Tricks for editing Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings in Avid, Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas


If for some reason you need to transcode Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings for editing in Avid, Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas, you may have interest in this post. It presents tricks for editing Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings in Avid, Premiere and Vegas.

Panasonic AJ-PX5000 is the first P2 HD camcorder with native AVC-ULTRA recording and built-in slots for Panasonic’s microP2 cards, which have an SD card form factor. The AJ-PX5000 has two microP2 slots and two standard P2 card slots, as well as an SD card slot for proxy/metadata recording.
Panasonic AJ-PX5000

Panasonic’s AVC-ULTRA offers master-quality and/or low-bit-rate 10-bit, 4:2:2 recording in Full HD to meet a variety of user needs from mastering to transmission. AVC-LongG, designed for applications where file size is critical, offers 10-bit, 4:2:2 sampled recording in a much smaller file size, saving storage cost and transfer times over MPEG-2 while maintaining equal or better video quality. 1080p recording at 50 frames per second is added to existing AVC-Intra compression modes. For ultra high-end mastering and mezzanine workflows, Class 200 will produce visually lossless compression, ideal for migrating current HD tape masters to a file-based format without degradation, and with a far smaller file size than many platform-specific mezzanine formats.

The PX5000 can record in AVC-LongG, AVC-Intra100/50, DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV. The unit is 50 Hz and 59.94 Hz switchable for worldwide use.

If for whatever reason you have issues editing AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings in NLEs like Avid MC, Premiere Pro and Vegas Pro, we would recommend transcoding them to a format that is suitable for use in your editing program. This requires third party converters like HD Video Converter. Read on to discover a quick guide on how to rewrap AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings for use in Avid MC, Premiere Pro and Vegas Pro.

Here’s what you need
HD Video Converter
You can download a demo version (for both, PC and Mac) to have a try. They are not free but it totally worth it.
transcode Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings for editing in Avid, Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegasediting Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings in Avid, Premiere and Vegas

How to convert Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA media for editing in Avid, Premiere and Vegas?

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Start up HD Video Converter as a professional Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA Converter. When its main interface pops up, click ‘Add File’ to input your source media.
rewrap AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings for use in Avid MC, Premiere Pro and Vegas Pro

Step 2: Select output format for your NLEs
1) Create editable file from Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings for Avid MC
From ‘Format’ bar, select ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.
convert Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA media for editing in Avid, Premiere and Vegas
Important: If you’ve loaded a number of video clips to do batch conversion, please do remember ticking off ‘Apply to All’ option before you start.

2) Convert Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA files for Premiere
If you are running Premiere Pro on a Windows PC, you can from ‘Format’ bar, select ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.

If you are using Premiere Pro on a Mac, you can select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Final Cut Pro’ column.
Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA Converter

In addition to DNxHD and ProRes, you can also select ‘MOV (AVC) (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas’ option.

3) Transcode Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings for Sony Vegas
Click the drop-down list besides ‘Profile’, choose ‘Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas > MOV (AVC) (*.mov)’ as the most compatible format for Vegas with best quality. You can choose ‘MPEG-2 (*.mpg)’, or ‘WMV (VC-1) (*.wmv)’ as well.
Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings to MOV Conversion

This method is also available when you want to edit Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects.

Step 3: Custom video and audio settings
If necessary, you can click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profiles Settings’ panel to modify video and audio settings like video encoder, resolution, video bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio encoder, sample rate, audio bit rate, and audio channels. 3D settings are also available.

Step 4: Start Panasonic AJ-PX5000 AVC-ULTRA recordings to MOV Conversion
When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start format conversion. As soon as the conversion is complete, you can click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the exported MOV files for use in Avid apps, Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas with optimum performance.

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