Cannot drag/place objects in Program monitor

[HakanErn]

Hello!

To move objects in program monitor I have been able to either click on a clip, then click on "Motion" then move or resize the obkect in Programmonitor, or just click on the object in the Program monitor, thus highlighting it, and then move / resize it. Now suddenly this does not work. I cannot drag any items in the program monitor. I save and restart, then it is ok again for a while, affter which it stops working again! Very annoying!

Anyone knows what is wrong? I have windows 10 and Premiere Pro CC 12.0.0 Build 224.

Thanks in advance, Håkan

[Meg The Dog]

To be able to scale, rotate and position the video by dragging in the program monitor, double click on the image in the program monitor.

MtD

[HakanErn]

Hello! Thanks for your time! When I wrote "click" above I meant "double click" - this is not working when the system decides not to work...

Regards, Håkan

[Ann Bens]

If Premiere is acting weird trash preferences and plugin cache.

Hold down shift+alt while opening Premiere.

[smiffco]

This is actually a widespread issue since the latest update. Most of my editor friends have reported the same thing, which is that clicking and dragging a clip that is selected (clip has blue border line) around the canvas has become very hit or miss. Sometimes it works, sometimes nothing happens, and most often for me, it will select the video clip on the below layer.

Myself and my cohorts do gameplay videos where we are constantly zooming in on the webcam, so the click and drag motion controls are used daily, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when it works. Usually it doesn't.

This is new with the CC2018 update.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Smiffco,

This is working perfectly for me. Make sure you are working on brand new projects. Any projects you updated from the last version are bound to have issues with unexpected behavior.

Thanks,
Kevin

[HakanErn]

Hello! Do you mean that it is not safe to update Premiere Pro to the latest version, if I am currently working on a project which will continue after my update? That sounds strange since it is always said "Update to the latest version" as soon as there is an issue with the work...

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Hakan Ern,

My advice is to avoid updating major projects when new software comes out. I was taught this by pros in Hollywood many moons ago. Since then, I've found that this is the case with all NLE software I've ever worked with. The rule of thumb is to remain in the software that your project was created in until that project is complete. It's one way you can preserve your work and have decent reliability and performance as you work. I wrote about this situation in my blog. Check it out.

Do you mean that it is not safe to update Premiere Pro to the latest version, if I am currently working on a project which will continue after my update?

While it is possible to update a project without issues, it is not a good idea if you have a complex project, one with a lot of media objects, complicated sequences, multicamera sequences, etc. You can try it, and with with backup in hand (and if all else is well), proceed. If you see many unexpected behaviors, then stop right there and move back to your original project. If you do update a project, and there are various valid reasons why you would (important feature addition or bug fix, for example), proceed with caution.

That sounds strange since it is always said "Update to the latest version" as soon as there is an issue with the work...

That is usually the case with many applications and workflows. We video editors have different workflows which involve a good number of different applications and  changes to the native application, so that ratchets up the vigilance in making sure our projects remain stable. Changes to the project file can really go awry, so protect your work by choosing the conservative route.

Other rules along these lines are to avoid updating your OS in the middle of your project and not having a daily project backup routine.

I will further try to reproduce your error. Hope we can help you get back on track. If you have any questions or further concerns, please let me know.

Thanks,

Kevin

[HakanErn]

Hi Kevin! Thanks for your detailed answer. I am only semi-professional, so my work flows are probably a bit odd. I make short videos for disabled children with special needs for their communication, so there are perhaps a plan of 20 videos at 5 - 10 mins each, which all shares many of the assets. And perhaps I have 3 - 5 such projects going on at the same time, in different phases, which means I can never be able to finish all projects and then update PP "in between" projects.  It is also hard to start all over again.
But I will keep in mind what you have told me. It was a good insight in the "real world"!

Thanks!

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Smiffco,

This situation is happening to you too? I'm very sorry about that.

Myself and my cohorts do gameplay videos where we are constantly zooming in on the webcam, so the click and drag motion controls are used daily, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when it works. Usually it doesn't.

Gameplay videos. Sounds awesome. Can you share what kind of footage you are editing with? Is it variable frame rate footage, or has it been transcoded to a constant frame rate? This may have something to do with your issue.

I will try to reproduce the error with your kind of footage, but it would be even more helpful if you could upload a sample I can test with.

Regards,
Kevin

[smiffco]

Hello Kevin,

I am working in a brand new project that has not been converted from a previous version and the problem persists.

We are working with 1440p .mp4 footage recorded in OBS from a Logitech webcam, and 1080p .ts files from an elgato game capture card. The framerates are the same, but the webcam footage drifts about 11 frames every hour, so the footage has been rate stretched to be in sync with the clap syncs and the beginning and end of the video. I've been using this same rate-stretch workflow for over a year now at this job, and it is only with the new update that the motion tool has stopped working.

It seems to be confused about what I am trying to click on. I am currently experiencing the issue right now, with two video layers (the webcam and the game footage), and every time I click and drag, the only thing that happens is the other video layer gets selected in the timeline. So with V2 selected, clicking and dragging selects V1, then I immediately click and drag again and V2 gets highlighted once again. Switching to another clip further down the timeline, moving that with the motion controls, and then coming back seemed to fix it.

I screen recorded it here: adobepremiere_motionissue.mp4 - Google Drive

As you can see it does not affect every clip. It seems very random and I have not found a means of replicating the issue. It's just randomly throughout my 30 minute timeline.

[Ann Bens]

Drifting is due to the footage having variable framerate. Convert to constant framerate before bringing it into Premiere.

[smiffco]

All video is recorded at 60.00fps. Whatever the case, we have previously had zero issues with using rate-stretched footage. If this motion control issue is due to the footage being rate-stretched, then it is the first issue in two years of this company producing videos with their workflow.

[HakanErn]

Smiffco, your video shows exactly my issue! Thanks for the post! And I have no complicated things on the timeline, 25 fps footage in a few layers with no adjustments, uther than some color corrections. However the issue appears mainly on images or not corrected footage, as far as I can tell and remember - I see no pattern.

The only thing that is obvious with the project, is thar I often have to restart the system in order to export media. AME often stops the coding with a certain (same) error number and a text I dont understand (regardless if it is in swedish or english...). I don't think the two issues are related, more than that they occured after the update.

[smiffco]

Hey Kevin,

Never heard back from you. Still having this issue on every project I have worked on in the past month.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi HakanErn,

Are you experiencing this issue with brand new projects or just updated ones?

Thanks,

Kevin

[HakanErn]

Hello Kevin,

Thanks for your reply. This is a project I continously work on, so it has been worked on before and after updates of Premiere pro.

Kind regards, Håkan

[Ann Bens]

Kevin wants to know if it also happens with new projects not just the one you are working on.

This is information to determine how to proceed further.

[HakanErn]

Yes, I understood the question. Unfourtunatly I have no time to deal with testing new projects - to me it is problem enough that it is not working with this updated one, since I have to restart the program several times during an hour in order to get on with my work, and get it ready in time.

It must be possible to work on a project even if the software is updated during the period of time working on it?

[TaranVH]

I have the exact same problem. On two different machines. One is Win 10, the other is Win 8.1. It can happen with anything on the program monitor. 29.97fps footage, 60fps footage, possibly even pngs and essential graphics.

[Mr. Wallet]

I have the exact same problem and I literally did not install any of the Adobe suite until Oct. 20, 2017, so legacy projects are definitely not the problem. Framerate is also not the problem because sometimes it happens on a still image. I assumed it was because I was new to the program and didn't notice some obvious difference between when it works and when it doesn't... reassuring to know that I'm not the only one having this issue.

[davidk47070808]

I found that if I set the Program Monitor to full screen by typing cmd~, dragging the image position on the Program Monitor no longer works.