A fresh look at Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 video software

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Adobe's Photoshop Elements 6.0. This was a double disc set that included Premiere Elements 4.0 video editing software. It's time for part 2 in this miniseries of reviews. Prepare to be amazed at the glory of Premiere Elements 4.0.

Getting started

Using this program wasn't my first experience with video editing. In college, I used "Movie Maker" on several occasions to create short and highly amateur films. My rationale for using this software was that it was free for my use and offered in the labs related to my major.

Getting started with Premiere Elements, I was able to navigate a little easier than if I had never seen video editing software before. I guess I did learn something in college after all! Take a look at figure A to see the simple layout of the project screen.

This is clean and hardly intimidating. It's easy to find the next step in your editing process.

Creating movie magic

Uploading videos to Premiere Elements is a snap. You can pull videos from just about anything, including the Internet, DVDs, digital cameras, and, of course, files you have on your computer. With a click of your mouse, your chosen video appears in the project screen. You can upload as many files as you please, and drag them to the boxes below to easily organize them. Figure B shows uploaded videos in the process of editing.

Use the purple timeline to slide tabs and lock them into specific sections. You can delete scenes, add your own personal narration with the aid of your microphone (not included in Premiere Elements) or create amazing special effects.

If you think that the effects in Photoshop are cool, you've got to try some out on your movies. There is the typical sharpening and lighting effects to make your movies look "better" but there are also some awesome effects like "ghosting" and "twirling" that give a very professional look to your videos. For the cost of this software ($99 by itself, $149 in a bundle with Photoshop Elements), you won't believe all that you can accomplish. It makes me curious to know what Adobe Premiere Pro (one of their most professional products for video editing) could do that this couldn't!

[Ed. note: Premiere Pro is intended for professional video editing and has many advanced editing features including 24P support, surround sound mixing, project management tools, multiple timeline sequences, an advanced audio mixer, and vectorscopes. Generally, if you don't know why you'd need to go Pro, you don't need to!]

Lasting memories

I honestly feel that the type of people who would benefit the most from this software would be families. Not just any family, but those who take tons of pictures and videos from holidays, birthdays and vacations. This doesn't mean that just because you don't have kids, this product isn't right for you. If you have any desire to turn your treasured memories into slideshows and polished videos and give them your own personal flare in the process, you need this product!

Another big help from Premiere Elements are templates. You can look through a huge list from categories like Birthdays, New Baby and Weddings. When you select a template for your video, you are giving a polished beginning and ending to your video with theme music, rolling credits and cute animations! Snapshots don't do this feature justice, but let's take a look at figure C.

The "Family Memories" template, as an example, provides soft music and floating petals, making this kitten's first day at his new home something to share!

Speaking of sharing, Adobe made it easy to take your finished product and send it to friends, family and even the world! You can export your videos in just about anyway you see fit, from DVD and Blu-Ray HD, to YouTube. That's right. Adobe has joined up with YouTube to make uploading your videos a snap. You can get your movies right to your personal YouTube page, as shown in Figure D, directly from Premiere Elements, provided you have an Internet connection...and a YouTube account.

Adobe claims you can make a great video in 15 minutes. Was this accurate? Yes! By using the provided templates, you can have a decent video with smooth scene transitions and credits rolling at the end, without spending hours staring at the screen. However, should you want something more in depth, added audio or music, it will take a little longer.

That's a wrap, folks!

Now comes the time where we here at Connected Photographer give products a rating. I'm giving Adobe's Premiere Elements 4.0 the much-deserved (and rare) 5-out-of-5 stars. Why? Well let me tell you how this product earned its grade.

First, it wasn't confusing to understand what you needed to do. Premiere Elements comes with a user manual with over 100 pages of how to navigate the software and make movie magic. Second, it was actually fun to use! Premiere Elements seemed to have unlimited options that kept me interested for hours. You'd be amazed what an amateur like myself can create with this software. You may even surprise yourself.

And finally, I'm giving this product a superb rating because it just deserves it, plain and simple. I was not as generous for the first disc in this set, but Photoshop Elements didn't wow me as much as the Elements did, though it was pretty good (we awarded it a 4-out-of-5).

So this concludes my review of the bundled set of Adobe Elements. It's image and movie editing made easy, and highly recommended by myself for anyone who wants to make memories that last a lifetime. It looks professional, it is professional, and you can't beat the cost. It's worth every penny.