User Guide Cancel

Source patching and track targeting

Search
  1. Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide
  2. Beta releases
    1. Beta Program Overview
    2. Premiere Pro Beta Home
  3. Getting started
    1. Get started with Adobe Premiere Pro
    2. What's new in Premiere Pro
    3. Best practices for updating Premiere Pro
    4. Keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro
    5. Accessibility in Premiere Pro
    6. Long Form and Episodic Workflow Guide
    7. Frequently asked questions
    8. Release Notes | Premiere Pro
  4. Hardware and operating system requirements
    1. Hardware recommendations
    2. System requirements
    3. GPU and GPU Driver requirements
    4. GPU Accelerated Rendering & Hardware Encoding/Decoding
  5. Creating projects
    1. Start a new project
    2. Open projects
    3. Move and delete projects
    4. Work with multiple open projects
    5. Work with Project Shortcuts
    6. Backward compatibility of Premiere Pro projects
    7. Open and edit Premiere Rush projects in Premiere Pro
    8. Best Practices: Create your own project templates
  6. Workspaces and workflows
    1. Workspaces
    2. FAQ | Import and export in Premiere Pro
    3. Working with Panels
    4. Windows touch and gesture controls
    5. Use Premiere Pro in a dual-monitor setup
  7. Capturing and importing
    1. Capturing
      1. Capturing and digitizing footage
      2. Capturing HD, DV, or HDV video
      3. Batch capturing and recapturing
      4. Setting up your system for HD, DV, or HDV capture
    2. Importing
      1. Transfer files
      2. Importing still images
      3. Importing digital audio
    3. Importing from Avid or Final Cut
      1. Importing AAF project files from Avid Media Composer
      2. Importing XML project files from Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X
    4. File formats
      1. Supported file formats
      2. Support for Blackmagic RAW
    5. Digitizing analog video
    6. Working with timecode
  8. Editing
    1. Edit video    
    2. Sequences
      1. Create and change sequences
      2. Change sequence settings
      3. Add clips to sequences
      4. Rearrange clips in a sequence
      5. Find, select, and group clips in a sequence
      6. Edit from sequences loaded into the Source Monitor
      7. Simplify sequences
      8. Rendering and previewing sequences
      9. Working with markers
      10. Source patching and track targeting
      11. Scene edit detection
    3. Video
      1. Create and play clips
      2. Trimming clips
      3. Synchronizing audio and video with Merge Clips
      4. Render and replace media
      5. Undo, history, and events
      6. Freeze and hold frames
      7. Working with aspect ratios
    4. Audio
      1. Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
      2. Audio Track Mixer
      3. Adjusting volume levels
      4. Edit, repair, and improve audio using Essential Sound panel
      5. Automatically duck audio
      6. Remix audio
      7. Monitor clip volume and pan using Audio Clip Mixer
      8. Audio balancing and panning
      9. Advanced Audio - Submixes, downmixing, and routing
      10. Audio effects and transitions
      11. Working with audio transitions
      12. Apply effects to audio
      13. Measure audio using the Loudness Radar effect
      14. Recording audio mixes
      15. Editing audio in the timeline
      16. Audio channel mapping in Premiere Pro
      17. Use Adobe Stock audio in Premiere Pro
    5. Advanced editing
      1. Multi-camera editing workflow
      2. Set up and use Head Mounted Display for immersive video in Premiere Pro
      3. Editing VR
    6. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Mix audio faster
      2. Best Practices: Editing efficiently
      3. Editing workflows for feature films
  9. Video Effects and Transitions
    1. Overview of video effects and transitions
    2. Effects
      1. Types of effects in Premiere Pro
      2. Apply and remove effects
      3. Effect presets
      4. Automatically reframe video for different social media channels
      5. Color correction effects
      6. Change duration and speed of clips
      7. Adjustment Layers
      8. Stabilize footage
    3. Transitions
      1. Applying transitions in Premiere Pro
      2. Modifying and customizing transitions
      3. Morph Cut
  10. Titles, Graphics, and Captions    
    1. Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
    2. Titles
      1. Create a title
    3. Graphics
      1. Create a shape
      2. Draw with the Pen tool
      3. Align and distribute objects
      4. Change the appearance of text and shapes
      5. Apply gradients
      6. Add Responsive Design features to your graphics
      7. Install and use Motion Graphics templates
      8. Replace images or videos in Motion Graphics templates
      9. Use data-driven Motion Graphics templates
    4. Captions
      1. Speech to Text
      2. Download language packs for transcription
      3. Working with captions
      4. Check spelling and Find and Replace
      5. Export text
      6. Speech to Text in Premiere Pro | FAQ
    5. Best Practices: Faster graphics workflows
    6. Retiring the Legacy Titler in Premiere Pro | FAQ
    7. Upgrade Legacy titles to Source Graphics
  11. Animation and Keyframing
    1. Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes
    2. Animating effects
    3. Use Motion effect to edit and animate clips
    4. Optimize keyframe automation
    5. Moving and copying keyframes
    6. Viewing and adjusting effects and keyframes
  12. Compositing
    1. Compositing, alpha channels, and adjusting clip opacity
    2. Masking and tracking
    3. Blending modes
  13. Color Correction and Grading
    1. Overview: Color workflows in Premiere Pro
    2. Auto Color
    3. Get creative with color using Lumetri looks
    4. Adjust color using RGB and Hue Saturation Curves
    5. Correct and match colors between shots
    6. Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel
    7. Create vignettes
    8. Looks and LUTs
    9. Lumetri scopes
    10. Display Color Management
    11. Timeline tone mapping
    12. HDR for broadcasters
    13. Enable DirectX HDR support
  14. Exporting media
    1. Export video
    2. Export Preset Manager
    3. Workflow and overview for exporting
    4. Quick export
    5. Exporting for the Web and mobile devices
    6. Export a still image
    7. Exporting projects for other applications
    8. Exporting OMF files for Pro Tools
    9. Export to Panasonic P2 format
    10. Export settings
      1. Export settings reference
      2. Basic Video Settings
      3. Encoding Settings
    11. Best Practices: Export faster
  15. Collaboration: Frame.io, Productions, and Team Projects
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro
    2. Frame.io
      1. Install and activate Frame.io
      2. Use Frame.io with Premiere Pro and After Effects
      3. Integrate Adobe Workfront and Frame.io
      4. Frequently asked questions
    3. Productions
      1. Using Productions
      2. How clips work across projects in a Production
      3. Best Practices: Working with Productions
    4. Team Projects
      1. Get started with Team Projects
      2. Create a Team Project
      3. Add and manage media in Team Projects
      4. Invite and manage collaborators in a team project
      5. Share and manage changes with collaborators
      6. View auto-saves and versions of Team Projects
      7. Archive, restore, or delete Team Projects
  16. Working with other Adobe applications
    1. After Effects and Photoshop
    2. Dynamic Link
    3. Audition
    4. Prelude
  17. Organizing and Managing Assets
    1. Working in the Project panel
    2. Organize assets in the Project panel
    3. Playing assets
    4. Search assets
    5. Creative Cloud Libraries
    6. Sync Settings in Premiere Pro
    7. Consolidate, transcode, and archive projects
    8. Managing metadata
    9. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Learning from broadcast production
      2. Best Practices: Working with native formats
  18. Improving Performance and Troubleshooting
    1. Set preferences
    2. Reset and restore preferences
    3. Working with Proxies
      1. Proxy overview
      2. Ingest and Proxy Workflow
    4. Check if your system is compatible with Premiere Pro
    5. Premiere Pro for Apple silicon
    6. Eliminate flicker
    7. Interlacing and field order
    8. Smart rendering
    9. Control surface support
    10. Best Practices: Working with native formats
    11. Knowledge Base
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
      3. Fix Premiere Pro crash issues
      4. Unable to migrate settings after updating Premiere Pro
      5. Green and pink video in Premiere Pro or Premiere Rush
      6. How do I manage the Media Cache in Premiere Pro?
      7. Fix errors when rendering or exporting
      8. Troubleshoot issues related to playback and performance in Premiere Pro
  19. Extensions and plugins
    1. Installing plugins and extensions in Premiere Pro
    2. Latest plugins from third-party developers
  20. Monitoring Assets and Offline Media
    1. Monitoring assets
      1. Using the Source Monitor and Program Monitor
      2. Using the Reference Monitor
    2. Offline media
      1. Working with offline clips
      2. Creating clips for offline editing
      3. Relinking offline medInstia

Learn how to use source patching and track targeting to take your editing skills to the next level.

Source patching improves versatility and allows you to edit your clips precisely. The source clips are available in the project panel. You can move it to the timeline by dragging it or using keyboard shortcuts. Source patching affects where and on which track a clip is placed in the timeline from the Source Panel.

Track targeting controls clips available in the video and audio tracks in Adobe Premiere Pro. Every track on the timeline has a number. To target a track, click its number. Targeted tracks are highlighted with a blue color. You can edit multiple tracks at once. 

Source Patching and Track Targeting
Source Patching and Track Targeting

A. Source Patching  B. Track Targeting 

Source patching

Source Patcher is used for clips from the Source monitor or Source panel. Premiere Pro lets you use source patcher presets (Insert and Overwrite) to control insert and overwrite operations on your clips. This feature simplifies the editing workflow without removing your ability to overwrite an empty gap. You can also find the Insert and Overwrite options on the Source Monitor.

  1. Mark the Mark In   and  Mark Out  points in the Source Monitor. Select In and Out from the Source panel bar after selecting the In and Out points. You can also use the 'I' and 'O" keys to do this.

  2. Select Insert    from the Source Monitor and select the desired track to insert the source clip. You can use also a comma (,) to insert a clip and create space for it in the timeline.

    Adding a clip to the sequence using an Insert edit requires any clips later in time to shift ahead to accommodate the new clip. Press Ctrl (Win) or Command (macOS) to enter Insert mode while dragging a clip.

    The Overwrite and Insert options in the Source Monitor
    The Insert and Overwrite options in the Source Monitor.

    A. Insert B. Overwrite 

  3. Select Overwrite   from the Source Monitor and select the desired track to overwrite the clip. You can use a period (.) to overwrite a clip.

    An Overwrite edit adds a clip by replacing existing frames in a sequence that extends from the edit point for the clip's duration. When adding clips to sequences or rearranging clips inside sequences, the Overwrite approach is the default.

source patchers and source track indicators

Source patchers have three states: On, Off, Black/Silent. One patch is displayed for each video and audio track for the item in the Source Monitor.

When an item is in the On state, the corresponding track is included in an edit operation.

When the track is in the Off state, edit changes are not reflected in the track.

When the track is in the Black/Silent state, a gap appears on the track instead of placing the source material.

Track targeting

The timeline in Premiere Pro is organized in a hierarchy. This may impact how items are pasted when using specific keyboard shortcuts and how items are chosen, for example, when marking clips.

  1. Copy the sequence/clip.

  2. Select the track that you want to target and use the Paste Insert command.

  3. To select and target multiple source or target tracks, press Cmd, or Ctrl as you drag-and-drop the cursor across multiple track buttons on the timeline.

    To invert the selection, press Cmd + Shift or Ctrl + Shift while dragging. 

Copy/Paste, Match Frame, and Navigation

Track Targeting controls Copy/Paste, Match Frame, and Navigation commands. 

Copy/Paste

When you copy and paste an asset on the Timeline, the asset is pasted on the lowest track targeted based on the layer order. For example, if you have video tracks one and four targeted, your content will paste to track one.

Match Frame

For the Match Frame command (keyboard shortcut F), Adobe Premiere Pro matches the Adobe Premiere Clip's frame on the highest track targeted. For example, if you have clips on video tracks one, two, and four, and only track two is targeted, Adobe Premiere Pro will Match Frame the Adobe Premiere Clip on track two. 

Navigation

You can also use the navigation keyboard shortcuts with targeted tasks. 

Toggle Track Output, Toggle Sync Lock, and Toggle Track Lock

Toggle Track Output

To disable a track, select the Toggle Track Output button in the track header (you'll see a slash over the eye icon). The track is disabled, and it disappears from the Program Monitor.

Toggle Sync Lock

Sync locks allow you to lock certain tracks together to keep them in sync.

Toggle Track Lock

Completely locks the track. You can no longer make any edits to this track.

Toggle Track Targeting

Manages the clips accessible in Adobe Premiere Pro's video and audio tracks. Each track on the timeline has a unique number. Select a track number to choose it.

Keyboard shortcuts

Use these keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflow. You can also set keyboard shortcuts for actions, such as Paste to Same Track, Paste Insert to Same Track, Paste to Target Track, Paste Insert to Target Track.

 When copying and pasting assets in a timeline, Adobe Premiere Pro defaults to pasting items to the same track. If you want Adobe Premiere Pro to paste according to track targeting:

  1. On Win: Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. On macOS: Adobe Premiere Pro > Keyboard Shortcuts.
  2. In the Commands drop-down list, go to Timeline Panel.
  3. In the Paste to Same Track section, delete the shortcut assigned.
  4. Reassign the shortcut to Paste To Target Track.
  5. Click OK, then close the dialog box.

Watch the videos

Viewing time: 54 seconds

Viewing time: 1 min

Related resources

Talk to us

If you have questions about source patching or track targeting, reach out to us in our Premiere Pro community. We would love to help.

Adobe logo

Sign in to your account

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy