FCP user needs help with Premiere Pro CS3

[Arc Nevada]

1) You might want to right click and use the normalize audio option. I think you might find it is much better than raising the audio by 3db

2)You can see the audio wave forms. I think in CS4 there is a film clip and speaker icon to change it. It can be done in CS3 but I do not have it. I only had the trial version.

3) In the effects editor you can select which effects/attributes you want copy and past.

4)It can be done. I am not at my PC right now.

5)It can be done with the tools panel. I forget which Icon.

6)I will get on my PC and let you know exaclty how to change the defualt transition. I am not sure there is a hot key to tab through them.

Why have you switched from FCP to Premiere? Just curious.

[Tom Szymanski]

Thanks arc nevada. I appreciate the help. I work at a tv station, and someone up the chain said ‘no more macs’, so we bought a couple of souped up dell’s and threw the CS3 production bundle onto them. They integrate very well with the other adobe products which we use heavily, so it was a move for the better probably (FCP is great if you just edit and don’t do so much GFX). I used premiere a few years ago a ton for short film work, but switched to FCP for work.

1. Normalize works great for narration tracks, but for subtle stuff, dropping sfx or music so they’re purposefully lower, it’s not working for me – but it’s great for voices. Is there maybe a way to raise/lower the rubber bands on the timeline without adding keyframes, just raise/lower the whole clip?

2. I’m only seeing waveforms on audio clips, for vid with audio, I’m only seeing the vid (is CS4 different maybe?)

3. kick butt! That works way better than in FCP.

4. Looking forward to it..

5. If you figure out which one, let me know.

6. Great. I figured out how to change the one default. I’ve found having a few at hand is nice though, filters especially.

[Ninetto Makavejev]

I use Premiere in the German version, so I hope my english equivalents match your real interface terminology:

1. Of course you can raise the entire clip without rubber bands: hit RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON on the clip and pick AUDIO VOLUME, where you type in the db increase/decrease you desire. BTW if you constantly need +3db and feel that this is too many steps for you… then AS FOR ALL EFFECTS (video or audio) you can create a custom pre-set which you throw onto the clip. Just as fast as your FCP keystroke.

To create e.g. the audio 3db preset, follow the steps above. Then click on the tab next to your preview monitor to get the EFFECTS CONTROL window. There you can see that the clip has been given the 3db boost. Now click under “audio effects” on VOLUME with the RIGHT mouse button. A menu appears offering you the chance to “SAVE AS PRESET”. You do that, giving it the name, e.g. 3DB BOOST.

Now if you use a standard screen layout, to the left of your timeline is a window with all EFFECTS which I always keep open. Here, under PRESETS (a folder with a little favorite star on it) is you custom-made 3DB BOOST. From now on it is only drag-and-drop to boost 3db.

2. Under the preview moniter, there is a little symbol like a movie frame, which if you click it shows/toggles VIDEO/AUDIO/Video plus AUDIO. This actually is much better than FCP since it allows you e.g. to only overlay/edit the Audio only, if you have only the AUDIO SYMBOL selected under the preview monitor. With FCP I have always to overlay the muxed Video plus Audio and then, Unlink and then remove the Video, if I only want audio. OR DO YOU know a better way in FCP?

4. I am not sure what you are asking here. Yes, stereo tracks are bundled/ganged into one audio track in Premiere. But you can use the audio effects to pan completely to left-or-right, or use the audio effect FILL LEFT, FILL RIGHT to make a stero track into a mono.

5. The command is in the menu under CLIP- LINK or UNLINK, there is also a symbol on the timeline for this which I do not use. Mostly I just use CLICK plus ALT-key to LINK/UNLINK.

good luck,
ninetto

[Arc Nevada]

I agree that Adobe owns the multimedia market. I used to use Edius and I think Edius is a great program but when you combine SoundBooth, AE, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Indesign the CS4 Master Collection realy shines. I think Adobe will continue to steal FCP customers because of this.

Are you folks using Premiere with RT hardware or software only? If you use software only you can select to out put the overlay to an external NTSC monitor. CS3 is much better than CS4 for this.

You can raise an lower the volume with the envelope filter and even select the write mode if you want to use the audio mixer. In the audio clip you will see the option to show rubber bands for pans or volume changes. You can effect the clip or the whole audio track’s volume. You can even opt to out put any audio track as a 5.1 surround sounds using the audio mixer. It is hard to explain anything in words.

https://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/?id=vid0147

Above is a link to Adobe’s tutorials. They are 100% free to view.

[Tom Szymanski]

Thanks for all of the tips. This makes Premiere MUCH better to use.

We’re running it without any special hardware, but we do output it to a JVC NTSC monitor, mainly for color checking.

The presets for volume are pretty cool. My computer geek brother thinks he might be able to help make a script or something to automate some of the functions.

[Arc Nevada]

You can view the audio wave forums im the preview window by clicking on the three cirlces that let you opt to view composite, alpha channel or vector scopes. Opt to show audio wave forums. I hope you will watch the tutorials.