Add clips to sequences

Add a clip to a sequence

You can add clips to a sequence in the following ways:

• Drag the clip from the Project panel or Source Monitor to a Timeline panel or the Program Monitor.

• Use the Insert and Overwrite buttons in the Source Monitor to add clips to a Timeline panel, or use the keyboard shortcuts associated with those buttons.

• Automatically assemble a sequence from the Project panel.

• Drag the clip from the Project panel, Source panel, or Media Browser into the Program monitor.

An overwrite edit adds a clip by replacing any frames already in a sequence starting from the edit point and extending for the length of the clip. Overwrite is the default method when dragging a clip to a sequence or when rearranging clips in a sequence.

With an insert edit, adding a clip to the sequence forces any clips later in time to shift forward to accommodate the new clip. When dragging a clip, press the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key to shift into insert mode.

Open a sequence

In a Project panel, double-click a sequence. The sequence will open in the Timeline panel.

Target tracks

A sequence may contain several video and audio tracks. When you add a clip to a sequence, it is important to assign which track or tracks it is to be edited to. You can target one or more tracks, for both audio and video. Target tracks depending on the editing method you use: editing from the Source Monitor, dragging, or copy/pasting to the timeline.

• In advance of making an insert or overwrite edit, you can map the tracks of a clip loaded in the Source Monitor to one or more tracks of a sequence by dragging the source track indicator representing each of the source clip’s tracks into one or more selected tracks of the sequence. Audio source track indicators can be placed only in audio tracks matching the source clip’s channel configuration. For example, the audio track indicator for a stereo clip can be placed only in a stereo track in a sequence. After the tracks are targeted, edit the clip by pressing the Insert or Overwrite buttons (or use the shortcuts).

• When you drag a clip to a sequence as an insert or overwrite edit by dragging, you target the track automatically by dropping the clip into the track. You do not need to specify tracks in advance. A drag edit is an overwrite edit by default. If you are performing an insert edit with the clip, press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) as you drag. As you make the edit, triangles appear showing the affected tracks.

• When you add clips to a sequence by pasting, (or keyboard shortcuts), you must specify target tracks in advance. You can target more than one video track or more than one audio track at a time. Also, you can choose to target a video track only or an audio track only. Click the track or tracks you want to target in the track header area of a Timeline panel. The track header area for a targeted track appears highlighted.

If you overwrite a clip, only the clips in targeted tracks are affected, whether you drag the clip or use a Source Monitor’s Overwrite button.

If you insert a clip, the clip goes into the targeted tracks, and clips in any unlocked tracks where the source clip lands shift to accommodate the insertion. You can specify other tracks to also shift by enabling Sync Lock on them.

You can drag video clips to any video track; however, you can drag audio clips only to a compatible audio track. Audio clips can’t be added to the master audio track or submix tracks, and they can be placed only on audio tracks of the matching channel type: mono, stereo, or 5.1 (see Audio tracks in a sequence).

Clips with linked video and audio can be dragged to either a video or an audio track, but the clip’s video and audio components appear separately, in the appropriate corresponding tracks.

Drag video and audio to a sequence

By default, when dropped into a sequence, the video and audio components of linked clips appear in corresponding tracks (for example, Video 1 and Audio 1), unless the audio channel type of the clip is incompatible with the target track. In this case, the linked audio appears in the next compatible track, or a compatible track is created automatically.

However, you can alter this behavior by holding the Shift key while you drag.

The Program Monitor can help you determine where to position a clip you’re adding to a sequence. During an overwrite edit, it displays the frames in the sequence adjacent to the new clip’s head and tail. During an insert edit, it displays the frames adjacent to the insertion point.

Drag video only or audio only to a sequence

You can add the video track, the audio tracks, or both types of tracks of a clip to a sequence. When you drag a clip from the Project panel or from the main viewing area of the Source Monitor, you automatically add both types of tracks. If you want to add only one type of track, add it from the Source Monitor.

Add a track while adding a clip

Insert a clip into a sequence

The audio and video components of the clip will be inserted into the tracks selected at the playhead. Clips to the right of its location on its own track and tracks with Sync Lock enabled will shift to the right by the length of the inserted clip.

Overwrite a clip into a sequence

The audio and video components of the clip will be overlaid onto the tracks selected at the playhead.

Insert or Overwrite by dragging a clip to the Program panel

You can select and drag a clip from the Project panel, Source panel, or Media Browser into the Program monitor. When doing so, an overlay appears in monitor to provide a visual depiction of Overwrite versus Insert edits. A tool tip appears to describe the modifier key used to toggle between these different types of edits. To perform an Insert or Overwrite edit by dragging a clip to the Program panel, do the following:

• Drag-and-drop to overwrite edit (default drag, no modifier).

• Drag-and-drop to Insert edit (hold down Command/Ctrl key modifier).

The clip, or clips that can be dragged to the Program panel can either be from the Project panel, or the Media Browser. They can be AV, video only, or audio only clips.

When a clip is dragged from the Project panel or the Media Browser into the Program monitor's video display area, the Overwrite overlay appears by default when no modifier key is held down. A tool tip is displayed underneath the clip's thumbnail image, to drop (mouse release) to create an overwrite edit, and that holding down the Command/Ctrl key creates an insert edit instead.

Multiple clips dragged to the Program monitor do not display a multiple clip stack icon. The file stack clip icon does not truly depict the number of clips being dragged.

When the modifier key is held down, the overlay updates to display the Insert edit overlay. You can toggle back and forth between the Overwrite/Insert modes in the middle of the drag-and-drop action. Hold down the modifier key and the overlay displays update.

Make three-point and four-point edits

The Source and Program Monitors provide controls to perform three-point and four-point edits—standard techniques in traditional video editing.

In a three-point edit, you mark either two In points and one Out point, or two Out points and one In point. You don’t have to actively set the fourth point; it’s inferred by the other three. For example, in a typical three-point edit you would specify the starting and ending frames of the source clip (the source In and Out points), and when you want the clip to begin in the sequence (the sequence In point). Where the clip ends in the sequence—the unspecified sequence Out point—is automatically determined by the three points you defined. However, any combination of three points accomplishes an edit. For example, sometimes the point where a clip ends in a sequence is more critical than where it begins. In this case, the three points include source In and Out points, and a sequence Out point. On the other hand, if you need the clip to begin and end at particular points in the sequence—say, perfectly over a line of voice-over narration—you could set two points in the sequence, and only one point in the source.

In a four-point edit, you mark source In and Out points and sequence In and Out points. A four-point edit is useful when the starting and ending frames in both the source clip and sequence are critical. If the marked source and sequence durations are different, Premiere Pro alerts you to the discrepancy and provides alternatives to resolve it.

Make a three-point edit

Make a four-point edit

Add clips to a sequence automatically

You can quickly assemble a rough cut or add clips to an existing sequence. The clips added can include the default video and audio transitions.

Mixing clip types in a sequence

You can mix clips with different frame rates, frame aspect ratios, and frame sizes in the same sequence. For example, if you drop an HD clip into a sequence in an SD project, the clip will be letter-boxed and scaled to the SD frame size automatically. Similarly, if you drop an SD clip into a sequence in an HD project, the clip will be pillar-boxed automatically.

A render bar will appear above any clip in a Timeline panel with attributes not matching the sequence settings. The render bar indicates that those clips will have to be rendered before final output. However, it doesn't necessarily indicate these clips can't be previewed in real-time. If a yellow render bar appears above the clip, Premiere Pro can probably play it back in real time without rendering. If, however, a red render bar appears above the clip, Premiere Pro probably can not play it back in real time without rendering.

A clip with a frame rate different from the frame rate of the sequence will play back from a sequence at the frame rate of the sequence.

Replace one clip with another in a Timeline

You can replace one clip in a Timeline panel with another from the Source Monitor or a bin, retaining any effects that were applied to the original clip in a Timeline.

Using one of the following keyboard modifiers, drag a clip from the Project panel or Source Monitor onto a clip in a Timeline panel:

• To use the In point of the new clip, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (macOS). You may use the In point of the new clip, for example, if you have already trimmed it to start at the desired point of the action.
• To apply the In point of the original clip to the new clip, Shift-Alt-drag (Windows) or Shift-Option-drag (macOS). You may apply the In point of the original clip to the new clip, for example, if the new clip was shot synchronously with the original clip using another camera. In this case, applying the In point from the original clip will start the new clip from the same point in the action.

In a Timeline, clip position and effects are preserved, and any effects that were applied to the original clip are applied to the replacement clip.

Replace the source footage for a clip

You can replace the source footage for any clip in the Project panel. Replacing the source footage for a clip links it to a new source file. All instances of the clip and its subclips are retained in the Project panel and Timeline, with their In and Out points, and any applied effects, intact. However, the clip becomes linked to the replacement footage instead of its original footage. You can easily replace, for example, placeholder footage with final footage, or footage with a soundtrack in one language with identical footage with a different-language soundtrack, and keep all the same edits that were made with the original footage.

Set or remove sequence In and Out points

You can use In and Out points in a sequence to help you place and rearrange clips.

Set sequence In and Out points

Set sequence In and Out points around a selection

Remove sequence In and Out points

Set sequence start time

By default, each sequence’s time ruler starts at zero and measures time according to the timecode format you specified in the Display Format field of the New Sequence dialog box General tab. However, you can change the starting time of the sequence’s time ruler. For example, you may want to set the start time to match a master tape, which typically begins at 00;58;00;00, to accommodate a two-minute leader before the standard program start time of 01;00;00;00.