Guide
Find B-roll faster in Premiere.
Start with what’s built in. Add Sift when the shot you want isn’t in the project.
In short: In Adobe Premiere, use the Search panel for footage already imported into your project. When the B-roll is on other drives or in older projects, install the Sift panel, search all your footage by description, and open the moment in the Source monitor or insert it at the playhead.
No editor needed. Sift works on its own as a desktop app on Mac and Windows: search, preview, build Selects and share footage by link without opening an editor. The editor panels are optional.
Step 0: use what Premiere gives you
Since Premiere Pro 25.2, the Search panel can find shots by description and transcribed dialogue in media imported into the open project, with analysis on your computer (Adobe documents this; see our comparison). Adobe renamed Premiere Pro to Adobe Premiere with version 26. If the B-roll is in the project, use it.
When to add Sift
- The B-roll is on drives you haven’t imported.
- You want a shot from a previous project without opening that project.
- You need to find a specific person by name.
- You work in both Premiere and Resolve and want one library.
A fast B-roll routine
- Describe the shot, not the use: “hands typing on a laptop, shallow focus”, not “technology”.
- Scrub results from the card and save candidates to a Selects group.
- Send the Selects group to Premiere as a bin, then rough-cut from the bin.
- Use “find more like this” on the one you like to find alternates.
What the panel can do
From the Sift panel you can import selections into a Sift bin, open a clip in the Source monitor, and insert or overwrite a selected moment at the playhead in an open sequence. These are panel actions rather than drag-to-timeline gestures. Sift works with Premiere Pro 25.6 and Adobe Premiere 26 and later.
Step by step.
- Search in Premiere first
Open the Search panel and try your description on the project’s media.
- Open the Sift panel
If the shot isn’t there, open Sift in Premiere. Settings › Editing apps in the Sift app sets it up in one click.
- Search all drives
Type the description. Results include footage that isn’t in the project.
- Bring it in
Open it in the Source monitor to check, then insert at the playhead. Sift files imports under bins that mirror your folders.
Questions
Does Premiere’s Search panel already find B-roll?
Yes, for media in your project. Sift is for the footage outside it.
Does Sift work with Adobe Premiere 26?
Yes. The panel works with Premiere Pro 25.6 and with Adobe Premiere 26 and later.
Does it cost extra?
No. The panels are included in the $99-a-year license. Free for 3 days or 25 searches. No card.
Updated 2026-10-22
Keep reading.
Try it on your own footage.
Free for 3 days or 25 searches. No card. Then $99 a year for one computer, Mac or Windows. Everything in Sift, including the optional editor panels and one free link to share footage.