How to add a Title (slide? screen?) BEFORE the video track

[Soulless_73]

Hello,

I'm very new to Adobe Premiere Pro and I'm trying to figure out how to add a title to my project but I don't want the title on the start of the video in the sequence. I'd like to add it to a black screen, maybe with some transition effects, that will play prior to the video starting. Do I need to create a black image in CS and add it as a still and just add the title to the still which I can position before the video/audio track A starts?

I'm hoping that there's something I can do right within Premiere that will give me a place to put the title before my video starts. I didn't see an option to add a blank slide or something to that effect that I can add title to.

thanks for your assistance!

The more I learn the more excited I get, this software is great.

[shooternz · Accepted solution]

INSERT the title clip ahead of your next clip.

Checkout all the methods to do an 'Insert". Its a fundamental to editing in an NLE

There are a few ways to create Black.

Create Color Matte

Create Black Video

An empty  space in the timeline is Black (Alpha)

[Jim_Simon]

This is pretty basic stuff, Soulless.  Try the following link.  You'll have an easier time if you learn the software before using it.

FAQ: How do I learn Premiere Pro?

[Soulless_73]

Thanks for the link.. like I said in my post, I'm brand new to the software and I've been watching and following guides for hours. Time is not on my side, I have a project that must be done by the end of this week and I have very limited time after work.

So when I have the head at the begining of my main track and click INSERT in the source monitor window it inserts a duplicate of the entire video so I have TWO videos in my sequence. This is clearly not what I'm wanting so I'm assuming that there's something I'm missing. I've searched google but don't see anything.

I'm just looking to add a black, blank screen that I can add a title to before my video begins. I realize this may be rudamentary to season vets but as I said, I'm very new and trying to learn this all quickly and I would really appreciate if someone could point me directly to some information about it. I'm not afraid to read and learn, hell I love it, but I'm pressed for time so someone just telling me, "go learn the software" with a link to a huge FAQ, doesn't really help me.

I've already learned a ton from some great guides but I have yet to have anyone indicate how to add extra footage (be it a still or blank video) directly from Premiere Pro.

Thank you all for your time!

EDIT: I think I figured it out... I just bumped the start of the main track up about 10 seconds and I added new item "Black Screen" right in front of it. I will add the title to this. Thanks all.

[shooternz]

So when I have the head at the begining of my main track and click INSERT in the source monitor window it inserts a duplicate of the entire video so I have TWO videos in my sequence

What was in the Source Monitor when you clicked "Insert"?

If you have a Black Video or a Color Matte in your Source Window or your Project Bin...there are a number of ways of inserting it into the Sequence / Timeline at the position of the playhead. 

Note - the track must be targeted first in the header of the track.

Check out all  the insert /overlay methods in the tutorials or Reference file. 

[Soulless_73]

Thanks Shooternz! I appreciate the assistance my friend.

[heineeh46379005]

I have to agree with Soulless_73. Your comment Jim_Simon is pretty trite. Just going in and saying learn the software BEFORE using it is a pretty useless answer. I have been using Adobe products for years and when the software isn't very intuitive, then something needs to get fixed. I am having the same issue that Soulless_73 is having. Its not very easy to add a blank title screen before a video begins. I have also been searching YouTube videos (learning the software) and website links and I am still looking for the answer to this. 

[R Neil Haugen]

I've never had any issues whatever adding titles before the video clip.

Simply use the A key so click/drag will select and move everything to the right of the selection point ... click the first clip, drag right to make space.

Set the playhead/CTI to beginning of the clip. Then go to the Graphics workspace, and hit the T key for text tool, make a text block, and start typing.

Fairly easy process, the same as making room for a graphic anywhere in the timeline.

And btw ... this thread is several years old. Shooternz (Craig) has retired and hasn't posted here in at least two years. Jim Simon was a long-time heavy hitter here for helping others, but shifted to Resolve some time ago and now participates over on their boards. Both were old-style "pithy" types: answers tended to be short, blunt, and didn't worry about emotional responses.

I learned a ton from them. They knew their craft well. And when I was starting out, and did something they thought stupid, yep, I knew from their post that was understood. But anyone starting out in a complex craft starts out "stupid" ... and learns the craft over time. Being sensitive to being in, or being "seen in", the early "stupid" state is to me a waste of time. Of course, beginners are unlearned. Accept it, and work at learning.

It's not a criticism of a beginner, it's just the reality. And do understand, after a number of years of hours a day in the app, compared to many, many users, I'm still in "stupid" state. I'm fully aware of it. And grateful to learn from those with more knowledge.

Neil

[Kevin-Monahan]

Yes, we need a more modern reply to this question, as it uses Legacy Titlter as its basis - and Adobe is trying to move people off of this older tool. The newer Essential Graphics tools are missing the ability to insert or overwrite a clip into the Timeline, relying on "dragging" the clip, which I don't like. I like keyboard shortcuts.

I think Neil's answer is the method. You need to use the Track Select Forward tools to create a space to drag the graphics clip to at the head of the sequence. This is rather counterintuitive, as heinee suggests. ShooterNZ suggest placing a color matte or black to the head of the sequence first as an alternative. 

Either way, adding a title to the head of a sequence after the fact takes two big steps: creating the title, then finagling a way to place it into the sequence by moving all other clips forward or by editing a backdrop for the title to V1 and dragging the clip to V2.

Regards.
Kevin

[Donald5C44]

while the current correct answer seems more difficult than it has to be for me, after hours of playing with it, i inserted the title which had its own track at insertion, tweaked it the way i wanted it in the settings and time aspects, and dragged it down into the v1 track. Truth is im working on an iPad though, and while it shouldn't be different across platforms it may or may not be because truthfully I just got immersed into the adobe world because of school recently and have had to "figure" out everything on my own and im only a 1 project author at this point... 

[Craig28631844aj33]

Hi. Just wanted to add to this. I am completely new to Adobe and video editing. Have watched maybe 2 hours of video and have worked on my first project for maybe 4 hours.

I have followed the advice here and have added a blank white space .mov file (5 seconds) to my Adobe After Affects project and have imported and created the various footage and text for the title. It worked very well and solved the problem. I needed a solid background title page for the video.

I spent about an hour looking at YouTube videos on how to do this and couldn't find one that addressed the issue.