View Full Version : Premiere Only Importing One Channel of Audio from XF Footage


Lewis Raymond
November 27th, 2020, 08:31 AM
So I'm trying to import footage shot with my Canon XF camcorders into Premiere Pro CC but it's all coming in with one track of audio despite my footage having two tracks. I've never had this issue before in years of using this camcorder. I've been using Pro CC for 6 months.

I've tried modifying the clip and adding in channels to no avail. It simply does not bring in 2 channels when I drag in my clips. But I can play the 2 channels separately in VLC player.

I've noticed my deault sequence settings appear to be set to a Sony preset for some reason, but changing it back to XF MPEG doesn't help. I assumed Pro would know to automatically import 2 channels of audio anyway.

Either way, I'm stumped. Any ideas? Thanks.

Rick Reineke
November 27th, 2020, 10:00 AM
Could be a codec issue. Take a look at the file's statistics using MediaInfo (https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo) .

Otherwise, transcode the audio to PCM in VLC and import to the CC timeline

Doug Jensen
November 27th, 2020, 03:01 PM
Have you tried importing some older footage that previously worked the way you wanted it to? At least that will tell you whether it is a problem with the camera or something in post. I'm betting it is in post.

Rainer Listing
November 27th, 2020, 05:02 PM
Windows or Apple? Are you first importing your footage using Canon's XF utility? If not, try that.

Lewis Raymond
November 27th, 2020, 05:12 PM
Yeah I've tried importing footage I've used before and it's only coming in with one track.

As a side note, the audio that did come in was also off-balanced, favouring the left channel. I imported the same video into Premiere Pro CS6 which I still have on my system and it imported fine and the audio was balanced. So something isn't right. Really not sure what's happened.

Lewis Raymond
November 27th, 2020, 05:13 PM
Windows or Apple? Are you first importing your footage using Canon's XF utility? If not, try that.

Windows. I'm not using any utility but to be fair I shouldn't need to do this.

Rick Reineke
November 28th, 2020, 11:20 AM
" I've tried importing footage I've used before and it's only coming in with one track."
- I would surmise a setting in the NLE. Vegas Pro, my preferred NLE, has such settings to import as interleaved or mono tracks among other audio import options,

Seth Bloombaum
December 1st, 2020, 11:22 AM
Windows. I'm not using any utility but to be fair I shouldn't need to do this.
I’d try this, it may work, it may give some clues on why PP isn’t interpreting the footage the way you think it should. Rick’s recc of examining the file with MediaInfo is also solid, try that on an XF Utility version and your direct transfer - it should tell you much about differences between these files.

Speaking of which, do also try any audio options under “interpret footage”. You’ll find this by right-click on a clip in the bin. This is a general fix to try when PP seems to be mis-identifying your footage.

There are also some imports with PP that work much better if you copy your entire card contents to a hard drive, then use the Media Browser to import the footage.

What Canon XF camera? What format settings on the camera?
What version of Premiere Pro CC? Have you updated to latest?
Did this footage previously work on PP CC?
Has anything changed since this last worked?

Battle Vaughan
December 1st, 2020, 10:13 PM
Might check edit > preferences > audio. It 's possible to set stereo files to import as mono in a setting there. Maybe somehow it got set wrong.