Master Clip Effects allow you to apply effects to clips in the bin rather than on the timeline so that every instance of a clip that has an effect applied will be updated.
It'll be changed by the effect.
This is super easy to do.
Let's have a look at how it works.
Right now I am in the Effects work space so I've got my Effect Controls onscreen.
And I really want to be able to see quite a few panels.
I need to see my effect.
I also want to see my Project panel.
So let's just pull that down.
I'm going to switch to my Markers view so I don't drag anything into the Libraries panel.
I'll pull my Project panel down to the bottom left.
I will just drag my Effect Controls over one stop to introduce a new frame.
And let's have my Source Monitor onscreen as well.
This is great.
So now I've got Effects, Effect Controls, Source and Project panel all visible at the same time.
The work spaces update automatically in Premiere Pro, so from now on this will be my Effects work space or at least until I change it.
I have a really simple sequence here.
I've got a shot of this guy and then a reversal and then the same guy again and a reversal and so on.
And what I want to do is just introduce a bit more contrast, a little bit more range, in this shot so we've got stronger shadows and brighter highlights.
And to do that, I'm going to use the Curves effect.
Now I'm going to go to my Effects panel, and I'm going to go for RGB Curves, I think.
There we are.
And now I have to make a very careful distinction about where I'm applying the effect.
If I drag this effect onto the clip in my sequence, then I'm just going to apply it to that one instance of that part of the clip.
Instead I want to apply it to the Master Clip, and I can do that in a couple of ways.
I can drag the effect onto the clip in the Source Monitor.
You see I get a little plus symbol there.
I can also drag it onto the clip in the bin.
So I'm going to drag it on there.
And right away you'll notice these little red markers on the clips in the Timeline.
Let me just zoom in a little bit there.
Those little red markers are telling me that there's a Master Clip effect not a Sequence Clip effect.
That'll light up the Effects icon itself.
You'll notice though that if I look at my Effect Controls panel, there's no sign of the RGB Curves effect.
And that's because right now I've got the Sequence instance of the clip selected, not the Master Clip.
To be able to see Master Clip effects, you can click at the top of the Effect Controls panel.
And now I'm looking at the Master Clip itself.
See there?
I can toggle back and forwards between them.
Or just select the Master Clip either in the Source Monitor—I've clicked into the Source Monitor— or in the bin.
All that remains is to make a change.
Now I'm going to make this a pretty obvious change so that you can see it clearly onscreen.
You might well make more subtle adjustments.
But you can see here I've made an adjustment to the Master curve.
That just means all of the Luma is adjusted.
And right away you can see the result both in the Source Monitor and in the Program Monitor.
And now I'll just mute the audio so I can scrub through here quietly.
If I scrub through, there it is changed, changed, and changed.
This is a really easy workflow.
There's just one gotcha you want to be aware of which is, of course, if I look on the Timeline I can see with that little red light— yep, there is a Master Clip effect applied.
But if you look in the Effect Controls panel, there really isn't much of an indication.
Of course, that's because I'm looking at the Sequence Clip, not the Master Clip Effect Controls.
There's a quick way to locate a Master Clip in the Project panel or for that matter in the Source Monitor in Premiere Pro.
Here, for example, I've got this other shot.
If I want to I can right click and I can choose Reveal in Project.
There it is highlighted in the bin.
I can also just press F for Match Frame.
And provided the clip is selected or the track is selected, it'll come up in the Source Monitor.
In fact, if I want to I can drag an effect onto that clip directly.
I do want to make a distinction here though between pressing F for Match Frame and double clicking.
If I double click on a clip in the Timeline, as I have just now, what I'm looking at in the Source Monitor is actually the Timeline instance.
If I zoom out a little, you can see the in and out marks right here.
And I can make a couple of adjustments to the Timeline instance this way, but I can't apply it Master Clip effect.
Of course, there's nothing to stop me switching over here at the top of the Effect Controls panel.
And maybe for this one, just to illustrate the point, I'll reduce the contrast a little.
So there we go—high contrast, low, high, low all the way through my sequence.
And of course, you can make changes to the effect at any time, so it's truly non-linear.
That's Master Clip Effects in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
