Video Editing

Adobe is one of the most prominent producers of computer software out there. Adobe Premiere Pro is the primary video editing software provided by Adobe. To access Premiere Pro (and any Adobe product) for free, Dominican requires you to use one of the computers on campus. This is very useful, so definitely take advantage should the need arise!

When you open up Adobe Premiere Pro, start by selecting "create new project." This pulls up a menu where you can adjust the recording settings, particularly regarding video, audio, and recording.

• Most of the settings and tabs are unnecessary to know if you are a beginner, though one option under the "general" tab, "renderer," may be useful. This allows you to select how you want your video to be played back, either the computer's CPU or GPU.
• Generally, GPU is better as Adobe can process faster if you have the option, but it is not necessary to operate Adobe Premiere Pro.

After you finish adjusting the settings to your liking, you will be met with a screen with four primary sections.

You will start at the bottom left corner called the project tab which is where you import and organize your media. You can either double click a blank space in the area or go to file -> import to bring in the images, video, and other resources you want to use. You can organize the clips into "bins" which are essentially folders by selecting the "add bin" icon (the folder icon) on the bottom of the project tab. This would help keep track of everything you use if you're using a large number of resources for your project.

To begin editing specific clips, double click on the clip you want to use  and it will be pulled up above in the source tab immediately above the project tab, where you can begin editing imported media.

If you want only part of the clip, drag the marker at the top of the timeline to the part you want to begin and then select "mark in. Then drag to the part where you want to end and select "mark out."

You can either select the image and drag it to the timeline tab in the bottom right to insert both the video and audio. Otherwise, you can click and hold on either "drag video only" or "drag audio only" and then drag to the timeline to insert just one or the other.

You can also click "insert" to put the clip and audio in, or you can select a clip already in the timeline and click "overwrite" to replace the old clip with the one in the source tab. This can depend on the length of the two clips as if the source clip is shorter, then it will not completely overwrite the old clip.

The timeline tab, the bottom right portion of the interface, is when the video starts coming together

You can order the clips to your liking and if you want to create new tracks, you just have to drag the desired video or audio clip to an empty space (for video clips drag up, for audio clips drag down).

You can also make it so that only specific tracks play, such as turning off the track output for a video or selecting solo track to just play one audio track. Do this by selecting the eye icon for the video tracks and the mic icon for the audio tracks to disable the tracks from playing.

To edit a clip, you'll have to double click on it and return to the source tab (detailed in the previous section) and click on the "effect controls" tab in that section (see below) to make adjustments.

This is incredibly useful when adjusting volume, though you can also adjust volume by zooming in on the audio clip in question, selecting the volume bar and dragging it to your desired volume level.

As a note, the video clips on top have priority and are the ones displayed unless specifically set not to.

The final part of the interface, the upper right, is the program monitor, which plays the footage you put in the timeline up to this point. Many of the settings are the same as with the source tab, but otherwise it is primarily meant to play back footage you put in the timeline.

For more advanced editing, there is the toolbar located between the project and the timeline tabs.

• The selection tool is the basic tool that allows you to grab and drag around the tracks at will.
• The track select forward tool allows you to select all of the clips in a single sequence, enabling you to shift all of the tracks as one and, to an extent, edit all of them at the same time. 
• The ripple effect tool is similar to using the select tool to shrink clips by dragging the ends in, but it allows the other clips in the sequence to move in sync as opposed to leaving them where they were.
• The rolling edit is based on a similar principle, but if the clip is shortened, the adjacent clip gets longer as opposed to moving like with the ripple effect, and if the clip is lengthened then the adjacent clip gets shorter. 
• The razor tool is be used to split tracks up. Just click on the part you want to cut while having the razor tool selected and it should split the clip in two.
• The slip tool gives you a live preview of the clip you are viewing, making the program monitor show the frame before and after with a source timecode, helping you sync videos up.
• The pen tool allows you to either draw, write, or create objects to implement into the video and this is done by using it on the program panel.
• The hand tool helps with scrolling back and forth down the timeline while the type tool allows you to click where you want to add the text to the video in the program panel and type out your title. You can then make adjustments to this under the "essential graphics" tab.

Then, if you go to the very top row of tabs and select "all panels," there are a number of options that become available on the right side of the interface.

• The info tab just displays some metadata regarding the project.
• The effects tab allows you to insert certain effects like transitions, blurs, and more. Just drag the file in question to where you want the effect to go. You can adjust them by using the effect controls panel such as the duration.
• The essential graphics tab allows you to drag on a template, useful for a title screen or credits.
• The essential sound tab allows you to select and import Adobe stock sounds if you need music based on your selection (like "angry" or "suspenseful").
• The markers tab allows you to write notes to yourself in the timeline.
• The history tab displays a list of your actions/edits
• The captions tab enables you to add captions to the video.
• The events tab lists warnings, error messages, and is helpful when troubleshooting.
• There is also four legacy title tabs: properties, tools, styles, and actions. This allows you to use the legacy titles created by Adobe Title Designer tool in your video. Each of them list various settings for adjusting them as you please.
• The timecode tab lists the duration of the whole source video, the length of the selected clip, and the time it takes to get from the in point to the out point for the selected clip.

Adobe Premiere Pro has a lot of functions, many of which are not covered in this LibGuide and different ways of using the functions covered in this guide too. Be sure to experiment with it and watch tutorials if you are struggling!