10 Shortcuts To Save You Time Editing in Premiere Pro CC15
Editing is an extremely technical job and if you do not use shortcuts you will find yourself wasting precious time. Here are some of my top keyboard shortcuts when editing with Premiere Pro CC15. I have included both Mac and PC shortcuts.
1. Command S : Save.
Not to be underestimated, this quick Save shortcut is your best friend. Not only will it save you when your editing software or computer crashes unexpectedly, it is much faster than using your mouse to click File and Save. Let this one become your nervous tick even though Premiere Pro is auto-saving periodically in the background, it only takes a split second to lose good work if you are not careful. Call me paranoid, but better safe than sorry. (PC Shortcut: CTRL S)
2. Command Z : Undo.
The most life-saving shortcut is Undo. It is so easy to accidentally drop something in the wrong place or hit overwrite instead of insert and it can be just as easy to Undo your mistake. With a flick of your fingers, you are back to safety. Be careful not to Undo too many times in a row or you might ruin some of your previous steps! (PC Shortcut: CTRL Z)
3. Overwrite ‘.’ or Insert ‘,’
These babies will save you time instead of dragging media to the timeline, which can be sloppy. Use the full-stop and comma keys to Overwrite or Insert exactly where your playhead is in your timeline. With CC15 make sure you have selected what tracks are active in your timeline so that you are not accidentally deleting anything else.
4. Command N : Create New Sequence.
This is a nice and fast way to create a new sequence in the Program monitor for when you have multiple sequences within a project. (PC Shortcut: CTRL N)
5. Tilda Key : Maximise a Window/Panel.
When you need to get into the nitty gritty details, this single tap of a key will maximise the window or panel you are working on, making it full screen so that you see much better and be more precise. This will be very useful when combined with the next shortcut. (PC Shortcut: hold Shift = ” )
6. Shift +, Alt +, Command + : Expand Video or Audio tracks.
For the times we need precision, these three shortcuts are effective and they cut out sloppily scrolling with your mouse or shifting tracks up and down on the side. Shift + will expand both video and audio tracks simultaneously ; Alt + will expand audio only and Command + will expand video only. When you need to pinpoint to the exact frame in your timeline, these handy shortcuts do the trick in letting you get right up close and detailed. You can contract the tracks by using the corresponding shortcut with the minus key. (Not sure of the PC shortcut for this one but CTRL + to zoom in works OK here).
7. Alt, click and drag: Copy a clip in the timeline to another track.
This shortcut is simple and a better choice than copy and pasting clips in the timeline. Hold down the Alt key, click on a clip and drag it to the track above or below and release. Now you have a copy of that clip.
8. Command and Click: Add Keyframes to a clip in the timeline.
You can use the key framing controls in the Effects Controls panel to set your keyframes but sometimes when you come to your timeline you need to add an extra one here or there. Simply Command and click on the thin black line in the relevant track in the timeline and you will see a new keyframe appear. You can use this with audio or video tracks, just make sure your clips keyframes are visible in the settings. (PC Shortcut: CTRL and Click).
9. Command D and Command, Shift D : Add default video transition or audio transition.
Select the edge of the clip so that the red line appears and hit Command D for a video clip or Command Shift D for an audio clip. The default transition will be applied. If you select the clip generally and use the shortcut the default transition will be applied at the start and end of the clip. (PC Shortcut: CTRL D, CTRL Shift D).
10. Return : Render Effects In to Out.
When you need to render the clips in the timeline and any effects you have applied, simply hit the Return key. I usually Command S afterwards so that it is saved. Rendering as a process can take a long time, depending on effects you have applied, but the shortcut just saves you having to go up the top bar and selecting Render from the Sequence menu.
These are just ten of my favourite shortcuts in Premiere Pro CC15. I’m sure that some, if not all, of them will prove useful. For a full list of shortcuts for both Mac and PC you can click here.
I would love to know your own best practices and favourite shortcuts when you’re editing so please leave a comment or get in touch on Twitter and Facebook .
Happy editing!
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