Import and Edit GoPro 4K Video with Premiere Pro CC
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With the GoPro Hero 4 or GoPro Hero 5 camera, you can capture 4K video at 24, 25, 30 fps at in MP4 container file format with H.264 compression codec. For Premiere Pro CC users who try to edit the GoPro Hero footage with Premiere Pro CC 2014.0.1, they complain that they even get choppy playback issues when playing back the GoPro 1080p MP4 files on the timeline of Premiere Pro CC just as the conditions listed below:
“I have no issues playing back a 5K RED R3D file or a 4K mov file from a GH4 but I’m getting choppy playback in a Premiere Pro timeline from the GoPro’s MP4’s even at 1080 Superview. Was wondering if there is something I need to be able to edit the native MP4 files or do I need to transcode the files from the GoPro to ProRes to be able to work with them in Premiere Pro CC.”
Why Premiere Pro CC can’t properly handle GoPro Hero 4K video?
It is widely known that Premiere Pro CC is one of the professional editing program that can handle 4K resolution video pretty well. However, sometimes, if you try to handle 4K resolution video with Premiere Pro CC on a slow or under powered computer, you will only find that the video skips and jumps on the timeline, making it virtually impossible to edit with any real finesse.
The good news is that you still the chance to edit 4K video with Premiere Pro CC on slow computer since the latest Premiere Pro CC now provides an incredibly powerful proxy workflow that makes editing of 4K media a breeze. For detailed steps, please read this article: create Proxy files directly with Premiere Pro CC.
Sometimes, even you try to edit the 4K video on a fast or powerful computer, you will need find that it needs long time to decode the 4K video or you will start to lose image quality as you do color correction or composite gradients to create greenscreen keys. The main reason is that the 4K video recorded by GoPro Hero 4 or 5 adopts a compression codec of H.264, which is a good delivery file format, but no an ideal editing file format for the following reasons:
1. H.264 is mathematically intense. It takes some serious computer horsepower to decode its compression.
2. Because it is so mathematically challenging, it takes longer to render H.264 files than other formats.
3. As H.264 is an 8-bit format shot by HDSLR, which means you are potentially compromising your effects and especially color correction and composing gradients.
4. H.264 does not integrate easily with other video formats.
Transcode GoPro 4K H.264 to Apple Prores codec
If you wish to get a high quality and high performance workflow of H.264 video with Premiere Pro CC, it would be much ideal for you to transcode the H.264 to a more ideal editing format that Premiere Pro CC supports. After a lot of comparison, we final settle on Apple Prores codec thanks to the great merits listed below when used as an editing format:
– Supports all of the current frame size such as SD, HD, 2K, 4K and 5K
– Encoding with variable bitrate to be economical with video storage, without damaging the visuals.
– Best codec choice for any work relating to a project that needs a quick turnaround time
– As a 10 bit codec, Apple Prores can process a lot of more color data and make the color correction process easier.
To get the job easily done, you can download Pavtube Video Converter for Mac (review), which helps to directly to convert GoPro Hero 4/5 4K H.264 to Premiere Pro CC favorable Apple Prores formats in various types including Apple Prores 422, Apple Prores 422 HQ, Apple Prores 422 Proxy and Apple Prores 422 LT. For users who have a slow Mac computer, you can take good advantage of the small resolution file Apple Prores 422 Proxy or Apple Prores 422 LT created by the program for smooth editing workflow of 4K video with Premiere Pro CC.
For your convenience, the program is available on both Windows (get Windows version) and Mac platform. In addition, the program has perfect compatibility with the new Windows 10 and macOS Sierra 10.12. Unlike other lower quality conversion tool on the market, the program is very safe and clean, it doesn’t feature any any ads or bundled adware. What’s more, the quality of the converted video is pretty high quality, you can’t tell the difference between the result file and the original source video.
How to Import and Edit GoPro Hero 4/5 4K Video for Premiere Pro CC Best Editing Workflow?
Step 1: Load GoPro Hero 4/5 4K Video.
Open the program, click “File” menu, from its drop-down option, select “Add Video/Audio” to load GoPro Hero 4/5 4K video to the program.
Step 2: Define the output format.
Clicking the Format bar, from its drop-down list, you can choose one of Premiere Pro CC best compatible editing format Apple Prores format. If your computer is powerful enough to handle 4K video, it would be ideal for you to choose “Apple Prores 422(*.mov)” or “”Apple Prores 422(HQ)(*.mov)” for high quality performance on Premiere Pro CC.
If you have a underpowered Mac computer, it is ideal for you to output “Apple Prores 422(Proxy)(*.mov)” or “Apple Prores 422(LT)(*.mov)” format.
Step 3: Adjust output file resolution.
Click “Settings” on the main interface to open “Profile Settings” window, here, under video section, adjust output video resolution as “1920*1080” or smaller resolution for smooth editing 4K video with Premiere Pro CC on slow Mac computer.
Step 4: Start the conversion process.
Go back to the main interface, hit right-bottom “Convert” button to start to convert GoPro Hero 4/5 4K video to Premiere Pro CC best favorable Apple Prores editing formats.
When the conversion is completed, feel free to import video to Premiere Pro CC for professional post-production workflow on either powerful or slow Mac computer.
