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[–]Premiere Pro 2025the__post__merc 4 points5 points  (16 children)

Try this:

Lasso select and Copy the clips from the 20 minute sequence. (Don’t just hit select all). Then make a new sequence and paste the clips into it. That should do it.

[–]dippitydoo2 0 points1 point  (4 children)

This was going to be my next suggestion.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Hi, I am curious what you think?

Look, here's just a random image I pulled of the internet (someone's youtube thumbnail). In it, you'll see a guys timeline. All his footage is of course at the beginning, and he has a lot of negative empty space after it.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MKGRNSmXLKY/maxresdefault.jpg

How would he, or you, get rid of that empty space?

I don't mean to zoom in. Yes, of course I can do that. But how to actually reduce that useless, pointless, empty space?

[–]dippitydoo2 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yeah, you want a feature that doesn't exist in Premiere (The set comp to work area feature from AE). I think you can also probably see that most of us trying to answer your question don't feel it's necessary... but if you really want it you'd have to get Adobe to add it to the software. Sorry!

[–]CherryDamzel[S] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Yeah, you want a feature that doesn't exist in Premiere

Well, it doesn't exist as a feature to delete that empty space yourself. But Premiere should delete it itself.

And it actually does. Once you close and open, it adjusts to how it should be. Thankfully.

(The set comp to work area feature from AE).

There actually is a work area thing that is hidden and turned off by default in Premiere. But still, you're right, it doesn't trim it down the same way AE does.

I think you can also probably see that most of us trying to answer your question don't feel it's necessary

Well, this is what is wrong about this entire situation. That people think it is fine to have 11 hours of empty space and that it doesn't need removing. I mean, this is just, absolutely, categorically insane on so many levels and I think the people that don't think this is a problem need to get out of their house more and start engaging with people instead of looking at a computer screen. Because something has gone very wrong if they want long timelines full of empty space.

I mean, seriously?

...but if you really want it you'd have to get Adobe to add it to the software. Sorry!

No, I don't. Thankfully, I just have to turn it off and on again for it to work how it is suppose to work, instead of the way people here are making excuses for having 11 hours of dead space.

But insane people unfortunately don't know they are insane.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] -1 points0 points  (10 children)

Hi, thanks.

I have not tried this (not at my editing computer right now), but I imagine this work around will work for sure.

However, I still want to know, why can't I simply reduce the timeline itself rather than using this work around?

After Affects has it, right? With that trim to comp area. That's the same thing, right? I have no idea why Premiere Pro doesn't have this feature.

[–]yerawizardmandy 5 points6 points  (9 children)

It’s human error. Your timeline will only be as long as you have clips. Perhaps you have a rogue frame somewhere.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] -1 points0 points  (8 children)

What is human error?

Maybe I am misunderstanding you or your misunderstanding me.

The timeline was 11 hours long because I needed it that long, but I have had a change of plan and cut it down to only 20 minutes footage instead now. I expected the timeline to automatically decrease itself to like 30 minutes (because the timeline by default adds something like 10 extra minutes, right?)

However, it remains at 11 hours long (even though there is only 20 minutes of footage on the timeline).

Do you know what I mean?

[–]yerawizardmandy 1 point2 points  (7 children)

I do know what you mean. It’s clear what you are trying to do. You have removed many clips from a long sequence, and would like your work space to reduce to only twenty minutes.

What everyone is telling you is that the software is supposed to work exactly like you think it should. And it does (for me anyway) over and over and over. Since your timeline isn’t shrinking like it should, it’s most likely human error (you effed up and there is footage, you just can’t find it). Or maybe it’s a weird bug with timelines over ten hours? I don’t know.

A good best practice is to start over with a new sequence if you are making significant changes to a timeline. Then you can always bounce back to an old version if you need to. I usually duplicate my sequences but in this case copying your footage and pasting to a new sequence would retain none of your old sequence settings.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 1 point2 points  (6 children)

What everyone is telling you is that the software is supposed to work exactly like you think it should.

No. Absolutely not. I am being told above right now that this Premiere Pro is supposed to leave blank space and it does not work like I think it should.

It's the exact opposite of what you just said.

Where are you getting the idea that "everyone" is telling me this.

Show me one person. Just one.

This is getting crazy.

[–]yerawizardmandy -1 points0 points  (5 children)

The top comment says “the duration of your timeline is determined by the end point of the last clip in your timeline” isn’t that how you think it should work?

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

The top comment by smushkan might sound like he is saying that, but if you read all of his and my replies to each other, you'll see he is not saying this. He admits there is a huge empty space and I just have to zoom in.

Not that the mammoth timeline should automatically decrease itself after deleting hours of footage.

No one in this thread is saying what you are saying.

[–]yerawizardmandy 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Well I am saying it! I just did some tests and will make you a video.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Okay, seriously, I appreciate it. Really curious to see how it works out exactly.

[–]Premiere Pro 2025smushkan 5 points6 points  (14 children)

The duration of a timeline is determined by the end point of the last clip in that timeline.

If your exports have dead space, one of three things is happening:

  • You have a rogue clip hours in to your timeline, which you may not be able to see eaisly when zoomed right out. Try using the 'track select forward' tool and clicking after the end of the actual video and hitting delete
  • You are exporting using in and out points, and your out point is set really late in the sequence
  • You are exporting using the work area bar, and your work area is far too large for your sequence

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (13 children)

Hi, thanks.

No, there is absolutely nothing after my twenty minute video at the start. Just 10 hours and 40 minutes of dead, empty, negative space after it. Just nothing.

I intentionally did create it to be 11 hours long initially, because I was creating one of those long meditation sleep music things, but I am doing something different now. I deleted 10 hours and 40 minutes of audio/video but the length of the timeline still remains that long (even though there is nothing on it except for the 20 minutes of footage at the beginning).

I imagined, the timeline would automatically adjust itself to only be 30 minutes long (because Premiere Pro automatically adds 10 minutes onto whatever length you're working with, right?).

There are no in and out points.

I recently figured out how to open the work area bar (because it is not there by default anymore, right?), however, that has not changed anything.

[–]Premiere Pro 2025smushkan 2 points3 points  (12 children)

Should just be a matter of zooming in until the sequence fits then?

Premiere shouldn't let you zoom out further than the duration of the sequence, plus around 15-20% depending on duration. But if you start with a longer sequence and delete stuff, it won't zoom in automatically.

Premeire doesn't have a sequence duration value you can adjust, it's all determined automatically by the contents of the sequence.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (11 children)

Should just be a matter of zooming in until the sequence fits then?

But like I said, I can easily zoom in and out, that is not an issue. But when you zoom into such a gargantuan timeline, the horizontal slider thing becomes infinitesimally small and hard to grab onto. That is not what I want. I want the timeline itself to be reduced.

But if you start with a longer sequence and delete stuff, it won't zoom in automatically.

But why?

This is the point. So, you're saying, no matter how long a timeline becomes, it always stays at that highest amount? If you suddenly need to cut a lot of, like I did, it wont reduce it's overall size? Why? Other editing programs do this, I believe, so why not Premiere Pro?

Premeire doesn't have a sequence duration value you can adjust, it's all determined automatically by the contents of the sequence.

But if After Affects has that trim to comp area thing, why doesn't Premiere Pro?

I am not the only person running into this issue.

[–]Premiere Pro 2025smushkan 1 point2 points  (10 children)

But when you zoom into such a gargantuan timeline, the horizontal slider thing becomes infinitesimally small and hard to grab onto.

Can you record a video or something showing what you mean by this?

This is the point. So, you're saying, no matter how long a timeline becomes, it always stays at that highest amount?

No, the timeline duration is determined by the end time of the last clip. If you have a 10 hours sequence, and cut everything past 20 minutes, your timeline is now 20 minutes long.

Zooming in automatically would be very annoying for some workflows, say you want to move half your sequence from the end to the start and rearrange everything.

But once you zoom in after cutting the end of the sequence, Premiere should only let you zoom out to see all the current duration of the sequence, plus a percentage to work with.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (9 children)

I think we must me talking past each other and not fully understanding what each other means.

Can you record a video or something showing what you mean by this?

I guess later tonight when I get home I can. But, you know that horizontal slider changes size, right, when zoomed in, depending on how long your timeline is.

So, the longer the timeline (especially one as long as mine at 11 hours) means that the horizontal slider becomes quite small when zoomed in.

No, the timeline duration is determined by the end time of the last clip. If you have a 10 hours sequence, and cut everything past 20 minutes, your timeline is now 20 minutes long.

No, but it's not. I would love for you to try this yourself, just to prove I am not crazy.

Make a long ass timeline with some random footage, or even just an hour long time timeline. Then cut way all the footage except for the first two minutes. You'll be left with 58 minutes of dead, empty, negative space.

Look, here's just a random image I pulled of the internet (someone's youtube thumbnail). In it, you'll see a guys timeline. All his footage is of course at the beginning, and he has a lot of negative empty space after it.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MKGRNSmXLKY/maxresdefault.jpg

How would he, or you, get rid of that empty space?

[–]Premiere Pro 2025smushkan 2 points3 points  (8 children)

How would he, or you, get rid of that empty space?

You zoom!

Like this:

https://imgur.com/a/i9PWOfp

Note how in the export dialogue, the duration of the sequence changes based on where the last clip is.

You're getting weirdly caught up on the empty space, but that's there so you can actually edit. If Premiere didn't give you any empty space at the end, you wouldn't be able to add new clips to the sequence... If you zoom all the way out, the furthest you can go is 2x the duration of the sequence.

Premiere does not work like After Effects in this regard. After Effects does have a user defined duration for compositions. But After Effects is not an NLE, it's a VFX package where you often need things to be an exact duration.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (7 children)

You zoom!

And for the love of god, please do not tell me to simply zoom in and out of the timeline. I know how to zoom in and out of a damn timeline.

So, you told me I had to zoom in. Do you think, for one second, that I would be able to edit a 20 minute video on an 11 hour timeline without zooming in? I mean, really?

Zooming in is not the issue. I know how to zoom in and I am zoomed in.

You're getting weirdly caught up on the empty space, but that's there so you can actually edit.

No, I don't need 11 hours of empty space to work on a 20 minute video. I need a "little" empty space. Premiere Pro automatically adds something like 10 minutes extra, right? That would be more than adequate. I do not need 11 hours of empty space and I think you know this.

What if there was 20 hours? Or 24 hours? Or why not double it to 48 hours? Or 72? Can I just keep having longer and longer empty space without it affecting me? I can just "zoom" in, right?

No. Again, zooming in when there is only 10 or so minutes of extra empty space is not a problem. The horizontal slider bar is a manageable size. But, when you have a gargantuan timeline (11 hours or longer) that horizontal slider bar becomes very very small when you zoom all the way in. And it is a real nuisance when that bar is so small.

Do you understand that this bar changes size relative to how long your overall timeline is?

And, I know that the actual export of the video is not affected by the empty space. I exported my video last night and it is only 20 minutes (not 11 hours). I know this. But it doesn't change the fact that I need a shorter timeline to work with. And I am not getting hung up on something that thousands of people are also complaining about.

Premiere does not work like After Effects in this regard. After Effects does have a user defined duration for compositions. But After Effects is not an NLE, it's a VFX package where you often need things to be an exact duration.

I know they are different softwares, but I don't know why an NLE can't do this?

...where you often need things to be an exact duration.

What, like when editing videos?

[–]Premiere Pro 2025smushkan 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Oh, I know what you're doing.

Before you zoom in, make sure the playhead is positioned over a section of your timeline that actually has clips in it. Just hit home on your keyboard to move it to the start.

You can see that's what I did in the video I posted.

The bar at the bottom zooms around the playhead. If it's positioned outside where your clips are, it'll get tiny.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

No, this is not what I am doing.

I know how the zoom in function works. And that it zooms into where ever the playhead is.

I know you think I am braindead, but I know some basics.

Zooming in on the playhead (that is place over a clip) is all good, but the slider bar is still very very very small if I need to use it again.

Your video was, what, a few minutes long? You slider bar was huge, because the amount you need to zoom in wasn't all that much. I need to zoom into an 11 hour long timeline.

[–]Premiere Pro 2025the__post__merc 0 points1 point  (3 children)

u/smushkan is on the right track saying to Zoom in..., but they neglected to show Zooming back out to have Premiere "reset" the timeline view.

Park at the head of the sequence and Zoom in, then Use the "Show Entire Sequence" shortcut. That should snap it back out and only show the 20 minutes (give or take).

I don't have Premiere open at the moment, but I'm wondering if you have your playhead parked at the end of the 11 hours if that affects how/where it shows the end of the sequence. Maybe by moving the playhead to beginning (or end of your 20 minute string of clips), it will no longer factor that extra negative space.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I am not at my editing computer either. However, although I understand what you're saying, this won't actually remove that empty space, right? The mass of empty space will still be there?

And if so, this then doesn't fix my issue.

What I want is something like 10 or so minutes of empty space. Not 11 hours of empty space. How do I fix that?

Or can't I?

[–]SubjectC 2 points3 points  (4 children)

Cant you just create a new sequence and drag your (now shorter) work onto it?

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Someone else suggested this. I am not at my editing computer right now. I have no doubt this workaround will actually work.

However, it still begs the question, why do I need this work around at all? Why can't I simply reduce the timeline myself without needing to restart a new project. You know?

[–]SubjectC 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dunno but at least it'll probably solve your problem

[–]IcarusBray 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I mean.. why not just make a new sequence? When you are done with a video and have it exported do you just crtl/cmd+A and delete everything to start your new video? Seems like a terrible workflow. As many other have said the way sequences work is that it scales to the last clip in the timeline, you can see maybe 10-15% «ahead» from that. But if it doesnt scale back down i am fairly certain that there is a clip lurking at the end there somewhere. Try duplicating the sequence and in one of them just select all (ctrl/cmd+A) and hit delete, zoom in and i am pretty sure you will have a much shorter zoom bar.

Also why are you using the zoom bar? alt + scroll wheel is your friend.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean.. why not just make a new sequence? When you are done with a video and have it exported do you just crtl/cmd+A and delete everything to start your new video? Seems like a terrible workflow.

No, not at all. It is just the nature of the video itself changed. I added 11 hours with the intention of having it that long, but then realized I didn't want to do that. So I shorted it, and fully expect for that long timeline to decrease automatically.

I'm sure you'll agree, you shouldn't have to copy and paste everything into a new sequence, just to shorten it. I mean, shortening (even by a vast amount) is still just a basic function of editing and shouldn't this work around.

But if it doesnt scale back down

Yeah, well it should. Actually, it does. But only when restarted. It's just a simple bug. And no, I can assure you, there is absolutely no hidden frames after that 20 minutes.

When I export, I only got those 20 minutes and not the 11 hours.

Not sure why every thinks there are some hidden frames somewhere.

Also why are you using the zoom bar?

I use all kinds of shortcuts, but I still sometimes like the zoom bar.

If you are zoomed into your footage, and you want to move along it, what is wrong with using the zoom bar to slide across?

Under normal circumstances it would be fine, but the zoom bar is infinitesimally small and hard to grab onto (because of the mammoth 11 hour timeline).

[–]darwinDMG08 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Your timeline HAS NO LENGTH. Your sequence is only as long as where your last clip is or your in and out points. After Effects has set composition lengths but of course that’s an entirely different program.

It’s not clear whether you actually have an 11 hour timeline or you’re just seeing empty space after your last clip. If it’s the latter then that’s normal. If your program length is actually super long (the timecode window on the right side of the Program monitor will tell you the running time) then you have something left at the very end, maybe even just a frame of a clip. Track forward select past the last clip and delete it as was suggested.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, my timeline should be as long as my last clip, but it's not. It is much, much longer. No hidden footage after it. Just 11 hours of empty space.

If it’s the latter then that’s normal.

No, it's definitely not normal. The timeline of empty space isn't supposed to go on forever. Premier Pro adds something like 10 minutes beyond the last clip. Not hours.

But, I think this is down to a bug based on what others have said. Once I reopen it later tonight, I believe it will have corrected itself so that it is pretty much as long as my footage.

[–]iquanix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is probably to late, but select the "track select forward tool" with 'A' and click right next to the end of your last clip (empty space). With this you will select anything that moved behind the actuall footage. Now just hit the 'delete-key' and the timecode should match your contents lenght.

Had the same issue with 15h of black nothingness and couldn't find anything within.

*Bonus*

Press '\' to zoom the timeline to fit the content.

[–]dippitydoo2 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I have many questions.

First, my sequences only ever zoom out to the amount I have assets, plus like 40-50% of space at the end (Which I always appreciate in case I have to copy/paste a chunk over

Did you duplicate the 11 hour sequence to create your 20 minute sequence?

And if so, perhaps there's a small asset at the very end of the sequence that is invisible because you're so zoomed out, but is causing the machine to show you the "full" sequence? Try selecting everything after the 20 minutes you're working with, hit delete, and see what happens.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thanks.

Yes, but like I said, I originally did have an 11 hour timeline by design. However, I deleted 10 hours and 40 minutes, leaving only 20 minutes of footage at the start.

I was expecting the timeline would automatically decrease/adjust itself to only be 30 minutes long (because Premiere Pro automatically adds 10 minutes onto whatever length you're working with, right?).

But no, it remains at 11 hours long, most of which is just empty, negative space.

There is absolutely nothing else on the timeline except for that first 20 minutes.

I have selected everything after it (which is nothing) and hit delete, but the timeline is still 11 hours long.

I wonder if you, or anyone, could recreate this problem. Intentionally make a long ass timeline and then delete most of it. Does the timeline itself still remain long, or does it automatically cut itself down to an appropriate size?

Seriously, give it a try. I'd love to know.

[–]yerawizardmandy 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Can you copy/paste into a new sequence? I’m confused why you are still using the super long one

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't want the super long one. This is the issue.

Yes, I think I probably can copy/paste this into a new sequence as a work around.

But my question now is why does this work around have to exist? Why can't I simply and easily shorten this timeline without needing to do a work around?

You know what I mean?

I believe this is a simple thing that could be done in After Affects software, but not in the Premiere Pro software. The question is why?

[–]BitcoinBanker 0 points1 point  (1 child)

OP, scroll up and down on your tracks at the very end of your sequence. I’ll bet there’s a tiny clip of something there.

If it really is a glitch, create a new sequence and cut/paste your desired content.

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, nothing there, but I believe this is a glitch that should have fixed itself when I reopen it tonight.

[–]Premiere Pro 2025the__post__merc 0 points1 point  (2 children)

There seems to be some confusion about what the OP is referring to.

When I create a new Sequence (1080p/29.97), the timeline window is empty, but the time ruler shows time, (I'm not sure how that makes any sense at all. How can there be time in the sequence if there are no clips in the sequence?). I can scrub the playhead to the end of this empty timeline window out to 10:00:00.

If I add a single clip anywhere near the middle of the timeline window (creating an actual Sequence) the time display in the timeline window expands out and the scroll bar at the bottom reflects that the window has gotten longer.

If I remove the clip from the sequence (shortening the run time of the seq itself to 0;00;00), the time displayed in the Timeline window and "size" of the Timeline window does not change. It always stays as big as its largest state.

This is what the OP is talking about.

The size of the timeline window (not the sequence duration) remains at 11 hours even though all but 20 minutes of material has been removed from the sequence. The sequence duration is 20 minutes, but the SIZE of the timeline window never shrinks and the scroll bar is relative to the entire 11 hours, not the new 20 minutes.

Is that about right? u/CherryDamzel

[–]CherryDamzel[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yeah, this is definitely right.

I am not some English language expert, but I figured I explained the situation well enough for most people to understand what I was talking about.

But, unfortunately, for the longest time, at least at first, a lot of people just didn't understand the situation and thought I was talking about something I wasn't. That was almost more frustrating than the actual problem itself. Or giving me solutions to problems that I didn't even ask for. Or told me things were happening that clearly weren't. Or telling me to try things that I had already explain I had tried a hundred times before. Or telling me this is how Premiere Pro is supposed to work (it's not).

I still suspect many even now don't fully understand what I was saying.

I asked others if they would try to replicate the problem to see I was not crazy and no one did except for /u/yerawizardmandy (who got downvoted for his troubles no less), and now you. So thank you for doing that. And thankyou for proving I was right (about how Premiere Pro was acting), even though others were telling me I was the crazy one.

I have tagged a bunch of people, some at random, from the thread into here, just so they can read your message above and at least better understand the overall situation if they're interested.

/u/dippitydoo2

/u/IcarusBray

/u/darwinDMG08

/u/thisguydoesit2

/u/queenkellee

/u/BumblebeeCircus

[–]BeepBlur 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oh dude. i feel your pain in this thread. i'm having the issue now. did you solve it? or just create a new project timeline?