Adobe might be the cross-platform king of the world when it comes to image editing but it faces stiff competition among Mac users in the video-editing arena. And while the recently released Premiere Pro CS4 may not convince all Apple Final Cut Pro users to switch sides, this latest iteration of Adobe's video editor goes a long way to narrowing the playing field.

For starters, Premiere Pro CS4 finally eliminates some nagging disparities between the Apple and Windows versions. Most notable is the fact that Mac users who previously could only run Adobe's OnLocation direct-to-disk recording and monitoring software in BootCamp in CS3, can now run the program natively on Intel-based Macs (and easily import Final Cut Pro files, too).

This comes at a slight loss to Windows users since the Windows-only keying software Ultra is no longer available with CS4. Even so, Premiere Pro CS4 is about the most sophisticated video editing software Windows users can get.

While Ultra may be missed by some, Adobe has made some improvements across the board that not only make Premiere Pro easier to navigate but expands its usability as well, especially as it relates tapeless video formats. There’s even a new plug-in for Red One cameras (www.red.com/support) for native editing up to build 18. CS4 also directly supports Panasonic P2, Sony XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD cameras, without having to transcode the files.

AVCHD content from a variety of cameras from Canon, Sony and Panasonic can also be edited so you don’t have to use a multi-thousand dollar camera to take advantage of Premiere Pro’s features.

Available on its own or as part of Production Premium and Master Collection Suites, Premiere Pro CS4 comes with OnLocation, Encore, Device Central, and Bridge. OnLocation is for shooting in the field while using your laptop as a monitor; you can also record direct to disk.

Encore provides multiple output options, including DVD and Blu-ray disc authoring. You can also output to three different formats from a single file, which is an incredible timesaver if you’re burning a disc and need to create Web content at the same time.

Easier But Still Challenging to Newbies
Premiere Pro, like other high-end video editing programs, has a fairly steep learning curve and isn’t particularly intuitive for those new to video editing. Premiere Pro CS4 is, overall, easier to use than the CS3 version though. And after you figure out some of the new and enhanced features, PP CS4 will actually speed up your workflow.

One of the first things you may notice when launching Premiere Pro CS4 is the new Media Browser panel, which makes it simple to locate, preview and select footage. It works like any other browser, displaying all the folders/files on internal and externally-connected drives or cameras but you can down search time even more by filtering the list according to file type. You can also preview clips before importing them to ensure that you’ve selected the footage you want.

A Video Editor that Takes Dictation
XMP metadata support is one of Premiere Pro CS4’s strengths with capabilities such as metadata transfer when bringing OnLocation files into Premiere Pro. More importantly, there’s a new Metadata panel featuring a very cool but not-yet-perfect Speech Transcription function.

Basically, you choose the audio file, pick the language, set the quality, and elect to have individual speakers identified for multiple clips. By clicking Transcribe, Adobe Media Encoder launches and renders the transcription in the background. When the transcription is completed, the full text of the clip appears in the metadata panel where it can be edited or used to set in and out points.

Searches can be conducted using words from the transcript as well. This feature is quite amazing and could possibly be one of the most technologically advanced component of the new Premiere Pro. Not surprisingly, though, it’s not always accurate and results can be quite amusing. But for purposes of searching, even if it only gets a few keywords right then this tool can be extremely valuable.

Time Savers
Batch encoding is another time saver, not only because you can encode a file to multiple formats in one set almost simultaneously (they’re in a queue but you can set everything up at the same time) but since the encoding is performed in the background you can continue working in Premiere Pro. It’s really very simple, particularly if you use the presets provided in the application.

Adobe always talks about improved integration between applications whenever a new product is released and while there’s always room for improvement, Premier Pro CS4’s Dynamic Link to Encore is really quite impressive since you can work between the two without rendering. And similarly, changes made in Premiere Pro are transmitted to Encore.

Although Premiere Pro CS4 is available on its own, there is added value since Dynamic Link—and copy and paste text—works with other Adobe CS4 Production Premium suite components such as Photoshop Extended and After Effects. Of note, of course, is the ability to choose and use individual Photoshop layers in Premiere Pro as well.

The Bottom Line
Premiere Pro CS4 has definitely grown up since its last iteration and not only because of its cross-platform parity. It’s easier to use thanks to a bundle of new and enhanced features and certainly makes the video editing workflow smoother and more efficient. Newcomers to video-editing – yes, that includes many recent Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D90 buyers – should be forewarned though. This application still has a steep learning curve and may be overkill for some who would be better served, technically and economically, by an easier and less expensive program, such as Adobe Premiere Elements 7 ($140). But for all those pro and semi-pro videographers who want a powerful editing program, Premiere Pro CS4 provides a solid set of tools to get the job done.

Pros: True parity between Mac and Windows versions; easier to use thanks to new features like the Media Browser; speedier workflow; innovative Speech Transcription feature; better integration across Adobe applications

Cons: Still has a steep learning curve; works best with computers with high end platform/graphics card; may be overkill for basic editing

Pricing: $799; $299 (upgrade)
Production Premium CS4: $1699; $599 (upgrade)
Master Collection CS4: $2499; $899 (upgrade)

Further information: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/



Running Premiere Pro on a Fast Machine [Sidebar]
Video is space- and RAM-intensive but Premiere Pro CS4 will run on a mere 2GB of Ram, although the program requires 10GB of hard disk space for installation on both Mac OS X and Windows, XP or Vista (32bit for XP; 32 or 64 bit for Vista). I tested Premiere Pro on a MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM and while it ran smoothly for the most part, multi-tasking caused the occasional slow down when rendering.

Right at deadline, an HP xw6600 workstation test unit, tricked out with the new NVIDIA Quadro CX display card, 8GB of RAM and Windows Vista Business arrived on my doorstep. As you may know, NVIDIA and Adobe partnered to optimize the Quadro for CS4 and while I didn’t have much time to put Premiere Pro through its paces on the workstation, the difference between the two computers was obvious—the Quadro-equipped workstation was kickass fast, especially after installing the CUDA-enabled Rapid HD accelerator plug-in that makes h.264 encoding miraculously fast (it’s Windows-only, though).

Of course, I didn’t expect the MacBook Pro to compete with the HP workstation but if my lottery ticket wins tonight, I’ll be doing some HP/NVIDIA shopping in the morning. The Quadro CX costs about $2,000….check out tech specs and its CS4 support at: www.nvidia.com.                                                                                         -- T.K.