The tenth version on the tenth anniversary of Adobe's market-leading video-editing software brings full 64-bit support, key to powerful video editing, considering the file size of modern video content. It also makes some delightful effects far simpler to create.? Color correction and enhancement tools have gotten simpler and more powerful. The good folks at Adobe have also added the ability to directly upload to Facebook and YouTube. And new support for the popular AVCHD format means you can burn DVDs with Blu-ray quality HD. But is all this enough to bring Premiere Elements back into the lead among consumer video editors?
In short, no. Though performance gets a boost over the last version, the program still isn't as quick at rendering and previewing digital movies as CyberLink PowerDirector 9 ($99.95, 4.5 stars). Premiere Elements' still has a well-designed interface. And its organizational skills are excellent, beating the competition with its automatic video tagging, including automatic people-tagging.
Setup
New for version 10 is a 64-bit Windows version. The setup isn't a quick hit of the install button. The 1.5GB installer still requires a reboot, and if you want the full set of content like menus, themes, and templates, you'll have to install it from a second DVD. It's a lot of content?three standard-definition sets and three HD. Nero's Video Premium HD manages to get all the content loaded in one bout of installation, but it does require a reboot and takes a lot longer. I tested Premiere Elements 10 on a 3.4GHz AMD Phenom quad-core desktop with 4GB RAM, running 64-bit Windows 7. The graphics adapter was an ATI Radeon HD 4290 with the latest driver installed.
The Organizer
Whenever you start Premiere Elements, you'll first see its Welcome screen, from which you can open or start a new project, or open the same Organizer app you get with Photoshop Elements 10. As we've complained in the past, this window is more of a roadblock to get to the editor than in any other consumer video editor. Sony Vegas Movie Studio, for example, just shows a small welcome box to let you start or open a project, but its main editor window is already loaded.
The first time I ran the Organizer, it offered to import all my pictures and videos residing on the PC. Unlike Picasa, it doesn't just scan your disks?you tell it which folders to check. Still, you can set folders to "watch" which will cause Elements to automatically import anything new. It will, however, by default check all subfolders of the folder you choose. The separate Organizer app seems more skewed to photos than videos. Some options that might seem to apply to video as well as photos don?t. For example, "Auto Color" simply pops up a message saying you can only use it with photos.
You can access how-to videos from the Organizer, but some help video content is reserved exclusively for Plus members, even though some of the tips are pretty basic (like when to use the Timeline versus Sceneline view). I wish it were easier to view just videos and to view all files on the PC without having to select a folder. Fortunately, once I got out of the Organizer and into the video editor proper, buttons let me do this. I could preview clips in the Organizer, but some only after downloading a separate driver (QuickTime).
Importing
When I clicked the Import Media button, an Advanced window displayed thumbnails of the videos in the source I chose, whether a folder or media card. This dialog also let me apply metadata such as tags and copyright info, as well as auto-correction of red eyes and stacking similar images. As with most software that does media importing, you can specify deleting the media from the camera after import, but I'm not a fan of using that till I know I've got the videos and photos safely on my PC. For one MP4 HD video I imported, Premiere Elements would never show me a thumbnail in its source tray, even though other apps and even Windows itself had no trouble showing it.
During import, Premiere Elements can analyze and tag your content, associating Smart Tags to it, indicating characteristics like blurry or in focus, bright or dark, and perhaps most impressively, whether the clip contains people. Face detection provides a helpful and automated way to find clips later using the tag filter dropdown. This isn't equaled in other apps like PowerDirector or Pinnacle Studio, though iMovie has a similar feature.
Surprisingly, most other video editors (Pinnacle, PowerDirector, Vegas Movie Studio) don't offer any video tagging, the way most photo editing software lets you tag images for organization and selection later during clip selection. But the automatic people tagging is even more impressive than it sounds?you can later limit your clip tray to just those with One Face, Two Faces, Small Group, Large Group, Close-up, or Long Shot?all without manually entering a single tag. It's not at the point of face recognition that some photo software does, but it's a start.
Video Editor Interface
Its polished interface is one area in which Premiere Elements shines, beating out most of the competition in general usability and clarity. Once you get to the actual video editing interface by choosing "Edit with Premiere Elements," you'll see your imported clips' thumbnails in the right media tray where you can click a star rating under each, or double click to do some trimming in the previewer. Tabs at the top for Project, Edit, Disc Menus, and Share modes make for a well-designed and clear video project workflow. These mode choices outshine what you get in Sony Vegas Movie Studio, but are equaled in PowerDirector.
Buttons here make it simple to view only video or photo thumbnails and to sort by length or name. Right clicking on the source thumbnail offers choices to remove tags?either auto or your own?or create an InstantMovie. You actually start creating a non-Instant movie by dragging clips into either the timeline or scene view.
Instant Movies
The Create Instant Movie checkbox is perfect for those who want instant creativity. When I chose this, after importing I was presented with a choice of themes, from birthday party to sports to newsreel to "Performance Star," but several of them more suited to still image slideshows. Some themes involve yet another download and install process , though. Nero Vision Xtra?part of the company's Video Premium HD, goes further than both, with 40 included themes and a whole site for community-built themes. But other options like Sony Vegas Movie Studio offer no instant movie feature at all. I do like that you can preview Premiere's themes?both their sound and visuals.
The instant movies turned out some engaging results, with relevant intros, transitions, and added objects like footballs and soccer balls for the new Fun in the Sun theme. CyberLink and Nero offer tons of community-generated themes, so you're more likely to find, say, a specific rugby theme rather than just a general sports theme.
A new option in Premiere Elements 10 is the automated Pan and Zoom tool. This automatically finds faces in photos and creates a movie based on these. You can choose how long you want the frame on each face. But this only works with one photo at a time. My results were less than brilliant. I was impressed that the software could identify the back of a head as a human, but missed one of the front-facing faces.
Basic Editing
Clip entry, trimming, and splitting are a snap in Premiere Elements. The bracket that appears in the timeline when you place the cursor at a spot in a component clip make for an easy way to trim and split clips, but a double click opens precision trimmer in a separate small window for more accuracy. Disappointingly, this tool didn't let me set multiple in and out points, the way PowerDirector does. Premiere Elements' timeline view is less quick to respond to zooming and other navigation than PowerDirector and Pinnacle Studio, but its Sceneline view is more useful, with transition drop targets between your clips. The timeline responsiveness is a big win for PowerDirector, though. All three apps let you step through a clip frame by frame using timecodes, or enter a specific timecode to jump to.
Adobe Premiere Elements can do all the basics?lighting, rotation, cropping, clipping. It also offers auto contrast, auto levels. A quibble is that it would be nice if you could double-click on the effect thumbnail to apply it, rather than having to click the Apply button. After applying, most effects offer further control from the Edit Effects button. In all, there are over 80 effects you can apply, in groups like distort, stylize, and transform. A right-click offers time stretching, which lets you speed up or slow down a clip to fit your time budget, or just for effect.
Transition options are plentiful, and, as with effects, I like how you can choose a type from a dropdown like 3D motion, dissolve, iris, or page peel. And a search box lets you enter the name of the one you're looking for. CyberLink PowerDirector doesn't have the search, which makes it harder to find the transition you want.
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