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18 features Adobe should borrow from Final Cut Pro 7
Apple’s recent obsolescence of Final Cut Studio has forced a lot of us to reexamine which editing platform we want to use for future work.
Ironically, Adobe Premiere Pro is a much easier transition for FCP 7 users than Final Cut Pro X due to its similar interface, support for old FCP projects and ability to use FCP’s keyboard shortcuts.The transition to Premiere is easier than any other NLE but there are lots of little things that I miss from Final Cut Pro. Here’s a list of some of them, in no particular order.
1. Cutting on the fly
The Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut in Final Cut Pro can be used to make a cut on the timeline at the current playhead position. While Premiere also has a keyboard shortcut for cutting (Cmd+K), it pauses playback when it does so. There is no way to cut and continue playing.2. Sixteen angles in a multiclip
Premiere Pro is limited only to four multicam angles.3. Audio mixer affecting clip levels
Unlike Final Cut Pro, the audio mixer in Premiere doesn’t work on a clip-by-clip basis. Every adjustment affects the entire track.4. Multi-colored markers and marker lists
It took such a long time for colored markers to be introduced in Final Cut Pro 7 that I was sad to see them disappear in FCPX. Premiere needs this too.Final Cut Pro can also export text-based marker lists, which is a great way of sending markers to another application. If Adobe were to implement this, I would also recommend they include a way of importing markers from a list, which Final Cut Pro unfortunately lacks.
5. Choosing attributes to paste
Like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere has a useful Paste Attributes command. However, unlike FCP, this function does not allow you to specify which attributes you would like to paste – it just pastes everything. This is often not what you want.6. Close Gap command
Ctrl-G in FCP can be used to easily close a gap in your timeline. There is no equivalent keyboard shortcut in Premiere to do this in one step.7. Multiple open projects
Only one project can be open at a time in Premiere. There is no way to refer back to another project without closing the first one.8. Partial renders
When you cancel a render halfway through, Premiere discards the entire render file, unlike Final Cut Pro where the portion you rendered remains valid.9. Pitch correction when using JKL keys
Using the JKL keys to navigate through media in Premiere can sometimes be tricky because the audio becomes high-pitched and difficult to understand.10. No way to scroll tracks vertically with the scroll wheel
Scrolling your mouse vertically scrolls the Premiere Pro timeline horizontally. This is useful if your mouse is only capable of vertical scrolling, but if you have a trackpad or a mouse with a scroll ball, there is no way to scroll vertically to see extra tracks. There should at least be a preference for this behavior.(FCP tip: if you have a mouse with a vertical scroll wheel only, hold down Cmd when scrolling and it will scroll horizontally.)
11. No through edits
There is no indicator icon to show a through edit (an unnecessary cut within a clip).12. No ability to search for clips to reconnect
When media goes offline, you can browse to the location of the file if you know where it is but there is no way to search your entire hard drive.13. No timecode reader filter
There is no filter to show the underlying timecode of a clip.14. No timecode overlay
Final Cut Pro 7 finally brought us a long-requested timecode overlay window. There is no equivalent in Premiere Pro.15. No temporary snapping toggle
In Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 and higher, if you drag a clip and press the N key to toggle snapping, snapping will be switched on or off only for the duration of the drag. Once you let go of the clip, snapping reverts to its previous value. I found this feature very useful.16. No function to mark audio peaks
Final Cut Pro can place markers on a clip whenever an audio peak occurs. There is no such function in Premiere.17. No dupe detection
While you can view how many times an entire clip has been used, there is no way to see if a particular frame has been used more than once. This is crucial for film projects that will be receiving a negative cut.18. Fewer options for clip markers than sequence markers
Sequence markers in Premiere Pro allow you to set a name, description, duration and various other options. Clip markers cannot be customized at all.Sound off in the comments if you can think of any more things Adobe should borrow from Final Cut Pro.
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20 Replies
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Hi…
Your points are great, but:
I think the audio in Premiere is way ahead of FCP.
“3. Audio mixer affecting clip levels
Unlike Final Cut Pro, the audio mixer in Premiere doesn’t work on a clip-by-clip basis. Every adjustment affects the entire track.”Yes and no. The Audio track uses both methods simultaneously. But you need to set the audio track to show clip keyframes versus track key frames. This is done by right clicking on the track label. Pen tool allows for automation of either clip or track keyframes. Mixer only effects track keyframe automation. This means event sync specific automation should generally be applied at the clip level. While General mix finessing ought to be applied at the tracke level. Same with audio fx. They happen at either the clip (as effects filters attached to the clip) or track level (as inserts in the mixer).
“6. Close Gap command
Ctrl-G in FCP can be used to easily close a gap in your timeline. There is no equivalent keyboard shortcut in Premiere to do this in one step.”Agreed, the closest would be Shift Delete, but it requires you to select the gap first.
“15. No temporary snapping toggle
In Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 and higher, if you drag a clip and press the N key to toggle snapping, snapping will be switched on or off only for the duration of the drag. Once you let go of the clip, snapping reverts to its previous value. I found this feature very useful.”It’s not a dynamic toggle as you describe, but the Snap state can be toggled mid drag with the S key.
“13. No timecode reader filter
There is no filter to show the underlying timecode of a clip.”Effects>Timecode apply and set timecode source to “Media”
“14. No timecode overlay
Final Cut Pro 7 finally brought us a long-requested timecode overlay window. There is no equivalent in Premiere Pro.”The Info Panel will show source timecode of every source on every track where the timeline cursor is located.
“12. No ability to search for clips to reconnect
When media goes offline, you can browse to the location of the file if you know where it is but there is no way to search your entire hard drive.”I agree this could be handled better, but here is some help.
1) Generally I advise people not to change the name of the imported or ingested file in the Project panel, not because it changes the name of the underlying media, but because you might just need it later in this instance. In stead I suggest using the description column or some other metadata tag for edit renaming.
2) If media is off line, select the the text field for the name of the clip Prior to entering the link media dialog.
3) the search capability then is really handed to the OS but because you have already copied the text string, you can simply paste it into “SEARCH” on the Mac or the Windows equivalent “FIND” I’ve had pretty good success with this.In general PPro doesn’t do as well with what I’ll call Path relativity. Meaning that if it finds media, it will add that folder as a valid place to look for media for the project, but it won’t sniff parallel or subordinate folders. So if you move a top level media folder that contains project media a few levels deep, finding the top level stuff won’t “automatgically” help you find the underlying stuff even if, path relative, the folder structure is the same.
So that’s my thoughts. Welcome aboard and if we can help….we certainly will. Keep up the feed back though, I’m sure Adobe is listening. 🙂
Alex
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That’s a great list, Paul. More than just a feature request, this can be helpful to FCP users coming over to Premiere, as it will help them see a couple of the features they won’t be getting. Of course, we might also want to provide a list of new features that Premiere has to offer!
I like the rising pitch (#9), though I can see why you’d like it the other way. Make it a preference instead of a feature.
#13 (timecode reader) you are able to see the timecode of each clip in the Info window. Certainly not the same thing as a plugin, but it’s something that I don’t think FCP had, and has proven useful for me in the recent past.
For me, though, the through edits are the biggest thing that I miss from FCP. Or, going beyond just that, it’s the ability to select edits — then you could delete it (if it was a through edit), and you could move an edit around, similar to what you can do with a clip in FCP.
I’m worried that this thread will become a “what’s different” list instead of a “strengths of FCP over Premiere” list. In the spirit of the latter, I’ll add one more item:
— When you link audio and video clips together, if they are from the same clip, an out-of-sync number will appear in FCP (showing how far out of sync the two clips are). In Premiere there isn’t any indicator of whether the audio is in sync or not (I go to the Info window, find the two timecodes, and slide one of the clips around until the TCs match). This stands out to me because, in Premiere, an A/V clip that is inserted into the timeline will show out-of-sync indicators, which results in an inconsistency: some out-of-sync clips will show it, others will not.
Ben Unguren
Motion Graphics & Editing
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I am a recent convert to PP from FCP and it is exciting to see the amount of help Adobe posts online with Jason and Karl in the “Short and Suite” section of their web site. I get the feeling that with all the people coming into PP that there have been many great ideas of what the next version of PP should include. My impression is that PP version 6 will be a killer program and will be very well finished to include a lot of the input from FCP former users. I can’t wait until NAB 2012!
One other thing I would like to see added is for the video and audio tracks to be different colors so they stand out from each other better. I also agree that the multi-cam needs a lot of work. One nice feature that FCP has is that you can set up the in points in the Viewer without having to put everything on the timeline first. Also, I have not figured out how to use only one camera’s audio while switching camera angles.
Keep the great ideas coming. With so much time still left before the next release we can make a difference in what it looks like.
ronpesteshdvideo.com
Apple Certified Master Pro FCS 2
Sony EX-3
MacBook Pro
New convert to Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium -
Of course, you can request features here: https://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Thanks!Kevin Monahan
Sr. Content and Community Lead
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Systems, Inc.
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BTW, #10: scrolling with the mouse scroll wheel vertically. Answer: If you hover over the scroll bars, the scroll wheel will enable vertical scrolling.
Kevin Monahan
Sr. Content and Community Lead
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Follow Me on Twitter! -
#6 – Close Gap command
if you right-click in a gap you’ll get a little one-item menu with the option to ripple delete
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“THAT’S our fail-safe point. Up until here, we still have enough track to stop the locomotive before it plunges into the ravine… But after this windmill it’s the future or bust.” -
I was just going to say that Greg. Ripple delete helps me close a gap without getting things out of sync.
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I’m in the same boat. Switching to Premiere CS5.5 has been a joy and I can’t ever see myself going back. Having said that, by far and away the biggest thing I miss is the Paste Attributes list from FCP. If this could show up in CS6 I would be absolutely thrilled.
Having the ability to open mulitple projects at the same time would be nice too, but that’s not nearly as big a deal.
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While you can’t selectively choose what to paste while doing a “paste attributes” just yet, one thing you CAN do now which is kinda the same is highlight the clip you want to copy the effects from, then go to the “Effect Controls” panel and control-click the ones you want to add to the other clip(s), then copy and paste them…
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“THAT’S our fail-safe point. Up until here, we still have enough track to stop the locomotive before it plunges into the ravine… But after this windmill it’s the future or bust.” -
[Paul Jay] “7. Multiple open projects
Only one project can be open at a time in Premiere. There is no way to refer back to another project without closing the first one.”You can import as many projects as you want into a single project. So yes, you can refer back and forth all day long.
[Paul Jay] “3. Audio mixer affecting clip levels
Unlike Final Cut Pro, the audio mixer in Premiere doesn’t work on a clip-by-clip basis. Every adjustment affects the entire track.”I want the option to do an Either / Or for this function. Yes I want the Clip Level controls as I show in my recent “Gotcha 1” video, but the ability to control the entire track is also very good for the final mix.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media
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