Just bring the Paint Tool(s) into Premiere

Report · May 07, 2024

Hi,

I work in Animation and am often having to fix technical glitches in the rendered animation .movs. I'm very efficient with using masks however, often times it would be a lot easier if more of the paint/drawing/cloning tools from Photoshop were available right in the effects window in Premiere. Especially with cloning tool - lately I've been doing the "manual" version of what cloning does - all with a duplicated copy of the clip on the next video layer on top, masking in the "preferred' spot of the picture I want to use as a patch on the main video track, and adjusting the position of the "patch" video clip, which is exactly what the clone tool does in photoshop, but with more simplicity and user-friendliness.

I know there's (relative) seamless integration with beinging able to both send a still image to Photoshop and use the exanded toolset there, and/or bring a clip into an After Effects comp and use the expanded toolset there. HOWEVER - if I'm either at a company that only pays for Premiere and not either of the other adobe products, or am an indivual freelancer on a budget and can only afford a single app subscription, then I'm stuck with just the tools withing Premiere.

Other competitor NLE's have a "paint tool" as an applied effect capable of drawing lines, which would be a good example of a use case, so as to not add more tools to the main toolset.

Thanks!

Report · May 08, 2024

Hi,
I work in Animation and am often having to fix technical glitches in the rendered animation .movs. I'm very efficient with using masks however, often times it would be a lot easier if more of the paint/drawing/cloning tools from Photoshop were available right in the effects window in Premiere. Especially with cloning tool - lately I've been doing the "manual" version of what cloning does - all with a duplicated copy of the clip on the next video layer on top, masking in the "preferred' spot of the picture I want to use as a patch on the main video track, and adjusting the position of the "patch" video clip, which is exactly what the clone tool does in photoshop, but with more simplicity and user-friendliness.

I know there's (relative) seamless integration with beinging able to both send a still image to Photoshop and use the exanded toolset there, and/or bring a clip into an After Effects comp and use the expanded toolset there. HOWEVER - if I'm either at a company that only pays for Premiere and not either of the other adobe products, or am an indivual freelancer on a budget and can only afford a single app subscription, then I'm stuck with just the tools withing Premiere.

Other competitor NLE's have a "paint tool" as an applied effect capable of drawing lines, which would be a good example of a use case, so as to not add more tools to the main toolset.

Thanks!

By @JoshG_Edits_TM AARP

Hello,

You’re looking for more advanced cloning and painting tools within Premiere Pro to streamline your animation editing workflow. While Premiere Pro does have some basic masking and effects capabilities, it’s true that it doesn’t offer the same level of functionality as Photoshop or After Effects when it comes to cloning and painting directly within the program.

However, there are a few options you might consider:

Premiere Pro’s Built-In Tools: Use the Pen tool to create masks and the Opacity tool to clone parts of your footage. This can be a bit manual, but it’s integrated into Premiere Pro without the need for additional software.
Third-Party Plugins: There are plugins available that can add more advanced cloning capabilities to Premiere Pro. For example, some plugins allow you to clone or duplicate a crowd in your footage. These can sometimes offer a more streamlined workflow within Premiere Pro, but they may come at an additional cost.
Free Alternatives: If budget is a concern, you might look into free or more affordable alternatives to Photoshop that can handle cloning and painting tasks. Programs like GIMP offer a robust set of tools and can be a good alternative for individual freelancers or small companies.

Premiere Pro Extensions: Some extensions for Premiere Pro can facilitate the process of cloning and painting by providing additional tools and presets that can be used within the program.

Alternative NLEs: If Premiere Pro isn’t meeting your needs and you’re open to switching, other NLEs (Non-Linear Editing systems) might have the paint tool as an applied effect that you’re looking for. It’s worth exploring these options to see if they fit better with your workflow.

I hope my suggestion is helpful for you.

Best Regard,
Patrick

Report · May 09, 2024

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the info, I'm curious if you know of any third party plug-ins or extensions that have cloning effects capable of matching what Photoshop does? My ideal workflow would be not to have to switch programs out of Premiere to more efficiently do a clone or paint effect on a clip. Similar to how straight-forward using masks and manipulating those parameters are just always there and ready to use in the Effect Panel, etc.

As I said in my post, I'm very efficient with using the pen tool to create masks so that's not an issue. My big thought was simply since Adobe has other programs that have that (not so advanced) functionality, and more importantly because a major competitor to Premiere has that functionality, it seems to me a good idea to consider improving the existing paint/effect funcftions built-into Premiere in future versions.

Best,

Josh