How to make two mono audio tracks into a stereo pair?

Question

My video clip, brought over into Premiere CS6 from Final Cut Pro 5, has the usual left and right audio tracks, but in Premiere they are not linked into a stereo pair. Thus the volume level has to be adjusted separately in each track.
In Final Cut, I can quickly convert two independent audio tracks into a stero pair by selecting the tracks and then going to the menu Modify > Stereo Pair.  I can't figure out how to do this in Premiere.
When two audio tracks are not linked, the volume level has to be adjusted separately in each track, which wastes time. But after two tracks are linked into a Stereo Pair in Final Cut, adjusting either track adjusts them both, together. That's what I want to do now in Premiere.
So, how do I make two separate audio tracks into a linked Stereo Pair in Premiere?
Tom

Answer 1

Hi Tom,
Tom77 wrote:
I need to do in my videos that I either can't do in Premiere or that require involved workarounds like this, things that I can do instantly
I used to think like you do. These aren't workarounds, per se. The issue is that Premiere Pro is a different program, so you have to approach some things slightly differently.
Actually, Premiere Pro's audio capability is more like a DAW than Final Cut was, and more powerful too, so if you know that workflow it makes more sense. A lot of FCP people don't have training in programs like ProTools or Audition, so it's more difficult for folks like yourself (and me, too) to catch on. Once you learn it, though, you begin to see its power.
Tom77 wrote:
things that I can do instantly with the flick of a keyboard command in Final Cut, such as link and unlink audio tracks.
In Premiere Pro CC, you can link and unlink audio and video tracks with a keyboard shortcut for "Linked Selection." You have to create it in your Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box, but it works just like the one in FCP. Make it Shift + L if you like.
Tom77 wrote:
Not to mention the fact that I can have as many projects open in Final Cut as I want, and copy and paste between them. Each open project becomes a tab on the timeline, and I can jump beween projects by just clicking on their tabs. I was shocked when I tried to open two projects in Premiere to find that it only allows one at a time to be open. That seems really primitive--
Again, you can achieve what you want (copying and using items from other projects), you just have to go about it differently. All you do is navigate to the other project files in the Media Browser and import items that you need in this fashion. So, no, you don't have more than one project open at a time, but you got what you wanted, stuff from another projects in your current project. That works for me, anyway.
Again, Premiere Pro is a different program. You can achieve the same goals, but sometimes have to go about it differently. Some things are faster, some slower. Some are easier to learn, some harder. Hopefully, you see my point.
I need video generators to make arrows, circles, squares, etc. and transitions such as edge wipes and clock wipes to animate them, all to point out and emphasize things that I'm demonstrating and explaining in my videos. Premiere has no such generators, nor are there any third-party plug-ins available to add them, that I've been able to find.
Do you know about the Titler? It has a lot of useful shapes. You can also create shapes in After Effects and Photoshop and import them. The shapes you make in those programs can look a lot better than the stock FCP effects.
There are lots of third party effects, some that have generators. Check out Boris Continuum, FX Factory, CoreMelt, Film Impact, and more.
There are pitifully few transitions in Premiere at all (the Mac version) compared to Final Cut.
I'm really not a transitions person, and I find the FCP transitions looking tired anyway. The only one I really need is a white flash and I can either create it, or use a third party flash effect. If you need cool, modern transitions, check out Film Impact or the other third party plug in foundries I mentioned. There is an Edge Wipe transition, called "Wipe." If you need feathering, check out the Wipe Effect, which you can keyframe to look like a transition.
More and more I would like to be moving completely into Premiere, but I keep running into these inadequacies in the program, these roadblocks, for my purposes at least.
The more you work with it, the less you'll be working with FCP. That's what most people are saying anyway. Sure, there are minor annoyances associated with learning a new app, but you also take the good along with it. I suggest you just dive right in. It may take longer at first, but you can get your speed up in time.
I have no doubt that sometime in the future Premiere will become everything that I want it to be, and at that time I can finally abandon Final Cut for good, as I wish I could do right now.
I also came from FCP, taught FCP for nearly a decade, wrote a book about FCP, help start the first FCPUG, worked at Apple on two versions of FC Studio, so I do know what you are going through. Just keep at it and keep posting here. I'll be glad to help you with any workarounds or confusion related to moving over from FCP.
Thanks,
Kevin