- Tip 1: Learn Premiere Pro's Most Important Layout Features: Workspaces, Panels, and Panel Menus
- Tip 2: Adapt Your Keyboard (or Don't)
- Tip 3: How to 'See' Audio
- Tip 4: Get to Know the Grave Key
- Tip 5: How to Import Sequences from Other Premiere Pro Projects
- Tip 6: How to Import Projects from Final Cut Pro or Avid
- What's Next?
Tip 3: How to 'See' Audio
One question I get all the time from editors is how to see the source audio of a clip. Fifteen years ago, seeing a waveform was painful—it took too long to draw. Today, I cut interviews and sound bites far faster by seeing what I'm hearing.
Load any clip into the Source panel. Notice the small wrench in the lower-right corner (see Figure 7); that's the Settings menu for the Source panel (there's one just like it in the Program panel.) Click it and switch the panel to display Audio Waveform.
Figure 7 The Settings menu (wrench) allows you to adjust the display of the Source or Program panel.
Yes, it's a pain to go to the menu. Try this option: Follow the earlier tip on changing your keyboard layout to map the Source Audio Waveform to a shortcut key. I use Shift-W because it's easy to remember that I'm shifting to waveform. Remember to set another shortcut key to return to the Composite Video setting. For this one, I like Shift-Q, because Q is the key next to W (from Shift-W). This toggle of Shift-W, Shift-Q permits fast switching back and forth—perfect for interview clips, where the waveform is crucial!