MKV for adobe premiere pro CS5

[Mini-ru]

Does anyone know if there is a plugin for Premeire Pro CS5 for an MKV file? I dont want to convert my MKV to AVI.

[Pwolf]

There is not.

[MetamorphosisStudios]

not yet but there is a plugin for an erlier version of premiere pro i forgot the name of it tho....

[Brad]

Your best option is probably to import the MKV via AVIsynth (though with CS5, you'll need to use AVIsynth 64-bit, which DOES work, but it's complicated. It took me a long while to get a functional workflow, and unfortunately I didn't keep track of exactly what I did. I only know that it's working for me now. Just had to do a lot of digging online).

[Phantasmagoriat]

Depending on what's in the .mkv, you could simply remux the streams into .mp4

Just use a simple drag-n-drop script like this: mkv--mp4
(ofc, you'll have to put ffmpeg.exe in the same folder)

[DJ_Izumi]

Depending on what's in the .mkv, you could simply remux the streams into .mp4

This certianly seems like the best method. 99% of the time your MKV has an h.264 stream in it, so transmux it into an MOV or MP4 container and Premiere should happily edit. It can already edit various h.264 formats from a range of cameras, the issue isn't the format but the container.

[Pwolf]

...so transmux it into an MOV or MP4 container and Premiere should happily edit. It can already edit various h.264 formats from a range of cameras, the issue isn't the format but the container.

Just because it can handle h264 out of a camera doesn't necessarily mean it will work just fine with other encodes. I would still suggest converting to lossless rather than just re-muxing into mp4. Never assume that it will work perfectly because there's a lot more to consider than just the codec being used.

[DJ_Izumi]

Just because it can handle h264 out of a camera doesn't necessarily mean it will work just fine with other encodes. I would still suggest converting to lossless rather than just re-muxing into mp4. Never assume that it will work perfectly because there's a lot more to consider than just the codec being used.

Well then, let's put this to a practical test shall we? I just ripped a the h.264 stream from a 1080p 8bit Blu-Ray sourced fansub and tossed it into Premiere CS5 64bit. Actually, it seeks pretty nicely, searches in reverse, frame by frame, jumps from point to point as I toss short cuts from parts of the episode into random order in my timeline.

A 10bit encode doesn't work, but that's hardly a suprise is it?

I understand that this is old dogma 'TRANSCODE TO LOSSLESS FIRST OR DEMONS WILL EAT PREMIERE' but the industry of video editing has evolved a lot since then. It's no longer software that was designed for DV streams, MPEG-2 and other 'Rapid Seek' friendly formats. The AVCHD streams that come out of cameras that support that are streams that are directly compatible with the majority of Blu-Ray players on disc or other storage mediums. We're no longer dealing with DivX hacked into an AVI container, causing B-Frame decoder lag, while Premiere 6.5 is programmed to expect things like DV, MPEG-2 or *shudder* Indeo. It's 2012, we're filming and editing in 1080p AVC and MPEG-2 and there are a other formats a lot meaner than those and in a lot higher resolution, but it still works.

The technology of video editing has evolved. Maybe it's time that the dogma of AMV editing evolved with it?

Note: This was done on an Intel i5-2500k overclocked from 3.3ghz to 4.4ghz, in comparison, my i5-2410M based laptop would probably have just screamed in bloody pain.

[Pwolf]

I understand that this is old dogma 'TRANSCODE TO LOSSLESS FIRST OR DEMONS WILL EAT PREMIERE' but the industry of video editing has evolved a lot since then.

And that's not what I said. In fact you gave a perfect example why you shouldn't assume it will work:

A 10bit encode doesn't work, but that's hardly a suprise is it?

[mirkosp]

Hey, perhaps I should start using hours long AVC encodes with a single keyframes as a source, they will load, so it's fine!

But seriously, just because something works doesn't mean it's optimal. Using lossy non intra-only sources to edit is not fast, nor reliable, and I don't see what's the point in making the editing experience a slow and painful one when you could just load blazingly fast utvideo clips and just enjoy the smooth editing afterwords. But hey, not everybody can be a pitcher, so I ain't stopping who likes it the other way.