Tutorial: How to Create Data-Driven Titles in Adobe Premiere Pro

Step 3: Customize the Data

Click the template on the timeline and then the Edit tab in the Essential Graphics panel to access the configuration controls. On top is a box where you can either drag a CSV file or click the Edit Spreadsheet Data button to edit the data directly in Premiere Pro. The Spreadsheet Data window is shown on the upper left of Figure 5 (below) and also in Figure 6 (below Figure 5). If you don’t want to create a spreadsheet, you can simply change the numbers and descriptors in this panel.

Figure 5. Working with the data in the MOGRT

Figure 6. Mapping the data in the CSV to the data in the template

To fully explore the feature set, I created the spreadsheet shown on the bottom left in Figure 5. When you drag a CSV file into the spreadsheet area in the Essential Graphics panel, the Spreadsheet Data window opens, and you may have to map the data in the spreadsheet to the data in the template.

You see this mapping on the top left of Figure 6. On the top left, Data Label is mapped to Data Label, with Pie Color mapped to Pie Color on the right. In the middle, the Pie Data didn’t automatically map to the Pie Data, so I had to manually map the two by clicking the drop-down list and choosing Pie Data.

The need to map is obvious and mapping is straightforward, but only if your CSV file is formatted correctly. If it’s not, you can’t map the data and Premiere Pro simply won’t recognize it. At first, I tried creating CSV files by carefully mimicking the data structure in the Edit Spreadsheet Data window, but that proved time-consuming and generally ineffective.

When using the original CSV file from the template (after opening the template in After Effects), I was able to map data correctly in every template except for one. That’s where I recommend starting.

Step 4: Customize the Rest of the Template

As mentioned earlier, the MOGRT designer chooses which aspects of the design you can modify in the Edit tab of the Essential Graphics panel. All available customization options are below the spreadsheet data in Figure 7 (below).

Figure 7. Customizing the rest of the graphic

Adobe did a nice job of grouping and labeling the controls of this MOGRT for easy customization, but the items you can configure and their presentation in the panel will vary with every template and designer. If you’re buying templates, you should check which options are customizable, and more is better.

Fonts, font sizes, colors, and the sizes of the different elements in the panel should all be accessible within Premiere Pro. Ditto if you’re commissioning a custom MOGRT from either internal or third-party resources.

Automating Credits

As promised, Figure 8 (below) shows the data-driven credits file used at the end of a video. On top you see the preview, on the bottom is the Spreadsheet data, which I input via a CSV file. Of course, I cribbed the CSV from the original MOGRT file as detailed above, which is why all of the data quickly mapped correctly.

Figure 8. If you create lots of credits, you’ll love this data-driven MOGRT.

That’s how to choose and use data-driven MOGRT templates in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2019. While the glitz, glamour, and marketing hype focus on data-driven animated graphics, those who create lots of animated lower-third titles or post-video credits will also find them a great way to speed their work.