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MillimeterPremiere's Net Gains
May 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Frank McMahon
Web video producers score new interactive tools and more export
choices with the release of Adobe's Premiere 6.0. The whole process from Premiere to Cleaner is silky smooth
now
In the excitement over the new release of Adobe Premiere, it's easy to overlook the fact that the 6.0 version is the most web-savvy edition yet. The programmers spent a lot of time making sure that it not only offers full DV, but also allows users to publish in multiple web video formats. This month we'll look more closely at Premiere 6.0's new web video export features, as well as touch on a new feature that allows users to create interactive web video presentations.
Until now, web producers have used previous versions of Premiere with their DV setups through a series of drivers and add-ons. Typically they got the job done, but it wasn't exactly integrated. With version 6.0, you don't even need to use a DV capture card. If your computer has a FireWire (IEEE-1394) port, then you can jump in and start editing with the software. Windows users will be happy to know that the latest version supports OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface), which provides a standard to interact with digital video hardware.
If you do have a DV capture card, Premiere 6.0 is set up to directly support the most popular brands. In addition, many producers have been using their native DV capture software and then importing the clips into Premiere. The previous Premiere capture option was serviceable but had a limited feature set. Now the capture feature has been reworked and improved with a more robust feature set, and it is actually quite a pleasure to use. You have complete frame-accurate deck control and can adjust your settings from within the actual capture window. Plus you can log tapes in the same window, with options to set in and out points as well as include comments.
So it is definitely easier to get DV into the program. Web producers have been asking for plug-and-play hookup and support for standards and popular devices for a while now. Finally, Adobe has come through.
But how are Premiere 6.0's web output features?
For those of us who work with web video, it is essential to have an easy way to get movies from the timeline to streaming in the shortest amount of steps. Adobe has packaged multiple options in 6.0. Many people have been producing web video in the same way: by editing together a production on the timeline, exporting the entire movie as a video file, and then loading that file into a program such as Cleaner 5 for processing and export to popular streaming formats. The previous version of Premiere had some streaming export functionality, but none that could compare to a standalone program such as Cleaner. Now Premiere is packing three separate solutions that make exporting to a web video format a streamlined process.
It is hard to ignore the fact that Cleaner 5 is one of the top web video encoding programs. Those without Cleaner 5 will be happy to know that the new Premiere comes with a scaled down version of it. It's called Cleaner 5 EZ and is available under the Save for Web menu. After you edit your timeline and render your effects, just Save for Web and the Cleaner 5 EZ interface pops up with several settings for various popular web formats. The formats include everything from QuickTime streaming to AVI to MPEG-1 to MP3 — basically many of the formats the full version of Cleaner has, but without a lot of the adjustable parameters. This export module is definitely down and dirty. It's targeted at those users who don't have a lot of time to finesse their footage. These users simply want a good preset, with the program doing all the work of producing a great-looking web clip.
There are lots of different bandwidth options, from 28.8K to full broadband. In fact, once you decide on your settings, saving your timeline to a web video format is just one click away. Not only is this more convenient than moving everything into a separate program, but you have the power of Cleaner 5 for good quality output.
So what happens if you already have the full version of Cleaner 5? Instead of Save for Web, you'll see an Encode with Cleaner menu option. Just select it and Premiere will automatically load Cleaner 5 and bring the current movie from the timeline right into its project window. From there you can go through Cleaner's wizards or on to the advanced options. It's also worth noting that if you have MotoDV, which now comes with Cleaner, you may want to try capturing with Premiere 6.0. The whole process from Premiere to Cleaner is silky smooth now, and offers the flexibility to go with one-click publishing or with the more advanced route that video tweakers love.
While you can certainly use Cleaner EZ or Cleaner 5 via Premiere to process Windows Media and RealVideo, Adobe went the extra distance and provided a separate export for both of these formats. The Advanced Windows Media Export offers a large array of presets, which should cover just about any media artist's requirement.
One thing you may notice is that, unlike Cleaner, most of the presets cannot be edited, which is fine if you go with the standard web resolutions and rates. If you find the presets limiting, try clicking the Custom option and then the New button to create an original preset. Here is where you can change options and parameters — everything from the streaming rate to the variable compression buffer, to the key frame interval, to the frames per second.
The Advanced RealMedia Export is set up differently and is probably a little easier to use. As opposed to the Windows Media version, which offers step-through wizards to drill down to the advanced options, the RealMedia interface allows more flexibility from the main screen. You can click a preset, but you can also easily open any preset and tweak every parameter, including video compression rate, audio frequency, frame rate, and target bitrate. The Check for Update button ensures that you have the latest export engine from RealNetworks. One downside is that the resolution defaults to the size of your current DV movie, so you have to manually enter the size you want for your web video. On the plus side, the export module has a button that lets you encode your entire Premiere project or just your timeline work area. Also very cool are options for video filters: noise elimination deinterlace and inverse-Telecine. Finally, you can set the encoder to launch your RealPlayer when your movie is done being processed.
Real gets the edge in export usability, and Windows Media certainly has enough features in its export offerings to allow most parameters to be adjusted. Of course, few things beat exporting to the full version of Cleaner 5, but even the included Cleaner EZ can get the job done. All in all, Premiere offers so many export options in so many formats that there is now no excuse to not encode to web video formats.
One other exciting new feature of Adobe Premiere 6.0 is the inclusion of web markers. If you have used previous versions of the program, you have probably used markers for various reasons, typically to set points in time for reference. You can set markers anywhere in the timeline and number them so you can quickly go back to them at any point in the editing process. What has changed is that now these markers can have URLs attached to them and you can incorporate this information into a web presentation.
For example, say you had a person doing a training session — a web video of a teacher who is describing famous geographic locales. Since bitmap graphics in web video are sometimes not very sharp if compressed at low bandwidth rates, you could set up a web page instead. Whenever the teacher mentioned a certain country in the video, the full graphic image of that country could appear on the web page right next to the movie. Pretty cool! Imagine an audio narrative in Windows Media format that showcases different websites that come up in a window or a musician who plays while a high-tech graphic slideshow buzzes by.
There are a lot of possibilities, and as with most Adobe features, it is a small addition that can go very far with the right vision. The caveat is that this only works with certain web video formats such as QuickTime, and the orchestrating of the web elements needs to be done in a separate web program. Adobe demurely suggests GoLive 5.0, of course. Unfortunately, this feature is a little underdocumented in the 6.0 package, but it's hard to get too involved with web tutorials because HTML design starts to come into play. But if you know your way around a web layout program, definitely explore this option, as it will certainly give your creations an interactive edge over regular web video offerings.
Adobe Premiere 6.0 offers many other new features that will get web video producers geared up, including a kickin' audio mixer, a great storyboard window (finally, quick-and-dirty editing for web people), a whole new way to include effects and filters (think After Effects), customizable work-spaces, and even tighter integration with Photoshop and After Effects. But web producers should also check out the excellent new streaming video export options, the much-improved capture interface, direct DV support, and the new web markers. If you were waiting for your desktop editing program to take you farther into the world of web video, this latest offering from Adobe really dives in head first.
Frank McMahon is a media artist specializing in directing, editing, animation, and graphic design. He has been working in broadcast for 15 years and his client list includes FOX Television, Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner, and Media One. He can be reached via his media company at www.fmstudio.com or through the Portland Media Artists at www.mediaartist.com.
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