Millimeter By Franklin McMahon

Getting the most out of any program is always the key, but these days, most software has hundreds of features, so it takes some exploring to really dig in and find some gems. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 is no exception. There are many options, parameters and tools, so it’s always good to explore and find some that help your workflow go more smoothly. Here are four good places to start:

Keyboard Customization
You may be used to using Final Cut Pro, but you may be surprised to learn that Adobe has included an entire group of FCP keyboard commands right within the program. If you go to the Edit menu and choose Keyboard Customization, you’ll find a dizzying array of keyboard shortcuts for nearly every command in the program. There are sets built-in, including a set for Final Cut and Avid Xpress, and, of course, for Premiere Pro. In each keyboard set, there are three sub-categories, Application (menus), Panels and Tools.

To change any keyboard command, just click on it, and type in what you want. You’ll see that the keyboard set now switches to Custom, and you can save this as a new keyboard set. If you ever wonder what keyboard command goes to what feature, you can look in the pull-down menus or just mouse over a button on the interface; in a second, a yellow label will appear with the correct command. Using keyboard shortcuts always makes workflow go faster, but creating your own set with exactly the commands you want can take productivity to a new level.

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