Working with 4K video in Avid, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vega


If you are now frustrating about how to import 4K files to Avid, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas for editing on Windows or Mac, you may wish to read this post. It displays an easy and direct workaround to work with 4K video in Avid, Premiere, and Vegas by transcoding 4K video to an editing codec that is fully compatible with your editing programs.

It’s good to see more and more video editing programs have been added support for 4K files. For instance, with Avid Resolution Independence update, editing 4K and beyond in Avid Media Composer is now possible and available. 4K footage looks amazing but if you don’t know how to work with them your computer may freeze when editing 4K videos in NLEs like Avid, Premiere and Sony Vegas. So you may be wondering, what’s the correct workflow for editing 4K files in Avid, Premiere and Sony Vegas?

Thankfully you probably don’t have to do too much, but you do need to understand how to convert 4K footage so you can use them more easily and smoothly. In the following guide we show you how to transcode 4K files to a “edit” friendly format for use in Avid, Premiere and Sony Vegas without bogging down your computer. The process is surprisingly easy and can be done using only HD Video Converter.

You can download a demo version (for both, PC and Mac) to have a try. They are not free but it is totally worth it.
import 4K files to Avid, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegaswork with 4K video in Avid, Premiere, and Vegas

How to convert 4K files for Avid, Premiere and Vegas?

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Start up HD Video Converter as a professional 4K Converter for Avid/Premiere/Vegas. When its main interface pops up, click ‘Add File’ to input your source media.
4K Converter for Avid/Premiere/Vegas

Step 2: Select output format for your NLEs
1) Create editable file from 4K video for Avid MC
From ‘Format’ bar, select ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.
create editable file from 4K video for Avid MC
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 4K video 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.
convert 4K video files for Premiere

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

3) Transcode 4K video 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.
transcode 4K video for Sony Vegas
This method is also available when you want to edit 4K video files 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 4K files 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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