How would you start off your 1-month training?

[iKwak]

Hi everyone,

I am a business major in college and for some odd reason, I am interested in learning how to edit films and create short video clips. Therefore, I want to invest in the Adobe Video Collection.

I have a good month to start learning Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 from scratch.


Which method would you recommend?

1) Tutorial Books from Library/Bookstore
2) Online Reading and Online Tutorial
3) Class Tutors and/or Hands-On-Training
4) Other - Please Recommend; Thank you very much!!

[Brian Ellis]

If you have not already made the investment, you may be interested in the Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7 in the place of the Adobe. It is cheaper, easier to use (more intuitive) and has fewer quirks, according to many users of both, while having similar functionality.

The learning curve can be shortened by a) reading the manual (436 pp) b) doing the tutorial and c) buying Charlie Hills' book which I believe comes with a CD-ROM.

[iKwak]

Originally posted by Brian Ellis
If you have not already made the investment, you may be interested in the Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7 in the place of the Adobe. It is cheaper, easier to use (more intuitive) and has fewer quirks, according to many users of both, while having similar functionality.

The learning curve can be shortened by a) reading the manual (436 pp) b) doing the tutorial and c) buying Charlie Hills' book which I believe comes with a CD-ROM.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I will stick with the industry standard software so I can build experience and what not.
Found myself a tutorial book in the library. I should start from there. Have a nice day guys.

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by iKwak
the industry standard software

?????? Since when was there an industry standard??????

Premiere Pro is only one of many at the "prosumer" level and is no more standard than a Toyota Corolla or a Jeep Cherokee is an industry standard car,

[Greebe]

The better Q to ask iKwak is why ask these Q's when you refuse to take advice from seasoned pros? (expect Doc M to chime in also)

[UtwigMU]

Personally I'd never buy expensive software package from the field unknown to me before evaluating it for a bit.

AFAIK you can download 30 day evaluation version from Adobe, don't know about MSPRO.

It's like buying shoes without trying them on or buying a car without taking it for a test drive.


Otherwise I taught software for money and my experience is:

- a class will get you up and running fast, but will not give you depth. Nonetheless, after you're up and running, you can explore depths for yourself.

- a book (1000-page) will take a month to digest and it will take more discipline. It will also give you bigger depth, but it will take longer.

If you have money, take a beginning course and then go through an in depth book.

[Hulk]

I would suggest having a good look at the features/capabilities of the various editing software available and then match those with the needs of your intended productions.

There really isn't much use spending money on "industry standard" software if you don't need it.

I think MSP7 is amazing for price/performance, if you need even more check out Vegas 5.

- Mark

[Frank Marshall]

One way to get into Premiere fast is to get "Classroom in a Book". I don't know if there is a version for Premiere Pro but it helped me get up to speed very quickly on an earlier iteration of Premiere. As instruction books go, it's one of the best I've used, especially as an effective introduction to this sophisticated application because it isn't overambitious, it just painlessly guides you into a good basic working knowledge of the software.

[Dr Mordrid]

Learning to edit in Premiere Pro is like learning to drive in a De Tomaso Mangusta: it's gorgeous outside and had a high price tag with all the promises that implies, but tends to spin out wickedly in the turns if you don't watch your arse

I'd learn on a more conventional editor like MSPro or Premiere 6.5, either of which you can get for a fraction of PPro's cost, then upgrade ONLY if I were going to use it with an editing card like the Matrox RT.X100. Without hardware support PPro is too limited in its functionality & speed for my taste.

Example weakness: no overlay support in its preview windows. This is an almost criminal omission IMHO and can only be remedied by special drivers for your display card and those are not very common.

Even with this it still is very demanding of your system, meaning it runs best on a hot rig while MSPro7 can run circles around it on slower systems.

Dr. Mordrid

[UtwigMU]

/thread hijack

Doc, now that you're back - I dabbled a bit in videoediting - me likey, what's your take on VirtualDUB and VirtualDUB Mod compared to tools in your sig?

[Dr Mordrid]

I find VirtualDUB in general a useful tool because of all the plugins available for it. One of those tools you need for when nothing else will do the job.

Dr. Mordrid