How to import Media Files to Adobe Premiere Pro on Mac

No matter how you edit the videos or projects in Adobe Premiere, the first step to start is to get your media files into the editorial system. No matter what kind of project you are about to do, if you can't import media files, you will get stuck. In this article, you'll learn about importing media to Adobe Premiere Pro on Mac easily.

Overall, there are three ways for your to import your media files to Adobe Premiere Pro on Mac:
1) Standard importing by choosing File > Import
2) The Media Browser panel
3) Adobe Bridge

1: Standard importing

Standard importing is probably the most straightforward type of importing videos that most people choose. To import any file by clicking File > Import. If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, press Command+I to open the standard Import dialog.

The Standard OS X Import dialog; note the search box in the upper-right corner.

Adobe Premiere Pro supports various videos formats. You'll find that it can handle pretty much any file format you can throw at it. If your media files are not compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro, simply transcoding those clips to a compatible video format with Adobe Premiere via a video converter tool such as Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac.

2: Using the Media Browser

Media Browser is more superior to the standard file system import owing to its flexibility. Not only does it display the files in a straight list, but it also adjusts the view using the metadata. Being able to see the metadata of videos makes it far easier to select from long lists of files or shots.

What's more, the Media Browser has the capability to display clips and cards from popular formats like P2 and Sony XDCAM.

Adobe Premiere Pro's Media Browser can automatically recognize camera media. That is to say if you navigate into a directory of XDCAM, P2, or Red files (amongst others), it will auto recognize the footages in the camcorders. This makes it easy to use and adjust metadata from the field.

3: Adobe Bridge

Most people encounter Adobe Bridge via Adobe Photoshop. In case you've never used it, it's a dynamic media browser - think of it as a file browser on steroids. It's a media browser that is optimized (right now) mostly for still photography, but has loads of power for video users.

Adobe Bridge is a versatile program in its own right. Notice Filtering on the left side and Video Metadata on the right side.

You can manually open Adobe Bridge by clicking its application icon. You can also choose File > Browse in Bridge to automatically launch Adobe Bridge and point it to the same directory that the Media Browser is viewing.

The only drawback of Adobe Bridge is that it doesn't recognize all video formats. It just can handles images and QuickTime files, but doesn't recognize file-based cameras or image sequences. For those formats, use the Media Browser.

Converting Unsupported File Formats for Premiere Pro:

How to transcode MTS for Premiere Pro
How to convert MXF for Premiere Pro
How to Convert Nikon clips for Premiere Pro
How to transcode AVI for Premiere Pro
How to convert VOB for Premiere Pro
How to Convert OBS files for Premiere Pro
How to transcode MP4 for Premiere Pro
How to convert MOV for Premiere Pro
How to Convert XAVC S for Premiere Pro
How to transcode DivX for Premiere Pro
How to convert H.265 for Premiere Pro
How to Convert TiVo for Premiere Pro