For those wishing to play with the upcoming release of the new Premiere Pro
CS3 there is a Beta version for download here....

http://labs.adobe.com/

What the!?!?! HDV and MPEG not supported? What a crock!

Yeah, there is such a thing as releasing a beta that is so unfinished as to be useless. This was clearly an attempt to convince some who might be looking at Final Cut Pro on the Mac to think about going with Adobe's Production bundle instead.

I'll admit, I'm still considering it - as a Photoshop owner, I can upgrade to the Production bundle for less than the cost of FCP, and get Illustrator CS3 and Flash thrown in. However, the fact that I can't actually do anything meaningful with the beta is irritating enough to keep me on the fence for the time being.

As a Sony HDR-SR1 owner, I'm resigning myself to not having native AVCHD editing anytime soon, so I'm currently using Parallels/Boot Camp to convert my AVCHD files to Cineform AVIs, which play fine on the Mac side via Cineform's beta codecs, but also don't work with Premiere Pro ("unsupported compression").

Rick

The issue is not so much "unfinished" as licensing. No HDV support is because it is turned off, not that it is not finished. None of the Premiere Pro trials have supported MPEG video. The released versions do.

Anyone know if you can load Cineform on PP CS3... if so, then HD will be supported in the Beta......

I'm just as curious. I'm installing it now. I'll you know.

691mb download. This could take a few...

Although the HDV codecs/plugins/presets are present with the CS3 install and load, (including cineforms that I copied over from PPro2). You are still limited to DV capture and image size. There is an HDV folder in the presents, but blank, and sure enough, after loading the cineform code, the Cineform present folder is there but is also blank.

Changing to desktop mode still would only allow a DV resolution project.

It's not only just HDV/Mpeg, it's even uncompressed HD. I couldn't even capture/work with uncompressed Adobe HD-SDI or Prospect. You're stuck with good old DV editing mode or it's crash, crash, crash.

To be fair, I agree with the HDV license issues, and that cineform may need some treaks. However, I think if they should have just crippled HDV/Mpeg itself and allowed other licensed code to be tested on it, rather than an across the board larger than 480i restriction...

Thank Peter, Well that sucks.... before I went to work this morning I downloaded the beta and put in a Cineform intermediate file (AVI) and edited
a couple of seconds to see what would happen. Thats when I saw no HD
output...

But it did at least handle the intermediate file and it did put out SD...

I was hoping I could override the limits put on it by Adobe... but no go :-(

I understand your frustration. What's the sense, this beta is not for HD.

Thanks for the info. I'm downloading it now. (4%) 1 hr, 37 minutes left, but never mind, I wasn't planning on an early night anyway.

The issue is not so much "unfinished" as licensing. No HDV support is because it is turned off, not that it is not finished. None of the Premiere Pro trials have supported MPEG video. The released versions do.

Yeah, I found out it was a licensing issue after I posted.

Still, it seems a little ridiculous - everybody and their brother wants to edit HD now, and not being able to test HD *anything*, no-way, no-how, kinda makes the beta seem pretty pointless.

From what I can tell, PP3 has very few new additions, this upgrade is more
likely for MAC and Vista........

If by "very few" new additions, you aren't counting the inclusion of Encore with BluRay and Flash SWF export support plus OnLocation (formerly DV Rack), time remapping, a big interface makeover for the Project panel that allows on-the-fly clip searches and storyboarding, and Device Central to create output for mobile devices, then maybe. Not every user will care about every feature, but IMO those major features plus Vista and Mac compatibility are significant...especially for those of us using the rest of the Studio apps, whose new features and their integration will really improve workflows.

If by "very few" new additions, you aren't counting the inclusion of .... a big interface makeover for the Project panel that allows on-the-fly clip searches and storyboarding

How does the new project panel allow for storyboarding? I love doing storyboarding and would be interested in getting the scoop on how it works!

When I saw the "great update" of Premiere CS3, and then I saw what Apple did with FCP Studio 2, I thought: how come Apple can do it, and Adobe can't?

I have been a great fan of Premiere for some time, but after these cosmetic changes supposedly warranting a release of a new edition, I think I'm going to switch to Mac.

Bart, there's more to it than cometic. The inclusion of otherwise expensive options (actually more expensive if purchased seperately), such as OnLocation (aka serious magic's DV Rack HD -$500) and time remapping. Both easily worth the upgrade alone. Cosmetically, you would want the application to remain the same. It keeps the learning curve down, and allows you to focus on the new tools.

I'm not sure if the main objective of the premiere team is for a bug hunt, but more for getting tighter intergration with AE, Encore, and photoshop, (including Soundbooth). I would think that they have their hands full squashing bugs to meet that challenge. In any case it's still a step forwards.

I think the integration between PPro CS3 and Soundbooth is going to be key. Just as SONY's Vegas 7 and Cinescore work hand in hand, this Adobe 1-2 punch is going to make my work more enjoyable. Let's hope they integrate XDCAM support with SONY's announcement of the XDCAM EX series.

Bart, there's more to it than cometic. The inclusion of otherwise expensive options (actually more expensive if purchased seperately), such as OnLocation (aka serious magic's DV Rack HD -$500) and time remapping. Both easily worth the upgrade alone. Cosmetically, you would want the application to remain the same. It keeps the learning curve down, and allows you to focus on the new tools.

I'm not sure if the main objective of the premiere team is for a bug hunt, but more for getting tighter intergration with AE, Encore, and photoshop, (including Soundbooth). I would think that they have their hands full squashing bugs to meet that challenge. In any case it's still a step forwards.

I can certainly see why you feel that the upgrade is worth getting.

However for me:
1. Premiere is the only professional video editing program that does not support XDCAM HD. The plug-in that supposedly adds that support is $500 and it does not work (tested).
2. OnLocation will be next to completely useless.
3. Discontinuation of multitrack Audition and instead giving out a cheaper Soundbooth is a major disappointment for people who work with audio.
4. There is no mention of better integration with AE, and frankly, unless they can make Dynamic Link more "dynamic", it's more of a hindrance than of help:
4a. When I update only one of the compositions in AE, I want Premiere to retain the rendered files of all the ones that are updated. So far - no luck. Every single switch to After Effects (even without any changes!) forces me to rerender stuff.
4b. I miss "send to AE" option after selecting a clip or a series of clips. That said, I miss the possibility to send to audition the whole track as a separate project, or even to send 2 or 3 clips without actually rendering them. That's what I'd call dynamic.
5. Time warp has been already present in AE, and it has been present in every other professional editor except Premiere for some time.
6. I could use more "professional" color correction tools, like masks, vignettes, and above all - dynamic styles.

Don't get me wrong - I've been a fan of Premiere, and I used it extensively. It is one of the most flexible editing programs that I worked with. But I hoped for much more, than I'd be getting with Premiere CS3. And unfortunately Apple has delivered, what I've been expecting Adobe to do. So...

Deke, CS3 will allow you to open multiple instances of the project window, each of which you can display by list or thumbnail and do drag-n-drop rearrangement of the clips, as well as smart searches.

A couple other general comments:
- I haven't heard one way or the other specifically on XDCAM, but at NAB Adobe was stating CS3 as being "format agnostic." Unless someone has found a source document stating XDCAM won't be supported in the final version, it is an open question.
- FUD not fact: "OnLocation will be next to completely useless."
- Audition is NOT being discontinued; it will continue to be sold separately for those who are focused primarily on audio production. Soundbooth will contain a rich toolset for the videographer, including new music creation features. Many of the big tools carried over from Audition will also now be alot easier to use. Like Bart, I was initially concerned that Soundbooth might be "dumbed down." After seeing it at NAB, I'm more than satisfied with the feature set and excited to have some of the new features.
- For those things that we don't like, that don't work as well as we think they should, or for new feature requests, make sure to let Adobe about your good ideas:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

- FUD not fact: "OnLocation will be next to completely useless."


For me, as I use it only for post, not for shooting. Sorry for not being clear enough in my post. OnLocation may be the very reason some people will upgrade, but for others like me it is not.

- Audition is NOT being discontinued; it will continue to be sold separately for those who are focused primarily on audio production. Soundbooth will contain a rich toolset for the videographer, including new music creation features. Many of the big tools carried over from Audition will also now be alot easier to use. Like Bart, I was initially concerned that Soundbooth might be "dumbed down." After seeing it at NAB, I'm more than satisfied with the feature set and excited to have some of the new features.


I'm certain it has a lot of new interesting features. However from what I've seen the things that were most pressing for me - dealing with workflow between Premiere and Audition - have not been solved.

- For those things that we don't like, that don't work as well as we think they should, or for new feature requests, make sure to let Adobe about your good ideas:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform
I've been doing it for quite some time, alas to little avail.

I really haven't worked with CS3 enough to discover all its features. However, I have a "borderline" machine and was apparently having memory handling problems with PP2 and couldn't easily use Cineform.

I downloaded and installed CS3, copied the Cineform folders, and no more memory crashes. I also copied the DebugMode file to Plug-Ins and am nicely frameserving CFHD in YUV to Tmpgenc Express for downsizing (Lancosz3) and compressing files for Encore. Very nice DVD's

I'll keep playing with CS3, but already it has solved a big problem for me. Maybe when it's actually released I'll be able to simplify my workflow. That'd be nice.