Dale Farris, Reviews Coordinator
Golden Triangle PC Club
July 2006

Adobe Premiere Pro 2 software revolutionizes video editing, giving you precise control to take video and audio production to an entirely new level.

Premiere Pro 2 is the most scalable, efficient, and precise video-editing software now available. Premier Pro lets you work faster and more creatively to deliver the quality work you and your clients demand. This is a world-class desktop video editor that competes head to head with Apple's FinalCut Pro. In addition to working with a wide variety of formats from DV all the way up to uncompressed HD, it also has very capable audio, titling, and effects tools built in.

Premiere Pro 2 is a significant overhaul to an already-great editing application. The way it works with the other Adobe content creation applications in the company's Production Studio bundle is much-improved. With its current list of companies offering hardware support, and those who are sure to follow, Adobe Premiere 2 poses a formidable challenge to all other nonlinear editing applications.

Premiere Pro 2 comes packed with a lot of great features and some of these features may change the way video editing is handled. With the addition of clip notes and the ability to interact seamlessly with other Adobe applications, it is an excellent choice for an editing application.

Once you graduate from amateur to professional video editing, nothing can touch the power (or price) of Adobe's Premiere Pro. This is the program you want for complete control over your video. This version is better, faster (with the right processor), and more intuitive, and Premiere Pro has the tools to help your videos look and sound top notch.

The price point is amazing, considering that this is a complete solution for professionals.

New Features

Adobe Premiere Pro 2 software gives you more power to express your creativity. With unparalleled Adobe application integration, revolutionary Adobe Clip Notes, and enhanced HD tools, Adobe Premiere Pro 2 sets new standards for digital filmmaking.

Multicam editing
Accelerated client review and approval
DVD authoring from the timeline
Native HDV editing
Native SD and HD support
Enhanced color-correction tools
10-bit and 16-bit color resolution support
32-bit internal color processing
GPU-accelerated rendering
Adobe Bridge

Multicam editing
Edit multiple-camera shoots quickly and easily. View multiple video tracks from a multicam shoot, and edit by switching between tracks in real time. Easily sync clips based on source timecode.

Accelerated client review and approval
Expedite reviews with Adobe Clip Notes. Embed video into a PDF file, e-mail the file to your client to review with timecode-specific comments, and then view comments mapped to the timeline.

DVD authoring from the timeline
Create high-quality, menu-driven DVDs directly from the Adobe Premiere Pro timeline. Make full-resolution, interactive DVDs for digital dailies, test discs, or final delivery.

Native HDV editing
Capture and edit HDV content in its original format with no conversion or quality loss. Adobe Premiere Pro 2 works with popular HDV-format cameras and VTRs.

Native SD and HD support
Capture, edit, and deliver full-resolution SD or HD using native support for the Xena HS real-time encoding card from AJA Video.

Enhanced color-correction tools
Take advantage of new color-correction tools, each optimized for specific tasks. Fast color correction allows for quick and easy adjustments, while secondary color-correction tools allow you to make more selective modifications for a professional finish.

10-bit and 16-bit color resolution support
Maintain source integrity with support for 10-bit video and 16-bit PSD files.

32-bit internal color processing
Maintain maximum image quality with subtle and dramatic changes to color, contrast, and exposure, free of the banding and artifacts caused by lower bit-depth processing.

GPU-accelerated rendering
Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 automatically adjusts to take full advantage of the power of your graphics card, accelerating the preview and rendering of motion, opacity, color, and image distortion effects.

Adobe Bridge
Browse, organize, and preview content files, and then drag and drop what you need from Adobe Bridge. Search by or edit XMP metadata such as keywords, language, and format

Edit everything
Native HDV editing Capture and edit HDV content in its original format with no conversion or quality loss. Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 works with popular HDV-format cameras and VTRs.

Native SD and HD support
Capture, edit, and deliver full-resolution SD or HD using native support for the Xena HS real-time encoding card from AJA Video.

Comprehensive VTR support
Control video decks through RS-422 and RS-232 serial protocols or FireWire for precise batch capturing, recapturing, and insert editing.

Feet + Frames timecode
Display timecode for 16mm and 35mm film as standard Feet + Frames nomenclature.

16:9 preview to 4:3
Preview widescreen footage on a 4:3 monitor or lay off to a 4:3 tape or DVD with real-time letterboxing. Ensure that your 16:9 material looks right during playback.

Digital intermediate workflow
Capture and edit HD or up to 4K scanned files, consolidate and manage projects, and work efficiently with Adobe After Effects and Photoshop software.

Support for 4,096 x 4,096 frames
Import, edit, and output 4K image sequences with dimensions up to 4,096 x 4,096 pixels.

Exercise your creativity
Multicam editing Edit multiple-camera shoots quickly and easily. View multiple video tracks from a multicam shoot, and edit by switching between tracks in real time. Easily sync clips based on source timecode.

Enhanced color-correction tools
Take advantage of new color-correction tools, each optimized for specific tasks. Fast color correction allows for quick and easy adjustments, while secondary color-correction tools allow you to make more selective modifications for a professional finish.

10-bit and 16-bit color resolution support
Maintain source integrity with support for 10-bit video and 16-bit PSD files.

32-bit internal color processing
Maintain maximum image quality with subtle and dramatic changes to color, contrast, and exposure, free of the banding and artifacts caused by lower bit-depth processing.

GPU-accelerated rendering
Adobe Premiere Pro 2 automatically adjusts to take full advantage of the power of your graphics card, accelerating the preview and rendering of motion, opacity, color, and image distortion effects.

Advanced subclip creation and editing
Break master clips into smaller subclips for more flexible editing. Trim, apply effects, rename, and otherwise treat subclips like any other video clip.

Adobe Bridge
Browse, organize, and preview content files, and then drag and drop what you need from Adobe Bridge. Search by or edit XMP metadata such as keywords, language, and format.

Animated track-matte workflow
Easily create traveling mattes by applying effects and animation to individual track-matte clips.

Lighting effects filter
Add a spot, directional, or omni light to your video footage. Create multiple lights to see different looks on different parts of a scene.

Scrolling timeline
Set the timeline to scroll smoothly under a stationary indicator during playback, or adjust it to advance one page as the playback indicator reaches the edge of the window.

Deliver with confidence
DVD authoring from the timeline Create high-quality, menu-driven DVDs directly from the Adobe Premiere Pro timeline. Make full-resolution, interactive DVDs for digital dailies, test discs, or final delivery.

Accelerated client review and approval
Expedite reviews with Adobe Clip Notes. Embed video into a PDF file, e-mail the file to your client to review with timecode-specific comments, and then view comments mapped to the timeline.

Macromedia Flash Video export
Streamline the process of encoding video and audio for your Macromedia Flash projects with built-in support for Flash Video export.

Output uncompressed HD Lay off to tape
Deliver on DV, SD, HDV, and compressed or uncompressed HD, as well as HD-SDI VTRs and other devices.

Image sequence file export
Output for film recording or file sharing. Create numbered image sequences with any frame size up to 4,096 x 4,096 pixels in major graphics formats including TGA and TIFF.

Render Less - Edit More

Real-time editing experience
View effects, transitions, motion paths, and more with real-time, full-resolution playback on NTSC, PAL, and VGA monitors.

Multiple, nestable timelines
Experiment more freely and easily manage complex projects more efficiently using multiple, nestable timelines.

Project management tools
Quickly remove unused material from your project and consolidate the project's media into one location for easy archiving with the Project Manager.

Advanced color correction
Use color correction tools to adjust hue, saturation, and lightness for highlights, midtones, and shadows; replace a color throughout a clip with a single selection; and more.

Enhanced audio editing
Produce richer, more vibrant audio using sample-level editing, track-based effects, 5.1 surround sound, and support for VST filters. You’ll get a jump start with a library of included VST plug-ins.

Experience Unparalleled Adobe Integration

Adobe After Effects integration
Import Adobe Premiere Pro projects into the Adobe After Effects Timeline or copy and paste between the programs, and access After Effects plug-ins within Adobe Premiere Pro.

Adobe Photoshop integration
Import layered Photoshop files with each layer on a separate track or all on one. Create images in Photoshop to match the specs of your current Adobe Premiere Pro project.

Adobe Encore DVD integration
Export AVI and MPEG-2 files to Adobe Encore DVD software to author multilanguage DVDs with interactive menus and multiple audio and subtitle tracks. Timeline markers are recognized as chapter points.

Adobe Audition integration
Import high-quality audio files from Adobe Audition software for use in your video productions. Easily modify these files using the Edit Original feature, which lets you open the original multitrack session right in Adobe Audition.

Enjoy Industry-Standard Compatibility

Support for HD content
Meet the highest production standards with support for importing, editing, and delivering HD content.

Extensive video and audio format support
Import and export in all major industry-leading video and audio formats.

AAF and EDL support
Easily import and export project data with support for Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) and Edit Decision List (EDL) format.

Still-image and sequence file support
Work with AI, AI sequence, PSD, PSD sequence, JPEG, TGA, TGA sequence, TIFF, TIFF sequence, PCX, BMP, and BMP sequence files.

Support for leading video media
Produce video and audio content for the leading delivery media, including broadcast formats, DV, DVD, CD, VCD, SVCD, and the Web.

Powerful Features

Real-time editing experience

Full-resolution playback
See precisely how your video will look with every edit. Full-resolution results play back in real time on NTSC, PAL, or VGA monitors.

Real-time effects
Choose from hundreds of real-time video and audio effects. Even create and save your own settings to instantly apply again and again.

Advanced 3D effects
Add another dimension to your projects with new 3D plug-ins that provide instant, amazing effects.

Bézier keyframe controls
Create more natural, elegant-looking effects using sophisticated, spline-based Bézier keyframe controls.

Effects favorites
Set your effect parameters for a keyframe, and then save them as presets you can apply anytime to ensure consistency from one project to another.

Effects presets
Instantly apply dozens of advanced ready-made effects, including picture-in-picture, pan and zoom, and many more.

Keyframable effect parameters
Set linear- or Bézier-controlled keyframes for individual parameters of the effects you apply with the Effect Controls palette, which looks and works like the one in Adobe After Effects software.

Real-time motion paths
Create more fluid and precise motion paths with keyframable parameters and built-in, subpixel positioning.

Real-time color correction
Get immediate feedback while adjusting hue, saturation, lightness, and more with real-time color correction tools.

Real-time titles
Create broadcast-quality titles with real-time, full-resolution displays.

Direct-to-DVD export
Export Adobe Premiere Pro projects directly to DVD for distribution of high-quality MPEG-2 content.

Elegantly designed user interface

Project management tools
Quickly remove unused material from your project and consolidate the project's media into one location for easy archiving with the Project Manager.

Multiple, nestable timelines
Experiment more freely and easily manage complex projects more efficiently using multiple, nestable timelines.

Dockable palettes
Easily organize your workspace with dockable palettes that let you quickly navigate between editing functions.

Interactive Project window
Use the interactive Project window to adjust in and out points, create custom columns with fields or checkboxes, and more. Choose the List view to see file details displayed alongside a thumbnail, or choose the Storyboard view to see media presented in an orderly grid.

Independent Trim window
Gain precise control over ripple, roll, slip, and slide edits using the Trim window, which now opens separately and delivers real-time feedback.

Monitor window
See side-by-side Source and Program views in the Monitor window, which presents familiar tools in a sleek new design that puts more controls at your fingertips.

Easy DV capture
Capture a tape in separate clips in one step using the new scene detection feature.

Audio Mixer
Record audio directly to the timeline, apply audio effects to an entire track, submix tracks, and more with the Audio Mixer.

Floating tool palette
Access the floating tool palette from any timeline to minimize tool changes as you’re editing clips.

Customizable keyboard shortcuts
Customize keyboard shortcuts to fit your editing style. Use default presets, leverage industry-standard shortcuts, or create your own. Export custom sets to share with colleagues.

Intuitive timeline editing
Lift, extract, insert, and overlay with simple keystroke modifiers.

Custom timeline views
Dynamically adjust audio and video track heights, and choose alternate thumbnail viewing options on a track-by-track basis.

Sophisticated title designer
Work with the built-in Adobe Title Designer to easily create typographically sophisticated title designs.

Advanced color control

Advanced color correction
Use color correction tools to adjust hue, saturation, and lightness for highlights, midtones, and shadows; replace a color throughout a clip with a single selection; and more.

Auto-color adjustment
Automatically improve image quality using Adobe Photoshop style filters, including Auto Levels, Auto Color, Auto Contrast, and Shadows/Highlights.

Native YUV processing
Preserve the color values of original source footage and improve bandwidth efficiency by avoiding color conversions, thanks to native support for YUV processing.

Waveforms and vectorscopes
Monitor data readouts with built-in waveforms and vectorscopes to ensure your clips share a common color spectrum and fall within legal broadcast limits.

Enhanced audio editing

Subframe sample-level control
Adjust audio clips with the precision of up to 1/96,000 of a second to produce more precise L-cuts or eliminate small pops, crackles, and other audio problems.

5.1 surround sound
Create and manipulate multichannel audio to produce true surround sound and other richly layered audio experiences.

Live voice-over recording
Watch your sequence and easily record a voice-over narration track to your active timeline.

Support for high-end audio files
Import, edit, and export high-quality 24-bit, 96kHz audio files.

Experience unparalleled Adobe integration

Adobe After Effects integration

Adobe After Effects import
Import Adobe Premiere Pro projects directly into the After Effects Timeline with video and audio arranged as layers, and embed project-linked After Effects clips to edit in Adobe Premiere Pro.

After Effects plug-in compatibility
Access the plug-ins from your installed version of After Effects directly within Adobe Premiere Pro for even more visual effects.

After Effects clipboard support
Simply copy and paste between Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects.

Adobe Photoshop integration

Support for Photoshop layers
Import layered Photoshop files as a single flattened file, or import the files as a sequence with each layer arranged on a separate video track.

Project-ready Photoshop files
Quickly create a new image in Photoshop with the resolution and pixel aspect ratio of your current Adobe Premiere Pro project (some features require Photoshop CS).

Adobe Encore DVD and Adobe Audition integration

Adobe Encore DVD integration
Export AVI and MPEG-2 files to Adobe Encore DVD software to author multilanguage DVDs with interactive menus and multiple audio and subtitle tracks. Timeline markers are recognized as chapter points.

Adobe Audition integration
Import high-quality audio files from Adobe Audition software for use in your video productions. Easily modify these files using the Edit Original feature, which lets you open the original multitrack session right in Adobe Audition.

Enjoy industry-standard compatibility

Support for HD content

High-definition hardware support
Import, edit, and deliver HD productions using your choice of a wide variety of certified third-party hardware.

Native HD resolution support
Edit high-definition content in its native resolution with support for 480p, 720p, and 1080i.

Windows Media 9 Series encoding
Encode HD Windows Media 9 Series content using the built-in Adobe Media Encoder.

Online/Offline flexibility

AAF and EDL support
Easily import and export project data with support for Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) and Edit Decision List (EDL) format.

DV-to-HD flexibility
Edit low-resolution digital video offline, and then recapture and reacquire material and finish your work in uncompressed, high-definition resolution.

Extensive video and audio format support
Import and export in all major industry-leading video and audio formats.

Still-image and sequence file support
Work with AI, AI sequence, PSD, PSD sequence, JPEG, TGA, TGA sequence, TIFF, TIFF sequence, PCX, BMP, and BMP sequence files.

Optimized performance

Windows XP speed advantage

Make the most of multiple processors, advanced multi-threading technology, hyper-threading support, and SSE2 optimization on the latest Intel Pentium based Windows XP systems.

Real-time response

Get immediate feedback during effect editing and manipulation thanks to Pentium based CPU optimizations built into Adobe Premiere Pro.

Scalable editing platform

ASIO support
Assign multiple input/output ports for audio recording and playback with support for ASIO hardware cards. Integrate with existing studios and connect to audio editing systems like Digidesign Pro Tools.

VST plug-in support
Work with advanced audio filters thanks to support for the industry-standard VST plug-in architecture. Jump start your audio-filtering experience with a library of included VST plug-ins.

Third-party hardware support
Enjoy the freedom to choose with extensive hardware support that lets you work with everything from an impressive list of DVCAM gear to the latest video decks and camcorders to third-party hardware, including SD and HD boards.

Panasonic 24P/24PA support
Capture the look of film with support for new Panasonic 24P/24PA format cameras.

Support for leading video media
Produce video and audio content for the leading delivery media, including broadcast formats, DV, DVD, CD, VCD, SVCD, and the Web.

Recommendations For Use

Adobe engineers starting working on Premiere Pro a long time ago, and this latest edition has been re-written from the ground up and bundled with Adobe After Effects 7 Professional, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Audition 2, Adobe Encore DVD 2, Adobe Illustrator CS2, Adobe Dynamic Link, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Stock Photos in the Adobe Production Studio Premium ($2,099).

Note the "Pro" moniker on this latest version. This means that Premiere Pro is really marketed for high-end, professional users of digital video, those more involved in capturing, editing, and producing high quality digital video files. Those brand new to digital video are encouraged to look for other less complex digital video programs to begin their learning about this exciting new market in information technology. Once you have become acquainted with digital video, then I suspect you will soon want to move up to the superior features found in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Also note that Premiere Pro was written for Windows XP only, leaving Apple's own Final Cut Pro for the Mac. If you are a Windows 2000-based Premiere user, a decision to stick with Premiere into this upgrade means upgrading your OS, which can potentially lead to other hardware and software upgrades. Owners of real-time hardware rendering cards (e.g. from Canopus, Matrox, or Pinnacle) must get the latest drivers to use Premiere Pro. Unfortunately, your old plug-in effects application, such as Boris FX, may not integrate with the new Premiere Pro. In addition to providing a new manual and comprehensive Help, the company has posted written and video tutorials on their support site. They have taken pains to turn your learning curve into a motion path.

As anyone familiar with Adobe products knows, an Adobe product is designed to meet the most demanding of needs of the most professional customer. With Premiere Pro, Adobe again assumes a dominance in the market for digital video editing that will certainly please most all professional customers. With Premiere Pro, Adobe squares off against challengers for the professional market, and has now again taken the lead in this very competitive market.

Price

$849 retail price
$199 upgrade price
(must have a serial number, and a previous version on same platform)

System Configuration Requirements

P-4 1.4GHz processor for DV
P-4 4 3.4GHz processor for HDV
Dual Intel Xeon 2.8GHz processors for HD
SSE2-enabled processor required for AMD systems
Windows XP Pro, Home (SP2)
512MB RAM for DV
2GB of RAM for HDV and HD
4GB free hard disk space for installation
Dedicated 7,200 RPM hard drive for DV and HDV editing
Striped disk array storage (RAID 0) for HD
DirectX-compatible sound card
Multichannel ASIO-compatible sound card for surround sound
DVD-ROM drive for installation
DVD+-R burner for DVD creation
1,280 x 1,024 video display with 32-bit color adapter
OHCI-compatible IEEE 1394 video interface card for DV and HDV
AJA Xena HS for HD
QuickTime 6.5 software
Internet or phone connection required for product activation
Adobe-recommended graphics card for GPU-accelerated playback

Note: This is a powerful program that requires a powerful PC. Make sure your system meets the above listed specifications before you embark on use of this impressive software.

Contact

Adobe Systems, Incorporated
Corporate Headquarters
345 Park Avenue
San Jose, California 95110-2704
408-536-6000
800-833-6687
FAX 408-537-6000

Order Online at Adobe Corporation
www.adobe.com/store/main.jhtml

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.