@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.

I created a poll for Pr users to vote on which Timeline pasting option they think is best: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1638270639681590/permalink/1639362869572367/

Check it out and vote to help get the word out to Adobe how we want pasting to work. :)

@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?

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..

"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.

@Alex Elkins
You're under-thinking it.
Exactly HOW does the user select a different track? Right now, it uses the track targeting, but that must be done by manually clicking each layer on or off, and is also used for tons of other stuff. Then the editor would paste, and then have to return the track targeting to what it was. more annoying clicking.
Source patching makes more sense. It's already used for insert/overwrite, and does not affect anything else like Q and W (ripple trim)
Top-most targeted track, and top-most empty track also make sense.
So, this can all be done wither with different dedicated shortcuts per command, by adding default pasting behavior options, or best of all, both.

Guys, you're overthinking it.

Just change it so that the default behaviour is 'paste onto same track'.

If the user intervenes by selecting a different track, that is where the pasted clip should go.

It's pretty simple.

An important point needs to be added here: Just changing the behavior from pasting to the lowest enable track(s) to the same track media was copied from is NOT a full solution and would actually make the workflow WORSE is many instances. For example, if a user cuts clips from V1 and wants to paste them somewhere else in the Timeline that already has clips on V1... only giving them the option to paste the cut media to V1 would be even worse than allowing them to select which track to paste to after cutting them through track patching. The ONLY way for 'paste onto same track' to be truly useful is if it's an option given IN ADDITION TO other options, as I suggest in my other FR: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/41066920-new-shortcuts-to-choose-where-to-paste-on-the-fly

Sorry about the allcaps for emphasis, but it is vital that you take this into consideration when fixing timeline pasting!

Andy Lewis' idea is a good one, but by itself, it would be worse than the current behavior. His suggestion only works if it is used as one of several options. The best way to give users the option of where to paste 'on the fly' is through new keyboard shortcuts. Those who only ever want to paste to the same track, can assign the default Ctrl-V shortcut to that option. Ditto for those who only ever want to paste to the highest or to the lowest enabled track. If a user wants two or three options of where to paste 'on the fly', they can assign whatever shortcuts suit them best to the additional options. There. A solution that would suit everyone's needs, without changing the current pasting behavior, for the few that actually like how it currently works. Allowing a keyboard shortcut to be assigned to TaranVH's great idea of pasting to the Source patched tracks would be the 'cherry on top'!

TaranVH, allowing source patching as an option of where to paste by default is another great idea!

I personally had another idea for how to do this: Not with several different shortcuts, but as a global preference. This has the advantage of not requiring two or more shortcuts to be mapped, all related to slightly different "paste" functionality. Personally, I think the default behavior is stupid anyway, and it should be changed, even if we do also get additional shortcuts for different track pasting behaviors.

"
Pasted video clips currently go on the lowest numbered (and unlocked) targeted track by default. This is quite annoying, since the user probably already has something there. Please give us the following option/preference:
Pasted video/audio clips go to:
⚪︎Lowest number targeted track
⚪︎Highest number targeted track
◉Source patching
⚪︎Same as copied track(s)
⚪︎ V▭ and A▭ (Choose specific tracks)
"

This is item 78 on my spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dVJb7kI_ZETLavrplfARgn9gL8HUpvkq6A0jCPxqA3w/edit#gid=1133868629

An additional shortcut has been recommended.

"Vastly improving pasting is simple: Give users the ability to choose 'on the fly' where they want their media pasted or insert-pasted:
1. on the lowest enabled track (current behavior)
2. on the highest enabled track
3. on the same track in was copied from"

From here:
https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/41066920-new-shortcuts-to-choose-where-to-paste-on-the-fly

Here's a new Feature Request that includes the suggested 'Paste onto the same track' shortcut, as well as an option to paste to the highest enabled track. https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/41066920-new-shortcuts-to-choose-where-to-paste-on-the-fly

This would be the most comprehensive way to let users work, allowing users to choose on the fly if they want to paste to the lowest-enabled, highest-enabled or same track their media was copied from. Please vote and add your voice!

I've just switched from final cut and may be switching back because having to do this Is a ridiculous waste of time. I needed a better timer and premiere had one I could buy. will prob be switching back now.....

Agreed. When you have tonnes of tracks a shortcut to disable all isn't good enough because you then have to go back and click a load of tracks to select them again. There aren't shortcuts for track selection beyond track 8. I want my track selection to stay as I had it without introducing a whole load of extra work every time I copy and paste.

He means have the default, a preference or a modifier so that a clip paste from one timeline to another just pastes onto the same track as it was in the previous timeline. That simple. No disable and enable track selections involved.

It would be nice to have and it was the default in FCP 7

Hi,

If you unselect all tracks, unmark the blue tracks. Pasting will be done to the same track it came from!
Also with up and down arrow you go from every event to every event (on all tracks).
(you can't even add edits with the keyboard) I do not understand what you mean.

PLEASE make this happen! It so frustrating that it doesn't automatically paste to the same track. Toggling on and off tracks when you may have 20 audio tracks, or 15 video tracks isn't fast! So I usually just paste at the end of my timeline and then drag it, but it's not a good solution (or that much quicker).

So please if you want to keep paste goes to select tracks, that's fine, but give us an option to map paste to same track a shortcut option.

After much trial and error I find these the most efficient settings for keyboard editing. If I want to paste to the same track I just hit D, then ⌘V to Paste, then I usually hit D again to enable all Tracks again ready for Trimming

D = Toggle All Video Track Selection On/Off
C = Toggle All Audio Track Selection On/Off

1-9 Toggle relevant Video Track
Shift+1-9 Toggle relevant Audio Track

What I think would be an interesting idea would be the ability to assign a designation to all clips within Premiere. Clips could be marked Cutaway, Sync, GFX, Music, SFX etc. and each designation would have a track assigned to it. All customisable of course.

Editing a clip from the Source window track selection would be automatic.

I see it as being a mode you would switch on/off, perhaps more useful at the assembly stage than finessing.

Dear Adobe, yet another PR release and copy/pasting in the Timeline continues to be a hopeless mess. When will this finally get fixed? Copy/pasting is something editors do every... single... day. Whereas needing AI to resize a 16x9 sequence to 1x1 or 4x5 is something few, if any, people need to do on a daily basis. Please focus your limited resources on fixes that would help ALL editors on a DAILY basis rather than fancy new features that only serve some people some of the time. (Especially if that fancy new feature doesn't even work. I tried using it to turn a 16x9 talking head interview video into a 1x1 format, and it created dozens of position keyframes to constantly reposition barely moving speakers within locked-off, tripod shots. Completely nuts and unusable!)

Please fix the tools we need rather than introduce new AI tools that don't even work.
Thanks!

@DavidK - over 200 people have voted to say they don't want both options. We just want the default behaviour to be that clips are pasted onto the same tracks UNLESS a new track is specifically toggled on.

@Wes Howell - This is still marked as under review but a new version of Premiere has just been released. Does this mean the request has been rejected?