Understanding and including color controllers in your Premiere Pro projects

Updated August 2024
Learn how to make your content even more useful.
The more recent versions of Premiere Pro have come with an array of technical improvements and quality-of-life adjustments that, among other things, make the creation and use of color controllers more accessible and intuitive for proficient and non-proficient users.
We at Motion Array recommend the inclusion of color controllers on all Premiere Pro Templates from now on to provide a more cohesive experience between Templates and also to give users more ways to customize their content.
Color controllers provide more versatility to Templates by allowing users to match the color palette to their brand or to match any theme they are currently using. This will always be a point in your favor when a user is considering multiple Templates for their current and future endeavors.
To further illustrate, let’s pretend a user is searching for a sports-themed logo reveal and they come across one of our Templates. If the color palette does not match theirs - they will move to another Template. By having color controllers, you can rest assured that your great design and innovations will remain relevant regardless of the user’s color choice.
It’s important to note that color controllers should not slow down the project. Therefore, here are a few methods we suggest to add them without compromising on performance:
1. A cohesive experience.
In order for all Templates to feel familiar when it comes to usage and accessibility, we are outlining what effects should be used when adding color controllers to different elements.
Solids (Tint)
Gradients (Ramp)
Pre-Renders (Proc-Amp)
In-Project Shapes (Color Picker)
We do not recommend the Lumetri Color or Change to Color effects because they are more complex and not intuitive for new Premiere Pro users, and in the case of the latter, it is also obsolete and not precise.
It is paramount that Templates are straightforward and easy to use for all users, proficient and non-proficient alike.
Also, note that we do not recommend the use of Track Matte for color correction since it’s notorious for slowing down performance in projects.
A colossal portion of users use hardware that is not high-end or makes use of a Graphics Processing Unit, so we must make sure all Templates can be used with as much ease as possible.
4K-based Templates will understandably cause a hang-up on Low to High-end machines, but Full HD-based Templates should be as streamlined as possible.
2. Labeling
When creating your color controller, make sure the timeline highlights what can be customized with the use of color labels.
The following video tutorial will showcase, in order, how to create a color controller and how to apply the different (previously listed) effects depending on the elements that can benefit from them.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at content@motionarray.com.