105 Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Questions Answered

34) What native codec Adobe use with CS6 Progress or some compressed for HD as H264 who eats lot of CPU?

Unfortunately Adobe doesn’t have a native intermediate codec like ProRes or DNxHD. They really hang their hat on the native workflow and Premiere CS6 does work very well with native formats like XDCam or DSLR H264. It works especially well if you have an NVIDIA CIDA enabled the GPU that can take full advantage of the Mercury Playback engine. That said there are times when an intermediate codec is very nice to have and quite needed. I’ve used ProRes a lot in version 6 without any issues.

35) Can you have multiple projects open at once as in FCP? If not, what’s the best way to copy from one project to another?

You can only open one project at a time in Premiere Pro CS6. PPro has always acted in this manner. It does trip up Final Cut Pro editors often as it’s a common practice to have more than one project open at a time. Check out question number 2 for a good method to import select sequence from one project to another. Otherwise you can copy and paste elements between projects.

36) Speak about what types of projects you might use different NLE’s for and why?

For graphics, compositing or effects heavy types of edits I’ve always leaned more toward Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Studio. I liked the way FCP handles graphics and the Studio apps are great compliments. Adobe Premiere Pro and the Production Premium CS6 bundle is taking the place as the Adobe products handle graphics and media in much the same way.

Avid Media Composer is usually my choice for music videos and concerts when I know I need auxiliary timecode and grouping (in the case of music videos) or multicam grouping (in the case of concerts). For more cuts and dissolve based edits with clients in the room I’ll often use Media Composer as I find its keyboard use and trimming faster than the other NLEs. If I know an edit has to go to color grading via our Baselight I’ll often choose Media Composer as well since it has a very solid workflow with the Baselight.

37) Can I use the numeric keypad to nudge a clip? Ex. (+5 return) = 5 frames to the right. Or do the same with an edit point?

Yes, using the numeric keypad works for moving clips or edit points via a + and - increments. For moving an edit you have to have the edit point selected with either Ripple or Roll trim indicators. Watch for the + or - timecode values to appear in the timeline timecode indicator when you enter the value:

38) When you drag that media from other folders, is it being copied into the CSPP scratch discs?

In short no. It’s just like Final Cut Pro in that media resides in its original location when you drag it from the finder into the application. All media management is on the editor’s shoulders. Be careful because all the media management issues that happened in Final Cut Pro can happen in Premiere Pro as well. And the “reconnection dance” is a bit more difficult in that the off-line dialog box doesn’t have any automated searching functions.

39) You mentioned that better to use IN/OUT and media encoder knows what to render, but past versions, were not user friendly and it encodes all the timeline anyway, not the selected area.

That’s not my experience in CS6. I very often mark IN to OUT in the timeline and choose the Sequence In/Out in the Source Range popup at the bottom of the Export Settings window and it only exports what is between the IN and OUT marks. This is true of exporting right from PPro as well as sending a queue to Adobe Media Encoder.

40) I do same day edits, how fast can you import, analyze, edit and export compared to FCP X or 7?

That’s a very subjective question but in short it’s much faster than FCP7 since you can work native with most media and don’t have to transcode. That’s a huge speed boost right there. It can also work natively with more files then Final Cut Pro X so that could also be a speed boost. The features like Hover Scrub which is very similar to FCPX skimming can also speed along the edit process. Other than that I think it’s more in the hands of the editor as to how fast one can work in the particular application. In my mind I can trim much better and much faster with the Premiere’s new trimming tools (including dynamic trimming) than I can in FCPX using its tools.

What Premiere Pro doesn’t have that FCPX does have is the automated analysis capabilities that can analyze for things like color balance, audio problems, rolling shutter and camera shake. PPro does include the Warp Stabilizer which is one of the more amazing stabilization tools out there in any non-linear editor.

41) Do you set up your scratch disk any differently than you did in FCP?

No. I have an Adobe Scratch folder on my main media RAID and that’s where all four of my scratch disks are pointed:

42) If you have Premiere pro 5 and FCP 7 on same mac which one is better to capture video with? with lowest MB per min. small file.

File size and MB per minute has less to do with the application you are capturing through but rather the codec you are capturing to. For example, capturing or transcoding the exact same clip to ProRes LT should result in a file that’s about the same size no matter which application you use to create it. Each ProRes flavor has its own specific bit rate it uses regardless of what application creates the file.

43) Can I make my blade tool snap to my playhead when snapping is turned on?

I’ve heard this as being rather controversial that the Razor Tool doesn’t snap to the playhead when snapping is turned on. Why it doesn’t is beyond me as it seems it should. If you’re at least close to the playhead it seems to make the cut on the playhead when you click.

But let me propose this: never use the Razor Blade tool as that takes way too much time to select and then position the tool with the mouse before a click. Instead use the Add Edit command as Add Edit will make a cut at the playhead via the speed of a keystroke:

And you have options to add the edits to tracks you have selected or all tracks. It’s so much faster than the Razor Blade tool.

44) How stable is it to work with the DLSR h264 footage natively without transcoding?

I have had very good luck working with native DSLR footage in Premiere. I am fortunate enough to have an NVIDIA Quadro 4000 for Mac video card that is CUDA enabled which makes playback very very fast.

45) Do you know if there is a way to use an NVIDIA Quadro card with an iMac?

An iMac has a built-in GPU so unfortunately there is no way to add an NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPU to an iMac. If you have a thunderbolt iMac there could be an option for a external GPU chassis to allow you to use a CUDA enabled GPU. I don’t know if those options have been thoroughly flushed out and tested as of this writing.

46) What are key differences/improvements in CS6 vs CS5 and CS5.5? Is an upgrade from CS5 to 6 worth it at this time?

Key differences that are important to me include: a much better, much cleaner and newly designed interface; adobe’s own version of skimming called Hover Scrub (that really is much more than skimming); much better third-party hardware integration with Mercury Transmit; and timeline trimming that is head and shoulders above what the previous versions of Premiere had.

I think the CS6 upgrade is a no-brainer as it’s a much much better application than it has been in the past.

47) Can you rename the clips in the browser and have the names be applied to the original source clip?

No, the rename file to match clip and rename clip to match file is functionality that is not included in Premiere Pro CS6.

48) How does the Speech Analysis compare to Avid’s PhraseFind? Better or worse?

Adobe’s speech analysis technology is different than Avid’s phrase fine. Adobe actually makes an attempt to transcribe dialogue into human readable text that is attached to its file via metadata. It’s far from perfect but it has gotten better version to version and is somewhat usable.

PhraseFind is a dialogue search tool that allows you to search for specific words and phrases and locate them within a clip. The software analyzes the media and it works via phonetics so it does not give you a readable transcript once the media has been analyzed. It’s very handy especially on documentary or interview types of projects. If I could choose only one I would choose to have a PhraseFind like technology as opposed to the transcription technology at this point because the transcribing isn’t perfect. And the worst your audio is the less accurate the transcriptions will be. Adobe’s transcription can be a great starting point though if you have to make transcriptions and you have decent audio. If you want something like PhraseFind in PPro try Boris Soundbite.

49) How do we access the Scrub option again?

I think you mean Hover Scrub? The toggle is under the Panel Menu in the right corner of a bin when in Thumbnail View:

It’s easiest to toggle it with the keyboard shortcut Shift + H.

50) Does Premiere now support scripts like AFX? “comp(”08_Scene“).layer(”SETTINGS“).effect(”ALL_PHOTOS“)(”Slider“)”

No, not that I am aware of.

51) Can you use a 2nd screen?

Yes you can use a second monitor with Premiere Pro. All window layouts can be adjusted at will and saved to new templates.

52) Best way to make slow motion?

Premiere Pro CS6 has a very Final Cut Pro like speed dialog box accessible via a right+click on a clip in the timeline:

PPro also has very powerful time remapping both in the Effect Controls tab and right in the timeline. I like to do it right in the timeline. It’s a bit confusing at first but once you understand how the “split” keyframes work then it’s quite intuitive.

Check out this Adobe TV episode on Time Remapping. It’s from version 5 but was very helpful to me:

53) What do you think is the biggest draw for editors in transition who may consider Premiere CS6?

I think it’s the new trimming capabilities that is in version 6. They’re very powerful so they can be a bit confusing to learn if you’re coming from Final Cut Pro 7 where the trimming was very different. And while I love features like Hover Scrub and the new, uncluttered interface it’s the trimming that wins for me hands-down. I would encourage any FCP7 editor moving to Premiere to study the trimming very very closely. FCP7 editors should also look very closely at dynamic trimming which is trimming with actual playback including JKL scrubbing. FCP7 had this feature it just didn’t work very well and was rarely used.

54) Modifying Audio - can you remove a channel when modifying? Ie. Canon 7d with AGC disabling static on Right Channel?

If you try Modify > Audio Channels on a clip you have the option to disable audio channels in a clip by setting them to NONE:

You can see clips in the timeline that have had audio channels disabled as well as they are indicated via a dashed line in the audio track:

55) If you are working on a project, shot with various cameras, do you recommend transcoding to ProRes instead of working with native camera files?

Not necessarily though this is a hot topic debate often debated amongst editors and depending on who you talk to opinions may vary. I have had some very successful edits that combine Sony XDCam media with native Canon DSLR media. I am running a supported NVIDIA CUDA graphics card and that really helps the Mercury Elayback engine scream when working with native media.

56) What is the greatest advantage and disadvantage of working in Premiere Pro CS6?

The biggest advantage: speed. Combining the native file support which allows for near instant file access with the speed and precision that Hover Scrub can allow as well as the new trimming tools and you can work very fast the new version of Premiere.

The biggest disadvantage: media management. Like FCP Premiere is just using a file path to get to the media on your hard drive. There is no “media management” above and beyond what you the editor are doing on your own. Reconnecting off-line media can be more difficult than FCP7 because Premiere doesn’t have any way to automatically search a drive for the clip is looking for. This can become even more tedious with file-based media as it often has cryptic filenames.

57) Good job. Can he tell us if it’s possible to use a keyboard based workflow solely to navigate the interface and perform edits?

Premiere Pro CS6 is much more keyboard friendly than past versions. I’m still working on exactly how much I can and can’t do via the keyboard. It takes time to learn all the shortcuts as well as remap them to my liking. My advice would be to really dig through the Keyboard Shortcuts and look for those specific things you want to do via the keyboard. There’s a lot in there.

58) Frame blending when slowing speed or only frame stutter?

I’m not exactly sure of the question but if you’re looking for frame blending and field processing options then right + click on a clip in the timeline for both:

Frame Blend is a toggle while Field Options will bring up a dialog box:

59) When moving clips it jumps a few frames when trying to place the clip next to another. It doesn’t stick. Even when snap is on.

This is strange behavior that I haven’t seen on two different Premiere Pro CS6 installs. Try the Preference Manager from Digital Rebellion to trash the preferences. That’s good maintenance that can often help with weird issues.

60) Is there a default trim tool state so that when I click on an edit point, it will default to a ripple or roll trim? Or do I have to select the type of trim?

There is only one Trimming preference:

I haven’t found any way to change a default trim state though that would be a great thing to add in the future. Check out some other great trimming shortcuts in this article.

61) Does looping have to be on for the Don’t Stop Playback preference to work?

No, looping does not have to be on as don’t stop playback is it working all the time. I tend to use it a lot as it’s an easy way to adjust parameters for effects and see the results in real time without playback stopping.

62) Can snapping act like a sticky key as in FCP or is it still like in cs5.5?

It’s still like in CS5.5.

63) In audio subframe edit, i can move audio in samples? not TC?

Yes, when you choose to Show Audio Time Units in the PPro timeline it moves into subframe audio units instead of frames. At that point all frame-based timecode indicators have changed to subframe:

But moving clips depends on whether you have video or audio selected for movement. Video will still move a frame based increments but audio will then move at the subframe level.

64) Differences with rendering?

Rendering is similar between Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro CS6. There are indicator lines in the timeline to show what does and doesn’t need to be rendered. Red means render, yellow does not.

Rendering clips in the timeline is a bit different as you can choose to render the effects under the Work Area via the Sequence menu:

I actually like to turn the Work Area entirely off under the Timeline panel menu:

When that is turned off you now have Render In to Out options via the Sequence menu:

65) Is there the default for creating subclips using keyboard shortcut without being required to enter the name and do it later perhaps ?

There’s only one Make Subclip option that I see, under the Clip menu and via a keyboard mapping. When choosing to Make Subclip both present this popup:

PPro seems to display that popup every time you make a subclip. I have my Make Subclip mapped to F1 so it’s pretty fast just to hit Enter and keep moving when making subclips. At least the focus still stays in the Source monitor to keep working. An alternative would be to use Adobe Prelude to make subclips as it has it’s own subclipping method.

66) can you show what that History tab is for? Is it like Photoshop History?

The History window is much like Photoshop history. It lists previous actions by name and allows you to undo and redo by moving the little history indicator back in time. In the image below I’ve moved the history back to a Trim operation:

It seems that there is only 32 levels of Undo but according to this forum post there were 99 undo levels in older versions of PPro. I wish they would bring them back. Changing the memory allocation in the preferences didn’t seem to change the number of undos.

67) Is there a way to symmetrically change the transition duration? Right now, I can only seem to change one side at a time. Is it possible to do Symmetrical transition duration editing with the mouse?

If you click a transition will open in the effect editor and let you edit the transition there. When changing the duration by typing a number in the effect editor it will symmetrically change the transition on both sides. But if you want to just click and drag in a timeline to symmetrically change the transition answer is no it only changes one-sided time when you click and drag. It would also be nice if it told you the new transition lenght.

Next up: Questions 68 - 105.

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