Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've been editing on Final Cut for several years. I can't claim to be an expert, but I'm pretty competent and have kept with it through a few computers and three upgrades. After trying out Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 for a couple weeks I think I might be ready to make a switch.
The game changer for me is how easily it gives real time feedback on edits, and how easy it is to import and lay out clips with different file types and have them integrate and play seamlessly. It makes a world of difference to me to be able to edit and preview AVCHD files directly, without conversion, without rendering. No log and transfer. I can arrange and adjust my footage without delay. Add to that the potential for easy integration with Adobe's After Effects CS5 (an astonishingly powerful effects program) and with Photoshop CS5 (and the rest of their Creative Suite) and it turns out to be a pretty powerful tool.
I'd had Final Cut Studio 5 and decided to get Final Cut Express 4 when I bought a Canon VIXIA HF10, since Studio 5 offered no support for the AVCHD files. I love my camcorder, and loved the fact it records to flash memory, but was soon to discover that it was even more of a pain to work with its files on Final Cut than it used to be to upload files directly from miniDV tapes. FCE 4 will work with AVCHD files, but it doesn't do it very well. You can import clips directly from your camcorder, but they have to be converted into Apple's own codec (AIC for FCE and iMovie, and ProRes for the latest Final Cut Studio) before you can do anything with them. Once converted they take up a lot more memory. Plus you can only import them directly from the camcorder, and can't just save the AVCHD files (the .mts files) and convert them when you're ready. I ended up buying Roxio Toast in order to do the conversions when I needed so I could store them without taking up too much hard drive space. With Premiere Pro there's no problem. You just select the file and it imports directly. Videos upload and are ready to use as quickly as any old files, and are ready to preview and edit without needing to be converted first. Then, when I'm ready to output a finished project, I can output it into whatever format I like.
There are several other features of Premiere Pro that make it an excellent choice for intermediate and professional editing. One of the coolest is multi-camera editing feature, which is astonishingly easy. You lay onto one sequence up to four tracks that were shot simultaneously (or several takes of the same scene), sync them up in time by marking a common sound or event, then you embed that sequence into another sequence and open the multi-cam editing window. You see all four camera tracks in four little windows and then a bigger window with the currently selected camera. As you track through the sequence, just selecting a new camera creates an edit that puts that new window forward in the final sequence - so that cutting between them is simple and you see exactly what you'll get.
I have to say I find the interface of Adobe Premiere to be slightly "clunkier" than Final Cut. To put it bluntly, it still feels a bit more like a Mac version of a Windows App than like a made-for-Apple application - this seems to be partially true of most of the CS5 programs, with the possible exception of Photoshop CS5 where they seem to have put the most effort into the aesthetics of the interface. That may also be due in large part to the fact I'm used to the old thing, since my initial impression has faded as I've gotten familiar with the new tools. Still in my experience Premiere Pro runs extremely well, and I've been pretty astonished by how easily it plays just about anything, even complicated effects. Even with a fairly powerful computer (Mac Book Pro, 2.8 GHz Intel Core Duo, with Snow Leopard and 4GB Ram), I find that on Final Cut I have to stop and render fairly often, but with Premiere I find that with most things you can preview an edit almost directly (even if you may have to adjust the playback settings for very complicated fixes) and it has changed my workflow. I expect to continue to use Final Cut for some things since I know the program fairly well, and still have some ongoing projects I've worked on there; for most new things, though, and especially for projects where I haven't already converted my AVCHD footage, I expect to go with Premiere Pro. Highly recommended.
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Adobe Premiere Pro CS5Craft your story efficiently with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 software, the high-performance video production solution that enables you to work dramatically faster thanks to the native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated Adobe Mercury Playback Engine. Edit natively with the video formats you want. Save time by batch encoding source content to a wide variety of video formats for web, disc, broadcast, film, device, and mobile delivery. Easily exchange projects with Final Cut Pro and Avid software, and enjoy efficient, collaborative workflows that accelerate production from scriptwriting to editing, encoding, and final delivery.
Accelerate production with the new Adobe Mercury Playback Engine
Industry-leading performance with the all-new Adobe Mercury Playback Engine Discover the native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated* Mercury Playback Engine that provides rock-solid performance and stability, at 4K resolution and beyond. Open projects rapidly, and create multilayer, effects-rich sequences without rendering.
* Supported NVIDIA graphics cards for Mercury Playback Engine include Quadro CX (Windows), Quadro FX 3800 (Windows), Quadro FX 4800 (Windows and Mac OS), Quadro FX 5800 (Windows), GeForce GTX 285 (Windows and Mac OS). For an up-to-date list of supported cards, visit www.adobe.com/go/64bitsupport.
Broad format support Work with virtually any video, image, and audio format without transcoding or rewrapping thanks to native editing support for DV, HDV, RED, DPX, Sony XDCAM, XDCAM HD 50, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD, Panasonic P2, DVCPROHD, AVCHD, and AVC-Intra, plus Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras. Add uncompressed SD and HD acquisition with hardware cards from third-party vendors.
Efficient tools for creative editing Create high-quality visual and editorial effects directly within the editing timeline. Edit faster with powerful editing tools that give you precise control and real-time feedback. Add color correction and other effects, audio filters, and more.
Script-to-screen workflow through integration with Adobe Story Move from script to screen faster with Adobe Story, a new CS Live online service. Efficiently manage your shoot and streamline logging by importing scripts from Adobe Story to create complete shot lists and capture production notes in Adobe OnLocation. Use Speech Search to synchronize the script to footage in Adobe Premiere Pro and quickly produce rough cuts. With Adobe Encore, turn your DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects into searchable web-DVDs, and use Adobe Media Encoder to deliver your video for broadcast, device, film, and mobile distribution. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time--visit www.adobe.com/go/cslive for details.
Open workflows with Final Cut Pro, Avid editing software, and Digidesign Pro tools Bring the creative benefits of Adobe tools to the whole project, exploring new possibilities with Adobe After Effects and other Adobe software. Collaborate more efficiently by importing and exporting Final Cut Pro and Avid projects into Adobe Premiere Pro.
Unparalleled toolset integration Work more efficiently from planning through delivery with the tightly integrated toolset in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. Eliminate intermediate rendering when moving sequences into Encore, and easily hop between your edited sequence and After Effects. Paint, add text, and clone across multiple frames with new video features in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended.
Encoding and delivery for viewing everywhere Reach audiences wherever they are, on whatever device they are watching video on. Batch encode in the background to a broad selection of web and video formats, and deliver DVDs, Blu-rays Discs, and interactive web-DVDs.
Direct-to-disk recording and on-set monitoring Manage your shoot more efficiently with Adobe OnLocation CS5, included with Adobe Premiere Pro. Record directly to disk and maximize camera image quality. Organize shots using metadata imported from Adobe Story, a new Adobe CS Live online service, and logged during the shoot. When you import the project into Adobe Premiere Pro, metadata from Adobe OnLocation makes it easy to create a rough cut. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time--visit www.adobe.com/go/cslive for details.
Efficient editing with metadata, from script to capture and delivery Use metadata added to clips during preproduction, on set, and in the edit suite with Speech Search to easily find assets and edit faster. Export metadata to make your content more discoverable and to help unlock new revenue streams.
Native support for DSLR cameras Edit video from the latest DSLR cameras, such as Canon 5D Mark II and 7D; Nikon D90, D300s, and D3000; and others. New native support means you never waste valuable production time transcoding or rewrapping and always have access to the original file's pristine quality.
Comprehensive production toolset Extend your edit suite to preproduction and delivery. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 comes with Adobe OnLocation CS5 for on-set monitoring, logging, and direct-to-disk capture; Encore CS5 for authoring DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and web-DVDs; and Adobe Media Encoder for batch encoding video to virtually every format.
Top new features of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
Industry-leading performance with the Mercury Playback Engine The ability to edit HD and higher resolution footage in real time without having to first render it or lower its resolution by transcoding or rewrapping it with an intermediate codec is a post-production dream come true. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 brings that dream to the desktop with the revolutionary Mercury Playback Engine.
The Mercury Playback Engine provides native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated support for Mac and Windows, yielding dramatic improvements in performance and stability. You can open projects faster, scrub through HD and higher resolution projects fluidly, and handle long-form content and effects-heavy sequences more reliably. Play through most common transitions and effects without waiting for rendering. Plus, you can usually see results instantly when performing tasks such as keying with the new Ultra keyer, applying Gaussian blurs and blend modes to footage, applying multiple color corrections, and working with numerous other effects. The Mercury Playback Engine also makes rendering for final output much faster than before.
The Mercury Playback Engine works hand in hand with NVIDIA CUDA technology that leverages the parallel compute engine in NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to solve many complex computational problems in a fraction of the time a CPU would take to perform the same task.
In addition, the Mercury Playback Engine takes multitasking to a new level. Utilizing the GPU to accelerate effects, rendering, and other processor-intensive tasks frees your system's CPUs to handle background tasks. The enhanced, native 64-bit system architecture in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 lets you use all available system RAM (up to 128GB in today's computers), so you can run multiple software applications at the same time. This opens the door to powerful timesaving, multitasking workflows. For example, you can simultaneously edit a very complex, effects-laden project in Adobe Premiere Pro while your system's CPUs render an elaborate After Effects composition in the background.
If you're working on a computer or laptop that is unable to play back challenging footage such as 4K RED files or sequences with extensive effects, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 includes the ability to adjust the playback resolution of your video in the Source Monitor or Program Monitor. Separate Playback and Pause resolutions give you more control over monitoring--with higher resolution footage such as 4K, you can set playback resolution to a lower value for smooth performance (for example 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16 resolution), and set Pause resolution to Full. This allows you to quickly check the quality of focus or edge details when playback is paused--useful for when you don't have the luxury of an on-set HD monitor.
Expanded native tapeless workflows Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 builds upon the industry's best native tapeless workflow by offering new native format support for Sony XDCAM HD 50, Panasonic AVCCAM, DPX, and AVC-Intra. Native support for RED R3D files has been enhanced, and native support for video shot with Canon, Nikon, and other DSLR cameras added. These newly supported formats expand existing support for variants of Panasonic P2; Sony XDCAM, XDCAM EX, and XDCAM HD; HDV; and AVCHD.
Open workflows with Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid editing software Whether working solo or in a workgroup that's involved in a large multistudio production, industry professionals typically use a variety of production and post-production tools on virtually every project. Moving media and sequences between tools in complex production pipelines often requires format conversion, specialized plug-ins, tedious workarounds, or a lot of manual work to recreate elements that don't transfer. The ability to share projects and assets between Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, as well as between Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid NLEs such as Media Composer, means you can share files and timelines without conversion or rendering, preserving commonly used effects and transition.
Faster editing with metadata Metadata plays an essential role in helping efficiently manage and locate media assets throughout the production process. It lets you automatically track crucial details such as where a clip was shot, who's in it, and whether you have the rights to use it in your project. Innovative new metadata features enable the new script-to-screen workflow in Adobe Premiere Pro, bringing new efficiencies to the editing and production process.
Metadata can be created automatically and supplemented manually at any stage of production. For example, at the start of your project, a script written with Adobe Story, a new CS Live online service*, captures vital information and stores it as metadata that can be imported into OnLocation. While you're recording footage directly to disk, OnLocation automatically captures all of the important metadata coming from the camera. Comments you make in the OnLocation Shot List are also stored with each clip as metadata. When clips are imported into Adobe Premiere Pro and other components of CS5 Production Premium, metadata is retained in each application.
During post-production, metadata streamlines searching for clips while you edit. With metadata, you can quickly locate media assets and clips by filename, date, time, camera setting (such as resolution or frame rate), shot location, or any information you've added to your asset or clip. And when you run Speech Search in Adobe Premiere Pro, you can transcribe spoken dialogue that is converted into metadata, making locating particular footage simple.
Cutting-edge storytelling with new Adobe Story (available separately) Adobe Story, a new CS Live online service* for scriptwriting, can help accelerate the process of turning screenplays into finished media. Available separately from Production Premium, the tight integration of Adobe Story with CS5 Production Premium extends the benefits of Adobe Story into broader parts of the production and post-production workflow.
Integration with CS Review Clients, project managers, and members of production teams don't always work in the same location, in the same city, or even in the same country. CS Review, a new CS Live online service*, provides a fast and simple way for teammates and clients to take part in reviewing video sequences, using just a web browser and easy-to-use annotation tools.
Thanks to its integration with Adobe Premiere Pro, unlike other services that offer online review of creative content, CS Review lets you publish a review to the web directly from within Adobe Premiere Pro. Encode sequences in the background and automatically upload them for review and collaboration. When comments are made by colleagues and clients viewing the content in a web browser, comments are dynamically captured and displayed directly in the new Review panel in Adobe Premiere Pro alongside the sequence they relate to. Jump directly to comments in the timeline to efficiently match feedback to specific elements and keep track of review comments in one location.
Because reviews are accessed simply through a web browser, CS Review brings your teammates and clients into the review process in near-real time. When you need to view or archive reviews offline, they can be easily saved as JPG or FLV files.
With CS Review, you can apply password protection to your content, and assign roles to determine who can create a new review, make and respond to comments, or just read comments. The ability to set deadlines, track reviewer participation, and view comments as they are posted help you further manage the review process.
Efficient production and tapeless camera support in Adobe OnLocation CS5 Adobe OnLocation CS5 provides an impressive array of production tools to help you shoot better and faster while saving time and money, both on set and off. New support for tapeless cameras extend the ways you can use OnLocation in your production workflows.
Spot problems in imported tapeless footage. Thanks to new tapeless camera support, you can use the comprehensive software waveform monitor and vectorscope as well as the audio spectrum analyzer in OnLocation to identify image and audio problems in imported files by quickly scanning your footage for audio pops, clipping, and video overbrights.
Streamlined encoding with revamped Adobe Media Encoder With the explosive growth of video on the Internet, there's been a massive shift in how people consume video entertainment. Whether you produce instructional videos, trailers for your independently produced films, or music videos for viewing online or on iPods, distribute your work on YouTube, Vimeo, or Hulu, or output it to broadcast playout servers, being able to efficiently deliver your content in a variety of formats is crucial. Adobe Media Encoder, a separate, 64-bit software application included with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, saves you time by streamlining the process of creating multiple encoded versions of your source files and Adobe Premiere Pro sequences. Adobe Media Encoder features a more intuitive user interface, providing more visual feedback to help you work faster. Save time with the new ability to start the encoding process directly from Adobe Premiere Pro without going to the batch list. Set up multiple items for batch encoding, manage priorities, and control advanced settings for each item individually. Batch encoding lets you use any combination of sequences and clips as sources and encode to a wide variety of video formats, including FLV, F4V, Windows Media, QuickTime, and other popular codecs such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, and--new in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5--AVC-Intra and DPX.
Searchable web DVDs and other enhancements in Adobe Encore CS5 Adobe Encore CS5 software is a versatile, interactive authoring tool for video distribution that allows you to deliver your projects beyond DVD and Blu-ray Disc. In a single operation, you can easily turn your DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects into web DVDs that now include a search interface. The new interface gives viewers a more engaging experience by enabling them to search within a web DVD using keywords. During authoring, Encore automatically creates a search database using metadata from speech-analysis text, subtitles in timelines and slideshows, and menu and button names.
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