Beat montage workflow
Build a Beat-Synced Montage Plan in Premiere Pro with MCP
Detect a local beat grid with FFmpeg, plan a beat-synced montage with Premiere Pro MCP, then place clips in reviewed batches without guessing the rhythm.
Detect beats locally before touching the timeline
detect_beats estimates a steady beat grid from a local audio or video file without changing Premiere. FFmpeg decodes at most 30 minutes to a bounded mono analysis stream. Local onset autocorrelation returns BPM, phase-aligned beat times, confidence, and half/double-time alternatives.
This is an editorial candidate grid, not a claim of musical beat-grid perfection for every genre. Listen to the grid against the track before planning cuts.
Run verify_premiere_connection. Call detect_beats on my approved local music bed. Report BPM, confidence, and alternate half/double grids. Do not edit the sequence.Plan the montage deterministically
plan_beat_montage carves a detect_beats grid into shots every N beats (merging short and splitting long spans), assigns clips in order (as_given, priority, or round_robin), and emits add_to_timeline_batch chunks, trim ranges, and cut markers. It is local-only and deterministic; it never changes Premiere.
Review the planned shot lengths and clip order. Replace weak selects before you ask for placement. Marker plans can later use add_markers_batch for beat grids after you approve times.
Place clips in verified batches
add_to_timeline_batch inserts up to 32 project items with insert-edit semantics in one validated CEP request. Experimental QE sync-lock handling may ripple or split earlier placements. The tool preflights items and tracks, then verifies placements; changed placements return committed_unverified.
For single placements, add_to_timeline inserts at a timeline position with optional sync_locked or target_tracks scope. Prefer empty target tracks on a duplicate sequence for the first montage test.
- Keep picture and music on named tracks you can mute independently for review.
- Inspect after each batch; do not queue overlapping mutating calls.
- Export review frames or a short in-to-out render for visual timing checks; stills do not prove sync.
Questions editors ask
Does detect_beats write markers automatically?
No. It returns a grid. Marker creation is a separate reviewed step such as add_markers_batch.
Can I auto-edit to music in one tool call?
plan_beat_montage plans only. Placement uses timeline tools you preview and verify. Musical taste and shot selection stay with the editor.
How long can the analyzed music bed be?
detect_beats decodes at most 30 minutes for analysis. Longer beds need an approved shorter analysis range or a separate pass.
Keep learning
A practical next step
Start with a safe Premiere connection check.
Connect your assistant, verify the local bridge without changing a project, then inspect the active sequence before requesting a supported edit.
Run a safe connection check