Adobe and Panasonic are quickly gaining a reputation as the Simon and Garfunkel of the video industry. They need each other, but they just don’t get on. The latest release of Premiere Pro 2017.1.2 was announced with much fanfare of file handling for the problematic Panasonic GH5 10-bit 4:2:2 video files. Good news right? Think again.
Adobe are correct in stating that the files can now be handled inside Premiere Pro and do not need converting before use, but the big issue is with playback of 4K files. The program monitor will zoom into the top left quarter of the screen during playback or scrubbing. Ugh.
This has been reported on the Adobe message boards and will surely be fixed in the next update, but in the meantime there are a few way of getting around this.
The official word from Adobe HQ is to enable High Quality Playback. This can be done by clicking on the spanner in the Program Monitor and selecting “High Quality Playback.” You’ll be forgiven for not being aware of this feature. In all the years I’ve used Premiere Pro, it’s not a feature I’ve ever used.
The issue with this fix is that it puts huge stress on your memory for playback, and without serious hardware you’ll get jumpy playback.
The other fix is to create proxy files by highlighting all the GH5 video files in the Project window, right clicking and going to “Proxy,” and then “Create Proxies.” You’ll have to wait for Proxy files to be created and they’ll take up more hard drive space, but at least the codec will playback smoother. Just remember to add the “Toggle Proxies” button to the Program Monitor and enable it.
The 10-bit, 4:2:2 4k output of the GH5 was the headline maker ever since the camera was announced. But it has been a painful process for many filmmakers to integrate the GH5 fully into their regular workflow. With the All-I 400Mbps codec on the horizon, and with a fix fairly soon coming from Adobe, let’s hope these teething issues will be become distant memories fairly soon.
"...and without serious hardware you’ll get jumpy playback."
Unless you have serious hardware, you shouldn't be attempting to have real time playback of 10 bit 4:2:2 4K files in the first place. If someone wants to get into the world of 4K+ film or video work, they should first invest in a proper computer that can handle what they plan on throwing at it. If they can't afford that, they can't afford to shoot that high of resolution anyway.
I suspect they're trying to do this on Macbooks, only to get a reality bite.