Known Participant

Question

Feature Request: Modify Audio Channels from the Timeline in Premiere CC.1

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
June 30, 2013
17 replies
33624 views

Why have we never been able to modify audio channels once a clip is added to a sequence? I'm guessing there's a good reason Adobe has never had this feature. The lack of this feature is explicitly mentioned a few times in the audio section of the Premiere Pro CC manual, as if it's a benefit NOT to have it. But the benefit is entirely lost on me.

In my workflow, I synchronize my double-system video and audio before anything else. I do this in PluralEyes (and unfortunately I'll have to keep doing it this way, until PPr's sync on sound feature gets fixed—for me it's never worked).

Once PluralEyes has synched hours of footage and audio and placed it on a PLURALEYES GENERATED sequence, I import that sequence into Premiere. Note: Since I haven't gone through the step of creating a blank New Sequence, I don't get the opportunity to setup my audio channels the way I'd like in my sequence (i.e. Stereo recordings should occupy ONE track, not two. Typically these tracks come from a camcorder and are used for reference sound, or ambient noise at best, so I don't need them taking up precious real estate in my sequence).

Since PluralEyes doesn't merge my clips for me (or rather I don't want it to since I'm usually doing multi-cam sequences where I want to keep all 14, or so, tracks of audio), I have to go through the clips one by one and do a Merge Clip action once I've adjusted any minor sync issues, or determined which tracks I actually want to keep. But, and here's the key, at this stage I'm not yet 100% certain whether I'll use the nat sound or the wireless mic sound (separate audio recorder, etc). Furthermore, I don't really want to think about that at this point. After I've spent a few mind-numbing hours just ingesting files, sync and merges, I want to jump into the edit as soon as possible, before I lose all will to finish this edit. If I modify my audio channels right now, I'll lose the ability to make some creative decisions later on.

I'd like to start whacking out an assembly edit. And then after I have a rough program, I can start looking at which audio tracks (nat or double-system) I like better in each circumstance. This is where I become stumped that at this stage, I'm locked into whatever audio channels I've setup (or not) in the earliest stage of the edit, back before any media was actually on the timeline! It's at this stage, and usually only at this stage that I want to start Modifying Channels—FROM THE TIMELINE!

Does anyone else feel the same? If not, what is your workflow?

Feature Summary: Right-click on any clip, (master clip, sub-clip, merged, nested or otherwise) in the timeline and choose Modify > Audio Channels.

I've submitted a feature request, with a link back to this discussion, so please pipe in—especially if you want this feature.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Show previous replies

H

HamoField

Participant

Hi, I too want this feature really badly!

I was however able to LINK the two mono tracks which makes for easier trimming, but you still can't adjust both crossfades at once. Any ideas how to adjust a crossfade on both mono tracks without having to adjust them individually?

daveybuoy

Inspiring

FYI I just did a few tests and this doesn't seem to be fixed in 2014.1. The option to modify audio channels once clips are in the timeline is still disabled.

I really hope they fix this bug

daveybuoy

Inspiring

+1 for the original posters problem. I just made the switch from AVID at work and FCP 7 at home to premiere at home AND work, and looked everywhere for an answer (there isn't one) and this is a huge hassle.

I got in to trouble with this twice already when I did my assembly on the fly in a noisy place right after a shoot on a laptop and don't notice the channel assignments.

Then I sit down and to finish the cut I have to match frame every frigging clip back to the source, modify the source, and replace edit it back in to not have left hand dialogue for everything I recorded left channel only on my DSLR. Add a few dialogue edits to the equation, and you have a huge useless time suck.

Why they grey out the drop down to modify stereo tracks to mono when you access that menu from the timeline is beyond me. Shouldn't it stand to reason that I can change the audio assignment on my clips, tracks, or globally in the timeline like every other editing product?

I'm only a few weeks in to the software, but sloppy code like this that affects my workflow by 'greying out' simple effective options is enough to make me revisit that FCP X garbage.

E

excited_Genie16B8

Legend

I have to match frame every ******** clip back to the source, modify the source, and replace edit it back in to not have left hand dialogue for everything I recorded left channel only on my DSLR.

Without commenting on the value of this feature request, in your case it would have been significantly easier to just use the Fill Left effect on the track with the Mixer. Two clicks, done.

daveybuoy

Inspiring

Feel free to comment on the "value" of a standard feature.

Assuming you (or your assistant) don't remember to make your left channel only tracks mono before you start your edit, those "efficient" two clicks get multiplied by the number of edits (hundreds? thousands?) in my piece as opposed to just adjusting the settings for the the track(s) at once like I can in AVID or FCP?

Time well wasted, all because sloppy code has that feature greyed out for clips already added to the timeline.

This is supposed to be 'pro software', I expect robust track controls for my audio inside my edits. Don't you?

J

Jorgen Bjerke

Participant

I totally agree that we should be able to switch between mono and stereo in the timeline. I am a Premiere Pro CC trainer at NRK, the Norwegian Broadcast Corporation and this is a big issue for my students. They sigh when they realize they can't alter the audio in a sequence. This is because many of the editors in NRK don't shoot the footage themselves, so they have to ask the photographer how he/she recorded the audio BEFORE they are able to edit anything. In FCP7 they could just start editing and if they got something wrong about stereo/mono, they just altered it there in the sequence. No hassle.

One thing i really do like about Premiere is that you actually CAN set mono/stereo before putting the clips in a sequence. That was actually an issue when we used FCP7. So my feature request to Adobe would be to BOTH be able to set mono/stereo in the Project panel AND in the Timeline panel.

OK, you could of course set everything to dual mono and then pan L/R in the sequence's clip mixer, but then you can't adjust the audio level simultaneously for both channels.

M

Michael Tiemann

Known Participant

Ugh! I just ran into this limitation. UNBELIEVEABLE! It's not as if our audio assignments were cast in stone by God Almighty when we did our importants. They are *our* assets. We should be able to manipulate them easily at all times!

shooternz

Legend

Change them or anything while they are assets in the Project Bin. eg mapping etc.

Before they get there...even better.

daxmacrog

Participating Frequently

I very much agree that this is a severe limitation. It drives me crazy that there is no Modify > Audio Channels for clips in the timeline.

The way Premiere handles audio channels is poor in general, even for clips in the project panel. Unless all of your audio is stereo attached to the original video and will remain that way, you'll spend a lot of time modifying clips in the project panel, one by one.

I still use PluralEyes as well, since Premiere's new waveform syncing feature has yet to work for me.

Plus, there is a bug that causes merged clips with audio tracks converted to mono to lose the audio after a project is closed and reopened. (Looking for solutions is what brought me to this thread after losing a day's work.)

The long story short is that Premiere Pro is poorly optimized for dual-system sound.

I've really been hoping Adobe would get it together. I switched to CS5.5 as soon as FCPX came out. CS6 was a big improvement. CC was promising on release but has disappointed. They've lost momentum. If FCP 10.1 improves project management, it looks like I'll be switching back, even if I have to learn that damn magnetic timeline.

Ann Bens

Community Expert

Shift + G?

C

cscooper2013Author

Known Participant

Shift + G is the keyboard shortcut, yes. But Modify Audio Channels only works from the Project Panel. From the Timeline Shift + G becomes the shortcut for Audio Channels. The difference between these two panels is, to quote the manual, is that "You can change a master clip’s track format only before you add an instance of the clip to a sequence."

Take a close look. The modifying aspects of this window are greyed out; Namely, "Preset", "Number of Audio Tracks" and "Channel Format".

C

cscooper2013Author

Known Participant

So, am I the only one for whom this would be a handy feature? For anyone that uses a PluralEyes workflow, how do you go about massaging your audio back into it's original stereo form (when Premiere creates only separate mono channels from their exported sequences)? Do you agree that Modify Audio Channels ought to be available from the Timeline (and not just in the Project panel)?

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