Converting Canon files to PROres for Premiere

Ok, I have 2 basic setups. 1 iMac(basic but upgraded to 12gb ram) and 1 macbook pro 15.4"(basic not retina)

My question is, I am running CS6 and would like to do some video work in Premiere.
Would it be a good idea to convert all of my footage to prores?
I know that Premiere Pro accepts the footage natively, but my system lags a bit when doing grading and playback in Premiere. Would things go much smoother if I were to convert my footage first to Prores?
Also, would I be loosing a bit of quality of my footage when converting? Is it worth it?

No one converts before editing?

FWIW, I'm dabbling with the 30-day trial of Premiere Pro right now and footage from my 1DMkIVs dumped in and worked as is.

Same with the basic timeline in Photoshop CS6

Didn't transcode anything before editing.

I'm using a MacBookPro 15.4 (retina) and CS6. I just take the video tracks off my card into Premiere without any conversion. The tracks play back smoothly even with lots of filters and effects, and the resulting video looks great even on a large-screen plasma TV.

I could not tell you exactly how to do it, but it is possible to create low res versions of your video files, use those to edit, then replace with the high res versions before you export.

why would you convert the footage when canon dslr footage works natively with premiere pro?

ChadAndreo wrote in post #15460278
why would you convert the footage when canon dslr footage works natively with premiere pro?

This. After some struggling with 6D footage with FCP I switched over the Premier Pro and everything works much more smoothly. I'd assume all footage from Canon HDSLRs would apply.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #15455414
FWIW, I'm dabbling with the 30-day trial of Premiere Pro right now and footage from my 1DMkIVs dumped in and worked as is.

Same with the basic timeline in Photoshop CS6

Didn't transcode anything before editing.

Yes, my footage works as is as well. The problem is, how smooth it looks.

BioSci wrote in post #15459079
I'm using a MacBookPro 15.4 (retina) and CS6. I just take the video tracks off my card into Premiere without any conversion. The tracks play back smoothly even with lots of filters and effects, and the resulting video looks great even on a large-screen plasma TV.

I am NOT using the retina macbook pro. I am using I believe a 2009 macbook pro, and I believe an early 2011 iMac 21.5" (upgraded to 12gb ram). My playback without adding any effects even jerks every few seconds with the native 5d3 footage

Heath wrote in post #15459191
I could not tell you exactly how to do it, but it is possible to create low res versions of your video files, use those to edit, then replace with the high res versions before you export.

I'll have to do some research on how to accomplish that

ChadAndreo wrote in post #15460278
why would you convert the footage when canon dslr footage works natively with premiere pro?

Read the replies above. My footage jerks without an edits. With the edits, my footage playback is REALLY slow and jerky(using the cameras native footage)

Since everyone seems to have such smooth playback, maybe my settings are wrong???
what resolution is everyone playing back their clips with? quarter, half, full

Heath wrote in post #15459191
I could not tell you exactly how to do it, but it is possible to create low res versions of your video files, use those to edit, then replace with the high res versions before you export.

This is called "offline" editing and has its place where the file sizes are gigantic (think uncompressed HD) and back when it was more practical to digitize a tape at low-res and then do the "online" (or final) edit by batch capturing at high quality.

As to the question about why would you transcode, H.264 is a delivery format and not ideal for editing. If you are doing this commercially, there is value in transcoding to an editing format as it will hold up under processing better. It does add another step to the workflow though.

There are tools like this that are made for this purpose:
http://rarevision.com/​5dtorgb/

However, in the OP's case it sounds like some sort of performance issue with the application or laptop that is causing the jerky playback.

OP - can you play back the files in Quicktime without any issue? Check the Adobe documentation to see if you require a specific version of Quicktime to match your Premiere version.

Getting an editing system setup is like voodoo, you need a specific computer with a specific graphics card with a specific driver to match the application version. Update one piece and you may very well have to do it all over again.

AAphotog wrote in post #15462147
Yes, my footage works as is as well. The problem is, how smooth it looks.

I am NOT using the retina macbook pro. I am using I believe a 2009 macbook pro, and I believe an early 2011 iMac 21.5" (upgraded to 12gb ram). My playback without adding any effects even jerks every few seconds with the native 5d3 footage

I'll have to do some research on how to accomplish that

Read the replies above. My footage jerks without an edits. With the edits, my footage playback is REALLY slow and jerky(using the cameras native footage)

Since everyone seems to have such smooth playback, maybe my settings are wrong???
what resolution is everyone playing back their clips with? quarter, half, full

If your cpu is up to par, most likely its your settings. just use the DSLR sequence preset with the correct frame rate.
BTW, If you are using the trial version, your version might be missing some of the key codecs for dslr footage.

AAphotog wrote in post #15462147
I am NOT using the retina macbook pro. I am using I believe a 2009 macbook pro, and I believe an early 2011 iMac 21.5" (upgraded to 12gb ram). My playback without adding any effects even jerks every few seconds with the native 5d3 footage

A Macbook that old is going to be Core 2 Duo based, something that was never envisaged for HD video editing.
2011 was a change over year for the iMac, is it a dual core, or quad core model?
If it is a dual core model it will also suffer under HD video.

You will also find that the AMD video card in the iMac is doing nothing in Premier Pro, as it is only able to make use of a select number of Nvidia cards.

Finnaly, the Macbook and 21.5in iMac only have 5400rpm hard drives in them, which maybe to slow.

Have you tried Final Cut Pro X?
It is less of a resource hog than Premier pro and is able to leverage the graphics card in your iMac.

I used to convert when I used FCPX, no need to anymore with PP.

Moppie wrote in post #15463766
A Macbook that old is going to be Core 2 Duo based, something that was never envisaged for HD video editing.
2011 was a change over year for the iMac, is it a dual core, or quad core model?
If it is a dual core model it will also suffer under HD video.

You will also find that the AMD video card in the iMac is doing nothing in Premier Pro, as it is only able to make use of a select number of Nvidia cards.

Finnaly, the Macbook and 21.5in iMac only have 5400rpm hard drives in them, which maybe to slow.

Have you tried Final Cut Pro X?
It is less of a resource hog than Premier pro and is able to leverage the graphics card in your iMac.

The iMac is a 3.06GHz Intel Core i3
You are also correct in mentioning it has a 5400rpm drive

The macbook also has the same drive with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 duo processor.

AAphotog wrote in post #15467990
The iMac is a 3.06GHz Intel Core i3
You are also correct in mentioning it has a 5400rpm drive

The macbook also has the same drive with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 duo processor.

Theres your problem

Forget about the macbook, it will never be fast.

Changing the drive in the iMac to a 7200rpm drive, or using a thunderbolt external drive will help.
But, you still can't leverage the GPU on it with Premier Pro, and may find that the only way to edit smoothly is with Final Cut Pro X, or try Premier Elements.

Ideally you need an i5 or i7 based computer with some fast hard drives.

I'm assuming it is only in your preview, not when saved; mine does that all the time with Premiere Elements 10, and I've wrestled it through 2 2 hour DVDs, switching between 7 cameras (in the last one, 5 in the first). It is just the computer not being fast enough to handle the processing load to generate the preview on the spot. Saving should be fine.
Just check that your project settings are on DSLR, with the right FPS. (29.97 for me; shows 30).