Docs · Cut an event
Export to Premiere
What goes in the XML, the bins and sequences, copying media, editor paths, and importing in Premiere Pro.
Export writes a Final Cut Pro 7 XML file that Premiere Pro imports as bins and sequences. Open it with Export to Premiere on the Rough cut screen, Export anyway… in Review, or ⌘E. When Review’s count is zero, the goal bar offers it too.
What’s in the project
The sheet shows the tree as it will appear in Premiere. Untick anything you don’t want. For a wedding:
| Item | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Rough cut - Highlight | The rough cut, first in the project |
| 00 Master timeline | One sequence per part of the day (Getting ready 1, Ceremony 1, Reception…) with every device in sync |
| 01 Selects | Your ★ Selects, one clip per moment, in timeline order |
| 02 Synced | Multicam sequences for the synced parts, such as the ceremony and first dance |
| 03 Moments | A folder and a candidates sequence for each moment type |
| 04 Cameras | The clips, by device. Always written: it holds clips, not sequences |
| 05 Needs review | Clips still flagged, so nothing goes missing silently |
Sports and golf vlogs get their own layout: 00 Master timeline, 01 Selects, 01 Selects - vertical, 02 A-roll (Best takes and All takes), 03 Moments with Shorts candidates, 04 Scenes, 05 Synced, 06 Devices and 07 Needs review.
Slow-motion clips carry a marker so you can conform them in Premiere. Items still open in Review are listed in the sheet under Carried over from Needs review. The rough cut’s song is on audio tracks A5–A6 with its level keyframes.
Files written
In the output folder:
<event>.xml: the project for Premiere.<event> - editor.xml: the same project with paths for the editor’s drive, if you set an Editor drive root.<event>.json: a sidecar with the same data, for scripts and agents.captions/*.srt: captions from the transcript.
The footer shows how many sequences will be written and where. Press Write files. Then use Reveal in Finder or Open in Premiere Pro.
Output folder
Each event exports to its Output folder. If you left it empty, it uses the default from setup: _organizer/ beside the footage, or a folder you chose, with a subfolder per event.
Copy media
Copy media into the output folder gathers the footage next to the project, and the XML points at the copies. That makes one folder you can hand to an editor or move to another drive.
- All event media, or Only media used by the exported sequences.
- Every copy is checked by reading it back. Files already copied and checked aren’t copied again next time.
- If the output folder is on the same drive as the footage, Sift asks first (Copy media to the same drive?), because the copy duplicates it there.
- Before copying, Sift checks the free space and tells you if the drive is too small.
Without copy media, the XML points at the footage where it is now.
Editor drive root
If someone else edits on another machine, type the path where the footage will be on their drive in Editor drive root, such as /Volumes/Edit_0927 or D:\Shoots\0927. Sift writes a second XML with every path remapped under that root. Leave it empty to export only your own paths.
Import in Premiere Pro
- In Premiere Pro, choose File → Import and pick
<event>.xml(or the editor version). - Premiere adds a bin named after the file, with the bins and sequences from the tree.
- If Premiere asks about media, check that the footage (or the copied
Media/folder) is where the XML expects it.
Open in Premiere Pro in the sheet does the first step for you. If Premiere doesn’t open, import the XML from the output folder by hand.
Variable frame rate clips are left for Premiere to conform. Sift checks their sync by sound.