Need to Convert VC-1 from Blu-ray Rip to Lossless Format Premiere Can Use

[BigPines]

I want to edit a VC-1 Blu-ray rip but Premiere chokes the m2ts file from the rip and refuses to import it (probably because the Main Concept importer Premiere uses can't recognize it). As a result, I am forced to convert the VC-1 into something Premiere is happy with.

I had a similar problem editing a 3D Blu-ray some time back: http://doom10.org/index.php?topic=1005.0. In that case, I settled on the following x264 transcode settings: x264 --crf 1 --preset superfast --level 4.1 --tune film --fps 24000/1001 --keyint 24 --weightp 2 --bframes 3 --b-pyramid normal --slices 4 --colorprim "bt709" --transfer "bt709" --colormatrix "bt709" --sar 1:1 -o output.h264 input.m2ts This was the best quality I could find that Premiere was happy with.

I could use this same method now but unfortunately, it does add another generation of loss into my work. What I would really like to do is convert the VC-1 into something lossless that Premiere would be happy with. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anything that will work. I tried to use the x264 lossless setting: x264 -q0 --preset ultrafast -o output.h264 input.m2ts but Premiere was unable to interpret it and instead displayed a green screen when working with the video.

If I could get the VC-1 into the lossless Quicktime Animation codec, Premiere should be happy with that. However, Quicktime can't seem to understand VC-1 so I can't figure out how to do the conversion.

What tools should I use to do this conversion? Is there another lossless codec I can use that Premier will be happy with? I am open to all advice and suggestions to my dilemma.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[bbowenx]

what version of premier are you using... cs4 and newer imports avchd natively, and i use it for .mts files from canon vivixia, i always thought, maybe wrong, that .mts and .m2ts were very similar... maybe they are or yes similar, but enough to throw things off, which in encoding i understand it does or doesn't.  i am interested, and if you are cs3 or earlier, no prob im not advocating upgrade,  i encourage the free transcoding route.  best of luck.

i can't guide at all, but im sure if you are doing the command line x264, maybe take a peak at ffmpeg, but more specifically if you could run ffmbc.  its a guy trying to use the guts of ffmpeg for bc, broadcast specs, avid, final cut premier compatibility.  depending on your skills, that may be another avenue to explore,

[BigPines]

Thanks for the reply. I am using CS5 on OS X. It will import the m2ts container if it has H264 in it. However, if it contains VC-1, it says it is unsupported which is a real shame (and a real hassle).

I have also used ffmpeg command line but I don't know what kind of lossless encoding it supports that Premiere would be happy with. I'll look into that as well as ffmbc. If anyone happens to know what lossless settings for these I could use for Premiere, that would be excellent.

Mike

[JoeH]

I posted a guide about how to do this here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=163649