As of late, I’m attempting to make sense of what is going on with the world of professional (or even pro-sumer) editing software. I also want to best utilize all the editing and motion graphics tools at my disposal, so I have begun to take a serious look at Adobe’s Premiere Pro editing software.
I’ve been a Final Cut Editor since version 1.2. I have really enjoyed using FCP! I learned most of the advanced features and consider myself a pretty efficient Final Cut Pro editor. My aim is to take the things I’m learning in Premiere and compare them to my knowledge of FCP — differences, drawbacks, and positives.
I will be making posts about what I discover so you can determine if the route I’m taking is the one for you. Actually, I’m not even sure this route is for ME! But I am doing the research and will let you know what I find.
THE REASON
Of course, the superficial reason for trying out Premiere Pro is obvious — the release of FCPX and the redesign of the interface. Apple is changing the editing paradigm with FCPX, and it’s a little unnerving. I’m not saying I won’t ever learn FCPX, but in the immediate future, it doesn’t seem like that is a good move for me.
The deeper reason for taking a hard look at Premiere Pro is its tight integration with After Effects and other members of the Adobe Suite. Much of my interest lies here so much of my research will center around Dynamic Link and the workflow between AE, Premiere Pro, and probably Soundbooth.
PROJECT AND SEQUENCE SETUP
It seems like the initial setup for each project is fairly similar. Final Cut Pro allows multiple projects to be open at once. Premiere Pro operates much like After Effects where you can have only one project open. That project can then have multiple timelines.
I have FCP set to always create new sequences as HD, whereas in Premiere Pro, it appears to be necessary to make that decision every time a new sequence is created instead of it the software doing so automatically.
Also, I usually work in either 1080p or 720p and set settings for 1080p in Premiere have a frame size of 1440 x 1080 with a pixel aspect of HD Anamorphic 1.333. I had to select Desktop as my Editing Mode to get access to the frame size so I could set it to 1920 x 1080 with Square Pixels (1.0).
Final Cut allows the editor to change the Sequence Settings after a sequence has been created. It appears that Premiere Pro will not allow that. The only way around it that I have discovered so far is to create a timeline with the new, correct settings and copy the edited clips into the new timeline.
ADDING CROSS DISSOLVES
If you haven’t committed the Add Default Transition hotkey to memory, you might not want to read any further. I actually got the nickname “Apple-T” (Add Default Transition) because of my interest in learning hotkeys. I’m a firm believer that one can be a far more efficient editor with hotkeys than mouse, trackball, or pen tablet.
In Final Cut Pro 7, the most common way to add a cross dissolve to an edit point is to select the edit point and press CMD+T or Apple-T on the keyboard. That involves mouse and keyboard. Another way is to navigate to the edit point using the arrow keys, press V on the keyboard to select the edit point, and THEN press CMD+T. That’s at least three steps.
In Premiere Pro, using Page Up and Page Down jumps between edit points on targeted tracks. Once the cursor is at the edit point, simply press CMD+D. Two steps!
SLUG
I am a firm believer that an editor should never dissolve a number of clips or graphics to black at the same time but should always place a slug above the clips and fade into the black instead.
The Viewer in FCP is where you find the dropdown menu that includes the Slug. In Premiere Pro, it’s under FILE> NEW> BLACK VIDEO … This places an asset in your project called “Black Video.” You can use reuse this clip as necessary.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any thoughts, tips, or questions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. See you next time!
Trent Armstrong is a Creative Producer for Igniter Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AETrent