Now in Beta: Rounded corners in the timeline

[Francis-Crossman]

Starting with Premiere Pro (Beta) version 25.0, build 32, all clips in the timeline have rounded corners!

Rounded corners in the timeline

As part of the New Spectrum UI updates, we are now adding rounded corners to all of the clips in the timeline UI. Rounded corners are easier to look at all day long, require less cognitive load to parse and understand, make it easier to see the boundaries between clips, and are just plain friendlier! There is a lot of psychology behind rounded corners. Just look at any object within sight right now, and you will start to see rounded corners everywhere.

Here are a few interesting reads on Medium that explain the concept rather well.

Rounded edges are “friendlier”

The human brain is conditioned to process sharp objects as potentially harmful and dangerous. A human neuroimaging study has shown that it is natural behaviour to lean towards objects with curved contours compared to sharper objects.

(Benjamin Tey, The current obsession with rounded edges in user interfaces)

The Effect

A complete lack of sharp edges and sudden transitions eradicates the manufactured feel that we’re so used to in mass-produced goods. Instead of reminding us of industrial supply chains, automobile production, and chemical laboratories, these softer shapes evoke succulents, pine trees, and rocks that have tumbled through mountain streams. There’s an organic quality that just feels healthy and warm.

(Arthur Van Siclen, Rounded corners in the Apple Ecosystem)

The radius will reduce as the clip gets very small to avoid the timeline looking too “bubbly” and there is a threshold width below which clips will revert to 90° angles entirely. We have tested with very large timelines and we are confident in our settings, but we want to know what you think.  We encourage you to post screenshots of your timeline if you wish.

Radius reduces when narrow

We want to know what you think.  Please join the conversation below.

[dylaned]

This alone should end this experiement... the program should be about usability, not looks and shameless copying of other programs

[harry_5896]

This is a perfect example of why this is a terrible idea. There is a reason clips should have sharp easy to read edges. 

For online software that focuses on colour grading or sound, it's a different story. Clip edges don't need to be sharp in the grade since the edit is locked and audio clips always start and end with some amount of fade so the precice frame it starts on isn't as important. 

But in the offline edit the absolute main focus is arranging which clips start and end on which frame. That's the basic foundation the program and the reason that sharp edges are such an advantage for this software. Please listen to the community on this.

[MyerPj]

The head and tail markers are really hard to see with the new rounded corners. I little bump up in size would help.

And the FX button is hardly visible. I preferred the Fx but at the head of the clip, so you don't need to scroll all the way over to get to it, and also the colored options on the Fx.

Thanks for all the work that is being done on PP. Very cool stuff.

I like most of the changes so far, but the timeline and monitor buttons could use a splash of color, like a color (blue) background when selected rather than boring old grey.

[Ann Bens]

Premiere needs to keep its own identity, not trying to copy stuff from other software.

[Shebbe]

I'm not against the desire to streamline and update UI appearance across their apps but all the small decisions like whether or not an FX badge/proxy icon has color or not, if toggle buttons become blue or just stay grey, or anything else that objectively degrades readability should just not be part of this streamlining process.

[Vrijegeest]

Just tested it and sorry guys this design needs to go back to drawing board, I understand you want to copy the look of the hot new kid on the block (Resolve) but please copy just the good parts. Like multiple people mentioned this design makes it impossible to see small gaps (and yes that issue also exists with Resolve) unless you zoom in a lot. With the recent changes, like not being able to clearly see which clips have Source Effects applied etc. and now this, you lot seem to forget that Usability is number one always.

[MyerPj]

I notice in the OP, @Francis-Crossman screenshots. The rounded corner clips look quite good when they stand alone (like say sound effect). But when they are connected to other clips, it's less so, and indeed, makes it harder to see gaps.

FWIW: My monitors in front of me both have square corners. I've opted for round corner on program windows in Win11, but in Chrome, in the page display area, it's 3 square corners and 1 rounded corner, all the paper and envelopes on my desk have square corners. The vast majority of icons on my desktop have square corners.

Yes, I have square adobe icons, because I like them better, (I also have them setup so they stay that way, and I can update on the year change by just changing an environment variable). ("C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro %ppyear%\Adobe Premiere Pro.exe")

If it's true as some of the more angry posters say - you aren't following MacOS UI design - I'm happy with that, but one thing MS has kept doing is making changes for change sake. Hopefully we don't have to go down that road.

Lastly here, I turn off all the OS 'animations' I can, to try and keep things crisp and fast:

That's sort of the goal we all have towards Premiere.

Cheers and well done on many things, I like the new colors and the color management is way cool, thanks. 🙂

[Doppa220163437538]

It's astonishing how major corporations like Adobe and Microsoft still struggle to design a modern UI that's both aesthetically pleasing and inspiring. The issue with Premiere Pro's UI isn't the sharp corners on clips; in fact, that's one of the features I love most about the software, as it makes it easier to identify gaps between clips. A better approach to implementing rounded corners without compromising this functionality would be to add them only where there is a gap between two clips. The real problem lies in the distracting vertical lines that appear between each thumbnail and the overall depressing, dated feel of the UI—especially when compared to competitors like DaVinci Resolve.

Don't get me wrong, Premiere Pro is far superior to DaVinci Resolve in terms of ease of use and layout flexibility. However, it's being let down by constant bugs and an uninspiring UI. Resolve may be clunky and complicated, but it's clear that Blackmagic knows how to design a fantastic-looking modern UI with great color science—something Adobe lacks. While Premiere Pro excels in usability and flexibility, Resolve is leagues ahead in UI design. Its interface is sleek, modern, and easy on the eyes while maintaining enough contrast for all UI elements to be completely legible.

The reason for this is simple: Resolve's UI isn't 100% flat, doesn't use exclusively dull shades of grey, and maintains a balance between visibility and visual comfort. Adobe desperately needs to hire an actual UI/UX designer who knows what they're doing and can overhaul the Premiere Pro UI, along with the rest of the Adobe CC Suite. There are plenty of talented designers on platforms like Dribbble.

[R24646687tmxd]

PPro superior to Resolve in particular in terms of GUI?? 😂😂😂 Surely you're making (a really bad) joke.

BOTH are a complete UX and GUI nightmare and convoluted mess! With endless archaic concepts and tedious workflows. But at least Resolve is exponentially faster and more stable and not plagued by endless age-old code. If it gets any longer in the tooth (which it will!) it'll start biting (and not just shooting) itself in the foot! Jump ship from this subscription bs ASAP. Because you obviously don't know the first thing about coding. It's a complete impossibility for Adobe to change anything significant about the PPro GUI without just tearing the whole turd down and starting from scratch, which they will never do! Stop kidding yourself. The same, if not in fact more so, goes for AE btw!

If you want to see inspired, modern, exemplary GUI and UX design, speed, and stability, look no further than the masters: Apple and yes, Final Cut Pro. Whether or not you know the first thing about it otherwise and/or buy into the "not professional!" claptrap.

[yeahfilms]

I hope you'll reconsider making this optional. It looks like there is a 1 frame gap between all of the shots!

I don't see the benefit in a professional editing program looking more friendlier. I use Premiere for work. I think it's obvious that this decision is influenced by the look of Resolve.

Was this feature requested by a significant amount of users? Have users complained about Premiere looking unfriendly?

[phill3709376]

100% agree - nothing looks like it's touching on the timeline - completely not the point of literally THE ONLY think the sequence needs to show us. 

[MyerPj]

Yes, Doppa said it clearer than I did, but what I was getting at is for rounded corner clips to "add them only where there is a gap between two clips". This would give the value and look of rounded corners and immediatly give us information on our timeline. A win/win. 🙂

[Tom_edit]

The emphasis on it looking "friendlier" is a little on the nose, these programs are also used by professionals that really just need to get work done, not fight more and more with a UI that now looks like there's a 1 frame gap between every clip. I really just have to agree with most here that this change almost feels backwards and just awkward in general. Meanwhile a bunch of windows in the new UI have had their window titles removed for no reason and just left with a completely white title bar.

This new change is effectively just adding more visual clutter to a UI that's already getting increased visual clutter. Basic things are starting to require more and more time to quickly parse on the timeline which ultimately just makes our jobs more and more difficult bit by bit as time goes on.

[MisterAdvent]

The rounded corners don't bother me so much, so I think I could live with them.

However, something rounded corners would be VERY helpful with would be if they could be rounded only where there is no abutting clip, and square when there is an abutting clip.  That way we could see at a glance where those pesky 1-frame gaps between clips are regardless of timeline zoom.  If you see a round corner, there's a gap.  If no round corners, no problems.

[Tom_edit]

yeah I like this as a nice middle ground honestly. I'd be happier if it was like this. Though squared off is still vastly superior

[Tranquil_Cosmos157F]

I like the rounded corners! I also liked them in Rush. I teach both Premiere Rush and Premiere Pro, and in my experience, it's easier for beginners to find out where the start and end of a clip is when the corners are rounded. The only thing that's bothering me is the current way the white corners for "beginning/end of source" are showing. Need a new solution for that. Otherwise I'm happy with these changes!

[film-editor]

Instead of reminding us of industrial supply chains, automobile production, and chemical laboratories, these softer shapes evoke succulents, pine trees, and rocks that have tumbled through mountain streams. 

For me, it evokes the feeling that Adobe wants to copy a UI thing they saw the competition doing but also wanting to pretend its for our well-being.

I do not like the rounded corners on timeline clips, it makes it very hard to tell if there is a gap or not, making timeline legibility way harder than it needs to be. It might look sleek, but its not a good user experience when you actually use it, which is really what UI is all about, no?

If you must do it, at least follow MisterAdvent's brilliant compromise:

if they could be rounded only where there is no abutting clip, and square when there is an abutting clip. That way we could see at a glance where those pesky 1-frame gaps between clips are regardless of timeline zoom. If you see a round corner, there's a gap. If no round corners, no problems.

[phill3709376]

PLEASE MAKE IT AN OPTION - It might be better for the brain but it's awful to cut with - Editing is all about precision and frame accuracy, adding this rounded edge makes it slower to line up elements precisely, and takes me longer to double check for black holes and synch - it's totally antithetical to the craft of editing. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! If you look at these two images - believe it or not, that close up actually is showing two shots that are perfectly aligned, meanwhile on the zoomed out screen shot of the timeline it's impossible to see what's touching. It's a professional piece of software I'm using to cut as fast as humanly possible, there are enough soft edges in this business without these! Thank you. 

[yanga18281014]

The new UI looks like a Final Cut timeline. Too many rounded corners make materials look shifted and create gaps everywhere. This makes it hard to see if things line up. Try less rounded corners to reduce visual gaps. Or, as others suggest, only use rounded corners where there are real gaps between materials

[R24646687tmxd]

😂 You WISH it looked more like the FC timeline. It has no such ridiculous "make materials look shifted and create gaps everywhere" issues. Because Apple actually understands GUI and UX design. So maybe know what you're talking about first. 

In reality, the 90s called and they want their GUI back, along with the ancient underlying code, which is why PPro is such an unstable sloth. Maybe that's why they have to change it. To have "Pro" in the name is pure irony either way.

[BARSS0D44]

This is what I was afraid would happen. If we liked round clips, we would have gone for Final Cut and Davinci. Adobe come to your senses! Don't do this! If you cut a real film with scissors, then no one will cut the corners. And you cut it off.

[Fazy25]

Having the red and yellow trimming tools wrap around the curvature of the clips would be a nice touch. 

[TaranVH 2]

NOOOO!!!

Please make this optional!

I don't want my editing software to be "friendly," I want it to be PRECISE. I need to be able to tell, easily, at a glance, if clips are aligned properly across multiple layers. Rounded corners only make that harder.
Seriously, "rounding the corners" is a joke analogy I've used before to describe updates that make software less usable, in the service of making it "more beginner friendly," "nicer to look at," "de-cluttered," etc.

Rounding the corners because you think it looks more friendly is like dulling the blade of an axe so that the user "won't hurt themself." No, the user needs a precise, sharp edge. Premiere Pro is a TOOL, not a game.

My philosophy has always been FUNCTION BEFORE FORM, and it is absolutely bizarre to me that Adobe constantly prioritizes form before function.

[jono2729905]

HOW do i turn it back to rectangular edges? This round edging is way too busy for someone who edits with lots of tracks. 

[Birgitt25349497ycn8]

Sorry guys, but this is a game breaker for me. I truly appreciate the thought behind it but as someone that deals with massive localization projects on the regular these visual gaps will lose us so much double-check time. We're dealing with hunderds of timelines that despite heavy automization pass through so many hands and have many moving parts that are very dependend on being placed exactly right/on top of another clip. With these rounded corners, when quickly flipping trough many timelines its impossible to visually check if everything is aligned, which is so easy to be more certain of with these current sharp edges. Really hoping this gets rolled back at some point, until then no updates for us...