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How PR2XML actually works
What happens to your file, how the conversion is done, how we check that it is right, and what it does not do.
What happens to your file
A project file describes an edit, not pictures. That is what makes the handling simple to explain.
- Your footage never leaves
- Only the project file is read. Your video, audio and images stay on your disk, because the converter never needs them: the project holds nothing but paths to those files.
- Analysis runs in your browser
- Opening the project, reading the tracks and previewing the timeline all happen on your machine. Nothing is sent anywhere to produce a preview.
- Generation runs on our servers
- Writing the converted file happens server-side. The project file is therefore transmitted at that precise moment, and only then.
- Nothing is kept
- The project file is not stored after conversion. Once the output is produced, no copy of your edit exists on our side.
- Two size limits
- 50 MB for the free local analysis, 500 MB for a full conversion. A project file rarely exceeds a few tens of megabytes, even on a feature.
How the conversion is done
The converter never translates one format straight into another. It goes through an intermediate description of the edit, and that detour is what makes the rest possible.
- 1. Read
- The input file is decoded. A .prproj is gzip-compressed XML, a .drp is an archive of XML files, an .aaf is a structured binary format. Each has its own reader.
- 2. Intermediate representation
- The edit is rebuilt as a neutral description: tracks, clips, in and out points, effects, keyframes, markers, bins. It belongs to no application.
- 3. Write
- One generator per format produces the output from that description. This is why adding a destination format does not break the others, and why a new input immediately benefits every output.
- 4. Verify
- The produced file is read back and re-imported into the destination application. A conversion that writes without error but opens badly is not a successful conversion.
How we know the result is right
None of these formats is fully documented in public. The method therefore matters as much as the code.
- Real files as the reference
- Every format was decoded from files produced by the applications themselves, not from a specification. A project is created in the application, saved, then compared byte by byte against what we write.
- One authority per question
- The Premiere project says what the editor intended. The destination application says what the file must contain to be accepted. No other tool serves as a reference, because a tool can be wrong and pass its error on.
- The test is the re-import
- A feature counts as done only once the converted file opens in the target application and shows what it should. Reading the file back proves nothing on its own.
- The limits are written down
- What does not come through is published rather than left unsaid. An honest list of what a tool cannot do beats a surprise at the end of a project.
What is guaranteed
The commitments fit in a few sentences, with no hidden conditions.
- One-time payment
- A lifetime licence, paid once. No subscription, no renewal, no per-conversion billing.
- Updates included
- Formats evolve and applications change. Future updates are part of the licence.
- Try before buying
- Analysis and timeline preview are free and unlimited. You see your edit rebuilt before deciding.
- 14-day withdrawal
- The European right of withdrawal applies. Conditions and procedure are set out in the terms.
What does not come through
General rule: structural information crosses over, creative processing does not. An effect belongs to the application that renders it.
- Third-party plugins
- Red Giant, Boris FX, Sapphire and anything else installed in Premiere. The effect does not exist in the destination application.
- Warp Stabilizer
- The analysis data is Adobe-specific. Stabilisation has to be redone in the destination application.
- Complex Essential Graphics
- Plain text is converted. .mogrt templates with expressions or nested compositions are not.
- Multicam angles
- They are flattened to the selected angle rather than staying switchable. No interchange format allows anything else.
- Audio processing
- Levels and volume automation cross over. EQ, compression and reverb do not.
Who does this
Who operates this service
- Company
- Norde SRL
- Registered office
- Rue des Vignes 35, 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium
- Enterprise number (BCE)
- 1039457839
- VAT number
- BE 1039457839
- Contact
- support@pr2xml.com
Check it on your own project
The fastest way to judge a converter is to hand it a real edit. Analysis costs nothing and shows the rebuilt timeline.