Training
Review: Basic Training for CS4: PP, Pg. 2
Depth of Information
For the last two releases of Production Premium, Adobe has flown me and some of the other MFM writers out to one of their two base camps to teach us and a number of other press people about their new products. The training we received on these excursions is about inline with the depth of the training you can expect in BTACS4PP.
With that said, although it will definitely get you into the basics of using the CS4 Production Premium, covering most of the initial questions you will have, it’s definitely designed to be a beginning training pack. And, when I say beginning, I don’t just mean for CS4 users, but also for users of the Adobe products in general. There’s a fair amount of basic editing and basic command coverage that more experienced users won’t need. As such, they would be wiser to look for more advanced CS4 training, which will cover the new features but won’t focus on as many of the neophyte editor elements. (Now, even more experienced users can learn from a basic training like this, as we often have gaps in our training. I found some of the explanations Tim went into on a few elements of After Effects to be quite helpful, even though I’ve been using AE CS4 since before it was officially released.)
The Soundbooth training helps get you used to the improvements in Soundbooth to correct your audio in your film.
Interest Level
Tim makes what he’s teaching easy to understand and enjoyable. While there are some places that get a little dull due to how much is being covered about common commands and shortcuts, he manages to minimize this pretty well throughout. Helping in this endeavor is the fact that the training slowly builds on what’s being taught so that, by the time some of the more advanced programs like After Effects are addressed, some interesting effects and workflow are in the mix.
A very detailed introduction to OnLocation proves itself to be very useful to folks who are unfamiliar with all the elements of OnLocation CS4.
Reusability
While Tim touches on most of the main workflows in CS4, because the training is only four hours in length, the reusability isn’t as high as it will be with some longer training packages. Most of the stuff will stick in your head as soon as you go through it with Tim. However, because he does cover some elements from all the main programs, you could easily find that programs you don’t use regularly won’t stick as well as those you use on a daily basis. When that occurs, having this training handy will be a great way to jog your memory.
