Comments Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 is available, and you can get it now. You can also download a fully functional free 30-day trial version.
Here’s a link to the main Adobe Premiere Pro page and its whiz-bang summary of what’s new.
Video2Brain provides a detailed set of videos about all of the new and changed features in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5.
If you want to ask questions about these new and changed features, come on over to the Adobe Premiere Pro user-to-user forum. That’s the best place for questions. Questions left in comments on a blog post are much harder to work with; the blog comment system just isn’t set up for conversations. It’s also never too early to leave comments on the pages of the Help documents to ask for more information, point out areas that aren’t clear, and so on; Kevin, the guy who writes the Help documents, wants your input. You can also leave comments on the pages of the Help document to tell everyone about tutorials and other resources that you’ve found (or created) about these new features.
top new features in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, with links to more information
- merged clips for synchronizing audio and video tracks in dual-system sound workflow, in which audio is recorded separate from video (common for HDSLR work)
- Mercury Playback Engine performance improvements, including additional effects and tasks processed with CUDA and an expansion of the set of graphics cards that provide the CUDA-processing features
- added ability to edit audio with Adobe Audition CS5.5, interchanging a single clip or an entire sequence
- audio effects unified, such that you no longer need to apply a different effect depending on whether the audio track is mono, stereo, or 5.1 audio
- improved speech analysis with scripts from Adobe Story
- ability to attach a closed captioning data file to a sequence and preview the closed captions in the Program panel
- new overlay that enables dragging of clips from the Media Browser, Project panel, or Source panel into the Program panel to perform an insert or overwrite edit
- improved keyboard shortcut customization, including addition of a search field to the keyboard shortcuts dialog box
- improved RED (R3D) features, including new color science support (REDcolor2, REDgamma2, REDlogFilm, etc.) and better curves and levels UI
- enhanced native Canon XF support, including preview in the Media Browser and use of metadata
- several user interface improvements that add up to a much more efficient user experience, including the following:
- The Unlink command now decouples the audio portion of a clip while automatically deselecting the audio portion. The Unlink command now works on multiple clips at the same time, as well.
- ability to add keyframes directly into the timeline using the Pen tool or Selection tool without having to first enable keyframing
- ability to set keyframes without a modifier key
other new and changed features in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, with links to more information
I haven’t (yet) listed every single tweak to the user interface, but this should be a virtually comprehensive list of changes beyond the top few listed above.
projects and sequences
- Added Sequence > Match Frame menu command.
- Renamed General tab of New Sequence dialog box to Settings.
- Renamed Desktop editing mode in the New Sequence dialog box to Custom.
- Added ways to create a new sequence matching the characteristics of a clip: File > New > Sequence From Clip menu command and New Sequence From Clip context-menu command (i.e., command available when Control-clicking or right-clicking).
importing and managing footage
- The trial version of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 includes all codecs included with the full version, so users of the trial version will be able to import any file that can be imported using in the full version.
- You can drag and drop assets from iTunes into the Premiere Pro Project panel.
editing
- Added menu command Sequence > Trim Edit to open the Trim Monitor.
- Changed Overlay to Overwrite.
- Changed CTI to Playhead in some places.
- Changed Razor Tracks to Add Edit and Razor All Tracks to Add Edit To All Tracks.
effects and compositing
- Added Film Dissolve effect.
- Added two blending modes: Subtract and Divide.
rendering and exporting
- Added ability to drag a sequence from the Adobe Premiere Pro Project panel into Adobe Media Encoder to add it to the encoding queue. For other Adobe Media Encoder changes, see “Adobe Media Encoder CS5.5: What’s new and changed”.
- The trial version of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 includes all codecs included with the full version, so users of the trial version will be able to render and export using any codec that can be used in the full version.
keyboard shortcuts
- Added command for maximizing panels: Press the Shift+grave accent key (`) or choose Window > Maximize Frame to maximize the active (selected) panel. This is in addition to the keyboard shortcut (`) in previous versions that maximizes the panel under the mouse pointer, regardless of which panel is active (selected).
Closed Caption = Awesome! Although I haven’t done anything with it, I’ve heard adding closed captioning to your video is required for showing something even on cable now.
Changing “Razor” commands to “Add Edit”?!!!!!!!!!!!!! BOO! You’ve just wiped out, what, 15-20 years of Premiere history?!!!! How many Premiere users from the past are going to be tripped up by this insane change?! Is this simply some kind of ploy to comfort other editing program users?! TERRIBLE! I’m fine with creating extra doo dads I don’t need like the trim window for Avid users (I’m assuming) BUT DON’T GO CHANGING WHAT MAKES PREMIERE GREAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Hey Matt,
We’re changing some of the nomenclature to be more in line with other NLE systems. In my opinion, I think it’s a good change relevant terms that all other NLEs use. For example, Overlay vs. Overwrite, CTI vs. Playhead, Roll Edit to CTI vs. Extend Edit and a few other cases.
This doesn’t change the functionality (or even the keyboard shortcuts) you are used to. This is far from an “insane change”, but I understand if you don’t like it.
I still don’t like it myself. You guys should not change things for the sake of it. It takes additional time to learn these new features. Time you would have used acquainting with the new additions.
First off there are many features that I’m very happy with. I was an “Orphan” from the Avid Liquid corner and was bedazzled by everyone wanting my business. I’ve invested $10,000 for a new Dual Xeon hex core with 36 gigs of ram, and blah blah blah. I also invested in your software platform. I felt, and still feel that you are going to keep things going in a positive direction. That said, here is something I can’t sugar coat.
I am majorly disappointed with the lack of effects and control within this software. Avid Liquid could do what seemed like an infinite amount of excellent effects without having to learn additional software. I don’t know After Effects, have no idea when I have the time to learn it. Why can’t I/we have some PIP frame & angle options, Push, pulls, and pans to lay on clips and other basic needs for a busy editor? Why not load up the effects section with GPU/CPU effects to keep us moving at a production pace?
So to encapsulate, wow this is powerful software, and wow, how can you short change us like this??
Here’s to being a long term Adobe supporter. This thing is crunching my Canon DSLR footage very reliably. I really hope you guys keep loading this software with the good stuff.
Cheers,
Steve Hayward
As a long time user of PPro, I gotta say that finally getting the trial version to include the entirety of the codecs will go a long way in reducing the new user complaints/questions in the user forums. Gotta be one of the top issues people have always come across when trying PPro for the first time.
Not sure if I’ll go for the upgrade or not. There aren’t a lot of the features that I “need” right now. But I really like the option of major upgrade after 12 months, even at an additional fee. Audition alone may make it worthwhile for some people, it certainly is a better solution than Soundbooth.
Agreed Christian, having a full fledged trial is huge.
Even as an experienced user, when I first used the trial it took me a while to figure out where the heck all my codecs were. Most people don’t have the patience and will just go back to FCP, figuring “premiere still sucks”.
Great work Premiere team! Keep an eye on our feature requests on your forum, and keep producing fantastic results. You’ll need it if this new Final Cut is even 1/2 of what it’s being made out to be.
still no real solution for proxy-workflow I see…. Well… I’ll be waiting still some years then.
Premiere Pro has never needed a proxy work flow. It works fine with native media. Rather than waiting for PP to include proxies, just upgrade your hardware.
Avid has an offline option that the ability to edit at lower resolution then uprezing to higher resolution without problems. Avid offline workflow is good but not near as good or easy to use as the After Effects proxy workflow… it seems only reasonable that PP could incorporate the option of having a proxy workflow that would speed up the editing process… regardless of what level of hardware you use or if you edit using file links.
Fast hardware plus proxy workflow makes for a faster editing process than fast hardware plus no proxy workflow. The fact that PP may not have ever had a proxy/offline workflow option, it doesn’t seem to be a good reason for not have a useful proxy workflow option available. In fact, it would make PP more competitive.
You can make a feature request: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
So, does this mean no more complimentary updates for the current CS5?
I ask because there are bugs, known and reported bugs, that make Premiere CS5 frustrating and unusable for me. There’s no way I’m going to pay more for something that should have been fixed in the first place. If that is the case, then Adobe, you lost a Premiere user permanently.
Your troubles with CS5 will never be fixed. Once a new version is released, the old one is abondoned. This is SOP (standard operating procedure) for Adobe. They have been doing it this way for decades. Only egregious bugs are fixed, all others ignored. Bugs may or may not be fixed with a point release, but for sure CS5 has seen it’s last patch.
CS4 continued to get stability updates well past the release of CS5. Although new features (like the native-P2 update for CS3, that was a biggie) probably won’t be included in free updates for CS5 any longer.
But entirely new features, over a year after you buy a product, should not be an expectation, it should be a welcome surprise, right?
The CS3 P2 update was huge and that was what made me a fulltime Adobe user. Nothing in this update making me want to buy it. It does seem more stable and responsive than CS5 but I don’t feel I should pay for it.
The AE 5.5 update is well worth the money though to the same can’t be said for Premiere 5.5. At least the cool new AME is included with the new version of AE. Hope premiere 5 with play good with AE 5.5 Audition and AME 5.5.
On June 27, 2011, we released the Premiere Pro CS5 (5.0.4) update, so you are incorrect about the older versions being abandoned.
Matt,
Add Edit is a term that is familiar to editors coming from other NLEs. Both Avid and FCP use this terminology. Overlay is another example of this. Editors coming from another NLE will be looking for the term Overwrite, not Overlay. Standardizing nomenclature so that other editors can understand how to use Premiere Pro, in my opinion, is a benefit. My feeling is that you will probably get used to it before long.
Will this update correct the catastrophic crashes that occur on all standard configurations of the Mac Pro when resizing a live video window?
This upgrade is of little use to me especially as Encore has not been upgraded. Encore has several serious bugs which need fixing so I look in hope that Adobe might fix them in CS5.
The “Film Dissolve Effect” link does not go to the correct URL.
[reply from TMGK: Thanks, Jim. I just fixed it.]
Having purchased the CS5 Master Suite only three months ago, I am amazed that we are now expected to purchase a new version-5.5, instead of receiving updates.
The new merge feature alone is so important, but I have found it hard to believe that combining an altered track (e.g. remapped audio channels) with native video could not be saved as a subclip in version 5.1.
So now Adobe deletes my previous comment… too bad, I wonder how long this one is going to last… Doesn’t matter, you just lost a customer. Premiere crashes a lot anyway, no wonder more and more people keep going to final cut. There is a reason pro studios always have final cut as the main app and premiere as an after thought.
[reply from TMGK:
No one deleted your comment. You left your comment on a different post.
]
I have not received ANY notification from ADOBE that there has been an updated release to Premiere Pro. Why so secretive?
Premiere Pro CS5 has a serious bug, when encoding a timeline with many .jpgs it crashes every time. All 8 GB of memory are used at 97 to 100 percent, then it goes down. Anybody know if CS5.5 has solved this defect?
[reply from TMGK:
You can download the trial version and see for yourself: http://adobe.ly/hcOibb
]
Todd:
“Sequence From Clip” = GENIUS!
On behalf of Results Video, Inc–an Adobe-based post house for over 15 years–compliments to you and the entire Adobe team for continuing to improve and integrate Premiere with professional capability and workflow.
Keep it up Adobe guys, thanx for good work
I’d like to give a further point of view to Matt Headley:
I believe that all NLEs should be conformed to just one, unique language, as well as keyboard shortcuts layouts. Think this: you’re happy to go with your PP but maybe, one day, someone might ask you to edit something on his workstation with a different program. That way you should be able to start working in few minutes with no pain at all. Im my case, I’ve been editing with Quantel, Avid, and FCP for a long time but lately, due to my AVCHD camera I decided to switch to PP. Well, thanks to the FCP keyboard shortcuts preset I didn’t even realize that I am working on a different software.
To those wining about no proxies whether offline modes… you can step down displayed resolution up to 1/16, depending of the codecs, I’ve been doing loads of offline/online stuff in the past and believe that won’t feel the lack if PP let me work smoothly as it does. Furthermore, if you bought Production Premium 5.5 you have After Effects bundled with dynamic link, could be a workaround to generate those proxies of which you feel so much the need.
So far, what matters to me, is the fact that I found PP5.5 really reliable, steady and strong. No one crash in two weeks editing a 20 mins fast paced video in avchd format. I’m personally amazed. And, btw, it handles rendered media cache files marvelously. I love it. A way better than FCP.
Thumbs up Adobe, you’re doing a grew great job.
The Question I have is…Can PPCs5 read XML from
“Media Express”? I’m getting very Sick of FCP X.
If Adobe can do this, then bye bye FCP!