Overview of projects

Learn the basics of setting up a new project in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro project file

A project file (.pproj) stores information about sequences and assets, such as settings for capture, transitions, and audio mixing. As you work, the project file records your edits. Edits are applied non-destructively, meaning that Premiere Pro does not alter the source files. When you export, Premiere Pro encodes a new file incorporating all your edits.

Components of a project folder

Premiere Pro creates a folder on your hard disk at the start of each project. By default, this is where the project file is stored, along with a record of all the media added to the project, and any preview files or conformed audio files created during the edit.

Project panel

In the Edit mode, the Project panel displays all the media used in the project and the sequences you have created. You can organize that media and sequences using bins in the Project panel.

Name a file

Here are some general file-naming best practices:

• Avoid using special characters such as : ; / \ , . { } [ ] ( ) * ? < > |! $., which certain creative tools, file formats, and operating systems don't support.
• Don't make overly lengthy file names. Some operating systems have a character limit of 255.
• Describe dates and times in the following order: year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. This is especially crucial when dealing with colleagues from other countries because standard date formats don't apply everywhere.
• Try maintaining a constant sort order by incorporating leading zeros in clip numbers, such as "05" instead of "5.”
• Don't use the word "final" when versioning an export to deliver to another department.
• Maintain the version numbers of your sequences or timelines in sync with the exports. If the timeline says "v5,” the export must also say "v5.” If they don't match, it will be challenging to cross-reference input on a given cut with the proper modification.