Adobe Premier 6.0 -

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DesignerToday 2001 Product Reviews

Adobe Premier 6.0

Jacquelin Vanderwood

July 1, 2001

In this new enhanced upgrade of Adobe Premiere 6.0, the improvements are grand and exceptional. The functionality of the program far exceeds the previous version.

Now it has IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.Link). If you have a DV port, an IEEE 1394 connection, and a DV camcorder, you're able to get perfect digital video immediately with no hassle. You can view full quality video in seconds. The program contains DV presets for NTSC and PAL for your equipment. What are these presets? They are settings for compressor, frame size, pixel aspect ratio, frame rate, color depth, audio, and fields. You can create your own custom fields as well. Another nice feature is the DV device control which allows you to use batch-capture of video, or capture In points to an out point, and immediately record from tape. There is also support for nonsquare pixels which include DV's Widescreen (Cinema) pixel aspect ratio of 16:9 (1.2) and the Anamorphic pixel aspect ratio of 2:1 (2.0). To that add DV editing mode where the program sends captured/rendered video through the IEEE 1394 connection to the DV device with full quality previewing. You can also import/export in a variety of formats including QuickTime, Type 1/Type 2 AVI files, and DV stream files. The Capture window has also been upgraded with new tools for capturing. It now has a control panel under the preview screen, a settings palette where you can view the current capture settings, and logging palette for entering In/Out points.

What else is new? The program now let's you export to the web with three different methods in only one-step. You can export individual clips, or a segment of the Timeline, or the entire program in an optimized web format. The export options are Save for Web, Advanced Windows Media, and Advanced RealMedia Export. Set Timeline markers as well that include links to HTML pages or to chapters in a QuickTime movie/DVD.

Some more new features to the program include enhanced monitor and timeline windows. It is now easier to control editing with 3/4/6-point editing (L-cut) capabilities while using the Source and Program views together. The new screen also offers increased editing functions for assembling video projects together. Now you can adjust transitions/effects, modify keyframes, and adjust opacity. In the timeline window, the features includes new tools and buttons. They are Track Options Dialog, Toggle Snap to Edges, Toggle Edge Viewing, Toggle Shift Tracks Options, and Toggle Sync Mode. The Clip window also contains the same features as the Source View. The new Timeline menus have been refabricated and a new Timeline menu added. The new commands include: Preview, Speed, Open Master Clip, and Set Master Clip.

The new audio feature includes an Audio Mixer. Now you can mix the audio with professional results directly in Premiere 6.0. It contains multi-channel features including gain and pan adjustments for up to 99 audio tracks. You can play the video and adjust at the same time. Automation buttons are included to give you more control for adjusting tracks. For each track there is a separate VU meter and a Clip Indicator which lights up, a volume fader and pan controls.

Use the Project window to manager all media. You can create and use multiple bins for organization in a split-view screen, set poster frame for video clips, preview clips in a thumbnail view as well. There are presets for the common video formats, too. To display all the settings including capture, project, and export, use the new Settings Viewer.

There are new visualization tools which increase productivity and there are new storyboard windows with it's Automate to Timeline command, plus commands palette.

Now you can add effects and transitions for audio and video much easier with the new palettes. Organization is also more user friendly. The new Effects Control palette allows you to control all effects in one area and the new keyframe track for the Timeline window gives better visualization for effect keyframes.

Customize and save a workspace setup. The A/B Editing workspace allows you to simplify the area. Use the Single-Track Editing workspace for a more professional environment.

New integration tools include the Edit Original command for editing clips in their source program while still working in Premiere. It works like Photoshop and Image Ready. The History palette now has Undo/Redo. There are a number of new Adobe After Effects plug-ins integrated into this new version.