- Should you edit your videos in Premiere Pro or After Effects?
- Can I just use After Effects to edit my videos?
These are common questions I get from new video creators. Premiere Pro and After Effects are like Word and Excel – made by the same company, but for different purposes. Plus, you can use them together!
Here is the difference between Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects – and what program you should be using.
Adobe Premiere Pro
- Premiere Pro is a video editing program. It’s key functionality is to edit video clips together. Whether this is an interview with bRoll, a narrative film, a music video, or any other type of video – Premiere Pro is the program for this.
- Premiere Pro has lots of other functionalities like adding text and transitions, editing audio and adding effects.
- Premiere Pro’s timeline is better than After Effects for editing video and audio together. Trimming clips and moving them around your timeline is a lot easier to use than After Effects timeline (for video editing purposes).
Enroll in the Premiere Pro for Beginners Course
Adobe After Effects
- After Effects is a digital motion graphics, visual effects and compositing software.
- For titles, shapes, 2D animations, adding special effects, After Effects is your tool.
- While you can create motion in text, images, and any other layer in Adobe Premiere Pro – it is a lot easier to do in After Effects.
Enroll in the After Effects for Beginners Course
Does this make sense? So basically if you are editing a video – use Adobe Premiere Pro. If you’re making title sequences, motion graphics, or adding advanced effects to your video, us After Effects.
Why do I use both Premiere Pro AND After Effects?
It may be obvious, but many video projects require the use of both Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. In fact, I use both in 90% of my projects nowadays.
I’ll edit video in Premiere Pro and then add titles using After Effects. I’ll edit the audio in Premiere Pro and then use After Effects to create a motion graphic of something in the video.
Using Adobe Dynamic Link, I can use both programs at the same time. They talk to each other – so clips within Premiere Pro can be easily edited in After Effects without exporting and reexporting.
Recently, Adobe Premiere Pro added the Essential Graphics Panel, which is a new way to create titles. This makes it easier than ever to create After Effects quality graphics right within Premiere Pro.
Still, After Effects is the best option for complicated motion graphics and visual effects.
Get Started with Premiere Pro and After Effects
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Cheers,
Phil
Adobe After Effects
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Our Adobe After Effects Course will teach you how to get started creating motion graphics and visual effects with this amazing application.
This was super helpful. Thanks for posting.
Great Explanation !!!!!
Glad it helped!
Hi Phil,
Hope you are doing well!
I subscribed to your YouTube channel and I a very glad I
found it. I have spending hours every day to learn your tutorials online and I
am thinking of purchasing a course as well. Now that where the problem
comes!!!!
To start off with, I have a requirement to submit a video
which will consist of few video clips, images, transition from one image to
another, low level text animations on images and videos. I have gone through
your blog which spoke about the differences, however, I am still confused and I
requesting you to reply on my query
Thanks and best regards,
Slat
Hey Slat! I responded on Facebook. But for you, I would suggest using Premiere Pro – because you’re looking to do more video editing than animations/motion graphics.
Thanks for posting
you’re welcome!
2 years and Counting…
STILL VERY HELPFUL!
Thanks Mate.
Is it helpfull if I only use after effects and sony vegas pro 13 rather than premiere?
I would definitely suggest Premiere, as it works well with After Effects (both are Adobe). You can do things like link projects and work with both together – not something you can do with Sony Vegas.
This website’s font is the worst. It really hard to see!
Hey Phil,
thanks for sharing your informations about both programs. I have a question, I’m looking more for effects and in the same time editing so should I use both programms pr for editing and ae for effects?
And also I saw something like Pr CS6 and Pr CC what is the difference between them?
Looking for your answer.
Best regards,
Omar
Great question. If you are doing any kind of editing, definitely go with Premiere Pro. The new version of Premiere Pro which is the CC version (the CS6 version is a bit outdated), actually has some decent graphic options. But if you want to add better effects, then go with After Effects later on.
wow that was a fast reply and I’m happy with it. Thanks for answering my question, you helped me alot today. I wish you a wonderful weekend from Germany 🙂
Hey Phil!
Do I need any other program from Adobe (besides AE) to be able to manipulate already-finished AE templates? — as in, add my own elements into these and re-render? (I’m using PowerDirector as my NLE.)
Thanks for any feedback,
~Billy Boy
Hi Billy Boy, most AE templates don’t require any additional programs or plugins to use them. Wherever you purchase them, it’ll say if it requires anything special.
Thanks Phil! (And I guess I was especially thinking of no requirement for Adobe Premiere or Elements — since I’m not working with or planning to BUY them. AE is already an added expense.)
really helpfull