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January 29, 2024
Question

Is automatic file sorting with Automation Blocks Possible/How to select things Outside of every Bin?

  • January 29, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 392 views

Hello Adobe Community,

I've been exploring the Automation Blocks plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro and am excited about its potential. However, I'm trying to take its capabilities a step further and would love to get some insights or advice from this knowledgeable community.

Main Goal: Fully Automated Project Bin Management

  • Desired Feature: A fully automated system within the plugin to manage the Project Bin. This feature would automatically sort any new item added to the Project Bin into the appropriate bin based on set conditions, without requiring any input from me. The aim is to have a system that triggers automatically when a new item is added to the Project Bin, eliminating the need for any manual intervention, such as pressing hotkeys.
  • Context: This is particularly important because the default behavior in Premiere Pro is to place items outside any bins in the Project Panel when dragging files directly onto the timeline. Eliminating the extra steps of first dragging a file to a bin and then to the timeline would streamline the editing process significantly.

Alternative Solutions (If Full Automation Isn't Attainable):

  1. Selective Processing for Items Outside Bins:

    • Need: An option to process items not in any bins. This is crucial as the default behavior in Premiere Pro places items outside bins when added directly to the timeline.
    • Query: Is there a way to set a default bin for all new imports to avoid this extra step?
  2. Streamlined Sorting Approach:

    • Consideration: If selecting items outside every bin is not feasible, an alternative would be a Checkmark and Text Box feature, titled "Process Items That are not in: [Main Bin Name]". This would allow me to place all my bins within a 'main bin' and specify that items outside this main bin should be processed.
    • Purpose: To provide a simpler solution for sorting items, especially when dealing with multiple bins.
  3. Hotkey and Script Activation Integration:

    • Wish: The ability to bind scripts to hotkeys for immediate activation. Ideally, similar to the functionality in the "Excalibur" plugin, allowing me to press a button to activate the script without using the mouse. This would allow me to bind any Automation Blocks script to my Stream Deck.
    • Current Challenge: Without this feature, I would need to create an AHK (AutoHotKey) script to manually select and run the script, which is an additional step I'm hoping to avoid.

I have attempted some script modifications without success and am reaching out for any advice on implementing these features, particularly the automated sorting functionality. Any suggestions or shared experiences with similar challenges would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and help!

Best,
Marcel:)

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

Mathias Moehl
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 30, 2024

Hi Marcel,

Automation Blocks scripts (or scripts in Pr in general) cannot fire autoamtically based on events like new foogate being imported. But you can write a script that you can trigger manually once in a while to find all project items in your root bin and move them into different bins based on your desired rules.

 

1.  BIns outside Bins
WIth the For Each Project Item block, you can loop over all footage items in your root bin (i.e. outside of any other bins) if you set it like this:

2. not needed due to a good solution for 1 🙂

 

3. FOr hotkey support I see two good options. a) Adobe offers a clean mechanism for scripts to use hotkeys or b) Convince Ivan Stepanov to extend Excalibur support executing Automation Blocks tools  with hotkeys. See this discussion: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-ideas/match-frame-to-source-sequence/idc-p/14291021#M12329

Mathias Möhl - Developer of tools like BeatEdit and Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro and After Effects