editing AVCHD in Premiere Pro CS5

[irispix]

Under another topic you mentioned:

"If your computer isn't powerful enough to handle the AVCHD source, Premiere Pro CS5 has the ability to set the sequence preview resolution to a lower value than the frame size. This will lower the preview quality, but you will be able to play back previews in real time that the computer cannot play back at full frame size. This won't affect the quality of the edited video. You can export the completed video at full resolution. Alternately, you can choose to convert the video to a less computationally intensive format and edit that."

My computer is a 2-core and has 4.00 gb RAM

I have shot AVCHD videos and considering what you said above, what setting would you recommend I use? ...DV-NTSC?

Also as an alternative, how do I convert the video to a lesser format? I am not too enthused about this option but would like to know in case I find it necessary to do so.

Thanks.








Do you think setting the resoluction to DV

[Peru]

I'd be surprised if your computer will handle it with only 4GB RAM, unless you only use dissolves and cuts.
What operating system, processor (and speed), and video card do you have?

[irispix]

Interesting what you said about "only dissolves and cuts" because I am working on a Dogma 95-type video.

Besides cuts and will use dissolves sparingly (if I can avoid it, I will not use them at all).

So far I have editied about 10 min with no problem at all, maybe when I come around to add menus I may encounter problems.

In any case going back to my question: What setting would you suggest I use in Premiere Pro CS5 when editing AVCHD videos?

(to be honest I can't remember what I set this project as... maybe AVCHD but I can't rememer but of course I've been just playing around with a few clips)

Also if I would need to downgrade, what is a good coversion program to use to convert my AVCHD video to SD or some other type which is more manageable.

Thanks

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

What setting would you suggest I use in Premiere Pro CS5 when editing AVCHD videos?

There are three 'groups' of settings under the AVCHD folder. You should choose the one that most closely matches your source footage characteristics -

1080i or 1080p (anamorphic for footage in 1440x1080; square pixel for 1920x1080 footage). If 1080p then you will need to select the appropriate frame rate 24, 25 or 30.

If 720p then just select the framerate that matches your source.

[Bob]

Since your system is underpowered for AVCHD, you can try lowering the playback resolution. Right click on the monitor window and select playback resolution from the popup window. Select 1/2 or 1/4. Leave the paused resolution at the default of Full. The image while playing in the monitor or scrubbing the CTI will look worse, but it will play smoother and facilitate editing. It won't affect the export of the final video.

The problem with an under powered system is not rendering/encoding the final video, you can let it run overnight if need be. The problem is the responsiveness while editing. If lowering the playback resolution lets you work fast enough to not drive you crazy, you should be fine.

See this video: http://www.video2brain.com/en/videos-5367.htm#/?video_id=5367.