Timeline jumps back to playhead anytime I click while playback / I press play or stop

Report · Feb 19, 2022

PP2022

I am not sure if this has always been like that, or if it's a new thing but it's driving me nuts.

For example:

I watch my edit in the timeline and then in some part I zoom in to inspect some detail while it keeps playing. If I now hit pause the timeline automatically jumps to where the playhead has moved to while I was inspecting and away from the section I was looking at. I would like the timeline to stay on the section I was looking at.

If I click in the timeline in order to relocate the playhead while it's playing, it will always jump to the current playhead's position and not where I clicked.

In order to achieve this I always have to zoom out, so that the playhead is visible, then stop, move the playhead to where I want to be and zoom out.

This has cost me so much time and I am about to lose my mind about it. I really can't remember ever having this problem in 15 years of editing.

I hope I am making myself understand. I have been searching extensively on the internet but I don't even know how to name this problem.

For a moment I thought that "selection follows playhead" was the solution but it really wasn't. I am also under the impression, that sometime for some reason it will work just as I want and remember it, but then it will go back. Maybe I am hitting some secret key without knowing it.

Your help is highly appreciate. If you don't understand please ask,

Thanks

Report · Mar 02, 2022

The first verion 2022 also works fine, just not the 2 newer updates

see: "how to install provious versions" if you havent before (very easy)

Report · Mar 02, 2022

I installed 15.4.1 and I can click in the timeline and it will stick to where I am zoomed in. If I press stop/play it will jump to wherever the CTI is. I guess that is how I remember it to be. So strange that they would change that.

But Gerikp's work-around-shortcut is working great for me (Move Playhead to Cursor)

Report · Mar 02, 2022

THX everybody

Report · Mar 24, 2022

THIIIISSS!!! I'm so glad someone finally explained it in a way that makes sense. Since moving up to the 2022 version, this has been killing me! I make a lot of cuts and edits in the line of work that I do and this is not just a pet peave issues, it's costing me time, and that's somethign we know editors have not interest in wasting. Esecially when getting the pacing down to a frame. Please please please fix this.

This is not fixed with the "No Scroll" selection in timeline preferences for auto scroll, that's not what is being discussed here. We're talking about clicking on the timeline to pause the playback while the playhead has passed what is visibile in the timeline.

Report · Apr 27, 2022

There's been a few Adobe updates, does anyone know if there is still the problem with the newer versions, please update if anything changes. All please share/complain to Adobe, they are great with feedback but we need to all give it to them to make a change

Report · Apr 27, 2022

I'm updated and it's still an issue. Additionally experiencing major issues rendering exports. Not happy.

Report · Apr 30, 2022

Yup, still the same issue.

Older versions never did this for me.

I am like the OP here, working on viewing something very zoomed in and when the playhead moves off the current working area and you hit STOP, the whole work area shifts to where the playhead is currently.

Even if you click in on the time marker section above the tracks to make the playhead come back to where you are viewing something and want to make a change... Well no luck, the work area jumps forward to where the playhead stops.

Very unproductive, frustrating and not keen on setting up tons of shortcuts for something that worked well in previous versions.

I dont get the point then of "NO SCROLL" option in timeline preferences, I might as well have the work area scroll along with the playhead if its only ever going to jump to where the playhead is... This nullifys the NO SCROLL option provided in the first place.....

Report · May 08, 2022

These truly need to fix this. It completely ruins my workflow.

This is why I'm sticking to Premiere CC 2021. The very first 2022 still works this way but the recent updates destroyed it.

I'll test out the Move Playhead to Cursor workaround but this isn't something that Adobe should ignore.

Hopefully they patch this in the next version!

Report · May 08, 2022

Can you confirm what version/build you're on? I'm going to roll back to that as soon as my current deadlines are complete. It's such a small glitch that get brutal just a few minutes into editing. As a full time editor, it's more than just frustrating, it's workflow altering.

Report · May 08, 2022

I'd like to know that too. I've tried to replicate what people are experiencing using version 15.4.2 and I get the same result of the timeline jumping to the CTI that people are complaining about. I guess I might just work differently so it doesn't bother me.

Report · May 15, 2022

You're getting the timeline jump glitch all the way back to build 15? What did they freaking do to Premiere?

It's super jarring for me since I do both wedding and other live service edits where making sublte changes makes a big difference. I may rewatch a cut multiple times to feel the pacing, so having it jump the timeline forward, I have to scroll back each time. It wastes quite a bit of time and patience pretty quickly.

Report · May 15, 2022

Try setting in/out points around the cut(s) you want to watch, then use the Play Video In to Out button.

You can even set the playback to loop. That button is also under the + sign if it's not displayed under the program monitor.

Report · May 15, 2022

Thank you for your reply. This does function as intended, my only issue is this adds steps to cut reviewing when slimply clicking the timline (one click) veres (I + O + loop & clear in/out when you're ready for the next cut) It may sound silly suggesting three or four inputs verses one click is laborious but done countless times over a 6-8 hour editing day really adds up. Playback looping in / out definitely works, it just ends up being extra inputs per cut for a workflow that was pretty streamlined already.

Report · May 16, 2022

Fair point.

So in your workflow, ideally, what would you want the playhead to do when you press stop? The timeline view?

There may be some user voice input there.

Report · May 16, 2022

Just rolled back to 15.4.5 and everything is working on the timeline now.

For me, if I press stop or Space, jumping to where the playhead is makes total sense and that's how it has always been as far as I can recall. For me though, if the timeline is still playing and I click on the timeline to scrub the playhead, I would want the playhead to go where I click, not stop everything and jump to where the playhead currently is. Hopefully I worded that correctly. If not, I can screen capture what I mean in both versions.

Report · May 16, 2022

I experimented a little more in 22.4.0 and I have observed the following:

When you click in the timeline time header and the playhead is in view, the playhead jumps to where you clicked.
When you click in the timeline time header and the playhead is out of view, the timeline view jumps to the timeline "page" that contains the playhead. The new page will center on the playback timecode that existed when you clicked, but the playhead will not park at that time. Instead, it will jump to the same relative position in the new page as the clicked position in the previously displayed page. An example:

Your pages are 20 seconds long (based on your zoom level). You begin playback from the beginning of the timeline and decide to click in the timeline header when the playhead gets to 30 seconds. You click exactly at the 5-second mark in the timeline header to stop playback. The timeline will scroll to the next page, but the playhead won't be parked at 30 seconds. Instead, it will park itself at 25 seconds. That's because the new page will be centered on 30 seconds (when you clicked to stop playback), and 25 seconds is 5 seconds into the new page, which corresponds to the same relative position as where you clicked in the old page.

I hope that makes sense. I think it's a bug because with auto-scroll turned off, Pr should honor the page and timecode location that you explicitly selected by clicking your mouse.

Report · May 20, 2022

Thank you for looking into it intently. It definitely feels like a bug, not an intended function. At no point would clicking at a specific point on a moving timeline seem logical to equate to the "Stop" input. Hopefully this can be looked at so we can update to the newest builds.

Report · May 19, 2022

This hasn't been solved, right?

Report · May 20, 2022

Nope. I rolled back to build 15 where the issue doesn't exist. My wife roles back to a slightly newer build, I'm not sure which one, there's several versions available. I just went back to when I knew for sure.

Report · Jun 03, 2022

Was going to post this bug but then saw that I'm not alone. This is an extremely annoying bug that started happening a couple versions ago. I'll push play then as it's playing, scroll to a different section of the timeline to check something, then press space bar to pause, and it'll jump back to the section that was playing. Or, I'll press play, scroll to a different section, click on the timeline where I scolled to, and it will also jump back to where the playhead was playing. This can't be a new feature, I don't see any utility to that and I dunno how they haven't fixed this in several versions, especially with all these comments about it. Good thing y'all have Remix and Transcribe, both of those are saving me tons of time.

Report · Jun 03, 2022

Yup, still a thing..

Report · Jun 03, 2022

Yeah, super frustrating! Since I lost hope in this behavior getting changed very soon, my workaround became the shortcut "move playhead to cursor". Maybe this one will do it for you as well.
It's not as convenient as the timeline just staying put when pausing the playback, but this shortcut already went into muscle memory & it'a better than nothing. Cheers

Report · Jun 03, 2022

Did you make a keybind / hotkey for that? I'd be curious to try that myself actually!

Report · Jun 09, 2022

It's assignable in your Keyboard Shortcuts menu.

Report · Jun 09, 2022

I know exactly what you are talking about and it is infuriating! I was holding off on updating to the latest software and I really wish I hadn't. It is the worst! It wastes SO MUCH TIME.