Making subclips uneditable to share file with client

[Jennifer Sculley]

I recently finished a couple short videos for a client who has people on staff who can do basic video work. They have requested my editable Premiere Pro files which I'm fine with, but I'd like to maintain some control over what they can do with the files.

My sequences are made up of subclips from a much longer piece of raw footage.

What I'd like to do is give them access to only the subclip blocks (so that they could shorten, or reorder), without the ability to pull up any of the original footage or extend the subclip boundaries.

Is there a good way to do this?

[Jim_Simon]

There's no way for you to control what the other editor can and can't do within the project.

[Jennifer Sculley]

Thanks for the response. I understand I can't control what they do within the file that I hand over to them, but my question is about whether I can structure my file before I hand it over to them in order to:

1) remove access to the full footage that my subclips came from (by essentially turning the subclips into the only footage available in the bin), and

2) restrict my subclips to their current limits (so that they can't shift the subclips to display different points in the footage)

Is there a good way to achieve these two things?

[Meg The Dog · Accepted solution]

IF - your entire sequence is only made up of subclips

AND

IF- when you created the subclips you had Restrict Time to Subclip Boundaries checked . . .

then you can try this:

Make a copy of your project, then working on the copy, open that copy in Premiere Pro.

Delete all the master clips so that only the subclips remain in any/all of the bins.

Delete all sequences but the finished sequence . .

So that all that remains in the project is the one sequence and the subclips.

Now go to File > Project Manager and when the project Manager opens:

Make sure your Sequence is checked. Press the radio button for Consolidate and Transcode.

Make sure the Source is set to Sequence

Set the format for the files to be transcoded to.

Choose your destination.

Click OK.

The Project manager will now create a new project that reflects your project and make individual clips of the media that  is called for in the subclips. The new Project will contain a sequence that is linked to those new clips. So instead of one long master source media

clip, you'll have as many media clips as you have subclips.

Verify this newly created project/timeline/media files satisfies your needs, and if it does, pass it and the media created for it, on to your client.

Unsolicited advice: It's hard to imaging any knowledgable editor receiving a project that's been manipulated this way that won't wonder aloud why.  They may suggest you are trying to hide something by not giving them the complete media file, or are being uncooperative in restricting the way the material can be re-edited. Tread carefully - it's better to lose a job and still be regarded favorably by the client for future work - than to be perceived as a trouble maker.

MtD

[Jennifer Sculley]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! This fit what I needed, although for others' reference, I did need to "render and replace" some subclips, but this combination of approaches worked for me!

I also appreciate the unsolicited advice which I think is very appropriate for most situations. In this case, the client and I had agreed on the final footage but they wanted the flexibility to use shorter snippets for presentations and other uses. Since this project contained documentary-style footage, I just needed to make sure to protect the faces of bystanders and that quotes couldn't taken out of context in a way that wasn't representative of the spirit of the full interview.