Premiere Pro's text-based editing lets you cut interviews and dialogue-driven content by editing a transcript — just like editing a document. Delete sentences from the text and the corresponding video clips are removed from your timeline.
Getting Started
- Open your sequence with dialogue/interview footage
- Go to Window > Text
- Click Transcribe Sequence
- Wait for AI transcription to complete (typically 1-3 minutes per hour of footage)
Editing with Text
- Read through the transcript in the Text panel
- Highlight any text you want to remove
- Press Delete — the corresponding video and audio are removed from your timeline
- Gaps are automatically ripple-deleted
Search and Navigate
Use the search bar in the Text panel to find specific words or phrases across your entire sequence. Click any word in the transcript to jump the playhead to that exact moment in the timeline. This is a game-changer for finding specific soundbites in multi-hour interviews.
When to Use This
Text-based editing is ideal for documentary editing, podcast video, corporate interviews, and any project where the narrative is driven by spoken word. For B-roll heavy edits or music-driven content, traditional timeline editing is still more efficient.