Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Video editing on the PC is more voodoo than artisty - almost every "consumer level" editing program on the market has compatibility problems, the software that comes with the hardware tends to be next to useless (if you can get it to work at all), and customer support is TERRIBLE. Most of what is to be found is geared towards either 1) encoding low-quality video either from TV or cell phones or 2) "dummy-editing" for those that want to get poorly-edited YouTube video on the air. Consumers that want to do high-quality video editing but aren't professionals (read: can't spend thousands on one piece of software) are, for the most part, ignored.
Having messed with numerous products including Pinnacle Studio (very buggy and contains huge compatibility issues), WinTV's Win2000 (comes with their card - lacks usefulness), VirtualDub (free and having huge potential with numerous features, but unless you're willing to spend a tremendous amount of time working with it, have the exact hardware the fan-community is using, and have superior knowledge of the technology, you won't find it useful), etc... in the end, Premiere is the best. It is professionally done, VERY compatible compared to other software packages, powerful, easy to use, and easy to understand. If you want to do video editing on the PC, this is where you should start - everything else just creates too many headaches.
So, what can you do with Premiere Elements 3.0? You can combine multiple video clips into a movie; you can narrate a video; you can create video for your blog (if you have a camera); you can burn professional-looking DVDs with full menus that will blow people away. Whether you are making home movies of your kids, compiling a highlight reel of your best sporting moments, or making a movie on an extremely tight budget, this is the best software out there in the price range.
As to what 3.0 improves from 2.0: To the casual user not a lot. There are a few more minor options, but the big advantage comes when burning DVDs - in 2.0, my sports DVDs looked terrible with a great deal of "jumping" (I'm assuming this was caused by the software not using enough compression keyframes, but don't quote me on that) - in 3.0, everything is extremely clear and smooth. There are also more exporting options and more useable codecs, though the software still lacks the ability to switch to any installed codecs (a major flaw, IMO, but one most other programs at this level share).
Note: In order to make DVD templates (DVD Menus) for 3.0, you need Photoshop Elements 5.0 - earlier versions do not seem to work (or, at least, I can't get them to work properly). While you can make very good DVD menus within Premiere, you can't save them from Premiere for use in other projects. If that is something you might want to do (and, quite honestly, it may not be for many users), pick up the "bundled" version of Premiere and Photoshop and save yourself some money.
Now, a few things that Premiere Elements can't do/doesn't do very well:
- Capture video from "legacy" devices like VCRs. Premiere can capture video from some devices, but it doesn't work particularly well with many capture cards (nor is it really designed to). Either send your VCR feed through a digital camcorder or use another recording method ("Tivo" or a capture card with useful capture software).
- "Mega" special effects. Premiere Elements has numerous effects like dissolve, fade, time-stretching (slow motion), and distortion - it does not, however, do major CGI-effects. You might be able to pull of a Star Trek "beam in" effect, but you'll need another program for most others.
- Post-capture video improvement. Premiere Elements can do some video enhancement, but it is more of a timeline editing tool - if you want to significantly improve the quality of your captured video (removing major noise, massive high-quality zooming, etc..) you'll need another program.
To address a few other negative reviews...
"Just a quick warning: trying to deal with Adobe is a nightmare. I spent 45 minutes on their customer service line today, waiting for someone to answer. Twice, I was disconnected and had to call back."
I've never had to deal with Adobe's customer support, so I don't know whether or not this is true - I do know, however, that CS in other retail companies in this market is terrible."I imported some video from a DVD that I made myself, and the program shut down. It said I had to go to a website and type in a 20-digit "encoder activation" and the site would give me another number that I could use to activate the MPEG2 part of the product. But the site won't take the number. I keep getting an invalid code message when I type it in."
This situation is true - you will need an internet connection AND you'll have to register a code to enable certain compressors. However, all you need to do is copy and paste the code from the software window and into your web browser (there's even a button that will copy the code - you just have to paste it in). No one I know has ever had the problem described above - though it could occur.
"No web support or patches on Adobe site to date. "
There are numerous plugins available on the Adobe website and a patch - just go to the updates section of their webpage.
In conclusion: Premiere Elements is the best software out there for most users. Other reviewers should feel free to post if there is a better software package available.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 software makes creating and sharing impressive home videos a snap. Burn your footage to DVD in two simple steps, complete with a DVD menu and scene index, or quickly assemble your movie in the new Sceneline, where you can drag and drop to arrange clips and add effects and enhancements. You can even edit and preview your movie in one convenient window. When your movie is ready, share it on the web, on mobile phones, and virtually anywhere else.

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Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was overwhelmed with the choices of consumer video editing software, but took a chance on the Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD software. I am not disappointed. It's the best piece of software I've bought in years!
The software comes with two CDs: one for video editing, and one for architecting and burning a DVD. The software installs quickly and easily, with the software license key contained within the product manual.
The video editing software opens up into a video editing workstation display. As soon as the software opens for the first time, there is a window offering a guided tour of the product. I strongly suggest the investment of five minutes to understand the layout and controls.
There is a video capture menu option, that works nicely with Sony Mini-DV camcorders. I'm using a PCR-109 camcorder attached by a Firewire cable, and software commands the camcorder. I suggest using the "Capture Tape" button rather than the "Capture Video" button, as it automatically rewinds the tape before capturing and labeling each video clip. It stores the video files in your "My Document" folder by default, and also makes a shortcut in the Vegas Project Media tab within the Vegas software. When the capture is done, press the square "stop" button on the screen, and you have your video clips ready for editing.
There are six tracks by default arranged under a timeline ruler, which runs from left to right: (a) text, (b) video overlay, (c) main video, (d) main audio, (e) music and (f) sound effects. All you do is drag the files from the Project Media window to the track main video track. Or, you can select a file from another folder by using the "Explorer" tab within Vegas to locate the folder and file you want. You can drag the tracks around, positioning them to the left or right, and you're free to move the video to the video overlay or text track. You can pan the audio left or right, and adjust the master audio level up or down on each track.
You can easily select sections of the clips, then press the delete key to delete that portion from the final product. Deleting a section does not affect the original video clip in your "My Documents" folder.
There's a preview window in the lower right corner, where you can easily watch how your edited product is coming along. While watching the preview, you can click anywhere on the timeline and press the triangle "play" button, and your preview instantly jumps to that part of the video. Editing and previewing is very quick and convenient.
The neatest feature is the ease of fading in and out. For fading in, just click and hold on the upper left hand corner of the video (or audio) clip. Wait a moment for the arrow cursor to change to the "fade" cursor, then gently drag it to the right. You'll see a blue curve appear over the video segment, representing the amount of fade in time you want. Drag it to the desired amount (say one second), and let go. That's it! You now have one second of fade-in. If you right click on that portion, it brings up a menu where you can select the types of fade-in -- whether you want a linear fade, or more like an S-curve fade that's fast or slow. To make it fade out, do the same on the upper right hand corner of the segment.
If you drag the video clip and overlap the ends of two segments - one that has a fade out, followed by one that has a fade in - you get a nice one second dissolve from clip 1 to clip 2. By controlling the amount of overlap and the amount of fade, you have easy and fabulous control of the transitions.
The multiple video tracks and overlays are simple but powerful features.
There is a "Text" feature where you can easily type in a text title slide like you would for a Powerpoint presentation. Slide the text box between the clips to give the clips a title.
If you put a video clip on the "Video Overlay" track, it displaces the main video - so you can use this track to overlay a shorter, close-up video into the main video while preserving the main timeline and audio. I used this feature for a birthday party video to overlay a close-up shot of dad and baby daughter onto the main party video clip of music, guests and laughter. You can insert video clips, text titles or JPEG files.
The PCR-109 has an ability while the video is being taken to snap a screen shot frame onto Memory Stick. So, when I tell the group to "smile on the count of three, 1, 2, 3" and snap that choice pose, I can position that .JPEG file on the video overlay track and have that pose overlay linger on the screen while the rest of the audio track continues. There's controls on the tracks that you can set the video intensity to 100% or something less that you can make it look like a ghost or dream if that's what you want. You can apply the fade-in/fade-out to the text and video overlays as well. These are really powerful techniques, and it's done very simply and easily.
There's an "insert marker" feature where you can mark and title chapters within the video before you render it. The chapter titles are automatically made available to the DVD Architect program. There is a button in the DVD Architect program that will automatically generate a series of menu pages with thumbnails and chapter titles.
You can render the video into a number of formats, including MPEG2 (for DVDs). One needs lots of CPU speed to render the videos. I'm running it on a Pentium D 830, 3.0 Ghz Dual Core system with 1 GB of RAM and a 4x DVD burner. I find I can render a 60 minute video into MPEG2 in about 50 minutes. Once I define the layout of the DVD, it can prepare the DVD image and burn that 60 minute video onto a blank DVD about 25 minutes. I'm keeping this PC clean of extraneous software to ensure Vegas runs well without software conflicts.
The DVD Architect is less intuitive. I had difficulty making a DVD menu button for the finished movie. By default, it uses the first frame of the video as the image for the button. I can drag and drop the MPEG file onto the layout of the DVD menu, (which creates the active button on the menu of the DVD). I finally discovered that if I then dragged and dropped overlay a .JPEG image file captured from the video (you do that in the preview window of the video editor program) over that button, I can change the appearance of that button to be a scene from the video that I really wanted. The menu feature is called "insert object". If I click on that button (using the DVD remote control) on the fnished DVD, it plays that video file.
I previously mentioned the Architect feature "insert scene selection menu", which automagically picks up the markers in the rendered MPEG video, pulls out the chapter titles, makes the thumbnails, places the titles below the thumbnails, and sets up the navigation. It's smart enough to make multiple menu pages, if needed. All at the click of one button. Very nice.
I can see that I can set the start point for the video to be something other than the menu on the DVD, and even put a video introduction leader to the DVD before displaying the main menu -- but I haven't done that yet.
The Architect program is smart enough to track changes and only reprepare the items you've changed since you created the last DVD. So, if you want to replace one video segment with a newer version, it'll only prepare the DVD changes for that one video segment.
That's all you really need to know to get started. Within a few hours, I've formatted several DVDs of home videos and really, really enjoy crafting it to come out the way I want it. It's way better than some of the freebie software that comes with Windows or DVD burners. This video editor comes with 1,001 sound effects, which I've yet to fully explore. I've only scratched the surface with the basic features and I know there's way more sophistication in the menus and FX features. Have done it the hard way in the past with reel-to-reel video recorders, this is awesome and pure heaven!

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Adobe Premiere Elements 9 (Win/Mac) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'll start off by stating that I am just an everyday dad who wants to take the HD videos he shoots of family vacations, kids' birthdays, fishing trips, etc and transfer them to DVD without any loss in quality. I am not out to produce the next "Citizen Kane" nor am I out to challenge Steven Spielberg to a directorial throwdown.
I do not want to have to convert files, combine files, or compress files. I just want to transfer my family memories to disc for future viewing. If I can also chop out those moments when I forgot to turn the camcorder off and you get a good view of what footwear everyone was wearing that day, even better. If I can also include a title screen, with a neat little visual of what's on that disc, with an area where you click "play" to start the video, better still.
This sounds like a fairly simple request, no? Nevertheless, I have had trouble finding video editing software that will do this in a straightforward and simple fashion. I have bought Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus and Corel VideoStudio Express 2010. I have also tried Windows Movie Maker and have downloaded trials of PowerDirector 8 Ultra and Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum. They all either produced bad images, required video conversions, froze up, locked up, or spit up. As far as my hardware, my PC consists of a Quad Core i7 chip with six GB of RAM and with Windows 7 64-bit.
I was scanning Amazon one day and noticed that Adobe Premier had among the highest reviews when compared to the other options and was decently priced (with a rebate). After my other experiences, I decided to download their trial version before I made the purchase. I was elated with the results.
Finding the files (which were raw, .mts files that I had transferred from an SD card to my hard drive) and loading them into the workspace was simple. Arranging them was equally simple (oldest to newest, which I chose, or newest to oldest). Burning them to Blu-ray disc (I have both a Blu-ray disc burner and a standard disc burner on my PC) was also an easy process. In no time I had the disc produced and was watching video with stunning clarity on my 67-inch HD television.
Here are some things to note:
1. Processing time for 45 minutes of HD video took about two hours. The software has to process the files prior to burning, which takes a while. It seems like slow going sometimes, but just leave it alone and be patient.
2. When it actually starts burning the disc, for some reason the process bar for this activity stays at 1 percent. Just ignore this...it is actually making progress, although it doesn't show it on the screen.
3. If you load the trial version, the disc you make will have an ugly black bar across the middle of the entire video, indicating that it was made from a trial version of Adobe Premiere. I found this annoying, but understandable. The other trial versions I tried did not do this.
4. I saved my trial project, and then opened it with the Premiere version that I bought. The full-version software retrieved it and the black bar was gone. So, if you do a project with the trial version and later buy the software, save your project to avoid re-work.
5. On my second DVD, I managed to put in a title screen and insert captions (e.g. "On our way camping," "Arriving at our hotel in Naples) just by fumbling around. This software is especially easy to navigate.
6. I like the fact that Adobe Premier has so many resources...some online, that I have not yet explored, and some in book form, including this one that was just released. Adobe Premiere Elements 9 Classroom in a Book I may end up getting more involved in this as a hobby than I thought I ever would or could. I am optimistic about this since thus far the fundamentals have proven so user friendly.
In summary, I highly recommend this product against all others. It is great for the novice, the "point-and-shoot" user, and apparently will allow you to gain more expertise with practice. Time will tell.
Lastly, I apologize for the lengthy review, but after trying so many editing software choices out there I am really pleased I finally found one that works, works well, and is so user friendly. My only gripe at this point is that by the time I downloaded the trial version and tested it, the price had increased by $10 when I went to make the purchase! Even at that, though, I still consider it a good value.
If my opinion changes (for better or worse) as I continue to work my way through this software, I will update the review.


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Incredible movies, effortlessly! Adobe Premiere Elements 9--the newest version of the #1 selling video-editing software--delivers powerful, automated moviemaking options, professional-quality effects, and optimized HD and SD editing. Share quickly via convenient web DVD viewing experiences and on disc, mobile devices, Facebook, and YouTube. Automatically organize and help protect all your video clips and photos. And now enjoy a complete solution for videos whether you use Microsoft Windows or Mac OS.
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