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Adobe Prelude 2020 for Mac: A Comprehensive Guide

Adobe Prelude 2020 is a professional tool for video ingest, logging, transcoding, and rough cutting, purpose-built for the early stages of post-production workflows. As a member of the Adobe Creative Cloud family, it integrates seamlessly with Premiere Pro and After Effects, designed to help videographers and editors efficiently manage and prepare large volumes of footage, laying a solid foundation for subsequent fine editing and visual effects work. This article provides an in-depth look at its interface, complete workflow, and core techniques.

1. Core Interface and Workspace Overview

When you launch Prelude, you’ll see a highly customizable workspace divided into the following key panels:

1. Project Panel: Located in the lower-left of the interface, it displays all imported assets, subclips, and rough cut sequences in a tree structure. It serves as the resource management hub for the entire project.
2. Source Monitor: Located in the upper-left. Used to preview raw footage, set In Points and Out Points, and create subclips and markers.
3. Logging Panel: Typically docked to the right of the Source Monitor. Here you can add detailed metadata to assets, such as scene, shot, good/bad ratings, comments, and more—essential for categorizing and searching footage.
4. Rough Cut Timeline: Located in the center of the interface. Used to arrange selected clips (subclips or original clips) in sequence to form a preliminary editing structure. Supports basic trimming and arrangement operations.
5. Program Monitor: Located in the upper-right. Used to preview content on the current Rough Cut Timeline.
6. Panels Menu: Use the top menu bar “Window” > “Workspaces” to switch or customize layouts, such as the “Logging” and “Rough Cut” preset workspaces.

2. Complete Workflow: From Creating a Project to Exporting

1. Create or Open a Project

Location: Menu bar > “File”.
Steps:

• New Project: Click “File” > “New” > “Project…” (shortcut Cmd+Shift+N), enter a project name in the dialog, and choose a storage location.
• Open an Existing Project: Click “File” > “Open Project…” (shortcut Cmd+O) and select an existing Prelude project file (.plproj).

2. Ingesting and Importing Assets

Location: Menu bar > “File”, or drag assets directly into the “Project Panel”.
Steps:

• Ingest: This is one of Prelude’s core features. Click “File” > “Ingest” (shortcut Cmd+8). In the Ingest panel that opens:
  1. Click “Add Folder” or “Add File” to select source footage.
  2. Set the destination in “Target Location” where the footage will be copied or moved to.
  3. Under “Options”, you can configure whether to create proxy files, add watermarks, rename files, or add Transcode Settings.
  4. Click “Ingest” to begin automatic copying/transcoding and import into the project.
• Simple Import: Drag video/audio files directly from Finder into the “Project Panel”.

3. Logging and Marking Assets

Location: “Source Monitor” and “Logging Panel”.
Steps:

1. Double-click an asset in the “Project Panel” to open it in the “Source Monitor”.
2. Use the spacebar or J, K, L keys (J: reverse, K: pause, L: forward) to control playback and browse the footage.
3. Set In/Out Points: Press I at the start of the desired segment and O at the end.
4. Create a Subclip: After setting In/Out points, click the “Create Subclip” icon in the lower-right of the Source Monitor, or press Cmd+T. The subclip will appear independently in the Project Panel.
5. Add Markers: During playback, press M to add a marker at the playhead position. Double-click a marker to add comments.
6. Log Metadata: In the “Logging Panel” on the right, fill in descriptions, scene, shot, ratings (press Cmd+` (left of the number 1) to quickly toggle between “Good”, “Neutral”, and “Bad” ratings), and other information for the selected asset or subclip.

4. Building a Rough Cut Sequence

Location: “Project Panel” and “Rough Cut Timeline”.
Steps:

1. Create a Rough Cut: In the Project panel, right-click and select “New Rough Cut,” or click “File” > “New” > “Rough Cut.”
2. Add Media: Drag subclips or original clips from the Project panel directly onto the timeline, or select the media, set in and out points in the Source Monitor, and click the “Insert Media into Rough Cut” icon (or press the shortcut comma ,).
3. Edit the Rough Cut: On the timeline, use the Selection Tool (default, shortcut V) to drag clips and adjust their order, or use the Razor Tool (shortcut C) to cut clips. Press Delete to remove selected clips.

5. Send to Premiere Pro or Export

Location: Menu bar > “File.”
Specific Methods:

• Send to Premiere Pro: This is Prelude’s primary output. Select the rough cut sequence or media in the Project panel and click “File” > “Send to Adobe Premiere Pro.” You can choose to create a new sequence or add to an existing project. All metadata and clip structure will be fully transferred.
• Export as File: Select the rough cut sequence and click “File” > “Export” > “Rough Cut…”. In the dialog box, you can choose the export format (e.g., QuickTime), preset, output name, and location, then click “Export.”

III. Advanced Tips for Common Features

1. Batch Logging and Marking: Select multiple assets in the Project panel, then fill in information in the Log panel. All selected assets will be updated with the same metadata simultaneously, greatly improving efficiency.
2. Speech Transcription: For media containing dialogue, select it and click “File” > “Speech Transcription.” The software will automatically generate a text transcript and associate the text as comments to the corresponding timecodes, making it easy to quickly search dialogue content.
3. Quick Search and Filter: In the search box at the top of the Project panel, you can search using logged metadata (e.g., search for “Scene: SC1”). Combined with rating filters, you can quickly locate the best takes.
4. Customize Keyboard Shortcuts: Click “Prelude” > “Keyboard Shortcuts…” to modify shortcuts for any operation according to your personal preferences.
5. Create Rough Cuts Using Markers: After adding multiple markers to a clip, you can select all these markers, right-click, and choose “Create Subclips” to generate multiple subclips based on marker points at once, quickly breaking down long footage.

IV. Common Issues and Solutions

V. Adobe Prelude 2020 for Mac Keyboard Shortcuts Summary Table