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Version Clips in Premiere with Data from the Cloud
Adobe’s Dynamic Link feature allows Adobe After Effects projects to be opened directly in the Premiere Pro timeline. Many video teams have used this functionality to update motion graphics quickly in fast turnaround environments. But did you know that Dataclay’s Templater®™ plugin can be run inside After Effects to update a dynamically linked AE project file (Autograf) in Premiere Pro’s timeline? This powerful capability enhances workflows significantly.
That’s right – data from a Google Sheet can be instantly transferred to any Templater-mapped layers in After Effects, which in turn can be simultaneously viewed in the Premiere timeline via dynamically linking. Additionally, Premiere’s Render and Replace feature can convert any iteration from Templater to a stand-alone clip in the Premiere timeline. And finally, using Templater with Dynamic Link to generate versioned clips in Premiere Pro only requires the functionality of Templater Rig – the inexpensive perpetual license version of Templater!
If you are familiar with Adobe’s MOGRT workflow, using Templater Autografs brings similar versioning power to the Premiere timeline with the unique ability to source live data from a Google Sheet. This opens the door to real-time remote contribution to the workflow by outside data providers.
Templater Workflow Example
Let’s step through an example of this dynamically linked workflow using Templater:
- Start by opening a pre-designed Templater Autograf, already rigged with data-replacement layers using Google Sheets in After Effects. Ensure the Google Sheet connection is active in the Templater panel.
- Open a Premiere Pro project, import the Autograf (any After Effects .aep project file that has been rigged with Templater), and drag it into the Premiere timeline.
- Click the forward and backward arrows in the Templater transport interface inside After Effects to view the composition update with each iteration of data from the connected Google Sheet.
- Jump back to Premiere and note the Autograf in the Premiere timeline also updates immediately following the update in After Effects.
- When you are ready to “lock in” a specific versioned iteration of the Autograf in Premiere, right-click on that clip in the timeline and select Render and Replace. This will allow you to save an independent video clip that will replace the dynamic link clip in the timeline.
- Drag the original linked clip from the project window back into the timeline to restart the process and make a new iteration (repeat steps 3-5).
Managing Performance Expectations in Premiere
Understanding how to leverage dynamic link effectively can transform your editing experience and project outcomes. Furthermore, mastering the feature can lead to more efficient project management and collaboration.
If you are an experienced Premiere Pro editor, it is important to remember that using the Dynamic Link feature with After Effects projects in Premiere timelines requires substantial computing overhead, and real time editing performance will take a hit while viewing linked clips. But the time savings realized by quickly updating changes in these clips can certainly outweigh these performance issues in most cases.
The integration of dynamically linked technology allows editors to streamline their processes, ensuring quick updates without sacrificing quality. If you are curious about this workflow and would like to experience it for yourself, just download a free 30-day trial of Templater™ today!
About Dynamic Link
In the past, sharing media assets among post-production applications required you to render and export your work from one application before importing it into another. This workflow was inefficient and time-consuming. If you wanted to change the original asset, you rendered and exported the asset again. Multiple rendered and exported versions of an asset consume disk space, and they can lead to file-management challenges.
Dynamic Link offers an alternative to this workflow, allowing you to create links between After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro. Creating a link is as simple as importing any other type of asset. Dynamically linked assets appear with unique icons and label colors to help you identify them. They are saved in projects generated by these applications.
