially the same message: because PPro CS4 and CS5 are on different platforms and have so many differences in their structure, converting from CS4 to CS5 will be unpredictable. I mentioned your protocol and they had no reaction.

Alan

To avoid conforming, import all media in a newly cretated CS5 project and let it conform. Once conformed it should not re-conform when you import projects. When you link media, what happens if you wait? If i link any project it seems like Pr is freezing but if i give it the time it needs it works. It can take approx two to three minutes on large projects. It does however fail if i continue to click in Pr's UI. Find the file and choose Select and take the hands off the mouse and keyboard until it has finished.

Give me more details about CS4 and CS5, whats installed on what OS? (When you mention platforms i assume it is Win/Mac OSX.)

If you can, finish the project in the version that created it.

That's a good idea! I will try that as well.

I think that was part of my problem. I suspect I was over anxious and asked the program to do something before it was ready, so I will wait.

I purchased and installed the CS5 Master Collection and also installed the included PPro CS4 so I could continue to work on the CS4 projects. Yes, the computer is a Xeon dual quad core 16GB RAM with Windows Vista Ultimate and the quadra FX 3800 card.

I think your last advice is probably the best -- try to finish all the CS4 projects in CS4. I did wait for the last important project to be completed before I upgraded to CS5 -- thank goodness for that!

Many thanks for your advice, I will let you know what further success I have with your latest suggestion.

Alan

Hi Roger,

Thank you again for your advice. Using your protocol:

1. Open the Project in CS4 and make all media Offline using the Make Offline command. (You can make multiple assets Offline in one go)
2. Save the Project in CS4
3. Exit CS4
4. Launch CS5
5. File > Import and select the Project file from CS4
6. Use the Link Media command and link up the footage in CS5 (Only attempt to link a set of files that in total is less than your RAM capacity. Take your hands off the keyboard and mouse until the computer has linked each set of files. Do not attempt to add more files before the first set is completed.)

I can now open PPro CS4 projects of essentially any size in PPro CS5. I use a nanoflash and the project I was hoping to transfer (now successfully) had about 3,000 files from the nanoflash so they were all big files and lots of them. After much frustrating experimenting (and continued advice from Adobe experts that it may not be possible to open PPro CS4 files in PPro CS5) I found that once I reached the stage where I had the offline CS4 project imported into CS5, the key was not being too greedy. I found that if I tried to link everything at the same time, the computer eventually screamed in agony and froze. However if I linked only a few files at one time, it worked fine. The maximum number of files to link at one time was approximately equal to the available RAM (in my case about 16 GB). And yes, it is important to take your hands off the keyboard and mouse until the files have all linked successfully in each linking. The entire computer is very busy! I then took the precaution of saving after each group of files was linked.

So, thank you Roger!

Alan