is anyone using Premiere Pro for long-format documentary/feature film work???

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Nicholas Natteau

Veteran
Given the fact that CNN and the BBC are now using Premiere Pro CS6, does anyone know if PP CS6 is now being used to cut long format indie documentary and feature films?

I'm about to start editing a long format documentary film. For this feature, I already have over 2,000 photos and newsreel clips. In terms of organizing my footage, my 2,000 stills and newsreels are spread across 32 folders (according to subject matter).

Does PP CS6 with "Prelude" make it the best NLE right now for long format indie work?

I had initially looked into FCPX but despite all it's improvements, coming from FCP7 I still can't get used to the new interface, above all it's lack of dual monitors (no source monitor).

This is a really tough decision for me. Because as much as I loved and worked with FCP7 for nearly a decade, it's EOL status means no further updates. And I find myself editing with PP CS6 all the time now because of how fast it is on my macbook pro retina, how well it handles different formats (no need to transcode), no need to render anything, and because of how much work I now do in After Effects and Photoshop.

But I'm also hearing about Smoke, and Avid Media Composer. So I'm still hesitating.

Have any major indie films or documentaries in the past year been edited with PP CS6 yet?

Is Premiere Pro now ready for prime-time?

Thank you in advance for any feedback.
 
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Nicholas Natteau said:
I still can't get used to the new interface, above all it's lack of dual monitors (no source monitor).
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It actually has a second monitor. You just have to turn it on (Windows->Event Viewer I think).

Is Premiere Pro CS6 now ready for prime-time?
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In my opinion it is. It's my primary NLE at the moment and I love working in it, especially the integration with Photoshop/AE. The only thing I would suggest is that you always make a backup copy of your project file. It's been rare that I've had one corrupt on me, but it has happened, and making backups is peace of mind.
 
Thanks Gary, will do that. I see what you mean about the source monitor in FCPX. Sorry my mistake. It's there.

But does PP CS6 not make backups automatically every 30 minutes the way FCP7 did?
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
But does PP CS6 not make backups automatically every 30 minutes the way FCP7 did?
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It does. And you can change that value. But I find that it's not always reliable. I like manually have access to it myself, and it's very easy to make a copy manually (Ctrl-Alt-S on Windows). I primarily do it for peace of mind. Never needed to go to the backup project since I started.
 
I used PPro CS4 to cut a feature several years ago without too much pain. I'm just about to move to PPro CS6 on a new machine so I can't give you any feedback about that just yet. Hopefully the things which cause me the most grief in CS4 have been addressed in CS6; things such as problems with embedded sequences and long load times for complex projects. To be fair, some of my other issues may have been related to Maxtro Axio drivers.

How will you be distributing your work? We actually found a distributor for our first feature. They wanted a DigiBeta tape so we wound up renting a deck for an afternoon and doing a realtime playback from PPro4 to the recorder under RS422 control with time code. That was a few years ago and hopefully any distributor today would take a hard drive!

And dittos to Gary: back it up! Save several versions of your project as it progresses and back them up locally and off site. Copy the source files to multiple locations - at least one of them off site. It's hard to have too many backups!
 
Thanks everybody. I just submitted a couple feature requests to Adobe, because although I love PP CS6, I think it badly needs some more keyboard shortcuts.

For example, I'm going to be animating a lot of stills, and I could animate stills much faster in PP CS6 if I could add, delete, and move Position and Scale Keyframes with assignable keyboard shortcuts. But there's no option for that right now. Those keyframe keyboard shortcuts exist in AE, so why not in Premiere Pro?

Please vote in my poll and feel free to add other suggestions, in the hope that someone from Adobe sees this poll, :)

[video]http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?300310-POLL-what-new-features-do-you-most-want-to-see-in-Premiere-Pro-CS7[/video]
 
I use Premiere a lot and despite what anyone tells you Premiere does have issue when dealing with large projects containing large files like 5K video and very large jpg's, tiff's etc. I have seen it on may projects become very bogged down. There are some work arounds but they are less than desirable.
 
We run both Premiere Pro and FCP X (came form FCP 7).

Until the last couple of versions of FCPX I would have done all major work in Premiere Pro, but FCP X is now usable for almost anything.

Adobe's lack of response to several real bugs is worrying. I'm sure they'll get fixed at some point, but it's looking like you'll also need to pay the annual Adobe Upgrade Tax to get the fixes. I really don't want to have to keep spending £300+ a year just to get mostly bug fixes (plus some new bugs that are in CS6) and a 'couple' of major new features (which is all that really came in the last 2 versions).

Let's get the current bugs fixed first, and then move on to new stuff, please?

Major Bugs include Multicam and AVCHD support.
 
Paul and Exact,

Speaking of bugs, I've had to restart PP CS6 several times due to the fact that PP's UI windows sometimes behave erratically: they'll half display or sometimes there's nothing but black in the source or program monitor even though I have the video loaded. I'll hear audio, but see no video. When I restart, the problem's gone. Maybe its a macbook pro retina issue though, not sure.

But if I'm encountering snags when I don't even have a long format project loaded, what you're saying makes me nervous about embarking a long format project in PP CS6.

Regarding FCPX then, is anyone yet using it to make long format (60, 90, 120 min) features (documentary or fiction)? Is FCP X now stable/reliable enough for long format work?

Since Avid Media Composer is beyond my budget, that pretty much leaves me with only three other choices: stick with FCP7 (with it's EOL liability), or switch to FCP X or Premiere Pro.
 
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Nicholas Natteau said:
Paul and Exact,

Speaking of bugs, I've had to restart PP CS6 several times due to the fact that PP's UI windows sometimes behave erratically: they'll half display or sometimes there's nothing but black in the source or program monitor even though I have the video loaded. I'll hear audio, but see no video. When I restart, the problem's gone. Maybe its a macbook pro retina issue though, not sure.

But if I'm encountering snags when I don't even have a long format project loaded, what you're saying makes me nervous about embarking a long format project in PP CS6.

Regarding FCPX then, is anyone yet using it to make long format (60, 90, 120 min) features (documentary or fiction)? Is FCP X now stable/reliable enough for long format work?

Since Avid Media Composer is beyond my budget, that pretty much leaves me with only three other choices: stick with FCP7 (with it's EOL liability), or switch to FCP X or Premiere Pro.
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The problem is Adobe is a software only company. Their only revenue stream is new software. They release products that are not ready for the public. From my experience I don't believe new releases of Adobe products can even be safely called beta versions. The new CS 6.5 if simply the buggiest program I have ever used. The problems are many, bizarre and confusing.
 
Funny, edit lots of stuff on Premiere CS6 and rarely have any issues, including a 113 minute feature from Red One .R3D files in CS5.
 
We used it everyday in a large commercial environment. Could not perform with the big boys Avid and Auto-Desk. We are finished with it. Oh, but photoshop is great.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Indeed, i use it in a windows 7 environment and it is solid.
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Same here (cross-platform actually). No issues, even with some very complicated projects. Working on one right now with ProRes HQ footage, adjustment layers, mixed .MP4 footage from an iPhone, and lots of dynamically linked AE comps. Running fine (5-6 minute running time disclaimer).
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
Paul and Exact,
Regarding FCPX then, is anyone yet using it to make long format (60, 90, 120 min) features (documentary or fiction)? Is FCP X now stable/reliable enough for long format work?
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Yes and Yes. We've made several long form 60-120 min films on FCPX. I have to admit there are some quirks and the multi-editor workflow is not as easy, but it's doable once you know the rules and have been back and forth a few times between editors.

Also, quite a few TV and production companies are now picking up FCPX where turnaround is paramount. I assume you've seen the ones linked to by Apple already.

I'm not saying FCP X is right for everybody. Far form it. But then Premiere Pro, Avid, Vegas etc are not right for everybody either. You have to pick the tool you like using the most that is also capable of doing what you need. While not everyone's need is different, there may be some quirks within your workflow that is not there in mine which means one software package may be better than another, in different ways to how we need it to be. That could be cameras, codecs, integration with hardware and/or other software.

The good news is that moving projects between FCP7, FCP X and Premiere Pro is now much easier than ever. So you don't have to be locked in to one or the other. Check out 7toX and Xto7 for moving things around.
 
Don't meant to turn this into a mac v.s. pc issue but there are performance differences between the two so that's also something to consider.

I've personally edited multiple wedding filmes (2-4 hours) three camera, multiple embedded sequences, dynamically linked AE projects and haven't had any major issues or performance huccups. The only time I noticed a performance issue was when taking very high res stills or graphics and adding certain effects to them (i.e. blurs)
 
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