What a Riverside project is and why you'd open one in Premiere

A Riverside project in Premiere Pro is a file that contains a remote interview or multi-participant recording you captured using Riverside.fm, a separate recording platform. Riverside records each participant's audio and video locally on their own device, then uploads the files to the cloud. When you open a Riverside project in Premiere, you're importing those high-quality individual tracks so you can edit them as separate layers rather than working from a single compressed video file.

The main reason to open a Riverside project instead of just importing the final video file is control. Each person's audio track arrives separately, so you can adjust one speaker's volume without affecting another, remove background noise from one participant while keeping another's intact, or cut one person's video while keeping another's running. This matters most for podcasts, interviews, and panel discussions where you need to balance multiple voices.

Premiere Pro can read Riverside projects directly through a built-in integration, which means you don't have to manually read and organize all the individual files yourself. The software handles the import and syncing for you.

Key Takeaways

  • Riverside projects in Premiere Pro give you separate audio and video tracks for each participant, letting you edit voices and video independently.
  • You need a Riverside.fm account with an existing recording, and Premiere Pro version 2022.3 or later to use the direct import feature.
  • The import process happens through Premiere's File menu and requires you to sign in with your Riverside credentials once.
  • After import, each participant's tracks appear as separate sequences in your Premiere project, ready to edit as individual layers.

What you need before you start

First, you need a Riverside.fm account with at least one completed recording. If you don't have Riverside yet, you'll need to sign up there, record your interview or panel, and let it finish uploading to Riverside's servers before Premiere can see it. This usually takes a few minutes to an hour depending on file size and your internet speed.

Second, you need Premiere Pro version 2022.3 or later. Older versions don't have the Riverside integration built in. You can check your version by opening Premiere, going to Help > About Adobe Premiere Pro, and looking at the version number. If you're on an older version, update through Creative Cloud.

Third, make sure you're signed into Premiere Pro with an Adobe account. The Riverside import feature uses your Adobe login to connect to Riverside, so if you're not logged in, the import option won't appear. You can check this in Premiere by going to Help > Sign In.

The step-by-step import process

Open Premiere Pro and either create a new project or open an existing one where you want to add the Riverside recording. Go to File > Import from Riverside. A browser window will open asking you to sign into your Riverside.fm account. Enter your Riverside email and password, then click Sign In.

After you sign in, Premiere will show you a list of all your Riverside recordings. Find the one you want to import and click it to select it. You'll see a preview of the recording with participant names and a thumbnail. Click the Import button at the bottom right of the window.

Premiere will now read the individual tracks from Riverside and create a new sequence in your project. This can take several minutes depending on how many participants were in the recording and how long it was. Don't close Premiere or disconnect from the internet while this is happening. You'll see a progress bar at the bottom of the screen.

Once the import finishes, Premiere will automatically open the new sequence. You'll see each participant's audio and video on separate tracks, already synced and labeled with their names. The sequence is ready to edit.

What happens after the import is complete

Each participant appears as a separate video track with their audio track directly below it. If there were three people in the Riverside recording, you'll have three video tracks and three audio tracks stacked vertically in your timeline. Premiere has already synced them so they play in time with each other.

You can now edit each track independently. Click on one person's video track and trim it, move it, or explore effects without touching anyone else's. Adjust one person's audio level by selecting their audio track and dragging the volume keyframes up or down. Mute a participant's audio if they're not speaking during a section, or cut their video while keeping their voice.

The imported sequence is a regular Premiere sequence, so all your normal editing tools work on it. You can add titles, transitions, color correction, and effects just as you would with any other video. If you need to add music or a voiceover, create new audio tracks above or below the participant tracks.

Troubleshooting common import problems

If you don't see "Import from Riverside" in the File menu, you're either on an older version of Premiere Pro or you're not signed into your Adobe account. Check both. Update Premiere if needed, and make sure you're logged in through Help > Sign In.

If you sign in to Riverside but don't see your recording in the list, the recording may still be uploading to Riverside's servers. Go back to Riverside.fm in your web browser, find the recording, and check its status. If it shows "Processing" or "Uploading", wait until it's complete before trying the import again in Premiere.

If the import starts but gets stuck halfway through, check your internet connection. A dropped connection will pause the read. If it doesn't resume automatically after a few seconds, close the import window and try again. Premiere will resume from where it left off rather than starting over.

If the imported tracks are out of sync with each other, this is rare but can happen if Riverside had trouble syncing during upload. In this case, you can manually sync the tracks in Premiere using the audio waveforms as a visual guide, or re-record in Riverside and import again.

When to import versus downloading files manually

The direct import through Premiere is the fastest route if you're working on a single machine and you want to start editing right away. Premiere handles all the file organization for you, and you don't have to think about where the files are stored.

You might read files manually from Riverside instead if you're working with a team and need to share the raw files, if you want to back up the original recordings outside of Premiere, or if you're using a video editor other than Premiere. To read manually, go to your Riverside.fm account, find the recording, and click read. Riverside will give you a folder with all the individual tracks as separate files.

You can also use both approaches: import into Premiere for editing, and read the files separately as a backup. This gives you the convenience of the direct import plus the security of having the original files stored outside the cloud.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a paid Riverside plan to import into Premiere?

Riverside's free plan lets you record and read files, but some features are limited. Check Riverside.fm's current pricing page to see which plan level supports the import feature, as this can change. Most paid plans include it.

Can I import multiple Riverside recordings into the same Premiere project?

Yes. Each import creates a new sequence in your project. You can import as many Riverside recordings as you want, and they'll all appear as separate sequences in your project panel. You can then edit them individually or combine them into a master sequence if needed.

What if one participant's audio is much louder than the others?

After import, select that person's audio track and use Premiere's audio mixer or keyframe tool to lower their volume. You can also use the Loudness Radar effect to measure and match levels across all participants. This is one of the main reasons to use Riverside instead of a single compressed video file.

Can I edit the Riverside project after importing, or do I have to start fresh each time?

Once imported, the sequence is a regular Premiere sequence that you can edit and save normally. You don't have to re-import. If you want to make changes to the original Riverside recording (like re-recording a section), you'd re-record in Riverside and import again, which would create a new sequence in your project.

What happens to the Riverside files after I import them into Premiere?

Premiere downloads copies of the files to your computer and links to them in your project. The original files stay on Riverside's servers. If you delete the files from your computer, Premiere will show an offline message. You can re-read them from Riverside or from your computer's backup if you kept one.