Adobe Premiere Elements 8 incorporates significant advances on the previous version (Premiere elements 7). Retailing currently at $100, or $140 if you go for the added benefits of membership in Photoshop.com Plus, Premiere 7 offers keyword capabilities, file organization, and much improved integration with Photoshop Elements. This in turns makes it far easier to use and edit videos.
Adobe Premiere Elements 8
The most significant, and beneficial, change is the inclusion of the Organizer. Carried across from Photoshop Elements, this welcome feature allows the user to view and organize pictures and videos, as well as tagging them with keywords. If you have both Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements installed, you are provided with the ability to access either program from one interface. Keywording becomes an automatic process using Auto Analysis, which even incorporates facial recognition, and likewise with Smart Tagging, which identifies quality of video. When importing files, these processes start immediately. You can also drag and drops tags onto the preview of a video – a useful featuring, considering that the most significant content is probably not in the initial frame.
You can also, from within Premiere Elements, archive, share or back up the Organizer database as well as selected media files. these can also be synced with networked computers, providing those computers also have an Elements 8 program installed.A basic membership to Adobe’s picture-sharing site, Photoshop.com, is included with Elements 8, which gives you 2 gigabytes of online storage there. And for an extra $40, you can purchase a Plus membership which also includes templates, tuts and other goodies, and am expanded storage space of 20 gigabytes.
There are two basic methods provided by the interface to edit your video clips into movies – manual creation and Instant Movie. These two methods, however, are not wholly disparate, but rather a workflow continuum. Instant Movie can create a movie using the new Smart Tags feature, including both music and transitions which are based on the Flash template you select. The Smart Tags feature here attempts to avoid using mundane, blurred or otherwise inferior clips in your movie.
Premiere Elements 8 also offers a variety of tools for customization in Instant Movie, like sliders that adjust the speed of the clip, and effects than can be automatically applied. As with any automatic tool, you won’t always get the best possible results. The movies produced in this way tend on the whole to be quite pleasant though sometimes a bit rough, and clip sequences can be a bit unpredictable. You will probably see better results either manually editing the Instant Movie with the tools provided, or creating your movie from scratch.
Automatic tools available include Smart Mix, Smart Trim and Smart Fix. Smart Fix tries to correct any imperfections, such as underexposure, automatically. Smart Trim attempts to utilize Smart Tags to weigh the interest value of particular sections, as well as choosing which portions to include or exclude. Smart Trim can either be set to work automatically, or to flag areas of the video that it recommends you trim. If you choose the latter option, you can manually adjust, trim or retain portions in the provided timeline. Smart Mix tries to balances different sources of sound so that none dominate. Again, these choices can be manual overridden.
You now have the capability in Premiere Elements 8 to incorporate still images into your movies. There is an extensive library of graphics, transitions, effects, and templates, which now also includes animated art which can be dragged and dropped into your movie. The new Motion Tracking feature even allows you to move objects around within the movie.
A good selection of tutorials, in both Acrobat and Flash formats, are included, which are conveniently categorized by difficulty and type, and are accessible from from the interface. Most, however, are only available with the purchase of a Plus membership, as is also the case with extra transitions and templates.
In all, Premiere Elements 8 is a most useful upgrade for those interested in editing and compiling movies. With its significant power and increased ease of use, it’s very good value. It’s just a pity that such a large portion of the value added by Photoshop.com can only be accessed by purchasing a Plus membership.