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Cut Like a Pro:
10 Premiere Pro CS5.5 Tips
for Working Editors

by Clay Asbury

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For those who are coming from other video applications, these tips should help you get up to speed on Premiere Pro.

1. You can load up the default shortcuts for FCP & AVID. Under the Premiere Pro Menu, select “Keyboard Shortcuts” and pick either Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer.


Step 1.


Step 2.

2. Under Preferences>Appearance set Brightness to Darker. (Your eyes will thank you!)


3. Use Workspaces. Create a custom one for each type of editing you do (corporate, doc, narrative). Make your interface changes, then from the Workspace pulldown select “new Workspace” and name it.


4. The Default view in the Project is List mode. To turn on thumbnails, click on the project context menu, then uncheck “Off” beside Thumbnails. Then pick small, medium or large.


Default List Mode.


5. Set Poster Frame. By default it is the first frame of the clip.Play the clip or drag the slider to a new frame and click the “Poster Frame” button.


6. Use the JKL keys to play through your timeline. Press J to move the CTI (current-time indicator) in reverse and L moves forward. K stops play, or you can use the space bar to start and stop. Hold K and then press J or L to move one frame. Hold K and then hold J or K to play in slow motion.

7. Drag and Drop Editing. If you drag a clip from the the Project or Browser to the
Timeline and hold down the Command Key, you will perform an Insert instead of an
Overwrite edit

8. Creating New Items in the Browser. If you click and hold on the “New Item” icon
you will get a pulldown of all your choices. This is a great timesaver for creating new sequences, titles and black video.


9. Match Clip and Sequence Settings.  If you are not sure what Sequence Preset to pick, drag the video clip onto the “New Item” icon. This will open a sequence that matches your clip settings.

10. Automate to Sequence. This allows you to put the selected clips in the Project into the Sequence at once with optional transitions (default transition). Select your clips, then click on the “Automate to Sequence” button.



Clay Asbury is an editor, consultant and Apple/Adobe Certified trainer with over 12 years post-production experience. He has a filmmaking blog, and offers training at fcptrainer.net. His approachable and effective teaching style has developed from teaching at Apple/Adobe Training Centers and the Art Institute of Atlanta and Fordham University. His clients include well-known companies such as Turner Networks, CNN, and the Federal Reserve Bank. He wrote the chapter on trimming in "Edit Well: Final Cut Studio Techniques from the Pros", from Peachpit Press.

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