Premiere Elements 8 Reviewed

Here's a short review of Premiere Elements 8.

I tested the software on a HP xw4400 Workstation - Core 2 6600 processor @2.4 Ghz, 2 GB ram. Make sure to review system requirements, especially if you want to edit HD.

Premiere Elements 8 user interface

Pros:

Friendly user interface with a fairly logical work-flow. The interface supports both timeline and storyboard editing. After editing, it was very easy to export a file for web upload, export to tape or burn a DVD.

Many of Premiere Pro's keyboard shortcuts apply to Premiere Elements 8 too.

Worked very nicely with both SD and HD footage. (SD footage was captured from a Sony VX2100). Easily imported HD files from a Canon Vixia HF S100 and a DXG-567 HD camera. Mixed HD and SD footage with no problems.

Using the titler was pretty easy for the most part, but I still haven't figured out how to applying a stoke (outline) to text.



Cons:

I had some trouble with the Welcome Screen. Several times when attempting to open a project, the system appeared to be working but wouldn't progress beyond that screen. When this occurred, I had to launch Windows Task Manager to force the application to close and then launch the application by double-clicking the project file.

The good news on this is that Adobe has a fix if you encounter this problem.


Conclusions:

This is definitely an ideal video editing application for the hobbyist or casual user. I having some difficulty identifying where the cutoff would be for higher end users. One of the advantages of this application is that with each new release, more advanced features trickle down from Premiere Pro without boosting the price tag for Elements. (For instance, motion tracking was just added.)

My recommendation for mid-range users is to try Premiere Elements 8 before assuming that you need the full flexibility and power of Premiere Pro CS4. You may just find that you have everything you need and save a lot money too. (Right now Premiere Elements goes for less than $90.)

A trial version is available for download here - available for Windows and the Mac.

Learn To Light Better

Here's the link to a great site created by Lowel Lighting to improve your lighting skills.

Interactive features allow you to see the effect of
each instrument in a lighting setup.

The site reviews and demonstrates lighting placement, use of lighting controls, interview lighting, and soft lighting. Lowel also provides a number of lessons to teach you how to light typical setups.

Each lesson includes a wide shot to show lighting
and camera placement relative to the position
and orientation of the subject.

Lowel has long been recognized for selling quality gear at affordable prices. This useful site demonstrates a growing trend among manufacturers to educate customers in the proper use of the gear they sell.

More Than An Inconvenience

Recently I needed to edit DVCam footage which was closed-captioned.

What is Closed Captioning? Closed-captioning ensures the hearing impaired are able to view television, and has been a federal requirement for most television stations since the early 1990's. This Wikipedia article delineates the technical standards for captioning.




Back to the story:

I was surprised to learn that while the DV standard does support closed captioning, the process of capturing the footage in Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 stripped the captions from the footage.

I reported the problem to Adobe and received this prompt response:

"I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you and I understand that when capturing DVCam material that is already closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired, that the captioning is removed.

After collecting all the information provided by you, I researched on this issue in my resources and have found that this is the product limitation that through which you are facing inconvenience. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause to you." (sic)

To be fair, this isn't solely an Adobe problem. It appears that most nonlinear applications fail to retain captioning information when footage is captured.

But this is a problem that's been around for years and NLE manufacturers need to correct it soon. Or perhaps federal regulations need to be expanded to included video software companies too.

Online Video Hosting Compared

While I complete tests on the latest release of Premiere Elements (we're now up to version 8), here's a link to the site Alternatives To YouTube. It's interesting to see which service mangles source footage the least.

View on ExposureRoom

This clip is hosted by ExposureRoom, a hosting service for both standard and high definition video. Clearly YouTube isn't the only game in town.