Customer Reviews

Adobe Premiere Pro CS5[OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have worked with Final Cut, Avid, Sony Vegas, and if you want to get old school Media 100 in addition to cut and splice. I used to work with Premiere a while back and found the software too unstable. Having a PC I was unable to switch to Final Cut or the money to upgrade to Avid so I went with Vegas. Vegas is a much more stable program but has a bit of a different interface (the main editing arrangement between the other programs are very simular). I was happy with Vegas, and it companion DVD program is set up quite nicely (very user friendly while still allowing advance users the power to make animated menues).

However I have gotten into DSLR HD recording and I did not like the process of rerendering the native files so they can be used in my editing programs, so when Premiere Pro was released it caught my eye. Having used it for a week heres my 1st impressions.

Once you learn all the functions it will be a great tool but a lot of the advanced features are not user friendly (it will take some learning). My Canon 7D files operate great in the timeline and I like the import and export engine a lot. I do have a fairly new computer (an i5 processor with 8GB of Ram). I do not like the transitions and dissolves on Premiere. Vegas cross fades automatically so Premiere takes me a bit longer to set up the edit. I will try and find if there is a preset that will allow a default cross fade in the options menues later.

I like the auto import to Encore, the DVD authoring program. However Encore is very technical to use, not user friendly at all. To even build a basic menue will be a learning curve. I tend to concentrate on the editing and not the DVD creation as much so I like the "idiot" version of disc making. When I have time I will read and learn more.

I have used and like Adobe Story (I generally write in Final Draft). Story is rather simple, but I am gearing up for a production in the next month so I am eager to explore some on the advance functions in this program. I think it has a lot of potential to be a great tool (as far as script breakdown). I like the online sharing component to this program too. Very useful to just send a link instead of the entire document to my readers.

I have not had a chance to take a look at On Location. I don't have a laptop or a computer on my production, so I am guessing on location may not have an impact on my workflow although I am definately curious about the metadata workflow from script to Premiere. I might try a few clips just for fun.

In the end after a week of working on Premiere I definately think it will be a great worktool. I have not had the stability issues I have had in the past and it makes working with DSLR footage way easier. If you are looking for great books to help you get the basics of the adobe products down I would reccomend the classroom in a book series. Although expensive they are definately the best laid out training tools I have used in the past (Premiere Pro's will not be released until the end of July).

For whatever it's worth I would reccomend it to people that are getting into DSLR shooting (maybe Red too, I have not work with that format on this program yet). If I had my choice I would of course choose Avid first, Final Cut 2nd, and Premiere 3rd. But the 1st two are a lot more expensive and do not work with the REd or DSLR footage natively (yet) so my choice was easy.

UPDATE 8-25-10

I have edited a short that screened in the Sacramento Film Festival (on a big screen) last month with Premiere. I have become a fan of soundbooth for basic audio needs. I had to replace almost 85% of the short film's audio. Soundbooth was great improving all the sound elements and removing noise. For the basics it was very effective.

I absoluetly love the export engine in Premiere Pro. The ease of choosing a default export depending on what it's used for is great (especially exporting HD files to upload to youtube!). Also the set up screen for new projects is well designed. I do not have any stability issues what so ever and I am importing native 7d files shot in full HD 1080p at 24fps. There is a small load time if you are handling a lot of footage, but once it loads everything flows smoothly.

Encore (DVD authoring software) is still a mystery to me in terms of setting up advance menues. I'll admit that I have not spent hardly any time trying to learn the program. The auto import directly from Premiere will set up an autoplay DVD (no menues) and I have been living with that. The blueray version of my short I submitted for the film festival I used the Sony Vegas program's blue ray authoring program and just exported a HD version of the film from premiere. The results were very good. Projected on the big screen the quality did stand out from the 480 entries most definately.

All in all everything is going great. I plan to get in depth with After Effects in the coming months preparing for my next short.

I've worked with other video editors, but this is by far the best. Just look above to see all that it can do. It also integrates seamlessly with all other Adobe products as well as with many non-Adobe products. After reading the Adobe forums, I would recommend that anyone purchasing this software run it with Windows 7 as Win7 brings out it's very best. Also, Win7 makes the best use of memory which is extremely important when editing video. If you are a beginner, this software isn't for you (Get Adobe Premiere Elements 8). But, if you are experienced and want the best, this software is definately a front runner. Last, but not least, no matter what video editing software you use, make sure that you have a very substantial and capable computer. A computer that meets the minimum requirements most likely will not be enough. Editing video (particularly HD video) requires a very serious computer. If you don't have a very good computer, the results will be frustrating, and the software may get the blame. However, when running on a great computer, you'll be very pleased with the results.

I am new to using a professional NLE. I took the big step and got Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. I made sure that my computer system had more that the minimum system requirements (home built). I edit AVCHD, DV, HDV, etc., and have never had a crash or freeze up. I do have Premiere Elements 8 on two other PCs and they crash when I use Pre8 from time to time, but not with PrePro on my dedicated system. For questions I have for using PrePro CS5, I go to [...] help forums. There are some Adobe staff and many regular posters there who give great helpful answers and many tips. I hope that Abode can certify some more GPU cards (5 at this writing) because they are not cheap and I would love to be able to use the GPU-accelerated Mercury Playback Engine.

I produced a local television program in Manhattan covering the theatre. I have been using Adobe Premiere for over ten years. I currently use Premiere CS3. In general I have been very happy with Premiere. Encore, the DVD burning program, is another story. Try as I might, I can not get this program to work properly. I have sent hours trying to do what would take minutes on most DVD programs and still find that DVD menus my brother does on Pinnacle greatly outshine my "professional" program.

The final straw came this afternoon. I exported a file from Premiere to Encore with the intent of burning it to a DVD. Nothing fancy, just a straight burn. The program went through the motions and then again and again gave me an error message and refused to complete the DVD. I kept trying but Encore either crashed or continued to delivered its error message. This is not the first time I have had this problem. I reloaded the program several times but to no avail. Finally, I called Adobe's tech support. After waiting for almost an hour, I was told that they no longer support CS3 and I was on my own. Now, it seems to me that if you a company is charging over $700 for their software, they should support it as long as you are using it and not expect you to fork over another $300-$700 to upgrade it just so you can go on doing the exact same thing you brought the software for in the first place.

Thanks to Adobe's glitchy program and customer be dammed attitude, I missed an important deadline. I am now shopping for a new DVD program. I guarantee it will not be Adobe. I think it is also safe to say that when I do upgrade my editing software, it will not be Adobe either.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS5Adobe Encore DVD 1.5Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium Upgrade from CS2/CS3 [Mac]Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium

is good but I can see the Image to another out put monitor went I edit