Import Canon H.264 MOV to Premiere Pro without quality loss


This post explains how to transcode Canon H.264 MOV footage to an intermediate codec for Premiere Pro without losing quality, so as to make Premiere Pro CS4/5/6 work well with Canon .mov video files.

If you are shooting with a Canon EOS 7D, Canon EOS 5D Mark III, or a Canon Rebel T3i / EOS 600D camera, you will find nearly all Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras record video files in H.264 MOV format, which Adobe Premiere Pro and other NLEs can not accept well. That’s the reason why you need to convert Canon H.264 MOV footage to an intermediate codec for working with Premiere Pro smoothly.

In our experience, if you are running a Windows PC, you’d better transcode Canon H.264 MOV to DNxHD for use in Premiere Pro; and if you are working with a Mac computer, we would recommend you convert Canon H.264 MOV to Apple ProRes for Premiere Pro. To process Canon H.264 MOV to Premiere Pro CS4/5/6 conversion, you will need third party software like HD Video Converter, which works well as a Canon MOV to Premiere Pro Converter. You can download a free trial and follow the steps below to process Canon MOV to Premiere Pro conversion.

Download a free trial of HD Video Converter
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How to convert Canon H.264 MOV footage to Premiere Pro editable files without quality loss?

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Start up HD Video Converter as a Canon MOV to Premiere Pro Converter.

Step 2: Click ‘Add File’ to import Canon H.264 MOV video files to the program.

Step 3: Select output format
* If you are on a Windows PC, from the format bar, choose ‘Avid DNxHD 1080p (*.mov)’ as output under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.
** If you are on a Mac computer, from the format bar, choose ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format under ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue.

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.

Step 4: Custom video and audio settings (for advanced users)
Click ‘Settings’ button, the ‘Profile Settings’ panel pops up, on which you are able to modify video and audio settings like resolution, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel.

Step 5: When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start transcoding Canon .mov files to Premiere Pro supported QuickTime MOV format. As soon as the conversion complete, click ‘Open Folder’ button to locate the generated files and now you are able to open them in Premiere for post production with optimal performance

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