Archive for October, 2013

Adobe Premiere CC: No Way to Arrange by Timecode (even with PluralEyes). Use Avid/Edius as pre-processor?

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013

In principle, it is possible to auto-arrange multiple clips on a timeline according to their timecode, e.g. from a camera that was recording time-of-day timecode automatically.

For example, if so-arranged, a timeline might look something like this:

  • [clip1]  [ clip2 ]                 [clip3]      [    clip4    ] [clip5]              [clip6]

I haven’t used FCP7 all that much, but I have a faint recollection that it did this somehow – though some other people say not.  Regardless, Avid does it, and also Edius reportedly does it, and these could be used as preprocessors in advance of Premiere, just to align the clips in tracks and time.

But (as far as I can tell) Premiere can’t do this, there are currently no add-ons for it to accomplish this conceptually simple task.  Not even PluralEyes 3, that can only sync based on audio, which is impractical in some situations e.g. large scale industrial area with different sounds in every corner…  People do it manually, e.g. by typing timecode into timeline and adding markers then placing each clip at its associated marker…

Whaaaat!!!

The nearest one can get, apparently, is to “pre-process” in an NLE that can arrange-by-timecode, such as Avid or Edius, then export an AAF for import to Premiere.   Edius also (reportedly) auto assigns each camera to its own track(s).

Edius price:

  • In the UK, I see for example that DVC have a crossgrade offer for (just under) £240 or (just under) £450 for standard purchase.
  • If it works as expected, then the crossgrade would be worthwhile (in terms of time saved) even if only ever used as a preprocessor…
    • And it’s worth checking out for general usability/productivity.
  • A demo can be downloaded from http://www.grassvalley.com/products/edius_pro_7.

Worth a try-out, when I get time, via Avid and via Edius, also to see whether Edius could be more generally useful.

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Adobe Premiere CC: [Undo]: Ideas for Improvement

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013

As I previously blogged, Premiere CC’s [Undo] does not undo media-replacement in Project pane.  This was discussed on an Adobe Premiere forum thread.  As part of that discussion, the “can’t please everyone” principle was apparent: one view was in favor of that Undo behaviour, another was against it.

Maybe-ideally, both viewpoints would be satisfied if, say, the History window would have a column of checkboxes for “Locked”, meaning all changes are recorded but [Undo] will skip over those having a check-mark (when they could also be greyed-out).  The “Media Replace” action could have a default of “Locked”, so it behaves as at present, for those people who like it that way.

I wish such a change-lock feature existed in any case, e.g. if I have made a string of color corrections etc. to various clips on timeline and then afterwards realise there is some “obscure show-stopping issue most productively solved by undo-ing”.  One could lock the simple color correction effects etc. prior to undoing as far back as necessary to fix the issue (such as some media link or interpretation or sync issue).  I realise it is possible to achieve this by work-arounds, e.g. save to a Project copy then Import that copy and copy/paste attributes each effect across, or one could save Effect Presets and re-apply these after undoing.  But such workaround would be cumbersome if there were a number of different effect tweaks  on a variety of clips, and one would have to remember/note which clips these were (or else go through all clips).  And then there are non-effect changes, like “ripple trim” cut-timing tweaks.

It would also be helpful if the History-window said more specific things than just “Apply Effect” (like which effect) and if the History-window automatically came to the fore when applying an Undo.  Those things together would reduce the likelihood of unintended undo’s of any kind.

Adobe Premiere CC: [Undo]: Media non-Unreplace (& Work-around)

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013

I discovered by accident that, although one can do ProjectPane:[aClip >RtClk> Replace Footage…], a subsequent Undo will not un-replace (restore previous) footage.  I raised this topic at http://forums.adobe.com/message/5778585, and subsequent discussions resulted in a confirmation that indeed this is Premiere’s normal behavior but that there is a reasonable work-around.

So what was the work-around?

  • My footage happened to be XDCAM-EX, denying me the possibility of simply doing a further [Replace Footage…]. This is because the browser associated with [Replace Footage…] was only a File-Browser, not a Media Browser.  Consequently it would list individual component files of the XDCAM-EX folder-structure, but not the single overall high-level sense of “Clip” represented by that structure.
    • XDCAM-EX footage needs special treatment because it is file-structure based and spanned, broadly like AVCHD.  To get such footage properly into Premiere, it is necessary to use the Media Browser, and not simply to drag in the [.mp4] “essence” files within that file-structure.  It is ok to drag from Media Browser to Project pane, because that operation recognizes all relevant information in the file-structure, displaying it as a single clip at the highest level, possibly spanning over more than one [.mp4] file.  The Media Browser hides such detail from the user.
  • My next (unsuccessful) workaround-attempt did work but was clunky.  This was to re-import the original footage via Media Browser, so it appeared in the Project pane, then select it, then go down to each relevant clip on the timeline and in each case do a [Replace with clip] using [From bin], i.e. the original footage in the Project pane.  However, while any metadata (e.g. “Log Notes”) on the original item (prior to replacement) got transferred to the replacement footage, that metadata was not “inherited” by the fresh import of the same original footage, so it had to be copied across manually.
    • Ugh!
  • The best work-around was explained (by Jim Simon, in a thread on the Adobe Premiere forum) as follows:
    • In Project pane, do an offline-and-relink, e.g. via [aClip >RightClick> Make Offline] followed by [aClip >RightClick> Link Media…], which does give the option of using Media Browser.
      • NB: When I initially tried that, the Locate Media Browser (a fresh instance of Media Browser, in a pop-up window) opened in File mode.  However, by clicking that browser’s “eye” button, it was possible to select XDCAM-EX mode (among others). This behavior is unlike that of the main Media Browser, which selects the camera-specific mode automatically.

Storage Volume Read/Write Speeds for Video Editing

Friday, October 18th, 2013

Summary:

  • I expect my new Crucial M500 SSD will satisfy my multicamera HD video editing requirements far more than my old 7-disk RAID.
    • In neither case should their bandwidths be the bottleneck for say one live (raw HD-SDI) HD channel or say 10 simultaneous ProRes files.
    • In addition, the SSD should avoid the Disk-RAID’s  issues over seek-time (latency). framentation, moving parts, noise, heating (unwelcome in summer) and power supply requirements.
  • That’s the theory …it waits to be tested …when I get a time-break to backup everything then install and test it.

Detail:

Some video bandwidth requirements:

  • Raw HD-SDI of 720p 25 frames/sec or 1080i 50 fields/sec: 188 MB/s == 1.5Gbps
  • ProRes: approx 15 MB/s == 120 Mbps
  • XDCAM-EX: VBR, around 4.4 MB/s == 35 Mbps

Sustained sequential (as video ought mostly to be) data read/write speed estimates:

  • RAID of 7200 rpm disks:
    • 7 x raid5 plus 1 hot-spare: around 600 MB/s == 4.8Gbps
    • In my case, I get 400 MB/s == 3.2Gbps.
      • That’s around two live HD channels or 25 ProRes HD files, though in practice one would expect the need for headroom-margin, hence say one live HD channel or 10 Prores files?  Not bad.}
  • SSD:
    • For my Crucial M500 960GB Laptop-internal SSD:
      • SeqRead: Over 375MB/s == 3Gbps
      • SeqWrite: Over 500 MB/s == 4Gbps
    • And no issues over seek-time (latency) or framentation or moving parts or noise or power supply.
  • USB3
    • 625 MB/s == 5Gbps
    • 7200rpm disk > USB3: 110MB/s == 880 Mbps
  • Local 7200 rpm drive:
    • 40-100 MB/s == 320–800 Mbps, for most modern drive types.
  • NAS: 100MB/s == 800 Mbps advertised, under 50 MB/s == 400 Mbps  in practice.
    • But there can also be latency issues.
  • USB2:
    • 60 MB/s ==”480 Mbps” in theory…
    • …but in practice, as seen by user, is more like 38 MB/s == 300 Mbps.

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Shared Storage Options for Windows & Mac Video Editing Collaboration

Friday, October 18th, 2013

In summary:

There’s no magic option, each workstation needs a local storage volume with block-level data access (as opposed to simply file-level access) and formatted to a file system that is native (doesn’t require translation) to that workstation’s operating system.  Migration and collaboration imply file copying/synchronization, which implies read-access to the “foreign” file-system.  Mac OS can read NTFS, Winows can only read HFS+ via third-party add-on utilities.  Furthermore, for speed and responsiveness appropriate to video editing, the local storage should ideally be RAID or SSD.  In either case, it is possible to split the local storage (e.g. via partitioning) into more than one file-system.  At least, that worked on the mutiple occasions I have taken that approach, and have not been aware of any issues.

In greater detail:

Consider the challenge of setting up a shared data storage volume (e.g. RAID array or SSD) for video editing, such that either Windows or Mac computers can connect to it, and a video project started on (and saved to) on one of those operating systems (OS) can be continued on the other (and vice versa).

My current solution is to split the drive into separate volumes, one for each OS.  For example I have done this on RAIDs of various kinds and on an internal drive for Mac systems bootable to either Mac OS or (via Boot Camp) to Windows.  In the case of RAIDs I was advised against this by my system supplier, but got the impression they were just being defensive, not knowing of any definite issues, and to my knowledge I did not experience any issues.

It is is not practical to have just one volume (necessarily in that case, one file-system format), because:

  • Mac OS on its own is able to read NTFS but cannot write to it.
    • This is a show-stopper.  Some of the major video editing applications (e.g. NLEs), slightly disturbingly, may use (or for some functionality, even depend on) read/write access to source-files and the folders containing them.
      • I initially, naively, imagined that video editing systems etc. would only ever read source media files, not write to them, or to the folders containing them.  However that proved very naive indeed…
        • In Apple/Mac’s (erstwhile) Final Cut Pro 7 I regularly used their (moving) image stabilization effect, SmoothCam.  Its analysis phased was typically slow and heavy – not something one would wish to repeat.  The result was a “sidecar” file of similar forename to the analyzed source file, but a different extension, placed in the same folder as the source file.
        • I’m not certain, but got the feeling that maybe the source file (or folder) meta data, such as permissions or somekind of interpretation-change to media files in the quicktime ([.mov] mmedia format.
      • Certainly, Adobe (on Windows and Mac) could adulterate both files (by appending XMP data – being an Adobe media metadata dialect in XML) and the folders they occurred in (depending on uder-configuration) in terms of sidecar-files.
      • Sony Vegas also generates sidecar-files, e.g. for audio peaks.
  • File system translation add-ons can add Windows read/write access to HFS+ (ordinarily it could not even read it) and add Mac OS write access to NTFS (ordinarily it could only read it), but not sufficiently transparent/seamless for big real-time data access as required for demanding video editing endeavours.
    • File system translation add-ons (to operating systems) exist, such as MacDrive, to allow Windows to read/write Mac OS, or Tuxera NTFS, Paragon NTFS or Parallels for Mac to enable it to read/write NTFS, but these (reportedly, and in part of my experience) only really work well for standard “Office” type applications, not so well for heavy (big andd real-time) data applications such as video editing, where they can impede the data throughput.  Doh!
    • Some people have experienced obscure issues of application functionality, beyond data-movement speed issues.
    • {Also, I am concerned over the (unknown/imagined/potential) risk that the “alien” operating system and/or its translation utility might alter the file system in some way that upsets its appearance to the “home” operating system.}
  • FAT is universal but is a riskier option:
    • FAT is un-journaled, hence risks loss not only of individual files but of whole volume (integrity).
      • In video editing, corruption could be disastrous to a project, not only in terms of possible data-loss or time wasting and project delays on data recovery, but also in terms of “weird” effects during editing, such as poor responsiveness to commands, whose cause the user may not appreciate. or even an increased risk of unacceptable flaws in the final product.
    • FAT32 is essentially obsolete, because its maximum file size is (1 bit under) 4GB.
    • exFAT, a kind of “FAT64” is practical, and indeed a big successful corporate Mac-based production company once supplied me with many GB of footage on an exFAT-formatted external disk.
      • The largest file I have so far stored there is 40GB.  No problems.
  • NAS (Network-Attached Storage) sounds at first an easy option, but in my experience they impede big real-time data throughput (as stated earlier for “file system tyranslation” add-ons). Double-Doh!
    • Such devices only permit file-level access.  Consequently, the client systems can e.g. create or retrieve folders and files, but cannot e.g. format the device or address it in terms of lower-level data structures.
    • A likely explanation for the “impedement” of a NAS (to data responsiveness and throughput) is that such devices store in a local format (typically they run linux) that is invisible to the client, then translate to an appropriate protocol for each operating system accessing it.  They normally incorporate a bunch of such protocols.  As always, translation => overhead.
    • Other options, such as SAN and iSCSI, instead of providing file-level access to the client systems, instead offer the lower level of data block access.  Thus they appear to the client system as would any local storage device, and can be formatted as appropriate to the client system.
  • One suggestion I saw was to use a Seagate GoFlex drive, which can be used (read/write) with both Mac and Windows.  But the supplier’s FAQ (about that drive) indicates that it depends upon a translator utility for the Mac:
    •  If you would like to be able to “shuttle” data back and forth between a Mac and a PC, a special driver needs to be installed onto the Mac that allows it to access a Windows-formatted drive (i.e. NTFS). Time Machine will not work in this case, nor will Memeo Premium software for Mac. However, if you want your GoFlex solution to also work with TimeMachine, the drive will need to be reformatted to HFS+ journaled.

So I guess there is no “magic storage” option, my main work setup will have to remain based on separate volumes for each OS.

When transferring an editing project from one OS to another, the following actions will be necessary:

  • Copy any absent or updated files across.
    • e.g. via a file-synch utility such as Syncovery.
  • Allow time etc. for possible file re-linking, re-indexing, re-preview generation, re-“SmoothCam” (or equivalent).
    • This aspect is down to the editing application etc., as opposed to the operating or file systems themselves.
  • Ensure any effects used in the edit are present on both systems.
    • If so then these should presumably still work…

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MD5 Tools on Mac OS and Windows 7

Friday, October 18th, 2013

The md5 checksum algorithm is very old and nowadays regarded as “breakable”, to such an extent that it is not recommended for use in data transmission (through interfering environments) protocols.  However it is handy, well-established. and hence warm/fuzzy…

On Mac OS, the ‘md5’ command is inbult to the OS:

  •  Compute an MD5 checksum:
    • $ md5 test.mp4
      • MD5 (test1.mp4) = f3ed1559874599d26fddc5802d65266e
    • $ md5 *
      • MD5 (test1.mp4) = f3ed1559874599d26fddc5802d65266e
      • MD5 (test2.mp4) = b9bfa87a6a126911f2246c7a615bff27
  • For help: [ man md5 ]
  • To check a file against an expected checksum value:
    • md5 -c CHECKSUM.MD5
    • Where CHECKSUM.MD5 has (only) multiple entries (lines) as returned by MD5 command, e.g.:
      • MD5 (test1.mp4) = f3ed1559874599d26fddc5802d65266e
      • MD5 (test2.mp4) = b9bfa87a6a126911f2246c7a615bff27
  • ???

On Windows 7:

  • There is nothing inbuilt to the OS…
  • Third-party applications are available:
    • Probably best to use a non-Microsoft one, e.g. a linux-like one…
    • There are also many user-friendly/convenience (GUI-based checksum applications, offering additional checksum varieties, beyond md5.
    • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841290
      • The FCIV utility runs on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
        • No mention of Windows 7 but that was after its time(2004) so maybe still worth a try?
      • Download link:
      • The Microsoft File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) utility is an unsupported command-line utility that computes MD5 or SHA1 cryptographic hashes for files. Microsoft does not provide support for this utility. Use this utility at your own risk. Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) cannot answer questions about the File Checksum Integrity Verifier utility.
        • Weird!  Why would they maintain such a …discouraging… attitude?
      • For help: [ fciv.exe /? ]
      • Capabilities:
        • Supports MD5 or SHA1 hash algorithms (The default is MD5.)
        • Can output hash values to the console or store the hash value and file name in an XML file
        • Can recursively generate hash values for all files in a directory and in all subdirectories (for example, fciv.exe c:\ -r)
        • Supplies an exception list to specify files or directories to hash
        • Can store hash values for a file with or without the full path of the file
    • ?

How to Monitor the GPU (Usage, Temperature etc.) on a PC

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

Adobe Premiere: Disable All Effects: How (can’t except via workaround)

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

Problem:

  • Ideally, it should be possible to globally disable all effects, or maybe all those effects (in a list of all effects used anywhere in a project) that a user has marked as being “disableable” (e.g. the cpu-heaviest ones such as Neat Video, which either reduce responsiveness or else ( to avoid this) require rendering.

Solutions:

  • Put all FX on an adjustment layer, that can itself be enabled/disabled.
  • Duplicate sequence then select all clips and [theClips >RtClk> Remove Effects]
  • Edit or process the project XML file to disable all effects (and conversely, eventually, to enable them).
    • This one sounds the most promising, apart from need to make special allowance for effects that were initially disabled.

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Adobe Premiere CC: Weird Audio-Repeat from Nested Multicam Sequence with Audio Transition (Crossfade)

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

Following-up from my earlier post, http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/910

Summary:

  • In a nested sequence situation, I’m getting short audio repeats from a clip element just prior to a cut.
  • Solution: for the nested sequence, do menu:[Sequence > Render Audio].
    • That’s just the audio, not the clip/effects etc.  It’s an extremely fast process.

Context:

  • Premiere Pro CC, latest version at time of writing (7.0.1 (105), under Windows 7 (64-bit).
  • Structure: I have a sync-sequence (multicam source sequence) consisting of XDCAM-EX (file structure broadly along the lines of AVCHD) and Z1 (plain m2t files).  Derived from / dependent on that is a multicam edit sequence, where I cut between camera angles.  Then that sequence is itself nested in a master sequence (showing selected extracts of the performance).
  • For reference purposes: Multicam edit sequence consists (among other things) of a rock band’s “big finish” followed by some applause.  I made a cut in the audio part (only) of the nested sequence clip, to enable the audio for the applause to be normalized independently of the band performance.  To smooth the join I added a crossfade transition over the cut.  Nicer in principle than using volume envelopes.
  • When I play the original recording or the multicam sync-sequence or the multicam edit-sequence, all looks and sounds fine.

Problem:

  • When the Master sequence is played back (in preview or an exported/encoded clip) I hear the big finish, then applause starts, then after 2 seconds the “big finish” is heard once again, but at lower audio level.
  • This effect happens wherever I have used the same cut/normalize/crossfade technique in the (nested) multicam edit sequence.  I have also encountered it in previous projects in Premiere CS6.
  • If I delete the crossfade then the problem disappears…  Doesn’t matter what type of audio crossfade is used.

Solution:

  • Open (in timeline) the Cut-Sequence (where one cuts between various multicam angles etc)
  • Menu:[Sequence > Render Audio]

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Adobe Premiere CC: Weird Audio-Repeat from Nested Multicam Sequence with Audio Transition (Crossfade)

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

UpdateL

Context:

  • I’m producing a video of a progressive rock band (Panic Room) playing at a party on-board a lightship…
  • The video has been edited in Adobe Premiere, initially in version CS6 and then in CC7.0 (105), the latter via opening the CS6 project-file.
  • The Premiere project structure is: [ Master_Sequence > Multicam_Sequence  > Sync_Sequence > Raw_Footage (XDCAM-EX) ].

Problem:

  • While previewing a complete draft of the video, that had been Exported from Premiere CC, I noticed a repeat, after 2 seconds, of the “big finish” of one of the band’s songs.  The repeat is quieter than the “real” (wanted) one.

Investigations:

  • The problem occurs when editing, but only at the Master_Sequence level.  It does not occur at the Multicam_Sequence level.
  • In the Multicam_Sequence, near to the problem part of the audio. is a Crossfade transition.  If I delete that Crossfade (leaving the audio transition to be a plain Cut) then the problem (at Master_Sequence level) no longer occurs.
  • The repeated element of audio is not that within the Crossfade transition, it is instead from a (short) clip (resulting from multicam editing) almost immediately preceding the transition.
    • This is suggestive of a memory issue, such as cache (RAM or file) or buffer (presumably RAM).
  • It feels to me like this is a bug in Premiere CC, broadly similar to something I once encountered (in a different project) in Premiere CS6.
  • I often encounter bugs when I go “off-piste” as compared to most people’s editing procedure, presumably due to programmers/testers not having thought similarly “off-piste”.
  • The only potentially (?) unusual thing I did in the edit of the Multicam Sequence was at certain places to cut just the audio track (via [C-Razor] tool, having selected only the audio part via [Alt-LeftClick].
    • The reason I did that was to separate the end of a song from the following applause etc., which was much quieter, to allow Clip:[Audio Gain > Normalize] to be carried out separately on that applause.  Then I added [Crossfade > Constant Power] in order to smooth the join to the applause.
    • I used this approach rather than Volume envelope because:
      • Audio Gain can increase gain by any amount, whereas Volume Envelope’s maximum gain appears to be 6dB.
        • Possibly the 6dB limit might be configurable in Preferences (I just saw a setting suggestive of that but haven’t tried it),
      • It is very convenient and less “messy” than fiddling about with Envelopes and Track Width etc.
  • Experiments:
    • As stated earlier, if I delete that [Crossfade > Constant Power] (leaving the audio transition to be a plain Cut) then the problem (at Master_Sequence level) no longer occurs.
    • If I replace the crossfade with [Crossfade > Constant Gain] then it makes no difference (the problem remains).
    • If I delete the multicam sequence element (audio & video) penultimately preceding the transition, i.e. the element containing the “big finish”, leaving a gap (black silence) then when I play the Master Sequence, the gap faithfully appears as expected but then the “repeat” (of the “big finish”) nevertheless happens.
      • By “penultimately” I mean not the clip that is the left-hand part of the transition, but the clip before that (which is not therefore any part of the transition).
    • If instead I delete only the audio part and then drag the previous audio (only) part forwards (in time) to fill the gap, then when I play Master Sequence, the “repeat” now comes from the end of what is now a different “previous clip” (the one that was prior to the one I just deleted).
    • This tells us the repeat comes from whatever clip is penultimate to the Crossfade audio transition, it does not happen only for one clip in particular.
    • …to be continued… (sadly)

WebSearch:

  • e.g. Google:[adobe premiere audio repeating], [adobe forum]
    • http://forums.adobe.com/community/premiere
      • (nothing relevant found, and today {and next few days} was unable to sign-in, presumably due to Adobe web system maintenance)
      • {BUT see my later post on this: http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/923}
        • Solution that worked:
          • Open the Cut-Sequence, i.e. the one where I cut between various multicam angles etc.
          • Menu:[Sequence > Render Audio]
            • This was extremely fast, almost instantaneous, worth doing on a regular basis in future…
    • http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/kb/audio-video-glitches-avchd.html
      • Covers a number of issues but not mine.
      • Recommends sufficiently powerful CPU and in the case of spanned file-structure footage (like AVCHD or presumably XDCAM-EX), transcoding to a straight format like DNxHD or UT.
    • http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1047591
      • Strange audio problem in Premiere Pro CS6 (Aug 10, 2012)
      • Problem: All material has been shot on the Sony FS 100 camera – imported into PP with the Media Browser. In one interview the last part of a clip has corrupted audio. At one point on the timeline the audio stops playing, and it sounds like a scratch on a vinyl record – two words repeating themselves to the end of the clip (See screenshot of timeline). The images are as they should.
        • Sounds very similar to my problem.
      • Solution: (Delete) everything within both the /Media Cache and /Media Cache Files folders…
        • BUT when I tried that, in my case it made no difference…
    • http://blog.flickharrison.com/2012/04/problem-solving-in-adobe-premiere-audio-glitches-and-sync/
      • Problem-Solving in Adobe Premiere: Audio Glitches and Sync (Apr 7, 2012)
      • Problem:
        • I imported a few camera cards full of AVCAM / AVCHD footage from my HMC-150 and edited for a few days.  Then I clicked on one imported clip and found that the audio was wrong.  Glitches, skips, out of sync, weird things happening – all nice sounding, but not in the right places.  I checked the original MTS files on my HD using VLC player.  Sound was fine, everything was in sync.
      • Solution:
        • For each imported clip in .mts format, Premiere adds a file with the same name with .xmp as the extension in the same folder.  Feeling bold, I quit Premiere then deleted all these the .xmp files for that card – though i didn’t empty my trash yet.  I re-opened Premiere and double-clicked that file.  It was dead silent, as clips often are when first imported to Premiere.  It does some meta-data-ing… and then the sound was all back in proper order, problem solved.
        • The XMP files had been re-produced in that folder, although this time, apparently, without glitches.
        • {The poster of this solution appeared slightly concerned, at least initially, about the addition of [.xmp] (sidecar) files into the file-structure, as indeed I had reported e.g. at http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/901, but (like me) didn’t do anything about it, just bore the fact in mind}
      • {Doubts:
        • In my case, the file itself plays fine in Premiere, it’s only when nested that the problem arises, hence I doubt the same solution would fix my problem
          }
    • ??

Adobe Premiere CC: Incredibly Slow Response to Timeline Commands

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

I have had similar problems in Adobe Premiere CS5.5, CS6, now also in CC…   And on several types of machine.  For example as I reported at http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/644

Response in timeline to mouse-clicking or play button is often several seconds, sometimes minutes.

It is difficult to imagine how this can be, on such a widely and professionally used NLE.

Top suggestions from websearch are to do either one of the following:

  • Simply reboot the system (not just Premiere)
  • Exit Premiere, exit CC (system tray), kill all Adobe processes (e.g. via Task Manager), restart CC, restart Premiere.

…But that made no significant difference in my experience…

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