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Warwick5F89
Participating Frequently
December 5, 2024
Question

Selecting, moving or altering transitions and effects is nearly impossible now

  • December 5, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 3181 views

In previous verisons of Premiere Pro, when a transition was applied to a track, eiether video or audio transition, it could then be quicly and easily altered: moved across to begin and end at a different point of the clip, or double clicked to change the length. Intuitive, simple, worked every time!

Now, since sometime around v24, the graphical interface of transitions has changed. It looks fancy now... but it is totally useless for making regular and simple changes. I just took 11 attempts to actually be able to select an audio transition I wanted to change the length and position of. Every time I clicked it, on a different part of the transition, it would not select the transition. It instead selects the clip TRHOUGH the transition... and even when the transition is selected, then when I click to move it, invariably, the whole clip moves instead of the transition. It seems to be worse on audio clips than video.

 

This is absolutely driving me crazy! Why, why, why Adobe have you made something so everyday, so basic, into something that looks fancy, but is funtcionally infuriating, frustrating, impossible, inconsistent???

It slows editing down so much, and causes constant issues. It actually feels like a "last straw" for Premiere for me... I really didn't need any more reasons to jump ship to Davinci or Final Cut... but honestly, this one is massive! Fix it, or you lose me... 

 

Mac OSX Sonoma 14.6.1
Premiere Pro v25.1 (but has happened since v24.x)

    4 replies

    N
    nicktheclark
    Participating Frequently
    November 20, 2025

    Thank you for posting this (almost a year ago!). The transitions and FX badges in '25 having been absolutely wrecking me, and I came here to commiserate. I do like the overall aesthetic changes to '25 (round recs for clips are nice), but transitions are nearly impossible to see and click, and FX badges have gone from very visible/useful, to nearly impossible to see unless zoomed way in on a large track height. All of this is especially frustrating because none of it was necessary.

     

    @Adolfo H. , I appreciate your videos demoing the variable cursor, but this really is a huge step backward in terms of usability, and it's particularlly irksome for something I (try to) do 1000 times/day. There are now simply too many different fiddly things to click/grab, especially at the ends of clips - transitions, transition handles, trim handles, clip itself, opacity/level bands, FX badges.

     

    It's great to have different ways to work, but Adobe, I beg you, we just need to be able to click on transitions.

      W
      Warwick5F89Author
      Participating Frequently
      November 20, 2025

      Yes, Adobe, we impore you to tak ea step back to a usable transition space on the timeline. A year after posting about this, it still drives me insane. 

        R Neil Haugen
        R Neil Haugen
        Legend
        December 5, 2024

        I find the newer timeline a bit more finicky where you click. With tiny track heights, it can be nearly impossible to get the right place.

         

        So having track height presets is a very important user thing now.

        Everyone's mileage always varies ...
          A
          Community Manager
          Adolfo H.Community Manager
          Community Manager
          December 5, 2024

          @R Neil Haugen I wonder why is this. We haven't changed any target areas. I have checked this personally line per line. It would be great if you can, to provide me with a video. It's important to me to understand where you are seeing these issues so I can address them with the team. Really appreciate your constant feedback on this. 

          W
          Warwick5F89Author
          Participating Frequently
          December 6, 2024

          The old Fx badge told you useful stuff at a glance. Immediately.

           

          The new on is incredibly, mind boggling slow to work with.

           

          You ONLY get any information IF you take your hands off the control panel or keyboard, grab and move the mouse ... and ... wait, for the text bubble to appear.

           

          Before your "improvement", I could see what I needed at a glance, without leaving the keyboard or my Elements panel.

           

          This was a huge step bass-ackwards for me.


          Agreed! 

            A
            Community Manager
            Adolfo H.Community Manager
            Community Manager
            December 5, 2024

            Hi @Warwick5F89 , the target areas for the transitions haven't changed from previous versions. The cursor will dynamically changed and will tell you if you are on top of the target area of a transition or the clip itself. The reason why is that if you are working with small track heights and your transiiton is covering most of the clip, you can still click and drag a clip or select a transition.

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              Warwick5F89Author
              Participating Frequently
              December 6, 2024

              Prior versionbs didn't require a large timeline track height... clicking anywhere on the transition selected it, and click-hold moved it... now, it's so hit and miss (mostly miss!) that it is a massive slow down. Editing professionals don't n eed slow downs! Not sure if it's a Mac OSX version problem - no access to Windows to test

                Kevin-Monahan
                Community Manager
                Kevin-MonahanCommunity Manager
                Community Manager
                January 30, 2025

                This drives me a little insane too, @Warwick5F89, and @scalzoc. I found a workaround that may help: grab the transition like I am going to change the duration. Now that it's selected instead of the underlying clip, the entirely I can do what I actually want to do: like, copy/paste it elsewhere or even to simply remove it. It slows me down, as well, @Adolfo H., to be honest.

                 

                Thanks for bringing this up. I hope we can make this work better for you in the future.

                 

                Thanks,

                Kevin

                 

                Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
                  MarekMularczyk
                  Community Expert
                  MarekMularczykCommunity Expert
                  Community Expert
                  December 5, 2024

                  It's true that some elements of the timeline have changed recently (I actually like the way transitions are now bigger, more visible, and easier to work with). 

                  If you're having issues changing the transitions' duration, why don't you just double-click the transition? I use this a lot as it's quick and easy.

                    

                  Adobe Community ExpertAdobe Certified Professional
                    W
                    Warwick5F89Author
                    Participating Frequently
                    December 6, 2024

                    Unfortunately, this is the main problem! All things left the same as prior versions, double clicking the transition was a simple task, whcih worked 100% of the time. Now, it works 10% of the time ( mostly the clip BEHIND the transition is selected, and rarely the trsnaition itself, even clicking multiple places on the transition)

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