Calibrated Software MXF Import v3 - Manual (Page 35)

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‘dnxhd’ options for Premiere Pro CS5.5
Control file used was the XDCAM-MXF file.
Please note that Premiere Pro CS5.0 and CS6.0 were not tested but presumably should act in the same manner as CS5.5
We performed our tests on a Windows 7 64-bit computer with QuickTime Player 7.7.1 installed. Also, no third-party
hardware I/O boards were used in this test.
All visual comparison tests were performed on the computer monitor by
sight.
Please note that no realtime editing speed tests were done with the DNxHD MXF files or QT Ref MOV files on a Premiere
Pro sequence.
Premiere Pro CS5.5/5.0 will use Calibrated{Q} MXF Import to natively import DNxHD MXF files
– please see the
‘Premiere Pro CS5.0.3 & CS 5.5’ section in either the ‘Use with Windows Applications’ chapter or ‘Use with Mac OSX
Applications’ chapter in this User Guide. This section will only cover how the ‘dnxhd’ options apply to DNxHD MXF files
imported into Premiere Pro.
Other things to be aware of when working with DNxHD MXF Files in After Effects/Premiere Pro CS5/5.5:
(a) When video and audio are stored in separate MXF files, AE/PPro will natively import the Audio Only MXF
files, but AE/PPro will use Calibrated{Q} MXF Import to import the Video only DNxHD MXF files. It is
unknown if Audio Only MXF files without a TimeCode Track will import at the correct frame rate in
AE/PPro.
(b) For reasons unknown any DNxHD MXF file with embedded 24- bit Audio will have the audio play as ‘silent’
even though Premiere Pro/After Effects are able to see and correctly report all of the audio properties.
This problem appears fixed in CS6.0
In a normal setup, Premiere Pro will work with DNxHD as either 16-bit RGBA (Sequences set to Maximum Bit Depth
and/or Maximum Render Quality) or 8-bit RGBA (when the Maximum settings are not checked for a Sequence)
In our Premiere Pro tests the files, DNxHD-RGB-GAMMA-REFMXF & DNxHD-RGB-REFMXF are visually the same
– so
the Gamma Extension does not make a difference in Premiere Pro.
In Premiere Pro Sequences, the XDCAM-MXF file was visually the same as DNxHD-RGB-REFMXF in a a PPro timeline,
while the file DNxHD-709-REFMXF was brighter than the other two files in the PPro timeline.
This would mean that PPro is working in Full Range RGB Color Levels.
Please note that even though Premiere Pro is working in Full Range RGB Color Levels, some Avid Editors will still use the
SMPTE RGB setting when importing DNxHD MXF files or DNxHD MOV files with an embedded 601/709 Color Level in
order to preserve the Supe
r Black and Super White values of DNxHD in PPro. The video will have a slightly ‘washed out’
look in PPro. This is a more complex workflow since you have to be careful how effects are applied and working with any
file formats that PPro natively supports as RGB will be processed as Full Range RGB in those cases.
When exporting out of Premiere Pro to the Avid QuickTime Codecs, please make sure to select the proper Color Level
setting in the Avid QuickTime Codec settings that match the DNxHD Color Level that you are using in PPro. If you are
exporting out files that PPro natively supports (like the XDCAM-
MXF file) then you would select the ‘RGB” Color Level
setting in the Avid QuickTime Codecs since native PPro file formats will work in Full Range RGB.
RECOMMENDATION
Since Premiere Pro works in Full Range RGB it would be recommended to set the ‘dnxhd’ options to Full RGB (0-255)
when importing DNxHD MXF files into Premiere Pro or when creating QT Ref MOV files from DNxHD MXF files. If you are
working on a Mac with FCP7 installed it appears that the setting Full RGB (0-255) & Gamma Ext. will be visually the
same as the setting Full RGB(0-255) setting and the added Gamma Extension will have no effect in Premiere Pro.
Even though we do recommend working in Full Range RGB with DNxHD in Premiere Pro, you still can work in SMPTE
RGB if that is your desired workflow. It would be a more complicated workflow, but many Avid Editors do work this way in
PPro.