How to Edit 4K HEVC/H.265 Video in Adobe Premiere Pro Smoothly

How to Edit 4K HEVC Video in Adobe Premiere Pro - Step 1. Solve Premiere Not Import HEVC Issue

Adobe Premiere does support to import and export HEVC 4K videos. However, this doesn't mean that all HEVC 4K videos can be imported into Premiere without errors. For that reason, many premiere pro users can't import HEVC videos and get 'codec missing or unavailable' error message instead.

So to edit 4K HEVC videos in Adobe Premiere Pro, the first thing is to fix HEVC not importing issue. And the easiest and most efficient solution is to transcode HEVC videos to Premiere Pro fully compatible format using VideoProc.

After downloading and installing VideoProc on your computer, you can start transcoding 4K HEVE videos for Premiere Pro.

Step 1. Open VideoProc and load the source 4K HEVC video: click Video button in the main UI to get access to video processing panel, and then click + Video to load the source file. Tips: You can load multiple files at once for batch transcoding.

Step 2. Select output format: go to the Video tab at the bottom of the window and choose an output format that Premiere can accept, for example 4K H.264.

Step 3. Begin transcoding: simply hit RUN button and then it will start transcoding with the assistance of hardware acceleration if supported and enabled.

How to Edit 4K HEVC Video in Adobe Premiere Pro - Step 2. Solve 4K Editing Not Smooth Issue

After fixing HEVC incompatible with Premiere issue, we may still discover that it is hard to get 4K video editing run smoothly. It may be lagging, choppy, jittery or unresponsive, and even causes Premiere crashing. The reason for such kind of problem is probably that the computer is too weak to work with strictness 4K footage. Working with 4k content requires for fast CPU, fast GPU, a lot RAM, a large SSD, and more.

To edit 4K video on a relative budge ($1,100), you can build your computer with
CPU: Intel i7-9700K
Graphics Card: GTX 1050 Ti
Motherboard: MSI Z390-A Pro
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Storage 1: 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Storage 2: 2TB Seagate HDD
Power Supply: SeaSonic G-650
CPU Cooler: Cryorig H7
Case: Fractal Define R5
Operating System: Windows 10

If you're currently not planning to make the upgrade, how can you edit 4K videos in Adobe Premiere Pro smoothly? Here're two solutions: 1) Downscale 4k video to 1080p by using video converter. 2) Create proxies video in Premiere.

Solution 1. Compress 4K to 1080p for later editing.

Sometimes there's unnecessary to keep videos in 4K. In this case, we can compress 4K to 1080p to reduce the strain on your computer during editing. This process is easy and can be quickly done with the help of hardware-accelerated VideoProc which we have mentioned above. If you haven't yet convert HEVC for Premiere, you can convert and compress 4K HEVC videos at one go.

Step 1. Load 4K source: open VideoProc, click Video, and then click + Video in the pop-up window to import target 4K video.

Step 2. Select output and set resolution to 1080p: click the Video tab and choose an Adobe Premiere Pro compatible format, and then double click on it or click the small gear icon in the preset to get access to a new panel where you can set the resolution to 1080p or other desired resolution.

Step 3. Start 4K to 1080p: click RUN to begin converting and compressing.

Once finished, you will find that you can import the 1080p files to Adobe Premiere Pro for smooth editing.

Solution 2. Create proxy for 4K editing.

Creating proxy is to create a low-resolution copy of your original video, and then you can use the low-quality proxy file during the editing process. This way, the editing process will be smoother. When you finish editing and are ready to export, you just need to replace the proxy file with its corresponding original file. For example, you can create a copy in 1080x720 for your 4K video, edit in Premiere Pro using the 720p file, and then export in 4K.

So how to create proxy file for 4K editing in Premiere Pro?

Step 1. Create a new project, and then click Ingest Settings tab. Then, you need to check the box of Ingest and choose Create Proxies from the drop-down menu. Next, choose a premade proxy preset or create a custom one. Below are the recommended resolutions and formats for two 4K resolutions.

UHD(4K) 3,840x2160:
▪ Recommended proxy resolution: 960x540 (1/4 size of full res) or 1280x720 (1/3 of resolution)
▪ Format: H.264 or Cineform

"Cinema" 4K 4,096 x 2160:
▪ Recommended proxy resolution 1024x540 (1/4 size of full res)
▪ Format: H.264 or Cineform

After that, we also need to set proxy destination. We can set it to same as project. Now, click OK and the project is ready to create proxy file for 4K editing.

Step 2. Go to Media Browser and add your 4K footage. Then Adobe Media Encoder will automatically pop up and begin creating proxy file for your footage. This will take a little bit long time to transcode your 4K videos to a lower resolution substitute.

Step 3. Go to program monitor and head over to the plus sign button at the bottom right corner of the program monitor. Then find Toggle Proxies and drag it into your buttons bar. When you press the button and highlight it blue, your project will start editing with the proxy file instead of the original 4K video.

Step 4. After finishing editing and planning to export, you should switch to the original 4K file.

So, above is the guide on how to smoothly edit 4K HEVC/H.265 videos in Adobe Premiere Pro. You can choose a solution based on your own needs.