… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #444: Automatic Audio Ducking

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Auto-Ducking is a VERY fast way to generate standard audio keyframes.

An ambience clip with auto-ducking keyframes applied to it.

Topic $TipTopic

Auto-ducking automatically applies audio level keyframes to a music or sound effects clip in response to dialog clips above it. It generates keyframes very quickly and, even better, each keyframe is fully adjustable after they are applied. Here’s how it works:

  • Switch to the Audio workspace in Premiere.
  • Select all dialog clips, then apply the Dialog tag.
  • Select all the clips you want to “duck,” or lower, when someone is speaking and apply either the Music, Sound Effects or Ambience tag.
  • Open, say, the Music tag.
  • Check Ducking to enable it.
  • Select the icon representing the reference audio for the keyframes; in most cases this will be Dialog.
  • Click Generate Keyframes.
  • Listen to the results. If you don’t like the overall levels, change the Duck Amount to more accurately reflect how much you want the volume lowered.
  • Click Generate Keyframes, again.

Repeat this process until you have levels you like.

NOTE: Modify Fades to adjust how quickly the audio levels change.

EXTRA CREDIT

Every keyframe set by Auto-ducking is a standard keyframe. You can adjust each one individually to create exactly the mix you want. Auto-ducking simply applies them faster.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #445: More Mask Tricks in Premiere

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

While masks can’t be combined, we can create more than one mask in a clip.

Two separate circle masks applied to the same clip.

Topic $TipTopic

While we can’t combine masks in Premiere, nor select multiple masks at the same time, we can create multiple masks to create unusual shapes. Here’s how.

In this screen shot, I am using two separate circle masks to isolate each of the berries. This effect involves two versions of the same clip:

  • The top clip contains the masks
  • The bottom clip has been desaturated

Because I want to see the desaturated clip below the clip containing the masks, we need to create an Opacity mask. If we simply want to affect a portion of the image, say to apply a blur, we would create a mask in the Blur effect itself.

In this example, I drew two circle masks and adjusted each one’s shape to match the curves of each berry. There’s one mask for each berry. I slightly feathered each mask, then, in the lower clip desaturated it almost completely. (I retained a little bit of color so that the color edges around the berry which weren’t removed by the mask wouldn’t look too obvious.)

If the berries move, click the right-pointing arrow just below the mask name (i.e. Mask (1)) to track the mask with the movement of the berries.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #407: Highlight Your Favorite Fonts in Premiere

All it takes is one little star.

The Premiere font menu with Favorites (the stars) enabled.

Topic $TipTopic

This article first appeared in MotionArray.com. This is an excerpt.

(This tip requires Premiere CC 2018 or later.)

There is a huge variety of fonts you can select from in Premiere Pro, but there are probably less than 10 that you consistently go back to. It can be super helpful to pinpoint your favorites, so instead of scrolling through a list of all the fonts you don’t want to use, you have all your favorites available at the click of a button.

Click on the little star to the left of the font name to add it to your favorites, and click on the star at the top of the font list to show only the fonts you have starred.

How easy is that?


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #479: Copy and Paste Masks in Premiere

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Masks are easy to copy, provided you select the right thing.

To copy a mask, first select it in Effect Controls.

Topic $TipTopic

This article first appeared in MotionArray.com. This is an excerpt.

There are two ways to apply the same mask to more than one clip: an adjustment layer or copying and pasting a mask.

Adjustment layers are great for those times when you need to affect lots of clips. But, copy and paste is faster when you are only working with a few clips.

To copy a mask:

  • Select the clip with the mask you want to copy
  • Go to the Effects Control panel and select the mask.
  • Choose Edit > Copy
  • Select the clip in the timeline where you want to paste the mask.
  • Choose Edit > Paste.

Done.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #480: Advanced Mask Controls

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

First, you draw the mask – then you tweak it.

The five mask controls in Premiere.

Topic $TipTopic

This article first appeared in MotionArray.com. This is an excerpt.

You may be familiar with the Mask Path controls, which allow you to draw a variety of different masks on a clip. But, the other three options can be confusing.

Mask Feather. Feathering allows the effect to slowly fade in or out from the edge of the mask. You can designate how much feathering there is both from the Effects Control panel or dragging the outside blue border in the Program Monitor.

Opacity. When applied to a mask this changes the Opacity of the footage you have cropped out.

Expansion. The Expansion control allows you to increase or decrease how close to your shape line the footage is masked. If you are creating complex shapes, changing your mask explanation can help smooth out some of the rougher edges, meaning you don’t need to spend hours getting each angle perfect.

Invert. This flips the selected portion of a mask; what was in is now out and what was out is now in.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #389: Two Fast Ways to Configure a Sequence

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

While you can customize your settings, these tips are faster.

The Change Sequence Settings dialog in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

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Premiere’s Sequence Settings panel is daunting. Even experienced editors scratch their heads over some of these options.

Fortunately, Premiere has two fast ways to configure a sequence – provided you have a clip that’s in the format you want to edit.

OPTION 1

Drag a clip from the Project panel on top of the New Item icon in the low right corner of the Project panel. This creates a new sequence, configures it to match the clip and edits the clip into the start of the sequence.

OPTION 2

Create a new sequence using any setting option. Then, DRAG a clip from the Project panel into the new sequence.

A dialog appears asking if you want to change the sequence to match the clip.

NOTE: If you use a keyboard shortcut to edit a clip into the sequence, the clip will match the sequence settings.

EXTRA CREDIT

Once a sequence has a clip in it, many of the Sequence settings can’t be changed.

For those situations where the first clip you want in your project does not match the sequence you want to create, edit a clip that does match into the sequence first. After you add a few more clips, which locks the settings, you can delete the first clip.

These two tricks are far faster than wrestling with the sequence settings themselves.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #393: How to Create Effects Presets in Premiere

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Effects presets save time when you are reusing your effects.

Select effects categories, then Control-click to reveal Save Preset option.

Topic $TipTopic

Saving effects presets can save a lot of time, if you find yourself using the same effects settings over and over. But creating them isn’t obvious. Here’s what you need to know.

  • First, select a clip and make the effects changes you want to save into a preset.
  • Next, Cmd-click the category names containing the settings you want to save. (See the screen shot.) For example, if you changed the Position setting, then Cmd-click Motion.
  • Control-click one of the selected Categories to display the Save Preset option.
  • In the Preset dialog, name and describe the preset.
  • Scale applies the effect to the entire length of a clip.
  • Anchor to in point and Anchor to out point use the duration from the beginning or end of the clip when applying the preset to future clips
  • Click OK to save the preset.

EXTRA CREDIT

  • Presets are stored in Effects > Presets.
  • To delete a Preset, select it in the Effects panel, then Control-click and select Delete.

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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #404: 6 Tips to Crop Images More Effectively

Settings for the Crop tool in Premiere Pro CC.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Logan Baker, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is an excerpt.

The Crop tool is an important tool in the video editor’s toolkit. Here are six tips to help you get more out of it.

  • Add a Crop. The Crop tool is located in Effects > Video Effects > Transform > Crop – or just search for “crop”. Then, drag it from the Effects panel onto your clip. You can crop using the Left, Right, Top, and Bottom parameters. These parameters are also animatable using keyframes.

NOTE: You can also crop using Adjustment Layers.

  • Wide screen. Add classic wide screen bars to the top and bottom of your image. (An adjustment layer will do this to your entire sequence.)
  • Text. Animate a crop to imaginatively reveal your text.
  • Create a split screen. Stack the clips you want to see, then apply the crop to the top clip.
  • Create a spicy transition. First, make sure the upcoming clip is atop the tail end of your current clip. Then, add the crop effect to both clips. For the bottom clip, enable the zoom (in the crop effect), then raise the bottom by about fifteen percent, with your keyframes set toward the end of the clip. This’ll stretch out the video downwards. Then, for the top clip, animate the bottom from one-hundred percent to zero percent. This’ll bring the clip down, following the first clip.
  • Reveal effects. Apply effects to your clip, then nest them. Duplicate the nest and stack it above the clips with the effects. Remove the effects from the clips in the top nest. Then, wipe between the two nests.

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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #298: 2 Tricks to Moving Clips

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These two tricks save time when moving clips.

Swapping a clip from one location to another. The moved clip can be placed on any track.

Topic $TipTopic

Once we have a rough cut complete, it is often necessary to move or replace clips in the timeline. Here are two tricks that make that easier.

SWAP CLIPS

To move a clip to a new position, press and hold both Command and Option. Drag the clip so the In of the clip you are moving is at its new location. While you would generally place it on the same track that it came from, you can actually place the swapped clip on any track.

As soon as you let go of the mouse, the clip shuttles into its new position and the clips to its right scurry down to fill the gap.

REPLACE CLIP

To replace a clip without losing any transitions or effects applied to it:

  • Select the clip in the timeline you want to replace
  • Drag the new clip from the Project panel on top of the existing clip while pressing Option (Alt).

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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #337: Three Ways to Sync Audio to Video

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Double-system sound provides the best audio, but requires an extra step in post.

Recording a clapper slate is critical for all double-system audio syncing.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Rachel Klein, first appeared in PremiumBeat. This is an excerpt.

Recording audio and video separately on set ensures you get the highest quality sound for your project. Using an external shotgun microphone and syncing your audio with a slate, snap, or a clap is essential.

Your three main options for syncing audio to video are Red Giant’s Plural Eyes software, Premiere Pro’s Merge or Synchronize options, or doing it manually.

  • Automatically. The best option by far (but with a price tag of $200) is Red Giant’s Plural Eyes. To synchronize, simply open Plural Eyes and click Add Media or drag your clips directly into the app. Next, hit the Synchronize button and watch the program do its thing. Successfully synced clips will show up in green, while clips with errors are red. If you get a red error, navigate to the Sync drop-down tab and make sure you’ve selected “Try Really Hard.”

    Once everything is synced, click Export Timeline and drag the exported project directly into Premiere Pro. As an added bonus, Plural Eyes also can help correct audio drift in your project.

  • Merge. To merge clips using Premiere, select the video and audio files you want to merge in the Project panel. Right-click the selected clips and choose “Merge Clips.”

    A menu will open up, allowing you to name your newly synchronized clip. Select “Audio” as your “Synchronize Point” and make sure to select “Remove Audio From AV Clip.” Hit OK and you’re all done.

  • Manually. Edit the audio and video clips into the timeline. Then, align the spike in the waveform of the clapper slate with the frame where the slate just closes.

Done.


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