How to convert a Premiere Pro project (.prproj) to XML

Convert a PRPROJ to XML in Premiere with File → Export → Final Cut Pro XML, or use the PRPROJ to XML converter when Premiere is unavailable. Both routes produce FCP7 XML for compatible editing and conform tools.

Preview the sequence, review the conversion warnings, and keep the original media available for relinking. An XML file transfers supported edit data; it does not package your footage.

Try a small project before your full edit

Download the synthetic Premiere project and its converted FCP7 XML. Open the PRPROJ to XML converter, choose Try a sample, and inspect the sequence preview. The downloaded output is checked against the conversion engine; its media paths are placeholders and need relinking for an editor import.

1. Confirm the sequence and frame rate in the preview.
2. Convert, then read the report for unsupported features.
3. Import the XML in your destination editor and compare the edit with the original before delivery.

What "convert prproj to XML" actually means

When editors say "convert my Premiere project to XML," they almost always mean Final Cut Pro 7 XML (also called xmeml, or just "the XML"): an interchange format supported by many editing and conform tools. DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro (via conversion), audio conform tools, and VFX pipelines all read it. It describes your sequences: tracks, clips, cut points, source timecode, and media paths.

That is different from the .prproj file itself, which describes Premiere's entire internal project, bins, preferences, every object Premiere tracks, in a format only Premiere reads. Converting means extracting the timelines from the second thing and rewriting them as the first.

Way 1: export XML from inside Premiere

If you have a working Premiere Pro that opens the project, use the built-in export:

1. Open the project and select the sequence in the Project panel (or click into its timeline).
2. Choose File > Export > Final Cut Pro XML.
3. Save the .xml. That file is the FCP7 XML other apps import.

Two caveats. First, this needs a Premiere that will actually open the project. A .prproj saved by a newer Premiere won't open in an older one, and Adobe's subscription needs to be active. Second, the export covers the selected sequence's world; check you exported from the sequence you meant.

Way 2: convert the .prproj directly, no Premiere needed

When Premiere isn't available (expired trial, a machine without Premiere at all, a client sent only the .prproj, or the version mismatch above), the Premiere project to XML converter performs the same translation from the file alone:

1. Open the .prproj to XML converter.
2. Drag the .prproj onto the drop zone. Use the actual project file, no export needed.
3. Press Convert and download the .xml.

The converter decompresses the project, reads its object graph, and writes FCP7 XML of every edited sequence: video and audio tracks, each clip's timeline position, source in/out points, clip names, and media file paths, with frame-accurate timing. Projects from Premiere Pro CS6 through current Creative Cloud versions use the same internal structure and convert the same way. That is precisely what makes this route useful when Premiere's own version rules lock you out.

Which output do you actually want: XML, FCPXML or .drp

"Convert to XML" covers three different deliveries, and picking the right one saves a relink session:

• FCP7 XML (.xml) carries one sequence into an existing project. Resolve reads it with File > Import > Timeline, Premiere with File > Import, and conform tools read it too. This is the PRPROJ to XML converter.
• A native Resolve project (.drp) carries every sequence and the media pool into Resolve in one File > Import Project. If the whole edit is moving, use Premiere to Resolve .drp.
• FCPXML is for current Final Cut Pro, which does not read FCP7 XML. Use Premiere to FCPXML.

All three are written from the same reading of the .prproj, so the cut is identical; what differs is how much of the project structure the destination format can hold. A paid project converts to any of them for 24 hours.

A .prproj is already XML (just not the XML you want)

Here's the part worth knowing even if you never use it: a .prproj is gzip-compressed XML. Rename a copy to project.xml.gz, decompress it, and a text editor will show you Premiere's raw project markup.

Before you get excited: that internal XML is not importable by anything. It is Premiere's private object graph, thousands of cross-referenced nodes with numeric IDs, undocumented and reshuffled between versions. Resolve will refuse it, and no conform tool reads it. So "just unzip it" answers the curiosity (yes, your project data is recoverable, it's all in there) but not the workflow. Getting from that soup to a timeline other software understands is exactly the translation both routes above perform.

Importing the XML into DaVinci Resolve

Whichever route produced the .xml:

1. In Resolve, choose File > Import > Timeline and select the converted .xml.
2. Review the import options (frame rate should match the sequence; leave sizing options at defaults for a conform).
3. Resolve relinks clips to your media by file path, then by name. Have the source media mounted where the paths point, or use Relink Media afterward.

The same file imports into anything else that reads FCP7 XML.

What carries over, and what doesn't

XML interchange moves the cut and the structure around it, not the look. From a Premiere project the converter carries:

• Sequences, video and audio tracks, every clip's position and duration, source in and out timecode, clip names and media paths.
• Bins, sequence and clip markers, track locks, clip gain, the sequence start timecode and drop-frame flag.
• Cross dissolves and dip-to-colour transitions, constant speed changes, nested sequences, and the angle you selected in a multicam clip.
• Basic titles: the text, first-run font, size, colour and paragraph alignment.

It does not carry Lumetri colour, Warp Stabilizer, blur or other effects, which FCP7 XML cannot describe and which Resolve rebuilds on its own pages. Speed ramps become constant-speed segments, eased keyframes become linear or held ones, and audio track routing is folded into clip gain. Every one of these is named in the conversion report for the file you converted.

This is measured, not asserted. On the 13 real Premiere projects in our test set, 97% of the 811 timeline elements the check inspects came through exactly; the remaining 3% are approximations of the kinds listed above, and none were dropped silently. The Premiere to Resolve handoff page lists each project and what it flagged.

FAQ

How do I convert a .prproj file to XML? Inside Premiere: File > Export > Final Cut Pro XML with the sequence selected. Without Premiere: drop the .prproj on the free Premiere project to XML converter, which decodes the project file directly and writes the same FCP7 XML, with sequences, tracks, cuts, and source timecode.

Can I convert a Premiere project to XML without Premiere Pro installed? Yes, that's the point of the direct converter. It reads the .prproj itself, so an expired trial, a missing license, or a version that won't open the file doesn't stop the conversion.

Is a .prproj file just XML? Under the hood, yes. It's gzip-compressed XML, and you can decompress a renamed copy to see it. But it's Premiere's private, undocumented object markup, and no other application imports it. The importable thing is FCP7 XML, which has to be generated from the project by Premiere's exporter or a converter.

What's the difference between FCP7 XML and FCPXML? FCP7 XML (xmeml, .xml) is the classic interchange format Premiere exports and Resolve imports; FCPXML (.fcpxml) is the newer, incompatible format used by today's Final Cut Pro. "Convert prproj to XML" almost always means the former. Going to current Final Cut requires an extra conversion step from a tool like SendToX.

Does DaVinci Resolve open .prproj files directly? No. Resolve imports timelines via FCP7 XML, FCPXML, AAF, and EDL, not .prproj. Convert the project to XML first (either route above), then File > Import > Timeline in Resolve.

Do effects and transitions survive the conversion? Transitions mostly do: cross dissolves and dips are written natively, and constant speed changes, nested sequences and basic titles come through. Effects do not: Lumetri colour, Warp Stabilizer and third-party plugins have no representation in FCP7 XML, which is true of Premiere's own export too. The conversion report names each one so you can rebuild the creative layer after the conform.

Choosing a different handoff

For the way back from Resolve, use Resolve project to XML. For the opposite direction from Final Cut, use Final Cut Pro FCPXML to Premiere XML. To create editable Final Cut title graphics from subtitles, use SRT to FCPXML. These are different jobs and produce different kinds of XML.