Audio Track FUBAR?

[Tim Kolb]

Actually, the help menu is typically quite helpful…

The audio in Premiere Pro is more sophisticated and there are several base functions to be aware of…

First, if the audio track is set to “track keyframes” the clip will not move or be able to be manipulated as the track is looking for track-based manipulation. You probably need to switch the tracks where you can’t move/manipulate the audio clips to “clip keyframes”.

Second, the “A1, A2” etc., indicators on the left are for editors who are typically keyboard driven…they indicate where the tracks are in the sequence that will accommodate the audio/video properties of the clip that is queued in the source panel. If you have stereo audio in the source panel and only mono tracks in your sequence, there will be no indicators present and when you drop the audio on the sequence, it will create compatible (stereo) audio tracks on the bottom and place the clip there.

The reason you may not be able to move the indicators is that you are likely attempting to move them to audio tracks that are not compatible with the audio in the source panel.

Clip-based operations are dealt with as effects and volume is controlled from the effect controls panel or the handles on the clip itself. The track based manipulation is done with the track keyframes activated, or with the audio mixer.

So basically, no, the audio track is not what is FUBAR…

(Why does this assumption that Adobe software is supposed to require no study or learning to operate come from?…particularly when both Final Cut Training and Avid Training are thought of as necessities to become skilled with those tools?)

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

Adobe Certified Instructor

[Bruce Klein]

Tim,

Thanks for the help… I suppose that I am the FUBAR in the equation… I was using Discrete Logic’s *edit and it seems easier…

Every system requires study and practice but I haven’t found a good source book.

Any suggestions you may have on a book to buy that would help would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

I am using Adobe Premiere Pro 5.5 on a IMAC 27, Intel core i5 2.7 GHz, 12 GB 1333 MHz DDR3… MAC OSX 10.6.8 I have a 2 Terabyte external drive fire wired in also.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bruce

[Max Frank]

Hi Bruce,

I, too, was flummoxed by Premiere Pro’s ridiculous audio methodology, and this helped me out a lot:https://vimeo.com/28888756

Wayne

[Tim Kolb]

I think I probably should have eased up a bit and simply implied that FUBAR was simply not a legitimate assessment until you’ve eliminated “operator error or inexperience” from the equation. In moments of frustration, I’ve made the same jump…nobody is immune to it.

First off, the help is truly pretty useful in a thumbnail sort of way…in situations like you were experiencing, using help can often get you over the obstacle so you can keep on working.

As far as books are concerned, Adobe’s Classrrom in a Book series are what the certified training is typically based on, so you could start there… There are also a number of tutorial sources out there.

Andrew Devis has done many tutorials on the nuts and bolts of PPro here at the cow…you may want to even start there while you’re waiting for your book to ship.

PPro is a good program…it’s just a different machine. It takes some time to become comfortable after a change from one complex system to a very different complex system.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

Adobe Certified Instructor

[Max Frank]

PS – Richard Harrington has a good book to get you started on Premiere Pro.

There is a Kindle version you can download to your Mac or PC so you can search the document,

W

[Max Frank]

@Tim, you may be right, but with all due respect, I have to tell you that Premiere isn’t just a ‘different complex system’ – there are a great many ‘features’ [that I consider bugs] that will trip up
users by there sheer impracticality.

The whole audio scenario is a perfect example. Adobe may have had a good reason for
locking tracks as stereo or mono, as well as limiting the audio mixer to Track Only operation, but for the life of me, I can think what that ‘good reason’ is.
In the end, all is does is force the user to work AROUND the hobbled settings – and often, one is forced to work in an unintuitive way.
[There are other similar issues I can list, but won’t right now].

I’ve been working with Premiere Pro for the last 3 weeks and have found the system so awesome on one hand [Mercury Engine, etc] – and so utterly lacking on the other.

I am hopeful that CS6 will see many of these issues corrected – I applaud Adobe for listening to their user’s concerns.

Thanks,

Wayne

[Alex Udell]

Once you understand the architecture of PPro’s audio….it’s incredibly sophisticated in terms of what can be done in a video NLE. Much closer to a DAW.

The common gotchas seem to be:

1) Source audio track to sequence audio track type mistmatch (Stereo or split track mono)
2) How and WHEN to reinterpret source audio track type to work with it in a way that is familiar to you and meets your workflow specs (overriding PPro’s default interpretation of an audio track). For example, DV material is often default interpreted as a stereo source, but the content is usually split track mono.
3) Approaches to structuring audio track usage for best results in mixing
4) When to use clip fx and when to use track fx
5) How to switch automation modes on the timeline

I was an edit* specialist for discreet for 5 years. So I knew that product very well back in the day. Always nostalgic to hear of an edit* user. 🙂

Alex

[Bruce Klein]

As for edit*… I redid my system and upgraded 6 months before they dropped support… Man was I angry… It was a great system while it lasted though.

I am using Adobe Premiere Pro 5.5 on a IMAC 27, Intel core i5 2.7 GHz, 12 GB 1333 MHz DDR3… MAC OSX 10.6.8 I have a 2 Terabyte external drive fire wired in also.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bruce