Precision Timing in Post-Production: Matching Video Cuts with Audio Beats Using Premiere Pro

How to Edit Videos to the Beat in Premiere Pro?

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A rapid succession of shots can make any music video or a feature film more entertaining to watch. The popularity of beat edits has gone through the roof in the era of social media videos, as so many YouTubers and video content creators produce videos that are perfectly synced to the music. This video editing technique can be used in a single scene or throughout an entire video, depending on the project and the effect you would like the video to make on the viewer. Read on if you would like to learn how to edit video clips to match the beat of a song in Adobe Premiere Pro.

How to Edit and Auto-Sync Video Clips to the Beat of a Song in Adobe Premiere Pro for Free?

Before you start editing clips to the beat, you must first ensure that all of the materials you want to include in that video are imported into the project you created in Adobe Premiere Pro. Once the footage you intend to use in your video is in the Media Bin, you should head over to the New submenu in the File menu.

Afterward, you can add an audio file to the timeline and ensure that the sequence settings are correct. The audio file is going to serve as the core around which you are going to build the entire video, which is why it is important to select a rhythmic song that has clearly distinguishable beats.

Click on the Wrench icon and choose the Show Audio Waveform option from the drop-down menu, so that you can see the beats in the audio file. Make sure that the sequence you created is selected and not the audio file you added to the timeline and then position the playhead at the beginning of the song. Listening to the music to which you would like to edit your video a few times is recommended because it will enable you to better understand where the beats are located.

When ready start adding markers to the sequence by using the M keyboard shortcut, so that every beat of the song contains a marker. This may take a few tries because hitting the beats can be difficult for video editors that don’t have any musical talents, but with practice, you should be able to position the markers precisely where they need to be. Also, you can make the adjustments to the video you’re creating after you sync your footage with the audio so even if the markers aren’t positioned perfectly you can make corrections later.

Head over to the Media Bin and proceed to add In and Out points, by either clicking on their icons or using the I and O buttons, to all video clips you want to edit to the beat. By doing so you will let Adobe Premiere know which parts of the video clips you want to keep and where it should create cuts. After setting the In and Out points for all the video clips you would like to use in your project you just have to select them. The order in which your footage is selected is important as it will determine where they are going to be placed on the timeline.

Choose the Automate to Sequence option from the Clip menu and once the Automate to Sequence window appears on the screen you should choose the Selection Order option from the Ordering menu. Afterward, you should select the At Unnumbered Markers setting from the Placement menu and change the Method to the Overwrite Edit.

Make sure that the Use In/Out Range option is enabled and click on the Ignore Audio checkbox if your video clips also contain audio. Click OK to confirm the changes and Adobe Premiere Pro will automatically match your footage to the markers you added to the sequence.

How to Edit Video Clips to the Beat of a Song with BeatEdit Extension for Adobe Premiere Pro?

Placing markers at each beat in the song can be both difficult and time-consuming, which defeats the purpose of using Adobe Premiere Pro to automate this process. In case you are looking to save some time on adding markers to a sequence, you should try the Mamoworld’s BeatEdit extension for Adobe Premiere Pro that analyses the music and adds markers automatically. Here’s how you can edit video clips to match the beat with BeatEdit.

How to Edit Footage to the Beat in Premiere Pro with the BeatEdit Extension?

In order to download and install the BeatEdit in Adobe Premiere Pro, you must pay a one-time $99,99 fee. After you go through the installation process, you can launch BeatEdit from the Extensions submenu that is located in the Window menu.

After the BeatEdit window pops up on the screen you should click on the Load Music button in order to start the beat detection process. After the audio file is analyzed blue lines are going to be displayed at each beat and you’ll be able to hear a click sound if you play the song. BeatEdit lets you adjust the volume of the audio file you analyzed and enables you to select the beats where you want to make the cuts in your footage.

You can choose if you want to select beats evenly or randomly, specify their frequency or select the portion of the song from which you want to select the beats. The extension also lets you add extra markers that are not located at beat and adjust their amount or minimum distance. BeatEdit generates clip and sequence markers, so make sure that the sequence markers option is selected before clicking on the Create Markers button.

Add the audio file you would like to use in your video to the Adobe Premiere Pro’s timeline and proceed to select the video clips in the Media Bin. Place the playhead at the beginning of the timeline and select the Automate to Sequence option from the Clip menu. You can then select the same settings you’d select if you added the markers to the sequence on your own.

Conclusion

Editing videos to the beat of a song in Premiere Pro is becoming increasingly popular among video content creators. Hopefully, our tutorial has helped you learn this simple but effective video editing technique so that you can use it to make the videos your friends and followers on social media are going to enjoy watching. It is important to remember that how effective your beat edits are going to be, depends on the quality of the footage and the song selection. Do you know how to edit video clips to match the beat of a song in Premiere Pro? If so, share your experiences with us in the comments.

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

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