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Now the question: is it worth it? I've been thinking long and hard about this since the Premiere Pro beta started, and still have very mixed feelings about it.
There can be no doubt Adobe put in a Herculean effort in totally rewriting the program.
The good:
Multiple nestable timelines (no doubt about it, this is where things are heading)
Single track main timeline (no more A/B and also a trend)
Transitions ("on any track")
Improvements to the realtime engine (can now do motion paths etc.)
Improvements to the Edit Control Window (ECW is akin to Cool3D PS's Attribute Window & used for effects control)
Improved color correction (almost every parameter you could ask for)
Image Pan and Zoom similar to how it's done in After Effects (handy for photo montages)
Vectorscope, waveform monitor etc. (about time!)
Audio conforming (audio resampled to 32 bit for higher quality rendering)
VST audio filters (as used by Cubasis)
ASIO support (Steinbergs Audio Stream Input/Output technology)
5.1 audio mixing
2-pass MPEG encoding (MainConcepts Pro encoder)
HD & HDV support (MPEG HDTV editing)
and the rest of the stuff on Adobes what's new page.
The Bad:
Those expensive Premiere plugins you bought won't work anymore. Adobe canned their plugin interface and replaced it with a whole new API akin to that used in After Effects. Ka-Ching....that is if your plugins maker is still around. Otherwise you're out of luck.
Audio conforming. Converting those files to 32 bit takes way too long, especially in a complex or long project. Besides the conversion time issue the files are stored in a custom format (*.CFA) and are inaccesible to non-Adobe softrware. *.CFA's are also at least twice the size of the original PCM in a DV file. Some people have reported conformed audio folders with upwards of 5 gigs worth of *.CFA's in them for a single project, not to mention the smaller *.PEK files (whatever they are). One person I know ended up with 26 gigs of *.CFA's alone. Adobe also claims that 32 bit audio helps their realtime engine, but I've seen little to support this assertion.
Also bad in conforming is that if you use the same audio clip twice in a project it has to be re-conformed and stored as a second identical *.CFA file along with another *.PEK file being generated. Granted; this is on Adobes "to be fixed" list, but how did this get out of alpha much less beta, and how many other hand grenades like this are waiting to be discovered?
Transitions "on any track" aren't always. There are limitations that are going to irritate people to no end, so in some cases you'll still end up rendering an overlay track transition effect out for use on the timeline.
The Project Trimmer is gone. Why? Dunno....but they say it's "due in a future build", but for free or not is up for grabs.
The new Color Correction filter is very complete, but DOG SLOW as regards rendering its output. Thank God the RT.X100 has its own realtime CC or I'd be going crazy.
AC3 encoding is an extra-cost feature. You get 3 trial encodes then it costs $295 to activate the Surcode plugin.
HD & HDV support. Why bad? Because it comes in the form of Cineforms Aspect HD plugin. Just another $1200 and for some HD formats it'll also need an SDI I/O card
The last two indicate that Adobes cooperative marketing department is alive and healthy
and lots of changes to features that worked just fine before, seemingly just for changes sake. This alone is going to drive a lot of existing Premiere users NUTS.
The Ugly:
Audio conforming again. What makes conforming ugly is that YOU CAN'T TURN IT OFF!! Load a small 8 bit mono audio sample and it still gets conformed to 32 bit. You also will have to wait for the audio files to be conformed before editing or Premiere Pro will become very sluggish, especially when scrubbing. This is particularly annoying when importing Premiere 6.x projects because all the audio will have to be conformed at one sitting. How long can this delay be in a complex project?
Hint: go have dinner.....
DV Realtime performance is a DOG, especially in comparison to MSPro7 or Vegas4. Basically if you try using software realtime and not an RT.X100 or Storm2 card you're in for a big dissapointment. Not helping this at all is that Premiere Pro's VfW mode dosn't use their RT SDK
Export rendering speed is slower than Premiere 6.5 or MSPro7. For MPEG it's the 2-pass encoder and understandable, but what about the other formats? Conformed audio compounds this if you add a lot of filters etc.
Needless complexity. It was my understanding that part of the single track editing paradigm was to make the program more intuitive, but apparently Adobe didn't get that part of the message. Dig out your reading glasses because many things are definitely not intuitive.
Example: dropping a single transition between two clips is needlessly complex in that you have to "trim" half the transition duration off each clip before dropping the transition else you get a cryptic error that it may not work. Dumb since in $50-$100 programs like VideoStudio you can just abutt the clips then drop the transition on the cut without all the fuss.
Is Premiere Pro worth it?
Premiere Pro has many new features that people will love; nested timelines for one. This isn't saying that Adobe is the first to use them, they are just piling on features that are becoming industry standards. Premiere Pro also has several quirks, "features" and changes that will drive some existing Premiere users out of their minds.
Certainly those who upgrade are going to need significant retraining, and for studios at least someone is going to make a lot of money doing this.
You also have to consider the cost of upgrading all your Premiere plugins, not to mention that if you want to use software realtime a new and very fast machine will be necessary.
Uppance:
Those who are using previous builds of Premiere, including version 6.5, and decide to upgrade to Premiere Pro are in for a major learning curve.....as in get your Hummer warmed up.
If, on the other hand, you want to keep your wallet intact and your book is already full of "to do's" Premiere Pro may well not be worth it, especially if your existing editor is doing all that you need.
Then there are the problem areas noted above.....
In my opinion Premiere Pro exemplifies the concept of three steps forward and two steps back......
Dr. Mordrid
There can be no doubt Adobe put in a Herculean effort in totally rewriting the program.
The good:
Multiple nestable timelines (no doubt about it, this is where things are heading)
Single track main timeline (no more A/B and also a trend)
Transitions ("on any track")
Improvements to the realtime engine (can now do motion paths etc.)
Improvements to the Edit Control Window (ECW is akin to Cool3D PS's Attribute Window & used for effects control)
Improved color correction (almost every parameter you could ask for)
Image Pan and Zoom similar to how it's done in After Effects (handy for photo montages)
Vectorscope, waveform monitor etc. (about time!)
Audio conforming (audio resampled to 32 bit for higher quality rendering)
VST audio filters (as used by Cubasis)
ASIO support (Steinbergs Audio Stream Input/Output technology)
5.1 audio mixing
2-pass MPEG encoding (MainConcepts Pro encoder)
HD & HDV support (MPEG HDTV editing)
and the rest of the stuff on Adobes what's new page.
The Bad:
Those expensive Premiere plugins you bought won't work anymore. Adobe canned their plugin interface and replaced it with a whole new API akin to that used in After Effects. Ka-Ching....that is if your plugins maker is still around. Otherwise you're out of luck.
Audio conforming. Converting those files to 32 bit takes way too long, especially in a complex or long project. Besides the conversion time issue the files are stored in a custom format (*.CFA) and are inaccesible to non-Adobe softrware. *.CFA's are also at least twice the size of the original PCM in a DV file. Some people have reported conformed audio folders with upwards of 5 gigs worth of *.CFA's in them for a single project, not to mention the smaller *.PEK files (whatever they are). One person I know ended up with 26 gigs of *.CFA's alone. Adobe also claims that 32 bit audio helps their realtime engine, but I've seen little to support this assertion.
Also bad in conforming is that if you use the same audio clip twice in a project it has to be re-conformed and stored as a second identical *.CFA file along with another *.PEK file being generated. Granted; this is on Adobes "to be fixed" list, but how did this get out of alpha much less beta, and how many other hand grenades like this are waiting to be discovered?
Transitions "on any track" aren't always. There are limitations that are going to irritate people to no end, so in some cases you'll still end up rendering an overlay track transition effect out for use on the timeline.
The Project Trimmer is gone. Why? Dunno....but they say it's "due in a future build", but for free or not is up for grabs.
The new Color Correction filter is very complete, but DOG SLOW as regards rendering its output. Thank God the RT.X100 has its own realtime CC or I'd be going crazy.
AC3 encoding is an extra-cost feature. You get 3 trial encodes then it costs $295 to activate the Surcode plugin.
HD & HDV support. Why bad? Because it comes in the form of Cineforms Aspect HD plugin. Just another $1200 and for some HD formats it'll also need an SDI I/O card
The last two indicate that Adobes cooperative marketing department is alive and healthy
and lots of changes to features that worked just fine before, seemingly just for changes sake. This alone is going to drive a lot of existing Premiere users NUTS.
The Ugly:
Audio conforming again. What makes conforming ugly is that YOU CAN'T TURN IT OFF!! Load a small 8 bit mono audio sample and it still gets conformed to 32 bit. You also will have to wait for the audio files to be conformed before editing or Premiere Pro will become very sluggish, especially when scrubbing. This is particularly annoying when importing Premiere 6.x projects because all the audio will have to be conformed at one sitting. How long can this delay be in a complex project?
Hint: go have dinner.....
DV Realtime performance is a DOG, especially in comparison to MSPro7 or Vegas4. Basically if you try using software realtime and not an RT.X100 or Storm2 card you're in for a big dissapointment. Not helping this at all is that Premiere Pro's VfW mode dosn't use their RT SDK
Export rendering speed is slower than Premiere 6.5 or MSPro7. For MPEG it's the 2-pass encoder and understandable, but what about the other formats? Conformed audio compounds this if you add a lot of filters etc.
Needless complexity. It was my understanding that part of the single track editing paradigm was to make the program more intuitive, but apparently Adobe didn't get that part of the message. Dig out your reading glasses because many things are definitely not intuitive.
Example: dropping a single transition between two clips is needlessly complex in that you have to "trim" half the transition duration off each clip before dropping the transition else you get a cryptic error that it may not work. Dumb since in $50-$100 programs like VideoStudio you can just abutt the clips then drop the transition on the cut without all the fuss.
Is Premiere Pro worth it?
Premiere Pro has many new features that people will love; nested timelines for one. This isn't saying that Adobe is the first to use them, they are just piling on features that are becoming industry standards. Premiere Pro also has several quirks, "features" and changes that will drive some existing Premiere users out of their minds.
Certainly those who upgrade are going to need significant retraining, and for studios at least someone is going to make a lot of money doing this.
You also have to consider the cost of upgrading all your Premiere plugins, not to mention that if you want to use software realtime a new and very fast machine will be necessary.
Uppance:
Those who are using previous builds of Premiere, including version 6.5, and decide to upgrade to Premiere Pro are in for a major learning curve.....as in get your Hummer warmed up.
If, on the other hand, you want to keep your wallet intact and your book is already full of "to do's" Premiere Pro may well not be worth it, especially if your existing editor is doing all that you need.
Then there are the problem areas noted above.....
In my opinion Premiere Pro exemplifies the concept of three steps forward and two steps back......
Dr. Mordrid
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