Classroom in a book

TAPELESS MEDIA
Topics covered in this lesson
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Using a tapeless workflow
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Using the Media Browser
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Importing tapeless media including P2, XDCAM, and AVCHD
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Mixing media formats
This lesson will take approximately 30 minutes.

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Many popular video cameras record to disk or fl ash 
memory rather than tape. The advantages of this 
“tapeless” workfl ow include reliability, ingest speed, 
and fl exibility in frame rates. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 
allows you to edit these formats natively without 
time-consuming conversions.

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LESSON 3 Importing and Managing Tapeless Media
Getting started
Most of the lessons in this book use the XDCAM EX format for the demo assets. 
These are high-definition files that are a good example of media used in a tapeless 
workflow. Different camera manufacturers have created different media formats 
for storing video and audio information in files. But the processes (or workflow) 
of moving the files from the cameras to Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 are very similar. 
Working with the XDCAM EX files in these lessons will give you experience that 
will translate well to working with other tapeless media formats that you might 
encounter.
Using a tapeless workflow
A
tapeless workflow
(also known as a 
file-based workflow
) is simply the process 
of importing video from a tapeless camera, editing it, and exporting it. Adobe 
Premiere Pro CS5 makes this especially easy because, unlike many competing non-
linear editing systems, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 does not require the media from 
these tapeless formats to be converted. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 can edit tapeless 
formats (such as P2, XDCAM, AVCHD, and even DSLRs that shoot video) natively 
with no conversions.
Though P2, XDCAM, and AVCHD are all tapeless formats, they do have their dif-
ferences. We’ll review the basics of each format.
Panasonic P2
P2 is the video format recorded onto a P2 card by Panasonic P2 cameras. A P2 card 
is a PCMCIA flash memory card that is inserted into the camera for recording or 
into a PCMCIA slot in a workstation. Though Adobe Premiere Pro can read and 
edit directly from the P2 card, it’s recommended that you copy the contents of the 
card to your local hard drive for best performance.
P2 cameras also have USB ports that allow the video to be transferred to an editing 
workstation via USB.
Notice that whether you move the files via the P2 card or transfer them via USB, 
the video does not need to be serially captured. It’s transferred to the editing work-
station at the speed allowed by the transfer I/O.
Several variants of the P2 format specify different frame sizes and frame rates. 
Some examples of P2 formats are DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, and 
AVC-I. Adobe Premiere Pro supports all the standard P2 variants.

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ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CS5 CLASSROOM IN A BOOK