The TwelveLabs plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro integrates AI-driven video understanding into your editing workflow. The plugin allows you to search videos using natural language queries and automatically create chapters and highlights. This helps you save time by precisely locating the segments you need.

The plugin features a sidebar on the left with multiple tabs and a central panel:

Project: Shows the current project and allows you to select or switch indexes, plus buttons to refresh or add new indexes.
Ingest: Handles the uploading and indexing of your videos.
Search: Allows natural language searches within your videos.
Segment: Enables the creation of chapters or highlights to segment videos.
Settings: Offers configuration options, such as logging in and out and resetting preferences.

Typical workflow

To work with the TwelveLabs plugin, complete the tasks below in order:

Check the prerequisites

Ensure you have the required software, API key, and video files.

Set up the plugin

Prepare your environment, install the plugin, and connect it to your TwelveLabs account.

Ingest videos

Upload your videos to the TwelveLabs Video Understanding Platform.

Use the plugin

Search for specific moments and work with auto-generated chapters and highlights.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following:

Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2024-2025: This version must be installed on your system.
TwelveLabs API key: Retrieve your key from the API Keys page.
Proxy files: Create lower-resolution copies of your videos in Premiere Pro. For instructions, see the Ingest and Proxy Workflow in Adobe Premiere Pro page of the Adobe documentation.
Video requirements: Your proxy files must meet the format requirements on the Create a video indexing task page.

Set up the plugin

To set up the plugin, install it, connect your TwelveLabs account, and assign an index to your project.

Install the plugin

Follow the steps below to add the plugin to Premiere Pro and access it from the application’s menu.

If you do not already have the ZXP Installer, download it from the ZXP/UXP Installer page.

Download the TwelveLabs plugin.

Launch the ZXP Installer application on your computer.

Drag and drop the downloaded .zxp file onto the ZXP Installer window.

Open Adobe Premiere Pro.

In the Premiere Pro menu, go to Window > Extensions > TwelveLabs. This will open the plugin panel.

Connect your TwelveLabs account

Connect the plugin to your TwelveLabs account:

Open the TwelveLabs panel in Premiere Pro by selecting Window > Extensions > TwelveLabs.

Enter your API key.

Select the Login button.

Note

To switch API keys, go to the Settings tab, select the Logout button, and enter a new API key.

Assign an index to your project

Assigning an index to a Premiere Pro project determines where videos are uploaded using the plugin. However, you can search and generate chapters or highlights across other indexes.

In the TwelveLabs panel, select the Project tab.

From the TwelveLabs index dropdown menu, choose an existing index or select the + icon to create a new one.

Notes

You can change the assigned index anytime by selecting a different option from the TwelveLabs Index dropdown in the Project tab.
The index ID is stored in your project metadata and will be retained in future versions of this project.

Ingest videos

Ingesting videos will upload your proxy files to the TwelveLabs Video Understanding Platform for processing. After processing, you can search the videos or create chapters and highlights.

Select a bin in your Premiere Pro project panel.

Select the Ingest tab in the TwelveLabs panel.

Select the Add Selected Bins button in the TwelveLabs panel. Note that clips are skipped if they don’t have proxies or are already queued.

(Optional) Monitor upload progress in the Queue section.

Note

By default, the plugin monitors your bins for new media. To disable this, toggle off the Auto Scan option at the bottom of the panel. When multiple editors work on the same project, configure only one machine with automatic scanning to prevent conflicts.

Use the plugin

Follow the steps in the sections below to search through your video content and generate chapters or highlights.

Search for specific moments

Searching enables you to locate specific video segments by describing content in natural language. Note that you can only search videos uploaded using the plugin. Videos not uploaded via the plugin will show a “Clips not in project” banner and will be greyed out.

Select the Search tab.

Choose an index from the dropdown menu.

Enter your query in the text field and press Enter.

Review the results displayed as a grid with thumbnails.

For each clip in the search results, you can:

Select the Play button to open the clip with in/out points in the source monitor.
Select the Timeline button to add the clip with in/out points to the active timeline.

(Optional) To import multiple clips simultaneously, select the checkboxes next to each clip and select the Import Into Timeline button to add all selected clips to the active timeline.

Generate chapters or highlights

Generating chapters or highlights divides videos into meaningful segments, allowing you to quickly locate and work with specific sections without manually reviewing entire videos. Note that you can only generate chapters and highlights for videos uploaded using the plugin. Videos not uploaded through the plugin will display a “Clip not in project” banner and will be greyed out.

Select the Segments tab.

Choose an index from the dropdown menu.

Choose the video for which you wish to generate chapters or highlights.

Choose either the Chapters or Highlights tab.

Review the results. For each segment, you can:

Select the Play button to open that segment with in/out points in the source monitor.
Select the Timeline button to add that segment with in/out points to the active timeline.

(Optional) To customize the segments, edit the text in the Prompt field and select the Refresh button.

Note

To add multiple segments at once, select the checkboxes next to each segment and select the Import into Timeline button.