Change sequence settings

Sequence settings

The settings tab in the New Sequence dialog box controls the fundamental characteristics of the sequence.

Choose settings that conform to the specifications for the type of output intended for your project. Changing these settings arbitrarily often results in a loss of quality.

Editing Mode

The Editing Mode determines the video format used for preview files and playback. Choose an Editing Mode option that best matches the specifications of your target format, preview display, or capture card. The editing mode does not determine the format of your final movie. Output settings can be specified during export. The Custom editing mode allows you to customize the other sequence settings.

Timebase

Timebase specifies the time divisions that Premiere Pro uses to calculate the time position of each edit. In general, choose 24 for editing motion-picture film, 25 for editing PAL (European standard) and SECAM video, and 29.97 for editing NTSC (North American standard) video.

Video

Allows you to choose the format of the sequence.

Higher-quality audio requires more disk space and processing. Resampling, or setting a different rate from the original audio, requires additional processing time and affects the quality.

Specifies whether the audio time display is measured using audio samples or milliseconds. In the Source Monitor or Program Monitor menu, Display Format applies when Show Audio Time Units is selected. (By default, time is displayed in frames, but it can be displayed in audio units for sample-level precision when editing audio.)

Specifies the pixels' dimensions for frames when you play back sequences. Usually, the frame size of your project matches the frame size of your source files. Don't change the frame size to compensate for slow playback. Instead, choose a different quality setting from the Project panel menu. Alternatively, you can adjust the frame size of the final output by changing export settings.
The maximum frame size for a sequence is 10,240x8,192. 

Allows the user to scale the motion effect while changing sequences. A standard film workflow involves black bars on the top and bottom sequences. These black bars display the project data like timecode or clip name. You can alter the sequence without damaging the clip when this information isn't required.

Sets the aspect ratio for individual pixels. Choose Square Pixels for analog video, scanned images, and computer-generated graphics, or choose the format used by your source. If you use a pixel aspect ratio different from the pixel aspect ratio of your video, the video often gets rendered with distortion.

Helps generate smaller, medium, and high-resolution copies of your files in the correct color space.

It makes it easier to work with different types of footage and different color spaces in the same sequence. Mix and match camera media, from Log footage to iPhone HLG and other HDR formats, while retaining consistent colors. With automatic tone mapping, there’s no need for corrective LUTs and no more risk of clipping your highlights.

Specifies the field order of a frame. Select No Fields (Progressive Scan) if you work with progressive-scan video. Many capture cards capture fields regardless of whether the source footage was shot with a progressive scan. 

Premiere Pro can display any of several formats of timecode. You can display the project timecode in a film format. For example, editing footage captured from a film can show timecodes in simple frame numbers if your assets have come from an animation program. Changing the Display Format option does not alter the frame rate of clips or sequences. It changes only how their timecodes are displayed. The time display options correspond to standards for editing video and motion-picture film. For Frames and Feet + Frames timecodes, you can change the starting frame number to match the time-counting method of another editing system you use.

Audio

Allows you to choose the format of the sequence.

Higher-quality audio requires more disk space and processing. Resampling, or setting a different rate from the original audio, requires additional processing time and affects the quality.

Specifies whether the audio time display is measured using audio samples or milliseconds. In the Source Monitor or Program Monitor menu, Display Format applies when Show Audio Time Units is selected. (By default, time is displayed in frames, but it can be displayed in audio units for sample-level precision when editing audio.)

Video Previews 

Preview files are created when you render sections of your timeline to improve playback performance (see Rendering and previewing sequences). In general, you should choose a preview format & codec that balances higher quality with smaller file sizes and shorter render times. QuickTime | Apple ProRes 422 LT is one example and is the default choice for many sequence presets.

Specifies how a preview file is encoded and decoded for a given Format. Certain formats like QuickTime support multiple codec choices (ProRes, Animation, and so on) while others only have a single codec choice.

Specifies the frame width of video previews, constrained by the pixel aspect ratio of the original media.

Specifies the frame height of video previews, constrained by the pixel aspect ratio of the original media.

Clears existing previews and specifies a full size for all following previews.

Maximizes the color bit depth to include the video played back in sequences. This setting is often unavailable if the selected compressor provides only one option for bit depth. You can also specify an 8-bit (256-color) palette when preparing a sequence for 8-bpc color playback, such as when using the Desktop editing mode for the web or some presentation software. If your project contains high-bit-depth assets generated by programs such as Adobe Photoshop, or by high-definition camcorders, select Maximum Bit Depth. Premiere Pro then uses all the color information in those assets when processing effects or generating preview files.

Maintains sharp detail when scaling from large to smaller formats or from high-definition to standard-definition formats. Maximum Render Quality maximizes the quality of motion in rendered clips and sequences. Selecting this option often renders moving assets more sharply.
At maximum quality, rendering takes more time and uses more RAM than the default, normal quality. Select this option only on systems with enough RAM. The Maximum Render Quality option isn't recommended for systems with the minimum required RAM.
Maximum Render Quality often makes highly compressed image formats, or those containing compression artifacts, look worse because of sharpening.

Composite In linear color (requires GPU acceleration or max render quality)

Composite in linear color (linear light) can provide a more photo-realistic look for blended frames, for example, when blending natural images with alpha or feathered masks. This option, in some cases, reduces halos around text or graphics. Linear fades look smoother with this option turned off.

Save Preset

It opens the Save Settings dialog box, where you can name, describe, and save your sequence settings.

Some sequence presets have only one file format and codec choice.

TIP: Save and name your sequence settings even if you plan to use them in only one project. Saving settings create a backup copy of the settings that you can revert to in case someone accidentally alters the current sequence settings.

Related resources

• Create and change sequences
• Rendering and previewing sequences

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