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MillimeterHave You Hugged Your Metadata Today? Part 2
Mar 24, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
P2 import/export in Premiere Pro
Figure 5. Here’s After Effects importing MXF video data.
Click here for a larger image
Does Adobe After Effects support MXF and P2?
Adobe After Effects version 8.0.0.27 will import and edit P2 footage, but not export it. You should be able to get the footage over to Premiere Pro via Dynamic Link or by creating a Premiere Pro project, and exporting from there.
Will Adobe support Panasonic’s AVC-Intra right away?
I’m not sure when AVC-Intra technology will ship, but CS3 doesn’t support it now. In my discussions with Adobe, they seem pretty jazzed about AVC-I, P2, and MXF in general, so I’m sure it won’t long in coming.
How was the Roni Stoneman show?
Roni Stoneman is an amazing banjo player, simply amazing, and she’s also quite a storyteller. It was a great show. If you’re ever in Galax, Va., get a cup of coffee at Stringbean, and tell Derrick or Janet that Jan Ozer sent you!
How does Premiere Pro differ from Apple Final Cut Pro when it comes to P2?
Back to the grind, eh? Final Cut Pro imports P2 data via the Log and Transfer interface, where you can select files and in and out points and copy them to your hard drive. Unlike with Premiere Pro, you have to ingest before you start editing (although Final Cut Pro does combine all spanned files into a single file).
Final Cut Pro also edits the audio and video files natively and preserves MXF metadata, but it does this all within a QuickTime wrapper. You can’t export the files in MXF format without a third-party plug-in. I haven’t tried any but I’ve read good things about Raylight, which costs $195.
If you don’t care about metadata preservation and you don’t need to export MXF data, it’s pretty close to a tossup. If using and preserving MXF data and metadata is your primary focus, Premiere Pro has better support without considering third-party plug-ins.
If Adobe wants to beat the metadata drum so loudly, the company needs to find a way to integrate metadata search and input more effectively into Premiere Pro, After Effects, and even Soundbooth and Audition. Support for files that span across P2 cards is an obvious next step. Adobe is clearly aware of both issues, and I’m sure we’ll see enhancements in future releases.
Overall, MXF is here to stay, and it will become a highly desirable, if not essential, feature on camcorders with solid-state capture options. Adobe’s 1.0 implementation is impressive, and I’m sure it will pave the way for much more extensive support—both within Adobe products and in the editing industry in general.
