Premiere workflow Import to Export in 5 steps

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1. File>Project Settings
2. Edit>Preferences
3. Go to File>New>SequencePR-sequence-settings
Click Tracks>choose Multichannel.
pr-tracks-multi
Never work in default stereo, because you can’t change output channels from the sequence afterwards.
You also loose your renders when you copy and paste between sequences.

PR-yellowIf you can match your mediafile’s settings in part 1 & 2 of the sequence settings, you’ll have no yellow render line on your timeline. (save as preset for later)
Adobe calls this: “use the media file as the preview file.”

 

multi14-2
Like in FCP7, a sequence can change “Editing Mode” the first time you drag footage into it when empty and like FCP7 it doesn’t always recognize the incoming clip correct.  So when do you choose change or keep? Nine times out of ten, start with File>New>Sequence, choose an editing mode, make it multi-channel or re-use an old sequence. “Change sequence settings” is unreliable!
WNET-p2setting
With DVCPRO-HD60i choose Editing Mode: P2 1080i-1080p 60Hz DVCPROHD
With C100, MTS, AVCHD, DSLR H264 files and MP4 clips, choose either:
P2 1080i-1080p 60Hz DVCPROHD .MOV
or
AVC-Intra 50 1080i .MXF
With these formats you edit with yellow real-time line, then render and get the green line, for screening without stutters.
NEVER use “I-Frame Only MPEG” in part 2 of the sequence settings.
On a MAC always work in QuickTime ProRes.

4. Import footage, edit and render.
5. For final exports, export straight out of Premiere. Export matching sequence settings, using previews.
Remove all disabled clips from the timeline before export! Premiere has a bug that exponentially inflates export times with even one disabled audio clip on the TL!
Export speed should be 1/4 realtime or better. Don’t use Queue because when you send a timeline with hundreds of edits with adjustment layers and filters. Dynamic linking has to pass all that information from Premiere to AME in the background applied to the footage in order to render all the frames correct. It causes glitches and is too slow.
The correct way of using AME is letting it crank out screeners from flattened files in the background while you work. H264 from flattened file should take 1/2 realtime. 

NOTES: In Premiere on WIN> PRORES Quicktime can’t be used at all, because it is a Mac-only format.(Apple will not license it to Adobe)
With DSLR’s try to shoot with KiPro or Samurai to avoid transcoding altogether.

This is the list of preferred I-Frame codecs that play without generating cache files:
DVCPRO-HD in MXF wrapper (the file structure on P2 cards)
DVCPRO-HD in Quicktime wrapper
PRORES  (Mac only)
AVID DNxHD & DNxHR MXF (Adobe licensed for both Mac & PC)
AVID DNxHD & DNxHR in Quicktime wrapper
AVC-intra MXF (Mac & PC)
C300 & C500 MXF files
AVI (windows only)
Any other file will generate Cache files on import for both Video & Audio

Resources
FAQ: How do I speed up rendering, exporting, or encoding?
Transcode?
Test disk speed WIN MAC

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