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Premiere Pro

Welcome to creative.space! This carefully curated guide covers everything you need to know to get started and master your workflow with shared storage and Premiere Pro. From accessing files to delivering your final product, this guide serves as your roadmap to a seamless workflow.

Don’t have time? Here’s the bare minimum you need to know to get started:

1. Connect to Spaces: Install our Desktop App and mount shared spaces to your OS to access it in Premiere Pro.
2. Organize with Templates: Easily generate folder structures with custom variables, permissions, and even Premiere Pro projects.
3. Centralize Media Assets: Store everything in one place that everyone has access to with the same file paths.
4. Optimize for Remote Access: Generate proxies based on your weakest internet connection or utilize remote desktop.
5. Collaborate in Premiere Pro: Leverage project locking and adobe productions for multi-user collaboration.

Connect to Shared Spaces

Connecting to a creative.space system provides access to shared storage spaces, allowing you to centralize all your production data and collaborate with your team.

Select the option that best describes your needs to get started:

Leverage the creative.space desktop and web apps to manage media, collaborate on projects, and maintain an efficient workflow.

Desktop

Jump right into your creative projects with the creative.space desktop app.

The creative.space Desktop App provides direct access to your stored media and projects, facilitating a smooth workflow within Premiere Pro.

• Real-Time File Access: Mount spaces to your OS for access in Finder/File Explorer and Premiere Pro.
• Transfer Folders and Files: Drag and drop upload and multi-select download for both folders and files without the need to zip or use the cloud as a middle-man.
• Shared Projects: Collaborate on Premiere Pro and After Effects projects from a single, accessible location, eliminating the hassle of managing multiple versions across collaborators.

For day-to-day users, connecting through the desktop app and mounting Spaces is the extent of their user experience.

Mounted Spaces are set to auto-mount by default. So, everything should be connected after logging in, letting you jump right into Premiere Pro.

Network Connectivity

In order to access the creative.space NAS, you need to have a network connection.

Web

You also have the option of accessing creative.space from any modern web browser. This can become an essential tool for collaboration and media management within your Premiere Pro workflows.

• Link Sharing: Share and manage Premiere Pro projects and media with team members.
• Media Management: Organize, tag, and transfer your media assets and Premiere Pro projects.
• Launch on Desktop: Trigger files to open on your desktop in their default app, including Premiere Pro and After Effects projects.

Organize with Templates

Easily generate folder structures with custom variables, permissions, and even Premiere Pro projects.

Templates are an easy and bulletproof way to set up your projects the right way every time.

A folder-based organization system is unavoidable for storing and managing media files. We've all been there. You save an empty copy of the folder structure you use for each project, which you duplicate and rename every time. Folder structure templates simplify and automate this process, allowing you to save this structure once with custom variables and permissions that can be applied by filling out a form.

Templates make staying organized effortless. When you're in your creative flow, the last thing you want to worry about is organization. Templates ensure that project folders are always created with the correct naming convention, structure, and permissions.

Learn how you can turn your existing folder structure into a template that can be reused for every project.

Templates for Premiere Pro

Do you have a specific bin structure you like to use? Are there titles or other assets that you end up using on all of your projects? By adding a Premiere Project file or an entire Production to a Folder Structure Template, you can start with this ready to go.

Premiere Pro Projects

Creating a template for a Premiere Pro Project is easy. All you have to do is set up the bin structure you want, save your project, and then add at least one variable to the project file name. When the template is applied, the project will be duplicated and renamed for you to start working from.

Premiere Pro Productions

For Productions, there is an additional step compared to Projects. Inside the Production folder will be a ‘.prodset’ file. Make sure that the name of the folder and this file are identical, including any custom variables.

Be sure that all the permissions are identical for the Production folder and the files within by toggling on the ‘Recursive’ option.

Centralize Media Assets

Store everything in one place that everyone has access to with the same file paths.

Spaces are a versatile, easy way to store and share your content. Once you are granted access to one and have created a directory for your project, it’s time to put everything in once place.

What makes Spaces unique to other storage solutions is that you are able to interact with the media assets stored in them using multiple interfaces that would typically require replicating data across direct-attached (DAS), network-attached (DAS), and cloud storage.

creative.space provides many ways to access and transfer data to spaces:

Desktop

• Operating System (OS): Mount Spaces to your desktop using SMB, AFP (Time Machine only), or NFS and interact with them like any other volume in Finder or File Explorer. ✅ Ideal transfer method for local users with high-bandwidth ethernet connections. ❌ Slowest method for remote users, due to high latency.
• Desktop App: Our application simplifies mounting and is also a file browser, which can be used to transfer folders and files (HTTPS). ✅ Ideal transfer method for remote users with high latency. ❌ Can be slower than other methods for local connections.
• FTP: Activate our built-in FTP service and access your Spaces with your LDAP credentials using any FTP client. We recommend using ZeroTier for secure remote access and performance acceleration. ✅ Fast and provides option to resume failed transfers and some apps include syncing automation. ❌ Can be confusing for users without prior experience with FTP.

Web

• File Browser: Every Space, folder, and file has a URL with a custom .local address for your node that allows you to bookmark in your browser of choice and share links. ✅ Best option for uploading/downloading single files with users who don’t have the desktop app installed. ❌ Only supports file upload/download, so you may need to zip/unzip.
• Ingest: Copy from read-only USB, SMB, and FTP connection using a dedicated interface that also supports previews, metadata, downloading, and link sharing. ✅ Ideal transfer method for ingest from network servers, supported capture devices, and USB devices. ❌ SMB for ingest may be slower than other methods, so contact your support rep to assist with large transfers.
• Snapshots: Scheduled backups that protect modified and deleted data with so they can be browsed and restored or automatically expired off the system.

Learn more about Spaces and how to Ingest with creative.space.

Premiere Pro Ingest

This feature only work for stand-alone Premiere Pro projects, not Productions, but there is an option to automatically copy and even generate proxies for all files imported into a Premiere Pro project, turning Premiere into the mechanism for centralizing assets.

With creative.space, Premiere Pro’s Ingest feature can be set up to transfer assets via SMB to the destination of your choice. ✅ This method works well for local users with high-bandwidth ethernet connections. ❌ Too slow for remote users, due to high latency.

Enabling Ingest Settings in the Media Browser

1. Accessing Ingest Settings: In the Media Browser panel, locate the ingest checkbox. This checkbox toggles the automatic ingest feature on or off. For more detailed settings, click the settings button next to it to open the Project Settings dialog box. The ingest checkbox in the Project Settings dialog is synchronized with the Media Browser panel’s setting, ensuring consistency across the interface.

2. Choosing an Operation: Upon enabling ingest, select one of the following operations to start automatically when files are imported:
• Copy: Transfers the media to a new location as-is. This is commonly used for moving footage from removable media to a local drive. The path for the transfer is specified by the Primary Destination in Ingest Settings. ✅ This is the method to use for ingesting to a shared space.
• Transcode: Converts media to a new format and location. This is typically for transcoding original camera footage to a specific format used by a post-production facility.
• Create Proxies: Generates lower-resolution clips for smoother editing performance, with the ability to revert to the full-resolution files for final output.
• Copy and Create Proxies: Performs both copying and proxy creation simultaneously. ✅ Use this method if you also need proxies for remote editing.
3. Choose a Destination - There are multiple destination options to choose from:
• Same as Project - Stored files in the same directory as the project file. This option is the most versatile, since it works will with both folder structure templates and launch on desktop.
• Use Preset Destination - Lets you pre-determine a path for ingest as part of a preset (created in Media Encoder). This option can also be used with folder structure templates if you want to store media in the same place across different projects.
• Choose Location - Pick where to ingest files manually, which can be the media folder specific to that project. Just like the previous option, this can be used with folder structure templates if you want to store media in the same place across different projects. Otherwise, you will have to manually choose the right location for every project.

Set Up Ingest During Project Creation

When you create new project, or at any time by going to the ‘Import’ tab in the top left next to the ‘Home’ button, there is an option to ‘Copy media’. The options are the same for copying as the ‘Ingest Settings’.

Ingest Preset Creation in Adobe Media Encoder

Adobe did not make the process of creating ingest presets intuitive. It actually requires completing tasks across both Premiere Pro and another application, Adobe Media Encoder.

1. Start Adobe Media Encoder: Launch the program and optionally create a new preset with your desired output settings.
2. Create Ingest Preset: In the Preset Browser, click the plus sign (+) and select 'Create Ingest Preset' or navigate through Preset > Create Ingest Preset.

3. Customize Your Preset: Name your preset and add comments if needed. Choose to copy ingested footage to a new location, or transcode files to a different format and destination. Select the appropriate options based on your workflow requirements:

1. Preset Name - This is the name that will appear when selecting the preset, so make sure it provides the proper context for when it should be used.
2. Copy files to Destination - Only use this when you plan to use the ‘Use Preset Destination’ option in the ‘Ingest Settings’. Otherwise, this setting will be ignored.
3. Transcode files to Destination - This is where you can add a custom encoding preset and destination for transcoding and/or proxy generation. Create this preset in Media Encoder.
4. File Metadata - Create presets with custom metadata fields to apply to all ingested clips.

5. File Rename - Create presets with variables and custom text that rename files as part of the ingest process. We do NOT recommend renaming source media from their original capture names.

4. Finalize and Export: After setting up your preset, click OK to save it. To use it in Premiere Pro, export the preset by right-clicking it in the Adobe Media Encoder Preset Browser and selecting 'Export Preset'.

Additional Tips for Effective Ingest Workflow

• Compatibility: Ensure your proxy presets are compatible with your source frame sizes. For unique frame sizes, create your own ingest preset with proportionate frame dimensions in Adobe Media Encoder.
• Organization: Maintain a clear folder structure for your source files, especially when ingesting directly from camera cards.
• Monitor Progress: During 'Copy and Create Proxies' operations, monitor the progress panel closely to ensure all processes are completed before disconnecting your source media.
• File Metadata and Renaming: You can add metadata to files during transcoding or proxy creation, and rename files on ingestion. Remember, these presets are stored on disk, so you'll need to move them to a new computer if required.

Optimize for Remote Collaboration

If you need to collaborate with people outside of your local network, then this section covers everything you need to know.

With creative.space, there is more than one way to collaborate with remote team members:

1. Remote Desktop - Provides the most seamless editing experience by leveraging high-performance screen sharing solutions like Parsec, HP Anyware (formerly Teradici), or the new and improved color-accurate screen sharing in MacOS Sonoma.
2. Remote Mounting - Identical user experience with the creative.space desktop and web app but with remote SMB access provided by a VPN, with performance limited by your internet bandwidth.
3. Transfer via VPN - Exchanges folder and files with your collaborators without a cloud service by using the creative.space web and/or desktop app’s upload and download features.

Remote Access through a VPN

To protect and ensure the security of your media assets, we do not recommend making your creative.space node directly accessible over the internet. Instead, you should use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to extend your local area network (LAN) to remove users.

In general, any VPN should work with creative.space as long as it has been properly configured to route traffic to and from the node. However, we’ve built custom integrations for two solutions: Fortinet and ZeroTier.

Fortinet provides a wide range of enterprise-level VPN hardware solutions. We’ve integrated our access control system so that you can use your creative.space user credentials Fortinet to authenticate access.

ZeroTier provides an affordable high-performance software-only VPN solution. We’ve deeply integrated ZeroTier into both our desktop and web apps to streamline the process of managing and connecting to virtual networks. Check out our onboarding page for a walkthrough of how to get connected remotely with ZeroTier.

Remote Desktop

The most secure and high-performance way to collaborate remotely is to access an on-site workstation through screen sharing software over the internet. Video editing demands color-accuracy and low latency for frame-accurate playback, so an enterprise-level solution is required such as Parsec, HP Anyware (formerly Teradici), or the new and improved color-accurate screen sharing in MacOS Sonoma.

Remote Mounting

Once you’ve connected with ZeroTier to a node via the desktop app, you can use the creative.space desktop and web apps just like you would locally. The only exception is that your bandwidth will be limited by the weakest link in your chain from the server to your remote workstation.

The creative.space team has tested editing ProRes UHD (24p) via remote mounting with ZeroTier between two locations in Atlanta, GA that each have 1 GbE AT&T residential fiber. We were able to cut multiple streams in real-time in Premiere Pro. Your results may vary depending on location and internet provider.

If you are not experiencing real-time playback, we recommend mounting the space remotely and running a disk speed test, such as the ones from Blackmagic, AJA, or ATTO. This will give you a close approximation of the performance you are getting through SMB over the VPN, which gives you the target bandwidth to use generating optimized proxies.

Understanding Proxies

In the world of remote editing and bandwidth limitations, proxy workflows are a game-changer. Let’s explore how you can implement these to optimize your Premiere Pro projects for remote access with creative.space.

The Why and How: Proxy workflows allow you to work with lower-resolution versions of your footage, which are lighter on bandwidth and system resources. This is particularly beneficial for remote editing or when dealing with high-resolution formats. In Premiere Pro proxies are attached as a secondary path referenced by each of your clips, allowing on-site editors to work with the source while remote users view the low-bandwidth proxy.

Automatic Proxy Creation: You can automate the creation of proxies as you import media into Premiere Pro, ensuring a smooth and efficient editing experience.

Choosing a Proxy Preset

Proxy presets only support one type of matching, either ‘Resolution’ or ‘Frame Rate’.

All of the default presets will match the frame rate of the source clips and scale to a fixed ‘Resolution’:

• Low Resolution - 1024×540
• Medium Resolution - 1280×720
• High Resolution - 1536×790

Don’t worry about the aspect ratio not matching. Proxy mode will automatically scale/crop the proxy so that size settings will be identical between source and proxy.

You have two ‘Format’ options: H.264 and Quicktime.

• H.264 - Highly compressed and ideal for when you have extremely low bandwidth available, i.e. under 25 mbps. When you create custom presets, you can set an exact target bandwidth optimized for your connection. Applying effects to H.264 proxies may introduce performance issues, since the CPU is generating frames for playback.

• Quicktime - ProRes and DNxHR codecs, which are the better choice when your available bandwidth supports it. Every frame is stored in the file, so you effects won’t affect playback like they do with H.264. However, target bandwidth is fixed so the only way to control bandwidth is to change the resolution or the flavor of codec (i.e. ProRes Proxy vs 422 HQ).

Create a Proxy Preset

If the default proxy presets don’t work for your needs, you can create your own using Adobe Media Encoder:

1. Open Adobe Media Encoder - Start by launching Adobe Media Encoder. You can do this either directly or through Adobe Premiere Pro by going to File > Export > Media.
2. Create a New Preset - In the Media Encoder, go to the Preset Browser. Right-click in the preset area and choose Create Encoding Preset. This will open a new window where you can define your proxy settings.
3. Set Format and Preset
• Format: Select a format for your proxy files. A common format is H.264 for its balance between quality and file size. Check out which formats are supported by Adobe for proxies.
• Preset: You can start with an existing preset similar to what you need and modify it, or start from scratch.
4. Video Settings
• Resolution: Set a lower resolution for your proxy files. For instance, if your original footage is in 4K, you might choose a proxy resolution like 1280x720.
ℹ️
Here are the resolutions used by the default presets:
• Low Resolution - 1024×540
• Medium Resolution - 1280×720
• High Resolution - 1536×790
🛑

IMPORTANT

When making proxy presets, you can either match the frame size or the frame rate. If both are set to Match Source, Premiere Pro won’t recognize that preset as a proxy preset. Instead, it will be categorized as a Transcode preset. If either the frame size or the frame rate is not set to Match Source, then the preset is categorized as a proxy preset.

• Bitrate Settings: Adjust the bitrate to a lower value to decrease file size, which helps in smoother playback during editing.
• Frame Rate: It’s crucial to keep the frame rate the same as your original footage to ensure proper syncing during editing.
5. Ensuring Full Frame Utilization - Under 'Scaling' (located below the preview image), select 'Stretch to Fill.' This setting ensures the proxy matches all aspect ratios and eliminates black bars in your footage.
ℹ️

Creating a Vertical Video Preset

The 'Stretch to Fill' option is particularly beneficial for accommodating various frame sizes in vertical videos. For instance, setting the width to 720 might auto-adjust the height to 1280.

6. Incorporating a Custom Watermark (Optional)
• To add a personal watermark, tick the 'Image Overlay' box under 'Effects.'
• Choose your watermark image and position it as desired. Note that the preset stores only the file path to the image, not the image itself. Hence, altering the location or deleting the image file post-creation will result in the watermark not being applied. Store your watermark in a shared space that all your users have access to.
7. Audio Settings - You can typically leave the audio settings at their default since audio files are not as demanding on system resources.
8. Naming Your Preset - Give your preset a descriptive name, so you can easily identify it later. For instance, “1080p ProRes Proxy” or “720p H.264 Lightweight”.
9. Save Your Preset - After setting everything up, click OK to save your new preset.
10. Create an Ingest Preset with the Encoding Preset
• In Media Encoder, go to the Preset Browser. Right-click in the preset area and choose Create Ingest Preset. This will open a new window where you can define your Ingest settings.

• Check Transcode files to Destination, select your Format and Preset, and click Ok.

• Right click on the new preset that was just created and select Export Presets…. Name the .epr file and choose a destination for it.

11. Applying Proxy Presets in Premiere Pro
• In Premiere Pro, go to your Project Panel, right-click on your imported footage, and select Proxy > Create Proxies.
• The Create Proxies dialog will open. Here, choose Add Ingest Preset and select the preset you created in Adobe Media Encoder.
• Choose the destination for your proxy files and click OK. Adobe Media Encoder will open and start creating the proxy files.
• Once the proxies are created, Premiere Pro will automatically link them to your high-resolution footage.
12. Toggle Proxies In Premiere Pro, you can easily switch between your proxy and full-resolution footage by clicking the Toggle Proxies button in the Program Monitor. If this button is not visible, you can add it by clicking the Button Editor (a plus sign) and dragging the Toggle Proxies button to your toolbar.

Creating your own Proxy Preset in Adobe Media Encoder and using it in your editing workflow can significantly improve performance, especially when working on less powerful systems or with very high-resolution footage. It streamlines your editing process, making it faster and more efficient, without compromising the quality of your final output.

Potential Issues with Proxies

Working with proxies in Adobe Premiere Pro can significantly streamline your editing workflow, especially when dealing with high-resolution footage. However, there are certain limitations and potential issues you should be aware of when using proxy workflows. Here's a detailed breakdown of the potential issues and how you can navigate or mitigate them:

1. Format and Frame Rate Limitations - Premiere Pro proxy workflows don't support a few formats. Check Adobe's online help for a list of supported formats.
• The frame rate, fielding, duration, and audio channels of the original clip must match those of the proxy clip.
• Proxies with different frame sizes are allowed if they are divisible by the original clip size (e.g., a 1920x1080 1.0 original can have a 960x540 1.0 PAR proxy).
• Mismatched video parameters, including frame size not divisible by the original clip size, are not blocked but can result in issues later.
2. Audio Channel Matching - The audio channels of the proxy and the original clip must match.
• You might encounter a warning dialog for mismatched audio channels, but other mismatched video parameters are not explicitly blocked.
• While you can often use the Modify -> Audio Channels option for proxies made in Premiere Pro, issues arise if the audio channels do not match the original file, preventing you from attaching or relinking the proxy file.
• H.264 proxies created with Premiere Pro/Adobe Media Encoder only support two audio channels, so creating them from a file with more than two audio channels will trigger a warning.
3. Variable or Non-standard Frame Rate Issues - Smartphones and some cameras can produce VFR (variable frame rate) footage or record non-standard frame rates. Premiere Pro can play VFR footage, but neither Premiere Pro nor Adobe Media Encoder can create QuickTime VFR footage or non-standard frame rates. QuickTime proxies created from VFR or non-standard clips can lead to sluggish playback and scrubbing due to frame rate mismatches.
4. Proxies for Files with Embedded Captions - You cannot attach proxies to media with embedded captions, and proxy creation is also disabled for such footage.
5. Transforms, Time Remapping, and Interpret Footage
• Transforms and Speed Ramps (Time Remapping) work well with proxy workflows, contrary to what some believe.
• As of version 22.6 of Premiere Pro, most warnings against using the Modify -> Interpret Footage -> Frame Rate option are outdated. This option is now supported for proxy workflows within Premiere Pro.
6. Unsupported Features
• Some features are still unsupported in proxy workflows. For example, proxies are not recommended for clips with modified timecodes.
• The proxy workflow does not support interchange options like Project Manager, Render and Replace, AAF, Final Cut Pro XML, EDL, OMF, etc. After Effects and Audition interoperability functions are also not currently supported with the proxy workflow.
7. Workarounds and Solutions
• For VFR footage, consider transcoding the file to ProRes 422 for a constant frame rate, interpreting the footage to match the frame rate of the proxy, or using H.264 instead of QuickTime for proxies.
• Setting the footage frame rate (Modify -> Interpret Footage) to the same frame rate as the proxies can fix frame rate issues. This can be done before or after proxy creation and attachment.
• For files with embedded captions or unsupported features, understand that you won't be able to use proxies effectively.
• Be cautious when changing audio channels or timecodes, as this can disrupt the proxy workflow.

By being aware of these potential issues and understanding the workarounds, you can effectively navigate the proxy workflow in Premiere Pro and maintain a smooth editing process.

Centralize, Optimize, Localize

Remote desktop, mounting, and transfers are all available and can be combined to create a flexible and powerful remove collaboration solution:

• Centralize - Use one of the various centralization methods outlined earlier in this guide.
• Optimize - Generate proxies based on your available bandwidth based on the methods outlined earlier.
• Start Editing Right Away - Once proxies are generated, remote editors can begin working immediately, regardless of their location or bandwidth limitations. No need to wait for anything to download.
• Localize As Needed - While proxies are great for initial edits, but there are times when you need the high-resolution files. Use the desktop app to transfer files and even entire folders overnight, so you can switch from proxy to source files in the morning.
• Seamless Syncing with Third-Party Apps - creative.space’s built-in FTP access allows you to use third-party apps that support syncing. This feature can be a lifeline for keeping your local and remote assets in sync. Just use the same IP address, username, and password you normally connect to creative.space with.

Collaboration with Premiere Pro and creative.space

Get the most out of Premiere Pro with shared storage by following these tips and tricks.

Cache to a Local SSD

While shared media storage is a major plus, Adobe recommends keeping your Media Cache Files and Media Cache Database on the system boot drive or on a separate fast SSD attached to each workstation. So, remember not to place these on shared storage.

To optimize Premiere Pro for creative.space, you need to check your current cache location. On Windows, navigate to Edit -> Preferences -> Media Cache. For MacOS, go to Premiere Pro -> Preferences -> Media Cache.

And remember, don't let those cache files pile up too high - regularly clear them out to keep your drive healthy and ensure peak performance. This small adjustment can make a world of difference in how efficiently you and your team can work, especially in a shared environment.

‍Enable Project Locking

Project Locking ensures that while multiple users can open the same project, only one user can make changes at a time, locking the project for others. This prevents overwriting of edits, ensuring that everyone's hard work is preserved and that different versions don’t clash in a messy tango.

Here’s how it works in Premiere Pro on creative.space:

1. Go to your Premiere Pro settings or preferences. On Windows, head over to Edit, then Preferences, and then Collaboration. If you're using a Mac, go to Premiere Pro, then Preferences, and finally, Collaboration.
2. Check the 'Enable Project Locking' option and remember to put your name in the 'User Name' field. This way, when you're working on a project, your teammates will see that you're the maestro conducting the editing symphony.

3. As soon as you open a project, it's locked for you, and other users see it as read-only. It’s as if you've drawn an invisible boundary around your creative space, keeping your project secure while you work your magic.

With Project Locking enabled, your team members can still access the project in read-only mode. They can explore, but they can't meddle with the masterpiece you're working on. Once you've finished your edits, just close the project, and it's unlocked for others to dive in and contribute their part.

Think of it as passing the baton in a relay race - seamless, organized, and fair. Every collaborator gets their chance to shine, knowing they're contributing to a harmonious end product.

Manage Project Files with creative.space

Have you ever spent hours searching for the latest version of a project file in a sea of emails or a maze of folders? Perhaps you've experienced that sinking feeling of realizing you've been working on an outdated version of a project file. Let's wave goodbye to those headaches and say hello to seamless project management with creative.space.

With creative.space, you're not just getting a storage solution, but a powerful sharing tool. The beauty of this system lies in the combination of the link sharing and launch on desktop features. This allows you to share links to project files stored in shared spaces, making accessing project files as easy as opening a link and clicking a button.

Here's how it works:

1. Store your project files in the creative.space shared spaces.
2. Use the creative.space web app to share links to these files. You can share these links via email, chat, or any other communication tool you use with your team. This eliminates the confusion of multiple versions of the same file circulating among your team members.
3. By clicking the Launch on Desktop button, the project file opens directly in Premiere Pro on your workstation. Start working immediately, no time wasted on finding or downloading files.

Remember, these aren't just static links. Any updates made to the project file are reflected in real-time. So your team always has the latest version at their fingertips, eliminating versioning chaos and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

By managing project files with creative.space, you're not only enhancing your Premiere Pro workflow but creating a well-oiled machine where everyone has access to what they need when they need it.

Leverage Productions for Multi-User Collaboration

Have you ever been part of a team working on a big project, with everyone trying to edit the same project file? You're constantly waiting for your turn to access the file, causing frustration, delays, and a whole lot of inefficiency.

This is where the Productions feature in Adobe Premiere Pro comes to the rescue! Essentially, a Production is a parent folder that houses multiple Premiere Pro project files, all sharing the same settings. This setup allows sequences in different projects to reference the same media files without creating any duplicates – significantly decluttering your workspace and streamlining your workflows.

Setting up a Production is as simple as selecting File > New > Production and designating your creative.space server as the storage path. Now you have a collaborative hub where multiple project files can live together in perfect harmony.

Productions are flexible by design. They allow you to break down large projects into smaller, more manageable parts, improving load times and speeding up the saving process. You can also organize the projects in folders. When you save your Production on a local or shared storage system like creative.space, you and your team can work without the need for a constant internet connection or a specific Creative Cloud license.

While Productions is highly customizable and you should definitely tailor it to your team's unique needs, there are some tried-and-true methods we've seen that really boost efficiency and foster a harmonious collaborative environment:=.

We suggest creating folders for managing two primary types of projects within your Production - 'Media projects' and 'Sequence projects':

• Media Projects - Where all media assets like raw footage, audio files, graphics, and more reside. This structure allows every team member to draw from the same, avoiding confusion over asset versions or unnecessary duplication of files. After media prep, these projects can even stay locked.
• Sequence Projects - Individual workspaces for each editor. This is where collaborators construct sequences, make edits, and flex their creative muscles. These projects tap into the resources stored in the Media projects, but they don't need to house any of the media themselves. This means less clutter, less confusion, and a more streamlined editing process.

One of the great benefits of separating 'Media projects' and 'Sequence projects' lies in how Adobe's project locking mechanism functions. When an editor is working on their sequence within their dedicated 'Sequence project', that project is locked to other users, preventing any accidental overwrites or changes. However, the beauty is that these 'locked' projects can still be accessed by other team members in a read-only mode.

This allows your collaborators to seamlessly pull sequences and content from other 'Sequence projects' into their own workspace without disturbing the original. It's like being able to borrow the best parts of your teammate's toolkit without ever risking misplacing or damaging their tools.

Now, you might be wondering - "What if I need to access media from 'Media projects', but I don't want to open those massive project files?" Enter the role of 'Selects'. In the world of post-production, 'Selects' are sequences that contain chosen shots or clips deemed useful or noteworthy.

Think of 'Selects' as the highlights reel of your 'Media projects'. Whoever prepares the media can create a ‘Selects’ sequence for each 'Media project' as a quick and easy way to share assets. Team members can then pull these 'Selects' sequences into their project, avoiding the need to open the entire ‘Media project’. This saves time, preserves system resources, and keeps the editing process running smoothly. This way, your team can focus on what they do best - creating stunning content.

Remember, these are just recommendations. The strength of Productions lies in its flexibility and its capacity to adapt to your needs. So, feel free to shuffle, rearrange, and organize your projects in a way that suits your team best. The goal is seamless, efficient collaboration. With the power of Productions and creative.space, you hold the key to unlock this potential.

Use Background Auto-Save and Snapshots to Recover Old Project Versions

When it comes to version recovery, Adobe Premiere Pro's Background Auto Save feature and creative.space's ZFS Snapshots function in harmony to create an efficient, automated, and robust system. This ensures that you have the resources at hand to retrieve previous versions of your project, should the need arise.

Adobe Premiere Pro's Background Auto Save quietly operates in the background, making regular saves of your project without interrupting your workflow. You can set the frequency of auto-saves from once per minute to every 99 minutes. Each auto-save creates a backup copy of your project, which can be stored in a predefined Auto Save folder. You can also specify the maximum number of project versions to retain, with the upper limit set at 1000.

On the other hand, creative.space's ZFS Snapshots work slightly differently. A Snapshot, in this context, captures the exact state of your project at a particular point in time and preserves it. You can consider Snapshots as your project's time machine, enabling you to revisit the project as it existed at the time of the Snapshot. Navigating and recovering files from your Snapshots is made effortless using creative.space's Snapshot Browser.

To maximize the benefits of these features, we recommend setting your Background Auto Save to save every minute and retain 60 versions. This ensures that you have a backup of your project at every minute for the last hour.

To maximize the benefits of these features, we recommend setting your Background Auto Save to save every minute and retain 60 versions. This ensures that you have a backup of your project at every minute for the last hour:

1. Open Adobe Premiere Pro and load your project.
2. Go to the menu bar at the top. If you're using Windows, click on Edit, then select Preferences from the dropdown menu. If you're using MacOS, click on Premiere Pro, then select Preferences from the dropdown menu.
3. From the list on the left side, select Auto Save.
4. In the Auto Save window, you'll see options to adjust the frequency of auto saves and the maximum number of versions to keep.
5. Set Automatically Save Every to 1 minute. This will ensure that a version of your project is saved every minute.
6. Set Maximum Project Versions to 60. This will retain the last 60 versions of your project, covering an hour of work if your project is auto-saving every minute.
7. Make sure Auto Save also saves the current project(s) is checked. This will ensure that in addition to creating a new backup, your current project file also gets saved during an auto-save.

8. Review the location where your auto-saved projects are stored under in your Project Settings: It's recommended to set them to Same as Project to make it easy to find and ensure they are included in Snapshots.

9. Click OK to apply the changes and close the Preferences dialog box.

We also recommend employing a strategy we call 'Rolling Snapshots'. This involves scheduling a task in creative.space to take a Snapshot every hour, and then set to expire after 24 hours. In effect, you have an hourly backup of your project spanning the last day, managed entirely automatically.

1. On the System page, click the gear icon next to the space you would like to schedule snapshots for.
2. Click Take New Snapshot.
3. Under Expire In select Custom Days and then type 1
4. Enter a name for your Snapshot Schedule task
5. Select Hourly to take a Snapshot once every hour

6. Select a date and time to start taking Snapshots, which should be on the hour to align with Premiere Pro’s Background Auto Saves

By aligning these settings, you create a self-sustaining version recovery system. With Background Auto Save capturing each minute of your project's progress, and Rolling Snapshots providing an hourly project backup for a day, you can rest easy knowing that your ability to restore old project versions is well catered for.

The amalgamation of creative.space's ZFS Snapshots and Adobe's Background Auto Save equips you fully to handle any versioning requirements, freeing you to focus more on your creative process and less on version management.

Conclusion

From setting up shared spaces to integrating proxy workflows, managing project files, leveraging Productions for collaborative efforts, caching to a local SSD, and maximizing the power of Background Auto Save and ZFS Snapshots, you now have the insights to create a well-oiled creative machine.

These tips aren't just about improving the technical aspects of your work; they're about fostering a harmonious, efficient, and creative environment for your team. It's about eliminating the roadblocks that impede creativity and creating a workspace where your team can do what they do best - create.

The goal here is to make the complex simple, the unmanageable manageable, and the chaotic organized. By integrating creative.space into your Premiere Pro workflows, you're stepping into a world of streamlined processes, improved productivity, and limitless creativity.

Remember, the beauty of creative.space lies in its adaptability. These aren't strict rules to follow, but guidelines that you can tweak, tailor, and optimize to suit your team's unique needs. So, experiment, explore, and create your ideal workflow.

On this page

• Premiere Pro
• Connect to Shared Spaces
• I am a local user...
• I am a remote user…
• I need to onboard a local user…
• I need to onboard a remote user…
• Desktop
• Network Connectivity
• Web
• Organize with Templates
• Templates for Premiere Pro
• Premiere Pro Projects
• Premiere Pro Productions
• Centralize Media Assets
• Desktop
• Web
• Premiere Pro Ingest
• Enabling Ingest Settings in the Media Browser
• Set Up Ingest During Project Creation
• Ingest Preset Creation in Adobe Media Encoder
• Additional Tips for Effective Ingest Workflow
• Optimize for Remote Collaboration
• Remote Access through a VPN
• Remote Desktop
• Remote Mounting
• Understanding Proxies
• Choosing a Proxy Preset
• Create a Proxy Preset
• Potential Issues with Proxies
• Centralize, Optimize, Localize
• Collaboration with Premiere Pro and creative.space
• Cache to a Local SSD
• ‍Enable Project Locking
• Manage Project Files with creative.space
• Leverage Productions for Multi-User Collaboration
• Use Background Auto-Save and Snapshots to Recover Old Project Versions
• Conclusion