7D video workflow questions

Video seems to be a very dark art

So I have a pc, running xp. I have premiere pro and know the very basics and I have a 7D that gives me .MOV files.

I want to take that .MOV file and open it in premiere and edit

So far I havent been too succesfull.

I have tried using zoombrowser to export the .MOV as an avi. WMP plays that avi no problem, quality remains the same as the .MOV, so thats good, but when I try to open the avi in premiere pro it said unsorported file format, but other avi's work ok and if I use ojosoft to convert to avi premiere opens it ok, but quality is terrible!

So what am I missing, I really would like to be able to just convert the .MOV to avi in zoombrowser, then open in premiere, do my editing and export (render) the movie as an avi again.

Do I need a codec to allow premiere to open the avi that zoombrowser creates ? any idea which one ?

Or is there a better way using premiere to open the .MOV perhaps ? if so how do i get premiere to work with .MOV files ?

An idea of what settings to use along the way, ie when creating the project in premiere, 32hz or 48hz ?

Any help would be hugely appreciated

Well plodding through, first step is sorted now with any video converter, nice and simple, good quality files, easy to use.

Now I'm scratching my head at premiere, I've done my editing, adjustments etc and am getting stuck outputting the movie file, I cant seem to get a good quality output with a similar file size to the original and the right aspect ratio ! So many options when starting the project and outputting movies, rendering settings and each setting seems to require a lot of information to be able to make a decision... Oh for a super simple, use these settings guide

Premiere (at least PPro CS4) will work with the files. No transcoding required, but it helps. Adobe Media Encoder exports h264 so try that. The 32/48hz choice depends on the audio and if it's recorded in that spesific frequency.

Thanks Terjay. I have PP7, it doesnt recognise the .MOV files from the cam. So far I have good results with transcoding using any video to mpeg4. Good size and quality + sound, all good, plays perfectly in media player.

But after editing the mpeg4 in PP7 when i output a movie file I lose the sound ? video quality good and using the square pixel stting it isnt changing the aspect ratio now, but not there yet...

The sound file is on the timeline, not muted anywhere I can see, but vanishes when i output, any ideas ?

oRGie wrote in post #9243873
Thanks Terjay. I have PP7, it doesnt recognise the .MOV files from the cam. So far I have good results with transcoding using any video to mpeg4. Good size and quality + sound, all good, plays perfectly in media player.

But after editing the mpeg4 in PP7 when i output a movie file I lose the sound ? video quality good and using the square pixel stting it isnt changing the aspect ratio now, but not there yet...

The sound file is on the timeline, not muted anywhere I can see, but vanishes when i output, any ideas ?

Take a screenshot of your render settings and post them up. Perhaps someone will see something that needs to be addressed. What file format are you exporting to? I have PP but hardly use it so I stick with Vegas Pro 9.