Editing T2i footage in Premiere 2.0?

[Kevin Amundson]

I want to add a T2i into my current camera setup. I went to National Camera and the guys were kind enough to let me record some video onto my SDHC card so I could toy around editing it. I already knew that Premiere Pro 2.0 would not be able to edit the T2i's .mov files natively and that I would need to convert them into an editable format using MPEG Streamclip.

My problem is that I can't figure out what format I am supposed to convert the T2i's files into seeing how Premiere Pro 2 won't edit MP4 files.

Can someone help me out by explaining what format I should use? And what settings I should try? Maybe I can't use Premiere Pro 2 to edit T2i footage...

[Ervin Farkas]

Try Export to QuickTime and choose the Animation codec or Motion JPEG with quality at !00%.

My experience with Streamclip converting to QT formats though is that it will mess up your video by over-emphasizing chroma and reducing luma (making your footage look dark and over colorized) - which might as well be a QT codec problem and not a Streamclip issue.

Looking at your workflow overall, you will have to step up... PremPro 2.0 is now what... 5 years old, maybe even older. I will just not going to cut it...

[Mike Sims]

It's definitely not the best way to go but it can be done. My entry for UWOL16 called Lone Star Safari was shot entirely on a T2i and edited entirely in PP2. Files were just dragged in from the card, trimmed in the source window and dropped on the timeline as per usual. No intermediate codec was used. Each clip further had some color correction tweaks and unsharp masking. You do have a lot more rendering overhead. If you have some T2i footage just give it a try and see if it works for you. I have to agree with Ervin though. PP2 is getting long in the tooth. I just finally upgraded to CS5.

[Kevin Amundson]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

Try Export to QuickTime and choose the Animation codec or Motion JPEG with quality at !00%.

My experience with Streamclip converting to QT formats though is that it will mess up your video by over-emphasizing chroma and reducing luma (making your footage look dark and over colorized) - which might as well be a QT codec problem and not a Streamclip issue.

Looking at your workflow overall, you will have to step up... PremPro 2.0 is now what... 5 years old, maybe even older. I will just not going to cut it...

Thanks Ervin, I will give that a try. Yep, I know I'm using archaic technology...but building a brand new 64-bit system came to $2600+ with CS5 Production Premium... Gotta keep saving my pennies.

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

It's definitely not the best way to go but it can be done. My entry for UWOL16 called Lone Star Safari was shot entirely on a T2i and edited entirely in PP2. Files were just dragged in from the card, trimmed in the source window and dropped on the timeline as per usual. No intermediate codec was used. Each clip further had some color correction tweaks and unsharp masking. You do have a lot more rendering overhead. If you have some T2i footage just give it a try and see if it works for you. I have to agree with Ervin though. PP2 is getting long in the tooth. I just finally upgraded to CS5.

Mikes, thanks for a little hope. I do have some footage that I dropped directly into a timeline, however I get choppy playback even after rendering the video. I can edit HDV just fine, but this h264 just taxes my system terribly. I think my primary problem is that my processor is only a Dual Core Pentium D 3.2Ghz processor. Would this make sense? What processor did you use for your editing?

Would a Quad core potentially help or doesn't PP2 recognize quad core performance? Upgrading to the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz would be my cheapest option if that would assist in editing.

[Mike Sims]

Kevin- It was on a Core 2 Quad 2.33Ghz, WinXP 32bit, 3GB ram. Playback in the source window was choppy and I could only roughly set the in/out points. Once dropped on the timeline and preview rendered it would playback fine and I could fine tune the in/out. Final render out took a great deal longer than for HDV.

[Ervin Farkas]

Originally Posted by Kevin Amundson

Would a Quad core potentially help or doesn't PP2 recognize quad core performance? Upgrading to the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz would be my cheapest option if that would assist in editing.

I would not settle for anything less than an i7 -based 64-bit machine running Win7. Editing speed will reward you for the extra bucks spent, and that will be a computer you can keep current for at least 3 years, but maybe even 5-6 years [my own prediction].

[Kevin Amundson]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

Kevin- It was on a Core 2 Quad 2.33Ghz, WinXP 32bit, 3GB ram. Playback in the source window was choppy and I could only roughly set the in/out points. Once dropped on the timeline and preview rendered it would playback fine and I could fine tune the in/out. Final render out took a great deal longer than for HDV.

Thank you for the specs Mike.

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

I would not settle for anything less than an i7 -based 64-bit machine running Win7. Editing speed will reward you for the extra bucks spent, and that will be a computer you can keep current for at least 3 years, but maybe even 5-6 years [my own prediction].

I must admit, you put forth a convincing argument, and more than that I believe you are correct. :) I will continue to price out a 64-bit machine while I wait for my T2i to come in stock.

The help has been greatly appreciated!!

[Ervin Farkas]

Use the Videoguys guide Videoguys Blog - Videoguys' DIY7.7: Intel Core i7 with Vista 64 AND Now Windows 7

If money is tight right now, cut back on the case, power supply, GPU, and buy only 2 of the 6 memory sticks. Upgrade later as cash comes in. Microcenter has the processor for $200. You can build a good entry level i7 machine for under $1000.

I can edit 2-3 layers of Canon footage with effects and playback in real time using Edius on mine...

[Kevin Amundson]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

Use the Videoguys guide Videoguys Blog - Videoguys' DIY7.7: Intel Core i7 with Vista 64 AND Now Windows 7

If money is tight right now, cut back on the case, power supply, GPU, and buy only 2 of the 6 memory sticks. Upgrade later as cash comes in. Microcenter has the processor for $200. You can build a good entry level i7 machine for under $1000.

I can edit 2-3 layers of Canon footage with effects and playback in real time using Edius on mine...

Spent the morning so far pricing out a system with the link you provided, and it looks like I can settle for a Processor/Motherboard/RAM/OS upgrade for $795 + $800 CS5 Upgrade. That doesn't look to bad. I'll also have to jump for an FX 3800 card sooner than later(+$835).

DDR3 has to be used in 3/6/12/24 gb configuration in order to get optimum performance. Just learned that this morning.

[Tom Dickerson]

I'm currently editing T2i footage on a duo core Pentium 4 with 2GB of Ram using Adobe Premiere Elements 4 without transcoding. It hasn't been too bad because most of my finished videos are under 15 minutes or so.

However, I recently purchased (on sale) a I5 Dell Studio. I also bought Adobe Premiere Elements 8. I plan on using Neoscene to transcode my high def footage (from my T2i and my HMC40) to something more edit friendly.