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Hey filmmakers and photography enthusiasts! Ever found yourself wrestling with 360 footage in your editing software? You know, that frustratingly laggy, slow-mo experience that just kills your editing vibe? Well, I've been there too, and today, I'm excited to share my workaround for editing 360 footage in Premiere Pro sans the lag. And guess what? Even if you're not using Premiere Pro and face similar lag issues in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve, this workflow might just be your game-changer.

Let's dive in.

Recently, I delved into editing heaps of 360 footage from my Turkish escapade, all shot on the Insta360 ONE RS 1” camera.

Initially, I tried the traditional way of editing 360 content directly in Premiere Pro. However, even on my Apple computer equipped with an M1 Max chip, things got bogged down quickly. Speed ramping? Layering? Masking? It all resulted in a choppy, lag-filled editing experience.

But fear not! Here's where the magic begins. First things first, if you haven't grabbed it yet, head over to the Insta360 website and snag their Reframe plugin tutorial. This plugin, created by GoPro for Premiere Pro and After Effects, can be a game-changer for your workflow.

Once you've got the plugin installed, you'll see a significant improvement. You can tweak projection settings, scale your footage, and even maneuver within the 360 environment. But let's be real, even with the plugin, the editing experience isn't exactly smooth sailing—it still feels a bit clunky and laggy.

So, what's the alternative? Enter Insta360 Studio 2023, the proprietary software for working with 360 footage. While it lacks some advanced editing features like masking or sound design, it's fantastic for prepping your footage before importing it into Premiere Pro.

The workflow here is simple. Import your 360 footage into Insta360 Studio, reframe, adjust angles, add keyframes for movements, and export. And boy, the editing experience within this software is a breath of fresh air compared to editing directly in Premiere Pro. It's smooth, responsive, and makes maneuvering through footage a breeze.

But here's the catch—you'll be exporting these reframed clips into a codec called ProRes. This codec, while perfect for editing due to its smooth playback in Premiere Pro, results in larger file sizes, so be ready to allocate ample disk space.

Importing these ProRes files back into Premiere Pro showcases a night-and-day difference. Editing becomes a joy—smooth playback, no lag, and room for color grading and effects without sacrificing quality.

However, there's a trade-off. Once you export to ProRes, you can't tweak the reframed footage anymore. Any angle or zoom adjustments will require going back to Insta360 Studio, re-exporting, and re-importing into Premiere Pro.

But hey, the ease of editing and quality output might just outweigh this inconvenience.

So, fellow creators, if you're tackling 360 footage, give this workflow a shot. It might just revolutionize the way you handle and edit your immersive content. And if you want a deeper dive into any specific steps or have questions, hit me up in the comments—I'm here to help you navigate this creative journey!

Until next time, happy filming! 🎥✨