In the fast-paced world of video editing, time is a precious commodity. Editors often spend hours sifting through mountains of footage to find that one perfect shot—a process that can be tedious and disruptive to the creative flow. Adobe’s recently launched Media Intelligence feature in Premiere Pro helps reclaim that time by enabling editors to locate clips quickly and intuitively using AI-powered technology. By analyzing footage for imagery, spoken words, and metadata (such as shoot date, location, or camera type), Media Intelligence streamlines the search process—saving time and allowing editors to focus on storytelling.

What is Media Intelligence?

Media Intelligence is an AI-driven tool that analyzes video clips to identify content such as objects, locations, camera angles, spoken dialogue, and embedded metadata. Media Intelligence is an AI-driven tool that analyzes video clips to identify content such as objects, locations, camera angles, spoken dialogue, and embedded metadata. Unlike traditional searches that rely on manually tagged keywords, Media Intelligence uses an on-device machine learning model to create a semantic index of your footage. This index is stored either in the project’s media cache or as sidecar files (.prmi), enabling editors to search for clips using natural language—making the process as intuitive as describing a scene to a colleague.

For example, an editor can type “close-up of a person skating at sunset” or “California” into the new Search panel, and Media Intelligence will return relevant clips based on visuals, transcriptions, or metadata like camera type. All analysis happens locally, ensuring privacy and eliminating the need for an internet connection. Adobe has emphasized that neither your footage nor your search data is used to train its AI models—addressing key privacy concerns for professionals.

How Media Intelligence Saves Time

The true value of Media Intelligence lies in its ability to drastically reduce the time spent searching for clips, a task that can consume hours in large projects.

Use Natural Language to Search for Visuals

Media Intelligence allows editors to search for clips using descriptive phrases such as “person with brown hair wearing an orange shirt” or “drone shot of a mountain at sunrise.” The AI analyzes the visual content of your footage, identifying elements like objects, scenes, lighting conditions, and camera angles. Unlike keyword-dependent searches, it understands semantic context and delivers accurate results—even when phrasing varies. This eliminates the need for manual tagging or relying on ambiguous folder names.

Search via Spoken Words in Clips

Editors can also search spoken words within clips once transcripts are generated. Using Premiere Pro’s Speech to Text tool, dialogue is automatically transcribed and displayed in the Text panel—typically within minutes. This transcript, combined with visual and metadata analysis, enables Media Intelligence to locate exact spoken moments, removing the need to scrub through hours of dialogue manually.

Background Analysis for Seamless Workflow

Media Intelligence analyzes footage in the background upon import, allowing editors to continue working uninterrupted. Using your system’s CPU, GPU, or dedicated machine learning hardware, it processes hours of footage in minutes on modern editing systems. Progress is tracked via the Premiere Pro progress panel, and results are cached to avoid redundant analysis. For collaborative workflows, analysis data can be saved as sidecar files (.prmi), allowing other editors or systems to bypass reprocessing—an invaluable time-saver in team environments or multi-device workflows.

Metadata Integration for Organized Projects

For editors who rely on metadata like shoot date, location, or camera type, Media Intelligence enhances organization by incorporating these details into its search capabilities. Instead of digging through folders or relying on external logs, you can search for clips shot on a specific date or with a particular camera, such as “clips from April 2025 shot with an ARRI ALEXA.” This is especially useful for projects with extensive footage from multiple sources, as it reduces the reliance on manual metadata entry.

Real-World Impact for Editors

The time savings enabled by Media Intelligence translate directly into greater creative freedom. As filmmaker Ernie Gilbert, editor of A24’s Opus, noted, “These tools will help remove some of the tedium of the process, allowing us to focus on what’s ultimately going to affect the audience most.” With more time to refine narratives, experiment with edits, and collaborate with teams, editors can fully immerse themselves in the creative process. This is especially beneficial for large-scale productions with terabytes of footage, where manual searching is inefficient and time-consuming.

Media Intelligence integrates seamlessly into existing workflows. The Search panel—accessible via the magnifying glass icon in the Premiere Pro interface—is intuitive and easy to use, with no steep learning curve. Editors can refine searches with multi-word phrases, explore different descriptions, or toggle between visual, text, and metadata results. The ability to preview results in the Source Monitor or drag them directly into a sequence further streamlines the editing process.

Adobe Premiere Pro’s Media Intelligence and Search panel represent a significant leap forward in video editing efficiency. By leveraging AI to analyze visuals, dialogue, and metadata, Media Intelligence eliminates the frustration of manual clip searches—giving editors more time to focus on crafting compelling stories.

For more information on using Media Intelligence, visit Adobe’s official documentation at helpx.adobe.com.