Posted by Craig McDaniel on Sep 18, 2012 | 2 comments

Publisher: Adobe
Platforms: PC & Mac
Description: Multimedia Package
MSRP: $1899 (Full), $375 (Upgrade)
Expected Release: Available Now
Official Website: www.Adobe.com
Samples: Click here Demo: Click here
Special Discount: Click here
Critique Issue: #79 (09/12)
Critiqued By: Craig McDaniel
Final Score: 9.5

I know what some of you are thinking. Is it that time again? Is it time for Adobe to roll out the next version of Creative Suite? Yes, indeed.

Usually when these types of “events” take place you’re looking at it wondering “How big of an upgrade is this?” or “Is this just a few fixes/changes?” Well, get your wallet and creativity ready, because it’s here and this time it is more than just a few fixes here and there.

Production Premium is one of the many bundles Adobe offers in order to give great value to the customer who requires a variety of their software offerings. This bundle is focused with the video content creator in mind and in my opinion it’s slowly changing the game every time a new version is released. It’s obvious that Adobe is trying their best to take a chunk of the market that Apple may or may not have lost with the FCX situation. I guess the jury is still out on that one depending on who you talk to, but there is no doubt Adobe wants in on the conversation. The rundown of the software included with Production Premium is as follows: Prelude, Premiere Pro, Photoshop Extended, After Effects, Audition, SpeedGrade, Illustrator, Encore, Flash Professional, Media Encoder and Bridge.

The CS6 package offers a great deal of new features and expansion on previous victories. There are also some new kids on the block in the form of both added tools and entirely new programs. I’m going to focus my review on the new programs and the ones I feel get the most use of the package with the video editor in mind.

Prelude One of the aforementioned “new kids on the block”, this is a great addition that works as prep for the editing process. Meant for use with the ingest, organization and metadata tagging of your files. Prelude is a helpful option for both large scale projects (that juggle hours of footage) and the average video shoot.

Prelude gives you the ability to preview your footage and even create a rough cut.

Premiere Pro
Premiere has a new streamlined look (don’t worry guys, if you are in love with the previous layout you can easily revert back) that seems to be designed to “woo” weary Final Cut and Avid users.

After Effects
Trying to describe what exactly After Effects is, well it’s impossible to say it’s anything other than the go to for additions and fixes. It’s amazing how versatile this program is, and it keeps getting better with every release. From graphics to compositing and even animation it’s hard to find something you cannot do with this software.

After Effects is back! With more speed and control.

Audition To be honest, I was never really a big fan of Soundbooth, and it seems that Adobe wasn’t either.Although Audition recently made its debut by replacing Soundbooth in CS5.5, you’ll find a new design this time around.

SpeedGrade The other “new kid on the block” and somewhat of an outsider is SpeedGrade. While the intent is there, I’m betting you’ll have to wait until CS7 before the full abilities/integration of this program really start to be utilized. At first you’ll notice the design doesn’t seem to flow with the rest of Adobe products, which would be because this was a pre-existing tech that Adobe acquired late last year. Given the limited amount of time between that acquisition and the CS6 launch, the integration with Premiere Pro and After Effects is commendable. SpeedGrade can be utilized as a standalone color grading option or you can use the “Send To” function in Premiere Pro to export your timeline.

Photoshop The standard of excellence with Adobe continues to be Photoshop. Since I’m reviewing the video aspects of this program for MicroFilmmaker in another article, I’m just going to skip over the details and advise you to check out the full review.

Photoshop or Videoshop? New video features for both versions of Photoshop.

Ease of Use

I always try to be fair while judging a program’s ease of use. Someone with 10 years of experience is going to pick on something faster than someone who is looking at the blank slate and icons for the first time. My judgment usually falls in with my learning style, as in “Can someone just start playing and figure some things out?” Of course you should always have the desire to properly learn from a manual or tutorials, but if a program is designed in a way that allows both the experienced and amateur to play around without too much hassle, I’d say it’s well designed.

The layout of SpeedGrade, the only footage I have at the moment is B&W. But you get the idea.

With the exception of SpeedGrade (which isn’t bad at all, it just takes some time to get used to), Adobe offers the same excellent layout design that we have come to expect from them over the past decade. Seasoned users will be able to pick up on the layout streamlining easily and newcomers should be able to as well, with a little patience.

Depth of Options

So what’s fresh and grand with these new and upgraded programs? This won’t be the most detailed list, because I can’t possibly cover all these programs’ abilities in a single review, but I will highlight some stand outs for you.

The great thing I noticed about Prelude is how it connects flawlessly with Premiere Pro. Whatever changes you make in one, automatically updates into the other. Hover Scrubbing is another feature that is very helpful in identifying your footage (you’ll also find Premiere Pro now utilizes this as well). Hover Scrubbing is basically the ability to scan through a clip over the thumbnail. I cannot tell you how much I love this feature, it’s so much better than constantly looking for that “one” moment in the preview window.

From the start, you will notice the improved Mercury Playback Engine that delivers an overall higher performance level with Premiere Pro. You’re going to find the ability for live effects updates and better support for third party hardware. If multi-cam editing is your bag, you’re going to love this. Previously limited to 4, your options have changed. Say hello to unlimited camera angles (be aware that one limitation may exist, that being the speed of your actual system.).

Premiere Pro is the hub of the Production Premium package.

Another Premiere Pro upgrade worth mentioning is the three way color corrector. Already a feature in previous versions, this packs a bigger punch. It now allows for more visual correction of shadows, midtones and highlights. It’s basically the video equivalent of the color balance feature in Photoshop.

Moving along to After Effects you’ll notice The 3D Camera Tracker is a new addition, which will make 3D tracking easier than ever before. For you DSLR lovers and your jello issues you now have rolling shutter repair available as a separate tool (this is also available in Premiere Pro.).

You’ve got plenty more options with 90 all new effects to choose from. If you are using animated shapes, this version of After Effects has much better integration with Illustrator and vector art. There is Adobe, giving you a reason to use and love every option available in Production Premium.

The highlight of Audition is the Automatic Speech Alignment tool, which will come in handy when trying to match up ADR issue. As with Soundbooth, you have access to tons of production music and sound effects which should come in handy to anyone who needs quality audio elements to round out their soundscape.

Adobe Audtion will help you with your ADR needs.

Performance

The integration of the CS6 software is downright amazing, and although the “Send To” or “Dynamic Link” features are not new to CS6, they are amplified and upgraded. If you’re using Production Premium as an editor or video content creator, you have to see that Premiere Pro is the hub of the package. Sure the other software like Photoshop, Flash and After Effects have their own uses as well, but as a part of a video editing package, Premiere Pro is where is all comes together. With After Effects Adobe offers better performance as the new design has the RAM cache and disk cache working together to share the workload.

Overall the speed and effectiveness of CS6 is excellent.

Value

The value with this package is pretty amazing in my opinion. It’s pretty much everything you could ever want in a video editing platform. Adding all of the programs offered together you are looking at around $5,500, so the $1899 price of CS6 Production Premium is a no-brainer (not to mention that some of the software options like Prelude are exclusive to the bundle). For the money, and the quality, there simply isn’t anyone else out offering a comparable value.

As a part of the CS6 launch Adobe has also introduced Creative Cloud, which offers a subscription or monthly plans. One final comment, I will be the first to tell you I’m not really sold on the Creative Cloud option. It’s not a bad option for users who are down with it, I just would prefer to see that $600 a year ($900 without a contract) go towards owning software. I also prefer to keep my files stored on my computer. But for those of you who want to move your music, movies, software and lives onto “The Cloud”. More power to you.

Final Comments

It’s an odd thing to me, you mention Photoshop or Illustrator and they are considered industry standard. After Effects is considered an industry standard as well. But for some reason, no matter how many leaps forward Adobe makes with Premiere Pro, you still get the whole “Avid/FCP” clans acting like it’s a lesser program, rolling their eyes as if it’s on the same level as Sony Vegas or something like that. Thankfully, those voices are fading and reason is starting to set in. With CS6 Production Premium, Adobe continues to move forward not by only being innovative, but by creating the options the users have requested.

Craig McDaniel

Craig McDaniel has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. Serving in art department, project management, graphic design, screenwriting and directing etc. His work has carried him to the cities of Orlando, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Craig’s resume includes projects with CBS, MTV, VH1, SyFy, Turner Broadcasting, Victoria’s Secret, Coca-Cola and many more. Currently he resides in the St. Augustine Florida area and were he produces and directs local/regional media product, as well as drinking too much red wine.