Supported file formats

Some filename extensions—such as MOV, AVI, and MXF denote container file formats rather than denoting specific audio, video, or image data formats. Container files can contain data encoded using various compression and encoding schemes. Premiere Pro can import these container files, but the ability to import the data that they contain depends on the codecs (specifically, decoders) installed.

Supported sequence, still image, and movie sizes

Video and still-image files you want to import must not be more than the maximum dimensions allowed. The maximum sequence frame size in pixels is 10,240×8,192 (width x height). If you attempt to set one of the Frame Size dimensions higher than this limit in the Sequence Settings dialog box, Premiere Pro resets the value to the maximum.

The maximum frame size to import still images and movies is 256 megapixels, with a maximum dimension of 32,768 pixels in either direction. For example, an image that is 16,000×16,000 pixels is acceptable, as is one that is 32,000×8,000, but an image that is 35,000×10,000 pixels cannot be used.

Supported native video and audio formats for import

Adobe Premiere Pro supports several audio and video formats, making your post-production workflows compatible with the latest broadcast formats.

Supported native camera formats

Premiere Pro lets you work with a wide range of native media formats from the latest DSLR cameras without transcoding or file rewrapping.

The media formats listed here are supported for directly importing and editing with Premiere Pro. The required codecs are built in to Premiere Pro, and supported on both Mac OS and Windows systems unless stated otherwise.

To learn more about working directly with native camera formats, see this video tutorial.

Supported still‑image and still-image sequence file formats

Supported closed captioning and subtitle file formats

Supported video project file formats

Support for growing files

Premiere Pro supports growing files for those needing this workflow. Growing files are files that are still being written to disk and will grow in duration after they are ingested. These files automatically refresh their duration based on a preference you can set in Premiere Pro.

Supported codecs for growing files within an MXF wrapper

• AVC-Intra Class 50/100
• IMX 30/40/50 
• XDCAM HD 50/35/25/18 RDD9 (The low latency version of XDCAM HD is not supported)
• OP1B files

Support for growing files to automatically refresh, and how often they must refresh, is available in Media Preferences. The updated duration can be viewed in the Project panel and the Source Monitor. The refreshed duration is also available for editing in the Timeline. See Media Preferences for more details.

Growing files can only be imported if Premiere Pro can read the volume where they are stored. Premiere Pro can read footage from an unc path("//somewhere/something"), but the drive must be mapped("H:\somewhere\something"). The file can then be imported using the File > Import command. You can then edit with these clips as you would normally edit any other clip. 

Support for Variable Frame Rate files

Variable Frame Rate (VFR) is a video compression term that refers to the format of videos where the frame rate changes actively during video playback. Most videos created using mobile devices (such as iOS and Android), and e-learning applications (such as ScreenFlow, or Twitch) are of VFR format.

Detect VFR footage in Premiere Pro

Select the footage, and click File > Get Properties for > Selection. Premiere Pro indicates if it detects VFR footage.

Alternatively, you can right click the clip in the Timeline panel and select Properties.

Preserve audio sync for Variable Frame Rate footage

You can incorporate variable frame footage from devices such as mobile phones and the DJI Phantom without having to adjust the audio-video sync manually.

Limitations with Variable Frame Rate support

• If you plan to use proxy, consolidate, or transcode workflows, it is better to transcode VFR material to a constant frame rate before editing.
• If you have manually synced VFR footage in previous versions of Premiere Pro, resync that footage when opening the project in Premiere Pro 12.0.1 or later versions.