Export to Premiere Pro
How to hand your edit to Premiere Pro, what carries over, and what the warning and error messages mean.
Export your timeline
- Choose File → Export → Premiere Pro XML….
- Pick a folder and a file name in the save dialog.
- Click Save.
That's the whole flow. There are no format options or quality settings to set. If no message appears after saving, the export worked. Cancelling the save dialog does nothing.
What the XML file is
The exported file is an edit list, not a bundle. It describes your timeline and points at your original media files where they sit on disk. The media itself is not copied into the file.
That means Premiere needs access to the same files. Keep them where they were when you exported. If you open the XML on a different machine, that machine must be able to reach the media at the same locations.
Your project's own .sailer file only opens in Solar Sailer. The XML export is how an edit travels to Premiere.
What carries over
The export writes one sequence, named after your project, at the project's frame rate and resolution, with all video and audio tracks in order. Within it:
- Every clip keeps its timeline position and in and out points, so all your cuts survive.
- Position, scale, and rotation become Premiere's Basic Motion settings. Opacity and crop come across as Premiere's Opacity and Crop effects.
- Clip volume and audio fades become Premiere's Audio Levels.
- Disabled clips arrive in Premiere still disabled and tagged Lavender, so they stay visible and easy to turn back on.
Warnings and errors
If the export finishes with warnings, a message appears reading "Premiere XML exported with N warning(s)", followed by the details. The file was still written. Warnings mean a few visual or audio details couldn't be expressed exactly in Premiere's format, for example a clip scaled by different amounts horizontally and vertically. Each note names the clip and where it sits on the timeline, so you know what to check in Premiere.
If a message reading "Premiere XML export failed" appears instead, no file was written. The message includes the reason. A common cause is a destination that can't be written to, such as a read-only folder, a disconnected drive, or a file that's open in another program. Fix the reason shown and export again.
Bring a sequence back
The trip works in both directions. File → Import → Premiere Pro XML… loads a Premiere Pro XML file into Solar Sailer, so a sequence you adjusted in Premiere can come back in. If the import fails, a message reading "Premiere XML import failed" tells you why.