First Steps: Your First Analysis
Step 1: Load an Audio File
Click "Choose audio file..." in the Source tab, or drag-drop an MP3/WAV onto the waveform panel.
Step 2: Select Analysis Tier
Pick a tier from the dropdown (Local for free, Server (EM-Beat Engine) for precise beats, Premium for deeper analysis). Don't have an API key yet? Start with Local.
Step 3: Click Analyze
The panel shows progress. Takes 5 seconds (Local) to 3 minutes (Premium with Gemini). You can cancel anytime.
Step 4: Review the Results
The waveform now shows beats as dots, sections as colored blocks, and key moments (drops, buildups) as stars. Click any section in the Sections tab to jump to it.
Step 5: Create Markers
In the Markers tab, choose your marker preset (e.g., "Beats + Sections") and click "Create Markers on Sequence". You'll see them in Premiere's timeline.
Tip: Use the metronome (press M) to verify the BPM - if it matches the song, the analysis is on track.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an internet connection?
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Local tier works offline. Server, Premium, and Super Premium tiers require internet to reach the analysis servers. Once analysis is done, you can work offline.
What audio formats are supported?
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MP3, WAV, AAC, AIFF, and FLAC. The panel decodes audio via the browser's Web Audio API, so it supports any format a modern browser can play.
How accurate are the detected beats?
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Local tier: ~85% accurate for rhythmic music (pop, electronic, dance). Server tier: ~95%+ with harmonix deep learning. Some music (live recordings, extremely syncopated rhythms, audio quality issues) will have lower accuracy. Always preview before creating markers on critical sequences.
Can I edit the markers after creating them?
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Yes. BeatMarker Pro creates standard Premiere markers. Once in Premiere, you can move, delete, rename, or recolor them like any other marker. They're not linked back to the panel.
What happens if I analyze the same song twice?
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BeatMarker Pro caches analysis results by file path and tier. Re-analyzing the same file returns the cached result instantly, saving time and cost (no double charges for Premium/Super Premium).
Can I use BeatMarker Pro with other Adobe apps?
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Currently Premiere Pro only (v1.0). After Effects and DaVinci Resolve ports are planned for v1.1+. One license key works across all hosts when they launch.
How do I get a Gemini API key?
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Visit
aistudio.google.com/apikey, sign in with your Google account, and click "Get API key". The free tier grants 2,000 requests/minute and 60 requests/minute per model, which is plenty for Premium/Super Premium analyses. Paste the key in BeatMarker Pro's Source tab - it's stored locally.
What's the difference between Confidence-Gated and Peak-Emphasis markers?
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Confidence-Gated skips markers where the AI is unsure about a section boundary (e.g., an ambiguous verse-chorus transition). Peak-Emphasis places a single special marker at the moment of highest confidence within each section - the true emotional peak. Use confidence-gating to clean up subtle transitions; use peak-emphasis for big reveal moments.
How do I extract stems from a song?
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Switch to the Stems tab after analyzing (any tier - stems are optional). Choose 4-stem (htdemucs) or 6-stem (htdemucs_6s) model in the Source tab preferences. Click "Separate stems" - this runs the Demucs neural network on the server. Takes 2-5 minutes depending on song length. Results are cached. Download as AAC, Opus, or WAV, and import to Premiere as separate audio tracks or individual files.
Can I create markers on a clip instead of the sequence?
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Yes. In the Markers tab, toggle "Clip markers" instead of "Sequence markers". The markers will be placed on the selected clip, not the timeline. Useful if you're working with pre-cut segments.
How do I drop b-roll on the markers automatically?
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Markers tab → Sync clips to beat…. Pick a Source (bin selection or existing clips on a track), the marker types you want (chorus only, drops only, all sections, etc.), the video track, and click Apply. BeatMarker drops + auto-resizes each clip to span the gap between two filtered markers - cap-at-media-end on short source (reported in the status line). Premiere's Ctrl+Z undoes if you change your mind. Two differentiators vs Premiere's native Automate to Sequence: (1) marker-type filter (target only choruses / drops / etc. - Premiere uses every marker uniformly), (2) auto-resize between markers (Premiere uses each clip's natural length). The native flow is still available behind the Use native flow button if you prefer it.
What's the metronome for?
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The metronome is a live click track synced to the waveform playback. It's on by default - armed as soon as a track loads, so it's already audible when you press Space (press M to toggle it off). Use it to verify the detected BPM is correct, or as backing rhythm while editing. Balance it against the music with the two toolbar volume sliders - Track and Metro - which default to 50/50; both the toggle state and the levels persist across loads. Four styles available: beats-per-bar accent, boost, layered, and steady-grid. Also, toggle the offbeat "and" click (Shift+M) for a more groovy feel.
How do I export my analysis for sharing or backup?
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Two options in the Markers tab → Manage row. Export JSON saves a .beatmarker.json with the analysis (beats, sections, confidence, semantics, lyrics, metadata) - small, portable, hand-editable. Export Bundle… opens a tier picker that shows live, per-track sizes for each option: Full (audio + stems + analysis), Lite (stems + analysis), Minimal (analysis only - same data as Export JSON in a zip wrapper). Picking Full or Lite when stems aren't yet downloaded automatically pulls them from the server first - one click does the right thing. Click Export JSON or Export Bundle without running Analyze first? If the server has the track cached (the Source tab will say "Server has this cached"), the panel auto-fetches the analysis in ~1 second (hash-dedup) and then proceeds. You only have to wait for a full Analyze run if the server doesn't have the track yet. Wipe Server Cache for This Track also works pre-Analyze - it derives the hash from the file bytes directly. Clicking Export opens a native Save dialog so you choose where the .beatmarker.zip lands (defaulting to the source audio's folder); the status line reports the saved path. Use Bundle when you've spent on a Premium / Super Premium analysis and want to move it between machines without re-paying for the run, or to hand off everything to a collaborator in one drag-droppable file.
What's Tempo Lock?
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Tempo Lock (in Source preferences) replaces the server's variable beat timings with a uniform grid based on the detected BPM. Useful if you're syncing a music video to a strict beat grid and want zero timing variation. Affects markers, metronome, and click tracks. Similar to BeatEdit's "Quantization" feature.
What's "Beat Snap"?
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Beat Snap (in Markers tab) snaps your Premiere sequence clip boundaries to the nearest detected beat. Useful for aligning existing cuts to the music grid. Preview the changes before applying; Premiere's Ctrl+Z undoes.
How do I clear markers I've already created?
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Use Clear Seq in the Markers tab Manage row. It always asks for confirmation first. With a clip selected it scopes to that clip's timeline range - only markers over the selected clip are removed, leaving the rest of the timeline alone. With no clip selected it warns you before wiping all sequence markers across every track. Clear Clip does the same for markers on the selected clip, and Clear Cache clears the locally cached analysis so the next run re-analyzes from scratch. If you'd rather not clear by hand, tick Clear existing markers first before Create Markers - it uses the same clip-aware scoping.
Can I limit markers to part of the timeline?
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Yes. Tick Only within In/Out range in the Markers tab (off by default) and set In/Out points on your sequence - markers then land only inside that range. Independent of this setting, markers are always clamped to the clip's visible timeline span, so they never spill before or after the audio clip. For a waveform-drawn region instead, use the Select tab's region scope.
Can I use lyrics in my workflow?
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Yes (Server tier+). Enable "Include lyrics" in Source preferences. The server returns Whisper transcriptions with per-word confidence. In the Track Info panel, you see a clickable transcript. In the Markers tab, a "Lyric lines" toggle creates one marker per line (or per word) with section-color coding and snap-to-beat options.
How much does it cost to analyze a song?
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Local: Free. Server: Free. Premium: ~$0.004/track (Gemini Flash-Lite calls). Super Premium: ~$0.014/track (Gemini Flash 3 calls). Costs shown in the tier selector before analysis. Cached results are free to re-use.
What if the analysis fails?
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Common causes: (1) No internet (Server+ tiers need it). (2) Server overloaded - wait a minute and retry. (3) Audio file too long (>30 min) - most servers have limits; try a shorter segment. (4) API key expired or rate-limited (Premium+) - check your key in Source tab or create a fresh one. BeatMarker Pro shows error details in the status bar - take note and report them if the issue persists.
Can I use BeatMarker Pro on multiple machines?
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Yes. Analysis results are cached locally by file path. To move a paid analysis (Premium / Super Premium / Server tier with stems) between machines, use Export Bundle… in the Markers tab. The .beatmarker.zip carries the analysis + stems + (optionally) source audio in one file - drag-drop it onto the panel on the other machine to restore everything at once. API keys remain per-machine.