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December 2014

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he newest version of Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014 (8.1) has implemented critically-needed features both big and small, which make Premiere Pro the most robust, stable and effi cient NLE available for all my needs. The Pre- miere Pro team has clearly been listening to editors and has delivered dozens of specifi c new features that we have been requesting. In addition, Adobe has added features that will future-proof every type of post production project and workfl ow, no matter the scale. I have edited my last four feature fi lms — Sharknado 2, The Grind, That Which I Love Destroys Me and the upcoming Headlock — on Premiere Pro and just fi nished editing a music video using the latest version reviewed here. After three weeks of cutting, the 8.1 update felt incredibly fresh, snappy and clean. Cos- metically and under the hood, this release is a huge leap forward. Here's a look at the best new features that help me work quicker, smarter and more powerfully. NEW GUI The new GUI off ers a few improvements that make a world of diff erence. The darker default layout has removed extra- neous buttons/menus that cluttered the previous versions. With more negative space, it now off ers a fl atter, sleeker work environment. The pop-out menus now live on the tab of each panel for easy accessibility. Blue replaces orange as the core color for indicating time code, bin outlines, track indicators and playhead. The blue color is subtle and soothing, es- pecially for long edit sessions when eyes become fatigued. The project panel now has four sizes of text for greater legibility and no more squinting at long lists of as- sets. The video and audio track selection interface is also cleaner and leaner, and blends in wonderfully with the timeline. The FX badges on clips in the time- line can also be toggled off to further streamline the visual editing experience. My edit bay and tabletop are horribly cluttered, but my timeline shouldn't be. MULTIPLE EDITORS/MULTIPLE PROJECTS A gigantic new feature in the 8.1 update that solves the problem of multiple edi- tors sharing multiple projects in Premiere Pro: an editor can now browse, open, an- alyze and import timelines or individual assets from as many projects as needed. Separate Media Browser instances allow you to gain access to as many proj- ects as you like. The bonus to this is the import function now brings in only the specifi c fi les selected and not the entire project, as before. A folder is created in the project panel and just the fi les you need live in your main project. Previously, only one project could be open at a time. The constraints of single-project work- fl ows have been lifted, now allowing for fully-collaborative interactions between multiple editors, sequences, timelines and projects. Additionally, these sequences can be dragged from the media browsers into the source panel, which then reveals the full timeline with access to all clips and edits. This is called the Source Monitor Timeline View. By stacking two timelines vertically, an editor can eff ortlessly drag and drop clips or chunks of sequences from one timeline to another. The added benefi t of this technique is that it's non-destructive. Whatever you drag or copy/paste remains in its original, pristine state in both original timelines. The du- plication occurs and the source timeline remains intact. Since I cut features with hundreds of hours of raw footage, it's important to note that a Premiere Pro timeline has an impressive maximum length of 24 hours. That's an incredi- ble amount of footage and just like in previous versions, Premiere Pro chewed through these immense timelines with no glitches, stuttering or problems during my last four fi lms. ORGANIZATION IS KEY If I can't instantaneously fi nd a specifi c shot for myself, the director, or producer, then I'm wasting everyone's time. Orga- nization is paramount. With Search Bins and Movable Colored Markers, I can har- ness the power of metadata and visual cues to expedite the editorial process. All clips have specifi c, searchable metadata once they are imported. Codec, frame rate, name, size, time and others are already ingrained into the raw footage. If you choose to add more specifi c tags during the ingest and logging portion of editorial, that new metadata can now be used to create Search Bins that will house only those clips that contain the parameters you requested. By typing a criteria into the Find Box and clicking the ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CC 2014 (8.1 CARAVAN) BY VASHI NEDOMANSKY FILM EDITOR VASHIVISUALS LOS ANGELES VASHI@ME.COM TWITTER: @VASHIKOO COSMETICALLY AND UNDER THE HOOD, THIS RELEASE IS A HUGE LEAP FORWARD VITAL STATS MANUFACTURER: Adobe PRODUCT: Premiere Pro CC 2014 (8.1) PRICE: Creative Cloud membership: $49.99 per month/$19.99 for single app membership WEBSITE: www.adobe.com • New GUI off ers fl atter, sleeker work environment • Separate Media Browser instances allow access to limitless projects • Platform agnostic T REVIEW www.postmagazine.com FOR MORE ON ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CC 2014 (8.1), INCLUDING ITS COLOR, VISUAL EFFECTS AND AUDIO TOOLS, VISIT US ONLINE AT CONTINUED ON PG 46

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