How to selectively select clips on the Premiere Pro timelime

[Dennis St. John]

I am a long time Final Cut Pro 7 editor and have been trying to make the switch to Premiere for quite a while now, but everytime I try, I run into yet another thing I cannot seem to accomplish with PP where I was able to in FCP7 with ease.

Is there a way to selectively select clips (by name) on the PP timeline? Here's my scenario:

I am editing an event filmed with 3 cams. 2 cams are identical and 1 is another make with a slightly different look. Therefore, I need to selectively apply a color correction filter to only one cam (cam 2). In FCP7, all I had to do was set in and out points on the timeline, hit Cmd+F and type the name of the cam I wanted to select between the in and out points. I could then paste the attributes onto only the selected clips. Is there a way to easily do this in PP? I now have PP CC loaded and trying to give it a go. I do like the multi-cam sync by audio... works like a charm!

Thanks for any assistance at all!

[Bart Walczak]

Unfortunately, no such functionality (yet?) in PPro.

But you can apply the effects inside the multicam sequence to the whole clip.

[Mike Beckett]

Could it be possible to label all the source clips from each camera (in the source bin) with their own colour, and then use "Select Label Group" from the edit menu to select all yellow clips and paste the same effect onto all of them in one go?

e.g. for my recent shoot, footage from my main camera was pink, GoPro #1 was blue and GoPro #2 was yellow. (I know Adobe has crazy colour names, but that's my version of them).

I'm remote from my edit PC at the moment, so I can't work out if label colours are carried through with multicamera edits. So this may all be mere speculation!

[Dennis St. John]

This lack of seemingly basic functionality (in a software that has been out for how long now?) is downright staggering. Proof once again that Final Cut Pro 7 was way ahead of it's time. What a shame that Apple discontinued maturing FCP.

I too, considered the possibility of labeling the clips and selecting the label group method, but cannot seem to get the clips inside the multi-cam sequence to change labels.

To have to go through and manually select each clip one at a time (imagine having to do this in several two hour live events) remains yet another show stopper for me in migrating from FCP7 to PP.

From what I have also seen, color correction in PP leaves much to be desired as well. The color correction controls in FCP7 are far easier to use and produce much better results, but that's a whole other topic.

Thanks for the input Mike and Bart!

[Darren Levine]

i would usually keep different cams on different tracks, then just select the track and add the preset.

[Dennis St. John]

Thanks for your reply Darren. Is there a tutorial you might be able to share that explains how to achieve this? With the release of Premiere Pro CC, I am currently trying to produce my first show using the software (instead of FCP7). I have followed all of the tutorials I can find on multi-cam editing and have made it pretty far. When I am editing the multi-cam sequence (making all of the camera angle switches), it puts all the clips onto one track. Now I'm thinking. Should I open the multicam in the timeline first and apply my effects (color corrections) there? If I do, will it have an effect on the already edited multicam sequence? If so, this could certainly be an acceptable workflow for me. Thanks again!

[Darren Levine]

i rarely do multicam, so i can't speak to ideal workflows there, i was referring to any particular sequence where you have multiple cameras, have each of them on a different track and then use the track select tool to select all of that track, then once selected you can drag an effect or preset onto all of the selected clips

[Dennis St. John]

Thanks Darren! I would say about 90% or more of my work in video is specifically focused on multicam projects, in theater and auditorium venues. That said, I currently have a very well established workflow in FCP7 which is very tough for me to break away from.

From your recommendation here though, I just discovered something I am NOT able to do in FCP7 (at least I never figured out a way), which is to open up the multicam arrangement (not the sequence), apply a color corrector and it has a direct affect on the clips referenced in the multicam sequence. I see this as a huge benefit. With FCP7, if I ever want to apply a "default" filter (such as color correction), I always had to do it to the clip BEFORE compiling the multiclip. So, again, I see this as an advantage for Premiere. I'll keep playing.

However, going back to my original request, I can think of other reasons it would be advantageous for users to be able to selectively select non-adjacent clips on a timeline to quickly be able to change things. I submitted a feature request on Adobe today, maybe sometime in the future we can see this.

[Bart Walczak]

In CC there is an option to "Select All Matching" (Cmd+Shift+A) - it will select all instances of selected clip in the timeline. I'm not sure it works with multicam angles though.

As for multicam, you can always open the multicam sequence as the timeline (right click and "Open as timeline") and apply the filters at any time.

[Dennis St. John]

Hi Bart,

Thank you for weighing in with your feedback regarding Premiere Pro CC (which I am using). I am confirming that the "Select All Matching" menu option does not work in a multicam sequence. Selecting the option selects every single clip on the timeline.

Yes, I am aware that you can add effects to camera angles (as a whole) by opening the multicam in the timeline ("Open as timeline") feature. However, the effectiveness only goes so far and does not allow for fine tuning against other camera angles.

This remains a major deficiency in my workflow, where Premiere Pro is concerned and as it pertains to my cutting the proverbial cord with FCP7.

I guess I will continue the squeaky wheel method with Adobe on their wishlist web page for Premiere Pro.

If anyone else happens to come up with any workarounds, I'd love to hear your ideas!