NAB is right around the corner and one of the first big bombs was dropped on April 4th. Adobe announced their Next versions of video and audio tools including: Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Speedgrade, Prelude, Media Encoder and Story.

I feel very lucky to have been testing many of these tools for the last several months and would like to share my thoughts on the Next Premiere Pro. I’ve used Premiere Pro since 2007 and have cut almost 100 films, commercials, music videos and other content on the platform. This Next version of Premiere Pro is the fastest, most powerful and feature rich NLE I have ever used. On top of that, its integration with the rest of the Creative Suite allows me to take my projects from conception to final delivery all under one roof.

I will be presenting at NAB next week to discuss my editing workflow and share my experiences working on the documentary “Waiting for Lightning”, featuring the legendary skateboarder Danny Way. If you are attending, please stop by the Adobe Main Stage / Lower South Hall / #SL3910 to see my presentations and the plethora of other speakers discuss how they are using this next generation of Adobe products.

There are numerous, fabulous new additions to Premiere Pro. I would like to quickly focus on 3 features that really help me work quicker, more efficiently and get closer to the finish line on every project.

#1 LINK AND LOCATE – Almost every project starts with a hard drive being delivered to me with all the assets. Usually, an assistant has prepped the project or at least copied all files to the drive. In the past, I had to relink every video file, audio clip, graphic one at a time. On a small project this was an inconvenience. On a large project…it was mind-numbing and unacceptable. With LINK AND LOCATE, once I point the search to the appropriate folder or hard drive…Premiere Pro does the relink automatically and I can start cutting. Now it’s possible to share projects and not have hours upon hours of relink madness. The whole post team appreciates this!

#2 AUDIO CLIP MIXER – Even in a rough cut, I always strive to deliver a tight, great sounding audio mix that is legible, balanced and easy on the ears. In the past, I would keyframe like crazy within a clip using the “rubberband” in the timeline. The Audio Mixer (with its big faders) was set for track volume and did not allow for clip adjustments. Squinting and mousing around the clips was taxing and not as precise as I like. Now, I open the AUDIO CLIP MIXER and can use the big faders on a clip-by-clip basis with full meters available at the same time. I can now focus with my ears and not struggle with my eyes to make sure I’m applying the correct audio changes. This is huge!

#3 LUMETRI DEEP COLOR ENGINE – When I deliver a cut, I want it to tell the story smoothly, sound great and look like it’s all living in the same world. Color correction is now expected at the earliest stage and the LUMETRI ENGINE allows me to achieve this. Here’s how I approach an initial color pass…even for the rough cut. I will accept most shots as is and will tweak only the real “eye-gougers” that just look horrible and out of place. Once the cut is easy on the eyes and somewhat congruent…I will slap an adjustment layer over all the layers and drop a LUMETRI preset on it. With the wide range of looks that come bundled inside…I pick one that makes the images pop and adjust the opacity of the layer. I blend the LUMETRI look with the lightly tweaked cut underneath it and try to make cohesive at least…cinematic at most.

There are many more advancements to the Next Premiere Pro and I’m sure you will be learning about them over the next couple weeks as Adobe and other testers, like myself, share their experiences.

If you would like to see or hear more about the new features I find amazing…
Come see me! Monday April 8th at 1:00pm and Tuesday April 9th 1:00pm at NAB. You can find me on the Main Adobe Stage in the Lower South Hall / Booth #SL3910.

It really is an exciting time for filmmakers. The future is in our own hands. We are the creators…

Vashi Nedomansky
vashivisuals.com
@vashikoo