360° video production just got a bit easier with native integration of the Insta360 Pro (USD $3,499) into Adobe Premiere Pro.
Introducing “No-Stitch” Editing
Working with 360° typically required a lengthy post-process before any editing could be done (stitching, aligning and rendering). By using the Insta360 extension for Premiere Pro, users will be able to start editing the content before ever stitching the original footage. To accomplish this, it generates a proxy version of the full-quality footage — a quick-stitched, lower-resolution substitute.
- Stitching time at the start of a project is greatly reduced — down to just what’s necessary to generate the proxy video.
- The software can perform smoothly during editing — without the processor-dragging challenge of navigating and displaying an 8K video file.
- The video is only compressed a single time, during final export, ensuring maximum image quality. In a traditional workflow, there would be two compressions — one during initial stitching and one during final export.
- Users can cut down the proxy version to exactly the parts that are necessary for their project. In the end, only the footage that’s used is stitched, avoiding any wasted time spent stitching footage that doesn’t make the final cut.
- The last step is to export the video. During export, all changes made to the proxy version will be applied 1-to-1 to a full-quality version, and the footage involved will be stitched using Insta360’s optimized algorithm.
The free extension will be released during this quarter to users of Premiere Pro CC 2017 and later. No word on whether the extension will come to FCP X and other NLEs.
Have you had any 360 or VR projects? let us know how your post-production process went and what you think of the new extension.
