From ads on social media to Hollywood films, the ability to edit video footage is a skill that is much in demand. Video Editors cut and combine slices of footage into a storyline, then add graphics, animation effects, and music to produce quality, entertaining, and informative videos. They do all of this with video editing software like Premiere Pro from Adobe Systems, Inc.
What Can Premiere Pro Do for You?
Premiere Pro is a powerful editing program that lets you create professional and polished videos. Import footage, move clips around, trim, and snap them together. Add a title sequence and insert some graphics. Set the video to music or adjust the sound and color. Premiere Pro will convert footage to a format or size that works with different social media platforms and devices. Not only is Premiere Pro powerful in its own right with its many presets and easy-use-keystrokes, it works well with other Adobe programs like Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Audition, and other applications that are included in Adobe’s Creative Cloud.
What Is Premiere Pro?
Premiere Pro is a video editing tool used in the post-production phase of all kinds of videos from YouTube and social media ads, to documentaries and feature films. Premiere Pro allows you to go from raw video footage to finished product. It is part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud that includes more than twenty applications to let you focus on particular aspects of the video editing process.
Video footage is imported into Premiere Pro and the best portions are put together into a file. Then you can open other Adobe programs inside of Premiere Pro to fix, change, or add to the video. Adobe Audition is used to correct audio levels, adjust dialog, or add a musical soundtrack. Lumetri Color is used to grade or change color levels. After Effects lets you add graphics for title sequences, insert animation, and remove elements from the video. When you are finished, Media Encoder processes the video into forms that can be uploaded wherever you choose.
Premiere Pro is capable of turning out professional-quality videos and has been used to produce television shows and movies, including the Netflix original series, Mindhunter, and films such as Deadpool, Gone Girl, and Hail Caesar.
In addition to the professional version, there are two other versions of Premiere that each have advantages. Premiere Elements doesn’t have nearly the power of Pro, but it allows beginners to get started in editing quickly. However, if you plan to pursue a career as a Video Editor or Motion Graphics Designer, you will need to learn to use Premiere Pro.
Premiere Rush is another Adobe product based on Pro. It is a streamlined version that can be used on a smartphone or tablet. It doesn’t have as many features as Pro, but with Rush, you can shoot, edit, and share videos to social media quickly, which is important in the world of social media influence. You can also import the video to Pro to finish editing if you like.
Essential Features of Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro is a video editing program that can combine video, audio, and images together and then export them as a video file. The user interfaces on Adobe programs look and function similarly, so if you are familiar with another Adobe product like Photoshop or Illustrator, the Premiere Pro workspace will look familiar.
You can run Premiere Pro on a Mac or PC with at least 8GB of RAM, though 16GB or more is recommended. A dedicated video card works better than integrated graphics. This program is for people who want to produce video and need a program with professional level tools and functions. One of the advantages of Premiere Pro is the ability to edit video from a wide variety of cameras and formats because Pro allows you to sync footage from multiple cameras.
Another plus for Premiere Pro is that it integrates smoothly with other Adobe apps such as After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Audition, and Media Encoder. Also, there is no need to convert files before editing. Premiere Pro does that automatically. Another automatic feature that is very popular is scene edit detect, which finds all of the cuts in a sequence, so you don’t have to look for them.
Premiere Pro is highly customizable. You can set up your workspace to your own specifications and set your own keyboard shortcuts, although there are plenty of those in Pro to start with. With the customization and the way the different Adobe apps work together, one of the best things about Premiere Pro is how efficient the workflow is.
History of Premiere Pro
Adobe released Premiere in 1991 for the Apple Mac. It was one of the first digital, non-linear editing programs. Premiere Pro came out in 2003. It was known as Premiere Pro CS, plus a version number 1-7, which stood for Creative Suite until 2013, when Adobe changed the name from Creative Suite to Creative Cloud. The current version is officially known as Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2020.
How to Purchase Premiere Pro
Adobe offers a monthly subscription to Premiere Pro with a 7-day free trial available before purchase. This allows you to edit some videos before deciding if you want to pay for it. For a few dollars more a month, you can get the full Creative Cloud, which includes storage as well. The cost of a monthly subscription to Premiere Pro is $20.99. A monthly subscription to Creative Cloud is $52.99. A subscription to Premiere Rush or Elements is $9.99 a month.
How to Learn Premiere Pro
If you are planning to switch careers and become a Video Editor to learn to use Premiere Pro. There are many tutorials out there to get you started. Adobe offers numerous tutorials and there are many vloggers who have posted Premiere tutorials, so if you are a “dig in and figure it out” type of person, you have a lot to choose from. However, editing software is complex, and many people find it easier to learn technical information through classes.
You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn Premiere Pro. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a technical field like video editing is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run for a few weeks to a few months and will cover video editing in much more depth than tutorials can. Another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality sample video portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
It’s easy to learn Adobe’s Premiere Pro and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s Premiere Pro courses. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online Premiere Pro courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other courses in Premiere Pro in your area.