Proxy workflow with 120fps footage

[mattpunkle309]

Hi,

I've been having issues finding the right workflow using 120fps mp4 footage shot on a Sony A7Sii.  I've recently started using the proxy workflow in Premiere Pro CC 2017 v11.1.2 and really like it (other than this issue). 

After ingesting, I noticed that 120fps proxy clips look really choppy when played back at 24fps.  At first, I thought it was just because my system wasn't fast enough to handle the data, but after a lot of troubleshooting and reading other peoples' posts, I realized that my proxies were being created at 24fps. When I slowed them to 20% they just became super choppy due to the proxy frame rate.  I've created an ingest preset to base the frame rate of the proxy clips on the source frame rate, but it seems to ignore this setting no matter what I try.

My current workaround works, but is extremely time consuming and cumbersome.  I import the 120fps clips and slow them to 20%.  Create a 24fps 1080P sequence with all of the slomo clips and export it as 1080p ProRes422.  Then, ingest those clips through the normal proxy ingest workflow.  The system works, but I'm old and gray before I even start cutting.

Any Thoughts?

My system:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016),

2.7 GHz Intel Core i7

16 GB 2133 MHz

Premiere Pro CC 2017 v11.1.2

AME CC 2017.1.2

Sony A7Sii, 120fps, 1080P, MP4, SLOG3

[masai91]

I know this is an old question but I'm in the same boat. Apparently this is a problem with media encoder that needs to be fixed, after talking with technical support.

I actually found a codec that supports the 120fps encoding in AME. h265, which is obviously not suited for proxies because it's still a compressed codec, but if you lower the resolution, I do 960x540, it does play smooth. I'm still looking for a better solution, but for the moment I don't think there's one.

[Jim_Simon]

The proxy process doesn't work with Interpreted footage.  The best option here is to create Cineform Transcodes and work with those.

[masai91]

Media Encoder can't successfully transcode 120p footage, because what actually is 119.88 fps is turned into 119.00 so you actually end up with slower footage and audio sync issues. At least with the current version, as soon as they release an update I'll try again to see if they fixed this. I talked with the tech support in May 2017 and they actually said they where working on this and they would have let me know via email, but I haven't heard from them since.

If you work with PAL though and have 100.00fps you've got no problems at all.

[Jim_Simon]

you actually end up with slower footage and audio sync issues.

But...shooting at 120 fps is for slow motion, which won't have audio anyway, so I don't see a problem.

[brfariado1]

Hello guys ! Any news about fixing this issue now for the 2018 version? For now which codec are you using? Thank you

[R Neil Haugen]

It would help if you lay out your precise process and issues. Some folks get the proxy system to work, but it can be not nearly as slick nor obvious as one might wish ...

Neil

[masai91]

I haven't tried with the new version because I actually did upgrade my PC so I don't need proxies anymore. I can now easily edit xavc-s 4K footage. Unfortunately I didn't have time to test that out.

Have you tried for yourself? I was able to make it encode at 119.88 fps with h265, but I know they made some improvements with h264/5 compatibility so it might work with h264 now. Not sure about cineform though because it wasn't mentioned in the updates.

[mattpunkle309]

Thanks!

[jadelr]

hey everyone,

I don't know if this has been fixed in Premiere 2018. (That's why I ended up here.) But I do have a workaround for the issue, and I can tell you what the issue is.

THE PROBLEM:

The proxy is made in Media Encoder, and the encoding assumes the frame rate of the original file. In theory, this is perfect, except that the sony codec doesn't talk too well to media encoder, and the frame rate on all slo-mo sony footage gets screwed up. RED footage, on the other hand doesn't have a problem. If you use proxies attached to the original source file, you will notice that when you toggle from the proxy to the original the frames will not match (that's the tell tale sign that your frame rates are not aligned).

THE SOLUTION:

You have to create your proxies in the project bin, not as an automatic ingest process. The reason is that you have to reinterpret the footage in media encoder. and here is the work around:

you import your original footage to you PP project.

You highlight the footage you are going to proxy. (i do one card at a time because it can bog down your computer too much)

Right click on highlighted footage and go to:  Proxy>CreateProxies

A window will come up asking you to choose your proxy preset.

This will launch media encoder. This is where the workaround happens...

Media Encoder will load up all your footage into its query and once it is all loaded up will start to process it...NOW HIT THE STOP BUTTON!

Once you've hit the stop button, highlight the first file that strated processing, right click it, and click on "reset status"

Ok, now...highlight all the files in the query, right click, and go to "Modify>InterpretFootage change the source footage to 23.976

close everything up, and startup your processing again.

You're frame rate will match, and the footage will play as it is supposed to.

FINAL NOTE:

For some reason Media Encoder starts up the batch jobs automatically, so there is no way to get around this "stopping the action" process. It is annoying, but the best workaround I have found yet.

Just in case, I'll leave this link to my Sony A7Sii proxy preset in case anyone wants it. Dropbox - A7S Proxy.epr

Hope this helps!

JAdelR

[btdross]

Thanks JadelR!

This workflow allowed me to interpret proxies from 29.97 to 23.976 and kept me working smoothly.  I appreciate the detailed steps.

[sam_burty]

I can get up to the step just before you modify the frame rate of the source footage.

For me, there is no option to modify the highlighted clip in media encoder...

Is there something I'm doing wrong? or is there a way top get around this?

I'm trying to proxy footage from an A7iii shot at 120 fps (119.88 to be specific), but every time I've tried using the automatic ingest process, the proxies have come out at 60 fps and playback has been two times faster than it should be...

Any help would be massively appreciated.

Thanks

[btdross]

Hi Sam,

I believe the fix is pretty easy.  It looks like you're clicking on the output file rather than the input.  Try clicking on the C0020.mp4 and selecting Interpret Footage there... that hopefully will do the trick for you.

I too have the A7III and so far I'm liking it.  Just learned yesterday that you can use "Gamma Assist" to preview SLOG-2 in regular Rec709 to get a better idea of final image, which I'm really excited to try.

Let us know if that interpret lets you get your 120fps down to the 30 or 24 you're after.  I haven't tried it from 120 yet.

Good luck,
Barrett

[scirio]

jadelr  I love you!

question. Do I create the proxies with that method before or after interpreting my 120 as 24 within my media bin? OR do I not modify/interpret as 24 at all in the bin and leave as 120 throughout the edit...?

[jadelr]

thanks for the love! 🙂  And great question. Short answer...I don't think it matters. Essentially, you are modifying the frame rate of your original files in the media bin, and doing the same for your proxies in media encoder. So, the important thing is that they are both modified to the same frame rate once they get to the timeline. As a general rule, I modify my footage frame rate as soon as i import it into the bin, but I don't think the order would affect the functioning.

[dkg876]

How I solved this problem was transcoding using Cineform or ProRes.

[chiranjeevb12202293]

Hi, I seem to have been facing the same issue then i realised that i dont need to rely on the media Encoder for creating the proxies, and i couldn't seem to find a workaround. So what I did was simply this, and I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. I simply created the proxies using a different software that could support 120fps footage, in my case I used Movavi Video Converter, that worked like a charm. I got the downsized 120fps footage and all i need to do now is link it to the original footage using Premiere Pro. 

If you want a freeware then handbrake might do the trick as well! 

[Will.B]

Unfortunately, this didn't work. I have HEVC (h.265 footage) shot on the new a7s iii (4k 120p 10bit 422) and since the footage is very demanding on the CPU, I need to create proxies, but Premiere only supports up to 60fps, so like what was mentioned, I tried using media encoder, and interpreting the footage that way, but the proxy that was created is out of sync with the original clips audio in the sequence.

So then, I used Handbrake to create proxies for my 120p footage, but when I attach them, the proxy footage plays back at 120p, even though the original footage in Premiere was interpreted to 23.976 so that doesn't work either.

Also, I cannot create proxies using Media encoder for HEVC in the current version of Premiere (14.5) because there's a bug that causes the majority of the Sony a7s iii footage to have weird blocky noise in random places throughout the footage. It happens during playback, and it gets baked into the footage if I export. Outside of Premiere, the footage plays fine.

Been trying things for 3 days now. I was able to transcode all of the footage with Handbrake and then the footage is ok in Premiere, but then I still have the proxy issue!!! So I'm still stuck.

[chiranjeevb12202293]

So the proxies that you made with ME are out of sync in PPro because ME has a limit of 60fps footage in exporting, but the proxies you made using handbrake must be 120fps, and if the original footage was also 120fps the  hand brake proxy  should align perfectly with the original footage inside premier since they have the same fps.