Look, I feel your pain. Scrubbing through hours of corporate fluff is the absolute worst. If you are stuck with Premiere, dont ditch it for a new platform. Just get Adobe Premiere Pro AI Auto-Reframe and Speech-to-Text for your base edits because it handles the transcript-based editing way better than those random web tools. For the cleanup, here is what I actually use in my workflow:

• Descript Storyboard AI Audio Repair is solid for cutting out those endless umms and ahhs, but be careful with the quality settings on export.
• Autopod Multi-Camera Editor Plugin is a life saver for interview jump cuts; it saves me literal hours on multi-cam syncs. Just make sure to keep your projects local. Cloud-based stuff is a nightmare if your connection is spotty. Start small with a trial first before you commit your budget.

Just catching up on this thread now. Honestly, if you are stuck with Premiere and hate the manual silence removal, you should look into Digital Anarchy Transcriptive for the text-based editing. It stays inside the Adobe ecosystem so you arent dealing with weird export issues or cloud sync nightmares. It basically lets you cut the video by editing the transcript, which is a lifesaver for those endless corporate interviews. For the audio side, stop scrubbing and just use iZotope RX 10 Standard to batch process the noise. It is way faster than manual cleanup and actually sounds professional. Here is why I think it works for your situation:

• It runs locally on your machine, so your Seattle internet connection wont ruin your render time.
• The spectral repair is pretty magical for cutting out background noise like AC hums or those annoying desk clicks.
• It gives you way more control than those basic AI web tools that guess the audio levels. If the masking is still killing you, maybe check out Red Giant Universe for some quick transition and glow effects to hide those jump cuts naturally. It is way cheaper than a full suite migration and keeps your workflow local. You are definitely not wasting your time, just need to stop doing the grunt work yourself and let these plugins handle the heavy lifting while you focus on the actual storytelling.

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone chiming in. Super helpful discussion.

Ugh, the absolute slog of cleaning up corporate interviews is soul-crushing work. Seriously, after seven years in the chair, my ears start ringing just thinking about those endless umms and ahhs. I feel your pain on the manual masking too; it is genuinely exhausting how much time goes into fixing minor background issues before you can even touch the actual edit. Since you want to avoid cloud lag, have you looked into Boris FX Continuum 2024? It integrates directly into your timeline, which saves me so much headache when my connection starts acting up.

• The motion tracking module is pretty solid for cleanups.
• It handles complex masking without needing to upload gigabytes of footage. Honestly, I just wish there was a magic button for the boring stuff. Spending half my week on frame-by-frame cleaning is driving me crazy too.

> Scrubbing through hours of corporate fluff is the absolute worst. ^ This. Also, watch out for tools that process everything in the cloud. They basically choke on long-form footage if your connection isnt rock solid. I once lost three hours of progress when a browser-based editor crashed mid-export. Stick to local plugins that integrate directly into your timeline to keep those render files stable and avoid the lag nightmare.

Like someone mentioned, stick to your local setup. Since you hate the lag, have you looked into Boris FX Continuum 2024 for your masking needs? It handles tracking way better than the native tools. Before I suggest more, are you working with multicam sequences or just single-cam interviews? That makes a huge difference in what AI plugins will actually play nice with your current project structure.