This post displays Adobe Premiere Pro CS4/CS5/CS6/CC supported file formats in detail, including video and animation file formats, audio file formats, still-image and still-image sequence file formats, video projects file formats and native camera formats.
If you are planning to import and edit media files in Adobe Premiere Pro either on a Windows PC or a Mac computer, it’s important to know what Adobe Premiere Pro supported file formats are. You will find the detailed info on this in the content below. In case that your source files are not in Premiere Pro supported formats range, you will need to transcode them to a format that is compatible with Premiere via third party converter tool like HD Video Converter.
Adobe Premiere Pro can also handle formats that were never meant for editing. You may find Adobe Premiere Pro's capability to handle diverse files like WMV, DVD Video Objects (VOBs), and Flash Video useful. They're distribution formats—small files with tremendous compression. But sometimes they're all the client has.
Download a free trial of HD Video Converter
Office locations. Corporate headquarters: Adobe 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA. Tel: 408-536-6000 Fax: 408-537-6000. Locations around the globe ›. See File formats supported for import and About exporting movie and audio files and Export Settings Format options in the Premiere Pro CS4 Help. See Supported file formats in Premiere Pro CS3 3.2; See File formats supported for import and File formats supported for export in the Premiere Pro CS3 Help.
Working as a Premiere Pro Video Converter, the HD Video Converter offers three optimized format presets for Adobe Premiere, including .wmv, .mpg and .mov.
Additionally, if you are on a Windows PC, you can from the Profile list, choose ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column for use in Premiere.
And if you are on a Mac computer, you can select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target under ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue for editing in Premiere.
Useful guides for importing and editing video in Premiere Pro:
Why Premiere Pro CS6 can’t import MXF files?
Sony FDR-AX1 4K import issues in Premiere Pro CS6
Import Canon H.264 MOV to Premiere Pro without quality loss
I couldn’t get Premiere Pro CS6 to recognize audio on MTS files
Tip: If you have a need to convert Blu-ray or DVD movie files for editing in Premiere Pro, you can try out Blu-ray DVD Converter.
Important: Some filename extensions – such as MOV, AVI, MXF, and F4V – denote container file formats rather than denoting a specific audio, video, or image data format. 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 is dependent on the codecs (specifically, decoders) installed.
By installing additional codecs, you can extend the ability of Premiere Pro to import additional file types. Many codecs installed into the operating system (Windows or Mac OS) work as a component inside the QuickTime or Video for Windows formats. Contact the manufacturer of your hardware or software for more information about codecs that work with the files that your specific devices or applications create.
Format | Details |
3GP, 3G2 (.3gp) | |
Apple ProRes 64-bit | |
ASF | Netshow, Windows only |
AVI (.avi) | DV-AVI, Microsoft AVI Type 1 and Type 2 |
DV (.dv) | Raw DV stream, a QuickTime format |
DNxHD | Support for native MXF |
F4V (.f4v) | Import only |
GIF (.gif) | Animated GIF |
M1V | MPEG-1 Video File |
M2TS | Sony HDV |
M2TS | Blu-ray BDAV MPEG-2 Transport Stream, AVCHD |
M4V | MPEG-4 Video File |
MOV | QuickTime Movie formatNote: Windows requires QuickTime player |
MP4 | QuickTime Movie, XDCAM EX |
MPEG, MPE, MPG | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 |
M2V | DVD-compliant MPEG-2 |
MTS | AVCHD |
MXF | Media eXchange FormatP2 Movie: Panasonic Op-Atom variant of MXF,with video in DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, AVC-Intra; XDCAM HD Movie, Sony XDCAM HD 50 (4:2:2), Avid MXF Movie, and native Canon XF Note: You can preview Native Canon XF files in the Media Browser, and the use of metadata is supported. |
Native MJPEGs | 1DC |
VOB | |
WMV | Windows Media, Windows onlyNote: Render Type 1 AVI clips before previewing from a DV device.To render a Type1 AVI clip, add it to a sequence in a DV project, and preview it. |
Format | Details |
AAC | |
AC3 | Including 5.1 surround |
AIFF, AIF | |
ASND | Adobe Sound Document |
AVI | Video for Windows |
BWF | Broadcast WAVE format |
M4A | MPEG-4 Audio |
mp3 | mp3 Audio |
MPEG, MPG | MPEG Movie |
MOV | QuickTime; requires QuickTime player |
MXF | Media eXchange Format;P2 Movie: Panasonic Op-Atom variant of MXF, with video in DV,DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, AVC-Intra; XDCAM HD Movie, Sony XDCAM HD 50 (4:2:2), Avid MXF Movie |
WMA | Windows Media Audio, Windows only |
WAV | Windows Waveform |
Premiere Pro supports 8bpc (4 bytes per pixel) and 16bpc (8 bytes per pixel) still-image files.
Format | Details |
AI, EPS | |
BMP, DIB, RLE | |
DPX | |
EPS | |
GIF | |
ICO | Icon FileWindows only |
JPEG | JPE, JPG, JFIF |
PICT | |
PNG | |
PSD | |
PSQ | Adobe Premiere 6 Storyboard |
PTL, PRTL | Adobe Premiere title |
TGA, ICB, VDA, VST | |
TIF |
Format | Details |
AAF | Advanced Authoring Format |
AEP, AEPX | After Effects project |
CSV, PBL, TXT, TAB | batch lists |
EDL | CMX3600 EDLs |
PLB | Adobe Premiere 6.x bin (Windows only) |
PREL | Adobe Premiere Elements project (Windows only) |
PRPROJ | Premiere Pro project |
PSQ | Adobe Premiere 6.x storyboard (Windows only) |
XML | FCP XML |
Premiere Pro lets you work with a wide range of native media formats from the latest cameras, without transcoding or file rewrapping.
The media formats listed here are supported for directly importing and editing with Premiere Pro CC. The required codecs are built in to Premiere Pro CC, and supported on both Mac OS and Windows systems unless stated otherwise.
Sony cameras
You can directly import and and edit the following media:
Sony XDCAM
Sony XDCAM 50
Sony XAVC
Sony XAVC LongGOP (Group of Pictures)
Sony SStP
Sony RAW (F65, F55, F5, FS700 cameras)
You can browse the imported clips using the Media Browser and organize them using camera metadata.
ARRI AMIRA camera
Premiere Pro provides built-in support for the ARRI AMIRA camera, with appropriate color LUTs applied as master clips on import.
CinemaDNG from Blackmagic Cinema cameras
You can import and edit uncompressed CinemaDNG media from Blackmagic Cinema cameras, including the following:
Blackmagic Cinema Camera
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera
Convergent Design Odyssey7Q
When working with CinemaDNG media, you can access the Source Settings and edit the metadata parameters. CinemaDNG can be debayered on a supported GPU for extreme playback performance.
RED support
You can working natively with RED Digital Cinema (R3D) footage from the following cameras:
RED ONE
RED EPIC
RED Scarlet-X cameras with support for RED Rocket
Red Dragon including RED Dragon 6K
Color Science like REDcolor2, REDgamma2, and REDlogFilm
Note: RED format clips use the GPU (OpenCL and CUDA) for debayering for an improved and faster playback performance.
Canon XF, Canon RAW
You can work natively with Canon XF and Canon RAW footage, including footage from Canon Cinema EOS C300 and C500 cameras.
Premiere Pro also lets you import and edit QuickTime formats natively including Apple ProRes and MOV files that Canon 5D and 7D cameras capture. You can clip metadata without any transcoding, rewrapping, or logging and transferring required.
Phantom Cine media
You can natively import and edit Phantom Cine media shot on Vision Research Phantom cameras.
Panasonic AVC, P2 cameras
You can natively import and edit media from the following cameras:
Panasonic P2 cameras and across multiple P2 cards
Panasonic AVC Ultra
Panasonic AVCi 200
Panasonic AVC Ultra Long GOP (Group of Pictures)
Format | Import/Export support | Format details |
3GPP Movie (.3gp) | Import and Export | QuickTime player required on Windows |
Advanced Video Codec (.mts) | Import only | |
AVCHD (.m2ts, .mts) | Import only | |
DV stream (.dv) | Import and Export | |
Flash Video (.flv, .f4v) | Import and Export | |
Microsoft AVI (.avi) | Import and Export | Export Windows only |
Microsoft NetShow (.asf) | Import only | Windows only |
MPEG-1 (.mpg) | Import and Export | Export Windows only |
MPEG-2 (.m2v, .mpg) | Import and Export | |
MPEG-4 (.m4v) | Import and Export | |
Panasonic P2 (.mxf) | Import and Export | |
QuickTime Movie (.mov) | Import and Export | QuickTime player required on Windows |
Shockwave Flash object (.swf) | Import only | |
Sony VDU File Format Importer (.dlx) | Import only | Windows only |
Windows Media (.wma, .wmv) | Import and Export | Export Windows only |
XDCam-EX movie (.mp4) | Import only | |
XDCam-HD movie (.mxf) | Import only |
Format | Import/Export support | Format details |
Adobe Sound Document (.asnd) | Import only | |
Advanced Audio Coding File (.aac) | Import and Export | |
Audio Interchange File Format (.aif, .aiff) | Import and Export | |
Audio Video Interleaved (.avi) | Import and Export | |
Dolby Digital (.ac3) | Import and Export | After 3 free trial uses, purchase SurCode encoder |
MPEG Audio (.m4a, .mp3) | Import and Export | |
MPEG Audio (.mpeg, .mpg) | Import and Export | |
QuickTime (.mov) | Import and Export | QuickTime player required on Windows |
Windows Media Audio (.wma) | Import and Export | Windows only |
Note: Adobe Premiere Pro supports still-image formats in RGB or grayscale color modes only.
Format | Import/Export support | Format details |
Adobe Illustrator and Illustrator sequence (.ai, .eps) | Import only | |
Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop sequence (.psd) | Import only | Import does not support files that are CMYK, Duotone, LAB, or Multichannel mode. PSDs containing a 32-bit alpha channel are not supported. Convert your image to an 8- or 16-bit PSD before importing. |
Adobe Premiere Title (.ptl, .prtl) | Import only | |
Animated GIF (.gif) | Import and Export | Windows only |
Bitmap and Bitmap sequence (.bmp, .wbm, .dib, .rle) | Import and Export | 8-bit per channel (bpc) or better only. Alpha channels in BMP files are not supported. |
CompuServe GIF (.gif) | Import and Export | |
Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) | Import only | |
Icon file (.ico) | Import only | Windows only |
JPEG and JPEG sequence (.jpe, .jpg, .jfif) | Import and Export | |
PICT and PICT sequence (.pic, .pct, .pict) | Import only | QuickTime player required on Windows |
Portable Network Graphics (.png) | Import and Export | Export in Mac OS X only |
Targa and Targa sequence (.tga, .icb, .vda, .vst) | Import and Export | |
TIFF and TIFF sequence (.tif, .tiff) | Import and Export | 8-bit per channel (bpc) files only |
Format | Import/Export support | Format details |
Adobe Clip Notes (.pdf) | Import and Export | |
Adobe Premiere 6.x Library(.plb) | Import | Windows only |
Adobe Premiere 6.x Project (.ppj) | Import | Windows only |
Adobe Premiere 6.x Storyboard (.psq) | Import | Windows only |
Adobe Premiere Pro Project (.prproj) | Import and Export | |
Adobe After Effects Project (.aep) | Import and Export | Production Premium or Master Collection |
Advanced Authoring Format (.aaf) | Import and Export | Windows only |
Batch list (.csv, .pbl, .txt, .tab) | Import | |
Edit Decision List (.edl) | Import and Export |
BWFBroadcast WAVE format
Format | Notes |
3GP, 3G2 | |
Arri raw | |
ASF | Netshow, Windows only |
AVI | DV-AVI, Microsoft AVIt ype 1 and type 2 |
M4A | MPEG-4 Audio |
mp3 | mp3 Audio |
MPEG, MPG | MPEG Movie |
MOV | Requires QuickTime player |
MXF | Media eXchange Format; P2 Movie: Panasonic Op-Atom variant of MXF, with video in DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, AVC-Intra; XDCAM HD Movie, Sony XDCAM HD 50(4:2:2), Avid MXF Movie |
WMA | MPEG-4 Video File |
MOV | QuickTime 7 for import of non-native QuickTime files; in Windows, requires QuickTime player format |
MP4 | QuickTime Movie, XDCAM EX |
MPEG, MPE, MPG | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 |
MPEG, M2V | DVD-compliant MPEG-2 |
MTS | AVCHD |
MXF | Media eXchange Format; P2 Movie: Panasonic Op-Atom variant of MXF, with video in DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, AVC-ntra; XDCAM HD Movie, Sony XDCAM HD 50(4:2:2), Avid MXF Movie),and native Canon XF |
R3D | RED camera |
SFW | |
VOB | |
WMV | Windows Media, Windows only |
Format | Notes |
AAC | Including 5.1 surround |
AIFF, AIF | DV-AVI, Microsoft AVI type 1 and type 2 |
ASND | Adobe Sound Document |
AVI | Video for Windows |
BWF | Broadcast WAVE format |
M4A | MPEG-4 Audio |
mp3 | mp3 Audio |
MPEG, MPG | MPEG Movie |
MXF | Media eXchange Format; P2 Movie: Panasonic Op – Atom variant of MXF, with video in DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, AVC – Intra; XDCAM HD Movie, Sony XDCAM HD 50 (4:2:2), Avid MXF Movie |
WMA | Windows Media Audio, Windows only |
WAV | Windows Waveform |
Format | Notes |
AI, EPS | |
BMP, DIB, RLE | Including 5.1 surround |
DPX | |
EPS | |
GIF | |
ICO | Windows only |
JPEG(JPE,JPG,JFIF) | |
PICT | |
PNG | |
PSD | |
PSQ | |
PTL, PRTL (Adobe Premiere title) | |
TGA, ICB, VDA, VST | |
TIF |
Format | Notes |
AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) | |
AEP, AEPX (After Effects project) | |
CSV, PBL, TXT, TAB | Batch lists |
EDL | CMX3600 EDLs |
OMF | |
ICO | Windows only |
JPEG(JPE,JPG,JFIF) | |
PICT | |
PLB (Adobe Premiere 6.x bin) | Windows only |
PRPROJ (Premiere Pro project) | |
PSQ (Adobe Premiere 6.x storyboard) | Windows only |
XML (FCP XML) |
*Limited support for older interchange formats
Adobe Premiere Pro CC lets you edit every major format, from mobile phone footage to 5K and beyond. Skip time-consuming transcoding and rewrapping when working with file-based formats. Adobe Premiere Pro CC leads the industry with incredible, thorough native media support, meaning you can edit virtually all of the major video, image, and audio formats natively without waiting. Industry-standard mezzanine codecs are also built right in with Adobe Premiere Pro CC on both Mac OS and Windows systems.
Supported | Details |
Native ARRIRAW support | Import raw footage from ARRI AMIRA and Alexa cameras without transcoding. Native support means you won’t waste valuable production time transcoding or rewrapping files, and you’ll always have access to the original file’s pristine quality. Files from the ARRI AMIRA camera are also natively supported, and LUTs can be applied on import as Master Clip Effects. |
Native editing of QuickTime formats | Import and edit all the popular QuickTime formats natively (including Apple ProRes and MOV files captured by DSLR cameras, and QuickTime and MOV files from the JVC ProHD camera range), with full access to clip metadata – no transcoding, rewrapping, or logging and transferring required. MJPEG media from the Canon 1DC is also supported natively with improved performance. |
DPX import and export | Work with DPX frame sequences as footage in Adobe Premiere Pro. Full control over parameters like black point, bit depth, and log/linear space allows nondestructive changes to be made at any stage of production. Import and export files that include timecode data embedded within a DPX frame sequence, allowing even more control when working with the DPX format. |
Sony XDCAM, XDCAM EX, XDCAM 50, XDCAM HD, XAVC, and Sony RAW import with browsing and metadata support | Import and edit content from Sony XDCAM, XDCAM 50, and XAVC cameras directly, without rewrapping or transcoding. Browse clips using the Media Browser and organize them using camera metadata. Edit directly from the SxS card via the camera or a card reader (XDCAM EX only), or use the Media Browser to transfer the content to hard disk for better performance. Sony RAW media from cameras like the F65 is now also natively supported, as is the ability to export to XAVC 4K. Native support for Sony SStP media is also included. |
Native Canon support | Work natively with Canon XF and Canon RAW footage, plus media shot on Canon DSLR cameras. |
RED support | Take advantage of a truly native, color-rich, 6K tapeless workflow to harness the full potential of high-resolution raw digital cinematography. Work natively with footage from RED ONE®, RED EPIC®, RED Scarlet-X cameras with support for RED Rocket, Mysterium X®, and Red Dragon, as well as Color Science and Firmware RED camera advances. Get full parameter control and RMD file import and edit. Native support for RED R3D files up to 6K in Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects®, and Encore software allows R3D files to be dropped straight onto the timeline without transcoding or rewrapping. A supported GPU can be used to debayer RED media offering greatly improved performance. |
Panasonic P2 import with browsing and metadata support | Enjoy support for native editing of content from Panasonic P2 cameras and across multiple P2 cards. View camera metadata and organize files in the Media Browser before importing and editing the content without transcoding or rewrapping. Edit directly from the P2 card via the camera or a card reader, or use the Media Browser to transfer content to hard disk for better performance. Export content in Panasonic P2 format, either to P2 media for use in a P2 workflow or to hard disk for archiving. |
Phantom Cine support | Natively import and edit ultra-high-frame-rate Phantom Cine media shot on Vision Research Phantom cameras for amazing slow-motion effects. |
Native CinemaDNG support | CinemaDNG is supported natively, so users of Blackmagic cameras or Convergent Design hardware can edit right away. A supported GPU can be used to debayer CinemaDNG media offering greatly improved performance. |
Native support for industry-standard mezzanine formats | Apple ProRes media can be natively decoded on both platforms – and are available on Mac OS X (v.10.8 only), along with many other QuickTime formats. 64-bit DNxHD encode and decode is available on both Mac and Windows. |
AVCHD editing with browsing and metadata support | Import and edit AVCHD content from Sony, Panasonic, and Canon cameras without waiting. Native editing means you can start editing content immediately without transcoding or rewrapping the content. Use the Media Browser to browse clips and view metadata. |
Native AVC-Intra and AVC-Ultra camera workflows | Import, play back, edit, and export AVC-Intra, AVC-Ultra, and AVC-LongG clips natively with no transcoding or rewrapping thanks to a true file-based workflow for these types of files. Export to AVC-Intra content at 50Mbps, 100Mbps, and 200Mbps at all common frame rates and resolutions. |
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