How to Convert a 1080p Sequence to 4K in Premiere Pro

Nesting a 1080p sequence and scaling it up 200% inside a 4K sequence doesn't give you real 4K, because Premiere renders the nest at 1080p first. To get true 4K, change the resolution of the original sequence in Sequence Settings and rescale your clips to fit.

These steps are for Premiere Pro on desktop (Windows or Mac). Your edit, cuts and audio all stay in place.

How to change a 1080p sequence to 4K

1. Duplicate the sequence. In the Project panel, right-click your 1080p sequence and choose Duplicate. Work on the copy so you can go back if something breaks.
2. Open Sequence Settings. Double-click the duplicate to open it on the timeline, then go to Sequence > Sequence Settings.
3. Set the frame size to 4K. If the Frame Size fields are greyed out, set Editing Mode to Custom first. Enter 3840 horizontal and 2160 vertical, then click OK. If Premiere warns that your render previews will be deleted, click OK.
4. Open Effect Controls for a clip. Click a clip on the timeline and open Window > Effect Controls.
5. Fix the clip's scale. Under Motion, change Scale until the clip fills the frame. A 4K clip that sat at 50% in the 1080p sequence goes back to 100%. To do several clips at once, select them, right-click and choose Set to Frame Size.
6. Fix effects that use position. Any effect with a Position value was set for a 1080p frame. Check your Transform effects, crops, masks, punch-ins and moved titles, and adjust them so they sit where they did before.
7. Export at 3840 x 2160. Go to File > Export > Media, set the video to match the sequence and check that the output size reads 3840 x 2160 before you click Export.

Play through the whole timeline once before you export. A clip with the wrong scale shows up right away as a small picture with black around it, or a picture that's zoomed in too far.

Watch out for Scale to Frame Size

If any clip had Scale to Frame Size turned on in the 1080p sequence, right-click it and turn that option off. Premiere renders those clips at the sequence size they were scaled to, which can leave them soft. Use Set to Frame Size or type the Scale value yourself instead.

What happens to your 1080p clips

Any 1080p clips in the sequence need a Scale of 200% to fill the 4K frame. That's an upscale, so they'll look a little softer than your 4K footage. Your 4K clips at 100% stay sharp.

If you also plan to cut a vertical version of the same footage, Horizontal to Vertical: How to Reframe Footage Without Losing the Subject shows you how to scale 4K clips in Premiere without losing quality.

FAQ

Will nesting my 1080p sequence in a 4K sequence give me real 4K? No. Premiere renders a nest at its own sequence resolution, so a 1080p nest scaled to 200% is 1080p stretched to fill a 4K frame. Change the original sequence to 4K instead.

Do I have to rebuild my edit to switch to 4K? No. Your cuts, audio and timing stay as they are when you change the sequence settings. You only need to fix the scale of your clips and any effects that use position values.