Canon HDV files in Adobe PPro - Tricks for Editing Canon XH-A1 1080i in Premiere Pro

How to import Canon XH-A1 HDV files to Adobe Premiere Pro CC, CS6, CS5, CS4 for editing with native codec? Read here to get the best answer.

For the professional and serious non-professional alike, the XH A1 combines a wealth of features with the outstanding performance of a 3 CCD, High Definition camcorder. Canon XH-A1 captures true 1080 High Definition resolution video at 60i, 30F or 24F frame rates (or, 50i/60i with optional upgrade) stored on HDV digital tape cassettes and a true 16:9 widescreen HD image that is made for your HD broadcast and theatrical projects.

However, the way the clips are created seems to confuse Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, which won't open or import the clips without a little work on your part.


Actually, HDV is not an ideal format for editing purpose. Instead, raw clips like MPEG-2 perform much better in Adobe Premiere including Premiere Pro CC, CS6, CS5, CS4. So, the best method is to convert XH-A1 HDV to MPEG-2 before loading to Premiere Pro.

Try using Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac, which can help you change Canon HDV/DVD files into a different format (e.g. .mov, .wmv, .mpg) with least quality loss. You should then be able to import the new file into Premiere. Besides Canon XH-A1 1080i footages, this Mac video converter can also help you convert camcorder videos like AVCHD, MOV, MXF, MP4 etc to an editable format for FCP, FCE, iMovie, Avid MC and more for smooth editing. What's more, it's combined with powerful editing features like cropping, trimming, adding watermark... to meet your needs. If you are Windows users, please get the Video Converter. Below is the detailed guide on converting Canon XH-A1 HDV/DV files to Premiere Pro friendly video formats.

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

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Converting Canon XH-A1 HDV files to edit in Premiere ProCC, CS6, CS5
Step 1: Add Canon XH-A1 HDV videos to the program. Launch this Canon HDV Converter. Import XH-A1 footage to the converter. You can join several video clips together by checking the “Merge into one file” box.



Step 2: Choose output format. This video converter offers optimized format preset for Adobe Premiere. Just click “Format” menu firstly and then follow “Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas” to set MPG, MOV or WMV format.



Step 3: If need, you can click "settings" to customize the output parameters, adjust the resolution, bitrate for easy editing with Adobe Premiere Pro.

Step 4: Click convert button to start transcoding Canon XH-A1 HDV AVI files to Premiere Pro for editing.

After the process completes, click "Open" button to find the generated videos, and then you can transfer the converted HDV recordings to Adobe Premiere Pro CS4/CS5/CS6/CC easily and quickly.

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