Exporting a 90-Minute Feature Film Made Easy with Premiere Pro

Are you a filmmaker working on a feature film that’s 90 minutes or longer? Congratulations! You’re about to embark on an exciting journey of finalizing, exporting, and uploading your masterpiece. But before you hit that export button, there are some important things to keep in mind. Unlike shorter films, feature films require different settings and higher stakes. One wrong move and you could lose hours of work. So, take a deep breath and let’s go over some best practices for exporting a feature film in Adobe Premiere Pro.

First things first, it’s best to work sequence by sequence. Divide and conquer! Organize your files and edit each scene as cleanly as possible. Once you’re happy with each sequence, create your master timeline and bring them all together. But before you export, make sure to review your audio mix and color. You want consistency from beginning to end. And don’t forget to consider your screening formats. Where and how do you want to screen your film? This will affect your export settings.

Speaking of export settings, for a recent film festival screening, we used Apple ProRes 422, 1080p, 23.98, Audio Linear PCM, Stereo (left, right) 2 channels, 48.000 kHz, 24 bit sample size, and Little Endian. But if you’re hoping to screen your film at major festivals or have a cinematic run, you should consider creating a Digital Cinema Package (DCP). You can either format and export it yourself (tricky!) or pay for a service to do it for you.

Finally, once your feature is exported and ready to transfer, you have a few options. For online streaming services like Vimeo and YouTube, you’ll need a pro account to upload feature-length content. For transferring feature films, you can use online transfer services like WeTransfer, Dropbox, or Vimeo. But if you need a hard copy, you’ll have to burn a DVD or invest in a portable hard drive.

Exporting a feature film can be nerve-racking, but with these tips and tricks, you’ll be ready to share your masterpiece with the world. And if you want more filmmaking tips, check out some of our other articles. Happy exporting!