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'Paste onto same track' shortcut

Put the interview on V1, b-roll on V2, titles on V3 - track organisation finished! Not with PPro. You have to turn tracks on and off every time you paste something.

At least give us a 'paste onto same track it was copied from' shortcut.

Alternatively, when no track is selected make it the same as when all tracks are selected except that clips paste onto the same track they were copied from. Currently no-tracks-selected mode is useless (you can't even add edits with the keyboard) so you wouldn't be taking anything away from anyone.

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Andy Lewis shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

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  • Pierre Louis Beranek commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Yup, Excalibur is going to change how editors work with Premiere Pro! Imagine if there was someone like the creator of Excalibur in Adobe's team!

    At least the wait is over now for a better editing experience. I'm so thankful that when Adobe refuses to help us with long requested features, other brilliant editors who know programing step in to save the day!

    Kudos to Ivan (creator of Excalibur)! Shame on Adobe for ignoring such basic and essential FRs as this one, for years at a time. 'Under Review' since Dec 18, 2018? You've got to be kidding Adobe!

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Pierre, this looks incredible. It's better than any new feature Adobe have released in years!

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    A third party plugin isn’t what I would call ‘solved’.

    I’m not on Facebook so I can’t access that group anyway. What’s it’s called? Where can I get it?

  • Pierre Louis Beranek commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    SOLVED!!!!!! There's no more need to wait for Adobe to fix this anymore! There's a new plug-in that just came out that allows us to simultaneously set shortcuts to 3 different pasting behaviors:
    1. Paste to lowest enabled track
    2. Paste to highest enabled track
    3. Paste to same track

    This new plug-in doesn't just provide a solution to Pr's horrible pasting, but it also provides solutions to well over a dozen other common FRs. You can find out more about it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1638270639681590/permalink/1766467540195232

    You're welcome! ;)

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I think we're on the same page. Originally it sounded like you were reading my comments as meaning that I want a shortcut/preference that always pastes to the same track no matter what.

    The 'unless' is the crucial part of my comment. As long as I can override the default 'paste to same track' with a single click/shortcut for track selection then I'm happy.

  • Pierre Louis Beranek commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Hi Alex,

    You wrote "What I want is for Premiere to default to the same track UNLESS I select another track".

    What I propose would give you exactly that. All you would have to do is set 'paste to same track' as your default by assigning it the default shortcut of Ctrl-V. Problem solved! Or am I missing an issue I haven't noticed yet?

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Pierre, I definitely agree that more options is good. However, more options implemented the way you're describing doesn't really address the fundamental issues with how pasting works in Premiere.

    You said:
    "Do you only ever want to paste to the same track? Assign the Ctrl-V default shortcut to that option and you're done!"

    But of course I don't only ever want to paste onto the same track. I just want that to be the default because it's much more logical.

    What I want is for Premiere to default to the same track UNLESS I select another track, in which case I want Premiere to paste to that track. Again, that is logical to me and it's how all the other NLEs are designed.

    Adding a new shortcut to paste to next available/new track is also a great idea.

  • Pierre Louis Beranek commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I disagree that discussing better options is going to add confusion as you say Alex. If anything, the voting system on User Voice is broken, so it makes it necessary to point out better solutions in the comments section vs just creating a new FR.

    Case in point, I created a FR that includes Andy's original request, but is far superior since it includes options to accommodate all users, not just the users who want to paste to the same track(s) media was copied/cut from. My far more comprehensive FR got 26 votes so far. This FR got 258 votes. IMO, the number of votes a FR gets is not a reflection of its quality. It's simply a reflection of how easy the request is to understand right off the bat.

    Short, easy to understand FR = more votes

    Long, detailed, and comprehensive FR = few votes since people don't have the time or patience to go through all of the details

    Getting a new shortcut to paste on the same track does NOT solve Pr's pasting problems. We need more options. My FR provides those needed options. Contrary to what some people suspect, having more options does not add complexity. Do you only ever want to paste to the same track? Assign the Ctrl-V default shortcut to that option and you're done! Want to always paste to the highest enabled track? Same deal, assign Ctrl-V to it and you're done. Want options to chose on the fly where media gets pasted? Assign the default shortcut to your favorite pasting method, and alternative shortcuts for the other 2 options. It literally couldn't be any simpler, fairer, or more accommodating to different users' needs.

    For those who haven't seen it yet, here's the link to my FR once again: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/41066920-new-shortcuts-to-choose-where-to-paste-on-the-fly

    Andy's on the right track with his FR, but it isn't nearly comprehensive enough to solve pasting issues for most/all editing situations.

  • Brecon commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    @Alex
    I don't think this discussion would be confusing them, if anything it will be adding clarity. If Adobe ever action it it they'll be reading the discussion and determining what they feel is the best implementation. Otherwise there are hundreds of threads open with minor variations to a suggestion with no ground swell of support for any of them.

    Really, this request is about having more powerful track pasting behaviour without the time and focus loss of always having to retarget. It sounds like we're all on the same page about not losing existing functionality -- we just want more :]

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    @Frank Koppelmans
    This feature request is literally called 'Paste onto same track' shortcut. It is not already there (at least not without a few extra steps to deselect track targets), which is the entire point of the feature request existing.

    I agree with the other request to add a 'paste onto first available track' shortcut. Make a request and I'll vote for it, but please let's not lose track of what this particular feature request is about. It can only be adding confusion to any Adobe developers reading the comments.

  • Frank Koppelmans commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Hi, Paste to same track is already there if you not select tracks to paste to. I am missing "paste to first available empty track!". I hate the selecting of targettracks. I hate shortcuts.
    I did not see the "paste to first available empty track" anywhere mentioned.

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I understand that there are situations where we would be pasting from one track to another. A string out of b roll in one sequence where you want to copy and paste a clip into v2 of your main sequence. I get it.

    However, that is not what the original post is asking for.

    The post simply asks Adobe to address the default copy/paste behaviour. OP is saying to Adobe "when I press CMD+v, leave it on the same tracks unless I say otherwise".

    We all agree that the current default behaviour where Premiere changes tracks without any input from the editor is wrong. So what's the solution? When we press CMD+v what do we want to happen?

    In my view, pasting onto the same track as the DEFAULT behaviour is the only logical approach. It's simple and predictable which is what speeds us up as editors. It's how Avid works, it's how Resolve works and it's how FCP7 worked.

    Yes, let's also have a brand new 'paste onto next available/new track' shortcut AS WELL but that's a different feature request. I would be extremely disappointed if this became the default behaviour and Adobe marked this as 'Done'.

    I'm not suggesting that this functionality needs to be completely rigid and nor is the original post. If after pressing CMD+C (or CMD+X) a new track is selected/targeted then that would override where the clips get pasted to.

  • Pierre Louis Beranek commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    TaranVH hit the nail on the head. I don't edit the way you describe Alex, with video tracks reserved for specific types of media. Not sure many people work this way. Even if they do, pasting to the same track won't work anytime there's media on it that would get overwritten.
    Best solution is different shortcut options. If you want media to get pasted to the same track you copied it from, great! Just assign a shortcut to that new option and you're good to go. People who prefer to paste to the highest or lowest enabled track can assign a shortcut to those options. Want access to all 3 options? Just assign your preferred shortcuts to each option and choose where to paste on the fly.

    I cannot think of a better, more flexible and more accommodating set of options than this. Only having the option to ever paste to the same track wouldn't be practical, for the reasons Taran stated.

  • TaranVH commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    @alex Elkins
    No. Because sometimes you're copying from a different sequence, which may have different organization.
    Sometimes you're copying footage or sound effects from one part of your sequence to another, and you don't want the pasted media to overwrite the media that's already there. Clips getting overwritten when you paste is the super annoying thing that we're trying to avoid!

    When you paste something into a sequence, it's because "I want this footage to go here." Not because "I want this footage to go here, and also for an indeterminate amount of other footage to possibly be deleted."

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    @Pierre Louis Beranek
    I disagree with your disagreement :-)

    The original post we're all voting for uses the simple example of interview on V1, b-roll on V2, titles on V3.

    That should never change unless the editor deliberately moves those clips onto different tracks.

    When copy and pasting clips I always want Premiere to leave the clips on the tracks where they came from.

    If after copying I target/select a different track, then and only then should Premiere paste them onto that newly selected track.

    Isn't this what we're all asking for here?

    I get that in certain situations a 'paste onto new/next available track' is handy, but for 99% of the copy pasting we're doing we surely just want things to stay where we put them. No?!

    I don't want to have to check which tracks are selected before I hit paste. That's just the same problem we're asking Adobe to solve but in a slightly different way.

  • Pierre Louis Beranek commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    @Alek Elkins
    "Your suggestion of using a global preference adds complication yet still removes that control. "

    I disagree, and it should be quite obvious why. With options such as pasting to the lowest or to the highest enabled track, users would retain full control over exactly where something gets pasted: by choosing which tracks to enable.

    As for adding complication, useful options should hardly be seen as a 'complication' when they help users get things done the way they want to. Especially if it's a "set it once and leave it" kind of option.

    Any word from Adobe about finally fixing copy pasting?

  • Brecon commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Copy-Paste onto lowest empty track ? ****. Yes.

    Premiere does something similar when you perform an overlay edit but sadly there are no copy-paste options, or keyboard shortcuts..

  • Alex Elkins commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    "Exactly HOW does the user select a different track?"

    By using shortcuts. I have shortcuts for video and audio tracks 1-8 (the number keys at the top of the keyboard for video, or shift+number for audio). I also have enable/disable all (0 and shift+0).

    Or - as you say, source patching. That makes sense too.

    Extra options are fine (paste onto empty track/paste onto new track etc), but frankly I just want Premiere to not make decisions for me about where my clips get pasted. That means leaving them on the track where I put them unless I specify a different track. End of story.

    Your suggestion of using a global preference adds complication yet still removes that control. Premiere just needs to get out of the way of that decision making.

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