One of the most complex aspects of using Premiere Pro is actually the process of creating a new sequence. I have already opened a project called Edit faster, so it won’t be difficult for me to look for the section in the Project panel where there are different contents and select the clip that shows the water surface (Water Surface.mp4). Assuming that I need a new sequence to place this clip on, I will click on the New Item button and select the Sequence option from the menu. After that, a new frame will appear on the screen containing a large number of preset values (Sequence Presets). They include different formats in which it is possible to record, because it would be better if your new sequence keeps the same setting and you avoid conversion at least for now. On this occasion, I will choose the item that implies that the original material was recorded with the help of a digital SLR camera, in high resolution (1080p) and with 24 frames per second (DLSR 1080p24). After that, a more detailed view of this setting will appear on the right, and if that’s not enough for you, you can go to the Settings section and get even more options.

Adjusting the sequence in Premiere Pro essentially boils down to defining the characteristics of the media file. This includes frame size, pixel aspect ratio, etc. If you know well the technology used to create digital video, then it will not be difficult for you to choose the options that suit your medium, but if that is not your strong point side, all this may seem very chaotic to you. I’ll do my best to show you a faster and simpler way to achieve the same effect, so first I’ll close this frame and return to the Project panel. After that, I will simply drag the selected clip to the button that serves to create a new element and in this way automatically create a sequence that corresponds to its parameters. To show you what actually happened, I’m going to quickly double-click on the item that represents the name of the project and bring the contents of the Project panel to full screen. After that, you will be able to compare the parameters that apply to the selected clip and to the sequence that I just created. As you can see, it bears the same name, contains 24 frames per second and the same resolution (1280 by 720). The number in parentheses represents the ratio of pixel sizes, and in this case they are square (1 to 1).

You can achieve the same result by right-clicking on a clip and selecting New Sequence From Clip from the menu. In fact, you can do the same thing with several clips, where the first clip you selected will be the authority to define the new sequence. In practice, it often happens that the entire folder with clips is the basis for creating a new sequence, and I will use the opportunity to drag the section called Valley of fire to the button for creating new content and thus perform this task. As you can see, the new sequence is automatically named appropriately and contains all the clips I need. If I double-click to increase the height of the video channel and reduce the display scale, you will see that the individual clips are arranged in the same order as they were in the folder itself. Since this was just an example, I will run the Undo function twice and undo the entire operation.

When using this technique, there is one limitation, which comes down to the automatic adjustment of a certain parameter of the sequence itself. To show you what it’s all about, I’ll choose the Sequence Settings option from the Sequence menu and open a new frame. If you look for the parameter called Channel format in it, you will notice that it is not available to you and that it is automatically set to two channels (Stereo Output). This is quite satisfactory for most needs, but if you intend to use multi-channel sound (5.1) you will not be able to achieve it this way. In this case, you will have to manually create the entire sequence and add the appropriate clips to it.