From PreEL to PrePro - aggravations

[_Paz_]

It is easy to split a clip in PreEl. Hover the mouse cursor over the spot, the scissors lights up, click and you are done.

With PrePro it is locate the spot, change to razor tool, click to cut, change back to selection tool and don't forget, or I find that I've cut somewhere else, probably where I didn't want to.

When playing a video in PreEl it is possible to click anywhere in the box that holds the video itself and it will stop/start playing.

With PrePro I have to constantly be aware of the exact position of my cursor because only clicking on the stop/play button of the timeline will stop the clip from playing so I can make a cut in the correct position, which I miss more often than not, because I miss clicking the tiny stop/play button and the video footage goes too far.

I feel like I must be missing the easy way to do these things in PrePro. Have I missed some preference settings?

thanks,

Paz

[Briantho]

Hi Paz - I find keyboard shortcuts are the way to go for most of these things. CMD-K (probably Cntrl-K for PCs) for cutting where the CTI is currently and space bar to stop/start video playback. Also, take a good look at the functionality of the J, K and L keys - I use them a lot when playing back.

Brian.

[Peru]

Don't forget to target the desired tracks in P Pro before using keyboard shortcuts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P21_tig_ZQw

I used this free utility to remap my keyboard (I changed right Alt to Ctrl and right Windows to K)to make using keyboard shortcuts easier:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/keytweak.html

[_Paz_]

Thanks, Brian and Peru.

Guess it's time to learn the shortcut keys, especially since these are my last Adobe products. Not like they're going to change!

Paz

[Peru]

You can also customize the shortcuts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_jlBUVJcIk

[Briantho]

I'm probably alone in this but I just go all out to use the defaults straight off. It adds a bit to the learning curve but in the end I find myself avoiding the inevitable link between:

- the amount of effort expended in tailoring your own shortcuts AND the increased risk of losing that file and having to specify them all over again.

Also, using the defaults usually simplifies life if you have to switch to another machine.

[momoffduty]

Once you learn a few keyboard shortcuts it will get easier.

Free Pr Pro training, see this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=12201

[Bob]

It's definitely worth the time to learn a few keyboard shortcuts. The default shortcuts are generally stable from one version to the next and some of them even carry over to Premiere Elements.

Here are a few I find useful and I think you will also. Some of these are repeats of ones already mentioned

Ctrl+k cuts selected tracks at the CTI location. Ctrl+shift+k cuts all tracks at the CTI location.

To switch between the razor tool and selection tool press c and v. C (think "cut") is the razor tool, V is the Selection tool. They are conveniently located next to each other too

The space bar starts playback, press space again to stop. The J,K,L keys also control playback. J plays reverse, K stops play, L plays forward. If playback is stopped, Shift+j plays reverse in slow motion, shift+l plays forward in slow motion. Pressing shift+j or shift+l repeatedly while it is playing will speedup playback if in the same direction or will slow down playback if in the reverse direction (e.g. if playing forward, shift+j will show it down, shift+l will speed it up).

The left arrow key will move the cti one frame to the left, the right arrow key will move the cti one frame to the right. Add the shift key to move by five frames.

[_Paz_]

Thanks, everyone!

Cheryl, cool!

Bob,

I realized tonight that the spacebar works to start/stop videos in Bridge.