Compressing GoPro Footy on PC?

[triebby]

Like everyone else on NS, I recently got a GoPro and it has been working great. I'm shooting exclusively 720p at 60fps and I love the quality, but now it is time to start editing. I have heard from a number of people that before editing I should encode my mp4 files into a smaller and more manageable format in order to save space on my hard drive and so that things run smoother when I edit. From what I've heard, Apple ProRes 422 is the best option for this, but since I'm on a PC I can only play ProRes, I can't encode with it and I don't have access to anything Final Cut.

So my main questions are as follows:

1. Is it necessary/good policy to encode clips from mp4 into an alternative format before editing on a PC?

2. If so, what format/codec should I use and what program and settings should I use for that codec in order for things to run smooth, save space and still have high quality video?

Editing program: Adobe Premiere Elements 9

Computer guts: 4GB DDR3 Ram, 500GB 7200rpm HD, 512MB dedicated graphics card

 

[LuminatX]

you dont have to re-encode your files if your not having any problem editing them as is.but if you want to encode them to another format, I'd suggest WMV, its what I use and will slice the size of the video in half most of the time, and still retains amazing quality.