Adobe Premiere Pro ACP cheat sheet

A Premiere Pro project uses the .prproj extension and stores edit decisions, sequence settings, and media references, not the source media files themselves.

Scratch disks set destinations for captured video, captured audio, video previews, audio previews, project auto-saves, and media cache files; configure them before capturing or importing.

Media cache stores conformed audio and peak files for faster editing; clearing unused cache reclaims disk space and forces reconforming, but does not delete original media.

Proxy workflow: create or ingest lower-resolution proxies, toggle proxies on for editing performance, and toggle them off or export from originals for final quality.

Sequence settings define frame size, frame rate, pixel aspect ratio, field order, and audio sample rate; match source settings when delivering the same format.

Project Manager can collect used media, copy or transcode files to a new location, and exclude unused clips to reduce project size for archiving or handoff.

When media is offline, use the Link Media dialog to locate missing files; relink multiple related clips by name, timecode, duration, or file extension.

Merge Clips synchronizes separate audio and video recordings by timecode or waveform, producing a single linked clip for dual-system sound workflows.

Insert edit places the source clip at the playhead and pushes downstream clips to the right; Overwrite edit replaces existing material on targeted tracks for the clip duration.

Three-point editing uses source In and Out points plus one sequence point, such as the playhead or a sequence In point, to position the source clip.

Ripple edit changes a clip duration and shifts downstream material on unlocked tracks; Rolling edit moves one cut and changes adjacent clip durations without changing sequence length.

Slip changes a clip's source In and Out points without moving it on the timeline; Slide moves a clip and trims its neighbors to preserve the overall sequence duration.

Sync Lock keeps locked tracks aligned during insert and ripple edits; Linked Selection ties a clip's video and audio so they are selected or trimmed together.

Video track order matters: V1 is the base layer and higher video tracks composite over lower ones; audio track order is independent of video layering.

Nesting a selection creates a self-contained sequence used as one clip; effects and transitions applied to the nest affect the combined contents.

Delete removes a clip and leaves a gap; Shift+Delete ripple deletes and closes the gap; Add Edit cuts targeted clips at the playhead.

Ctrl/Cmd+D applies the default video transition at a selected edit; Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+D applies the default audio transition; defaults are set in Preferences > Timeline.

Transition alignment can be centered, start-aligned, or end-aligned; maximum duration is limited by available media handles, and a red warning indicates insufficient handles.

An adjustment layer applies effects to all tracks below it within its duration; it has no audio and is useful for grading or effects shared by multiple clips.

Track Matte Key uses another clip's alpha or luma as a matte; the matte source must be on a track above the target clip, with Matte Source and Composite Using set correctly.

Keyframe animation starts by enabling the stopwatch for a parameter; keyframe interpolation types include Linear, Bezier, Auto Bezier, and Hold.

Temporal interpolation controls how quickly a value changes between keyframes; spatial interpolation controls the path a moving clip or effect point follows.

Hold interpolation keeps a value constant until the next keyframe; Linear changes at a constant rate; Bezier and Auto Bezier create curved, smoothed changes.

Speed/Duration can set speed percentage, duration, reverse playback, and maintain audio pitch; Time Remapping keyframes create variable speed ramps and freeze frames.

Audio Clip Mixer adjusts clip-level volume and pan and writes clip keyframes; Audio Track Mixer adjusts track, submix, and master output and writes track automation.

0 dB is unity gain; positive dB values boost and negative values attenuate; levels above 0 dBFS clip, so use gain reduction or a limiter to preserve headroom.

Audio Gain can set gain directly, normalize maximum peak, or normalize all peaks; normalizing maximum peak to about -3 dBFS leaves headroom for mixing.

The default audio transition is Constant Power, an equal-power crossfade that maintains perceived loudness; Constant Gain is a linear crossfade with different loudness behavior.

Essential Sound roles are Dialogue, Music, SFX, and Ambience; role-based controls provide loudness matching, repair, clarity, and ducking options.

Loudness Auto-Match in Essential Sound adjusts clips toward a target loudness reference, commonly -23 LUFS for broadcast-style delivery.

Submix tracks receive output from other tracks so shared effects and level control can be applied before the signal reaches the Master track.

For video delivery, use a 48 kHz sequence sample rate; mismatched sample rates can cause pitch or duration drift, so set it in Sequence Settings.

The Essential Graphics panel creates text, shapes, and Motion Graphics templates; Export As Motion Graphics Template creates a .mogrt for reuse.

Lumetri Color sections apply in panel order: Basic Correction, Creative, Curves, Color Wheels, HSL Secondary, and Vignette.

Use scopes for objective color decisions: Waveform or RGB Parade for exposure, Vectorscope for hue and saturation, and the skin-tone line for faces.

LUTs use the .cube format; an Input LUT converts source footage into a working color space, while Creative Look or Look LUT applies a stylistic grade.

Sequence color management includes sequence color space and auto tone mapping for mixed SDR/HDR media; Display Color Management improves viewer accuracy.

Export format decision: H.264 MP4 for web delivery, ProRes or DNxHD for mastering, and Match Source to preserve the sequence frame size and frame rate.

Export range can be Entire Sequence, Work Area, or Source In/Out; Use Previews reuses rendered timeline previews, and Use Maximum Render Quality improves scaling quality.

Captions can be created or imported as SRT, displayed on a caption track, and exported as a sidecar file or burned into the video.