Premiere Pro and Layer Order in the Essential Graphics Panel

I was just reading a forum post by user asergi who had an excellent question about the layer order in the Essential Graphics panel vs. the layer order of content and effects in the Effect Controls panel. The layer order appears “backward” from each other, and that can be confusing.

“Is there a way to get the layer order in the Effects Control panel to match the logical ordering of the Essential Graphics panel?”

Asergi explains, “In the Essential Graphics panel (EGP), the top-most layer in the panel corresponds to the top-most layer in the Program window.  However, when I’m animating those layers in the Effect Controls panel (ECP), the layer order is reversed!  The top most layer corresponds to the bottom-most layer in the comp.  Not only is this counterintuitive, but it is also very confusing when moving between the EGP and the ECP.  Is there some way to re-order the layers in the ECP so that the top-most layer corresponds to the top-most layer in the composition?”

No. As far as I know, there is not. It’s something that we should all be aware of when dealing with Essential Graphics panel workflows.

The quick answer as to why is that Premiere Pro has always had effects flowing from the bottom of the stack of effects before processing higher ordered effects processing operations.

Asergi, if you’re reading this, then your request should be mentioned to developers in the form of a feature request. If this bothers you, as well, please file that here.