Am I doing this right? Premiere to Resolve and Back Again

Hi,

I wanted to see if the workflow I have is the correct one.

When working in Premiere Pro HD sequence with UHD or 4K DCI footage - when I import the XML's into Resolve - Resolves default image scaling causes the footage to be boxed in around black.

Within Premiere the clips will have been set to 50% within Effects Control to make them fit within an HD sequence.

I have to set Resolve to 'Center Crop With No Resizing' under Image Scaling. This results in the sequences importing correctly to Resolve - In terms of image placement/crop etc.

Now when I go to render out the sequence using Premiere Pro XML Individual clips - Resolve again starts to box the clips in around black.

The result is a HD image contained within a 4K image. The HD image is cropped in the centre and surrounded by black.

See attached screengrab

I have set this to 'Render at source resolution' as I want to have the clips export in their source resolution - being 4K so I can still have the option to crop further in Premiere should it be required.

I have found by selecting 'Disable sizing and blanking output' within the Deliver tab fixes this issue and the clips render out at source resolution.

Summary:

Exporting XMLS import into Resolve cropped.
Fix = set Resolve to Centre Crop With No Resizing'

Exporting via the Delivery page - Premiere Pro XML 'Render at Source Resolution' - Resolve again boxes in the footage around black.
Fix = Enable 'Disable sizing and blanking output' within the deliver page.

I have tested with the above and it appears to be working fine... I just wanted to ask to see if there is something I'm doing wrong in the first instance or does this workflow make sense?

This might help:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yrbht5llzc9nv ... s.pdf?dl=0
(Use DeepL for translation)

There are also two tutorials by Darren Mostyn on the subject.

How are you scaling the 4k clips in Premiere? Are you using Set to Frame Size or Scale to Frame Size? Or are you scaling clips manually in the Effects tab in the Premiere Source Viewer?

Scaling within Effects Control so manually.

I'm trying to nail down a workflow that works for most situations as I'm not editing most of the projects requiring conforming in Resolve. I'm handed projects from Editors who may have used the 'Scale to Frame Size' function, etc.

This was never really an issue with my older workflow that used HD proxies of UHD/4K media. I'm now making 4K/UHD proxies so the editors have scope to crop within the offline.

Resolve does a right number on the edit when importing the XML in terms of placement of the image/crop.

Using the above stated workflow fixes the issues - I'm however not entirely sure what the 'Disable Blanking' function does on the Delivery Page. Is this upscaling the footage upon export or is it using the source media resolution.

How are you scaling the 4k clips in Premiere? Are you using Set to Frame Size or Scale to Frame Size? Or are you scaling clips manually in the Effects tab in the Premiere Source Viewer?

This is first condition to success in a Premiere to Resolve workflow. You should use "Set to Frame Size" and not "Scale to frame Size". With Set you'll get the right amount of scaling automatically expressed under the Scale of each clip in the Premiere timeline.
And then yes, 'Center Crop With No Resizing' is the correct option within Resolve. Like this you preserve PTZR effects coming from Premiere.
Also, keep in mind that Resolve is resolution agnostic. Meaning you can change the timeline resolution to whatever suits you.

Hi,
I'm currently having kind of the same workflow and I was looking for the best solution and settings to avoid quality lose when exporting graded clips from Da Vinci To Premiere (I'm also working with 4K clips on a 1080p sequence in Premiere). Are you still happy with your workflow since your first post ? Or did you manage to improve it ?

Thanks for your help