How to Edit Videos Faster With Adobe Premiere Pro.Video editing is a laborious process. There are so many things that you think you need to do, but on the other hand, you may feel like you are just waiting for something to start.
However, there are many quick changes you can make that can effectively optimize your time-consuming video editing workflow and rendering processes. Most of them involve very quick edits that are easy to apply when editing video.
Especially with Adobe Premiere, there are many features at your disposal. While they can be overwhelming at times, they also provide many opportunities for shortcuts and workarounds for some time-consuming processes.
Adobe Premiere Keyboard Shortcuts
One of the easiest changes you can make during video editing to speed up your workflow is to switch from using your mouse to your keyboard. In fact, you can edit entirely with the keyboard if you know how to use these keyboard shortcuts
To do this, all you have to do is go to the Edit> Keyboard Shortcuts menu. You will see a keyboard layout screen that will allow you to see how the keyboard shortcuts are already set. You can also choose a preset for these keyboard shortcuts by choosing Keyboard Preset from the drop-down list.
Plus, you can customize your own shortcut layout and save it for use anytime. To set a specific action for a key, double-click the action in the list in the area where the keyboard shortcut is indicated. A small black box should appear where you can use the key you want to assign to the action, or press X to clear it.
Change playback precision
Another super-fast way to improve performance is to play at playback resolution on a program or source monitor. In these panels, you should see a small dropdown next to the settings icon.
You will see options for “Full”, ½, ¼, ? and 1/16. This is the output resolution in which your video will be displayed. Full resolution will more than likely slow down your editing process significantly because your computer needs a lot more power to render the preview video.
Choosing ½ or ¼, which you can choose if your video is 1080p, will decrease the resolution by that amount, reducing the amount of work your computer needs. You can only use ? or 1/16 options if your video is 4K. It also does not affect the final rendering of the video. Just so Premiere can show you this preview of your video while you’re editing it.
Reformat your footage
You might not know how the format of your video actually affects the speed of the editing process. Basically, some of the video formats your footage may already be in can make it difficult for your computer to edit.
However, there is a way to reformat your media beforehand to speed up editing. The formats that you have to edit do not have to match the formats of the final video either. In fact, file sizes in the formats that work best for editing are usually much larger than you would like the final file size to be.
You can use Adobe Media Encoder to reformat your media files. Here are some good editing formats:
- Uncompressed files
- ProRes
- M-JPEG
- JPEG2000
Use Agents on Your Shots
If your computer has a hard time editing footage, and you have very slow loading times, this may be due to the resolution of your video. If it is too high for your computer, it can cause problems.
Using a proxy in Premiere, you can edit your footage at a lower quality while maintaining the same resolution in the final render. To start using them, simply find the clip you want to create a proxy for in the project browser and choose Proxy> Create Proxy.
A menu will appear where you can select the file format you want to change to. When you click OK, Adobe Media Encoder will open and reformat the clips you selected. It should be much easier for your computer to process them, and this will speed up rendering.
You can also set an option so that you can turn these proxies on and off while editing these clips. In the lower right corner of the preview pane, you will find the button editor. Click here and find the Switch Proxy icon, which is two rectangles with arrows between them. Drag it to the toolbar and you can use it to turn proxies on or off on your clips.
Change playback magnification level
Resizing your project’s preview window can actually affect how fast it is processed. You can find the playback zoom level in the lower left corner of the software monitor. This is usually 100%, but you can change this according to your needs.
Working with the Program Monitor on a smaller scale will help your computer render previews faster, and your editing time will fly by. There are options for 75%, 50%, 25% and less, so you can change them in increments if necessary. Even a small reduction can help reduce processing time.
Set entry and exit points
Another way to make editing a lot faster is to trim clips before placing them on the timeline. You can easily do this using entry and exit points.
To use them, select the clip in the media browser and it should appear in the source preview pane. Below this preview is a set of icons. Those that look like parentheses can be used to set the entry point with {or the exit point with}.
Alternatively, you can press the I key to set the entry point and the O key for the exit point. This will automatically crop your clip to the spacing between these points. The original clip will remain the same, you will only have a shortened version in the timeline.
After setting them, you can place the clip on your timeline by dragging the icon that looks like a movie or by clicking the Insert button.
Use adjustment layers in your timeline
Applying effects to each clip one at a time can be tedious. It also takes a lot of time that could be spent on other things. However, Premiere has a way to apply effects to multiple clips at the same time. This is done with a so-called adjustment layer.
To access and start using them, go to New Item> Adjustment Layer in the Project Browser. A window will appear where you can set various parameters, but just leave them as they are and click OK.
This layer appears in your clip library, and you can drag it onto the timeline like a normal clip. Place it above the clips you want to add effects to. You can lengthen or shorten this layer to affect any clips you want.
Dragging the effects onto an adjustment layer will also place the effect on the clips below it. This way you only need to apply them once, and you don’t need to worry about each individual clip.
Change your Adobe Premiere Workspace
Sometimes you may need a different tweak in Adobe Premiere to improve your editing experience. You have the ability to customize the panels in Premiere as you see fit, so if you feel like customizing them in a certain way can help you edit faster, it’s worth giving it a try.
To change the workspace in Premiere, you can use the top-most bar to switch between some of the pre-created workspaces. You can also create your own. If you move your mouse to the edge of any panel, you will see a popup at your cursor. This means that you can click and drag the panel.
When you drag it across the screen, you should see gray boxes. When you move the panel you grabbed over one of them, it turns blue, which means you can place it there. After you customize it the way you like, you can choose Window> Workspaces> Save As New Stage.
Get the workflow in order
One of the most important things you can do to really speed up your editing process is to look at your workflow. Performing certain tasks in a specific order can definitely help you streamline the process as well as speed up tasks later on.
If you’re unsure of the order in which you should do something, here’s an example of a workflow many editors follow:
- Download your footage and organize it.
- Create a rough timeline for your video.
- Download, edit and add your sound.
- Add transition effects.
- Color correction.
- Add text or graphics and finishing touches.
- Export your project.
Try to keep your workflow in this order, or in another order you choose to do. Avoid adding effects or color correction until all footage has been cut and arranged, as this can cause problems later.
How to Edit Videos Faster With Adobe Premiere Pro
Upgrade Your Computer
If you find that you still have problems with editing being too slow and your computer processing it at a snail’s pace, it might be worth considering upgrading your computer setup.
When it comes down to it, video editing is a very heavy load even on some high-end computers, so if you’re on an older computer it can make editing a lot more difficult. Just keep in mind that you will have to pay a significant amount to get something capable of doing heavy editing.
When looking for a new computer, the most important thing is to find a computer with a good processor. You also have to decide if you want a desktop or laptop, because both have options that you can choose from for video editing
How to Edit Videos Faster With Adobe Premiere Pro