Software Review: Adobe Premiere Elements 9

Adobe Premiere Elements 9 is the latest release of the consumer-based video editing program from Adobe. It is a scaled down version of their professional level package Premiere Pro and provides a lot of power for the consumer without all of the learning curve of its professional cousin. It can also be purchased as a bundle with Adobe Photoshop Elements for a significant savings.

Like Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements is a lot easier to work with and a lot more manageable than Premier Pro and while it has fewer features than pro, the features it does have are more geared toward and will be better served the general consumer and even the low end prosumer as well. To find out what you need to run Adobe Photoshop Elements 9, just check out their requirements page.

So what is new with this version of Adobe Premiere Elements?

• Flip camera import makes it easy to bring in video from almost any source. Adobe Premiere Elements 9 now supports Flip and other popular HD camcorders, DSLRs and other digital still cameras, webcams, and mobile phones. You can easily transfer both video clips and stills into the Elements Organizer.

• Cartoon effects are easily applied and instantly give your videos the appearance of an animated film. Have fun experimenting with each of the different cartoon filters to get just the right look to match your movie.

• Fix audio problems much more easily that you don’t have to worry about the quality of your audio when capturing your video memories. Reduce background noise and fix problems with audio volume and clarity easily, so your movie has high-quality sound from start to finish.

• Web sharing now lets you create your movie once and quickly share it in many ways, including on disc or your TV, or via a convenient DVD-viewing experience on the web. Also share on mobile devices, Facebook, YouTube, and more. You can take it to small screens, like your smart phone or MP3 player, to your home theater on DVD or Blu-ray disc.

• Facebook sharing will let you conveniently share videos and photos on Facebook directly from the Organizer, which automatically optimizes your media so it looks its best.

• InstantMovie makes it easier to create more professional movies. InstantMovie uses creative techniques from Hollywood directors to automatically edit your best clips together with coordinated music, titles, effects, and transitions from your choice of movie themes.

• More optimized HD editing with fluid responsiveness and high performance. You can experience fluid responsiveness and high performance when editing video, including from AVCHD or other high-definition camcorders. Adobe Premiere Elements uses technology from Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 software to help ensure optimized HD editing.

While Adobe Premiere Elements 9 is not a tremendous upgrade for Windows users, it does finally bring the product to the Mac platform which is a huge plus. The features that I like are the ability to make Web DVDs which is really cool. These are high-quality online movies that have DVD styled menus. The navigational features are nice and unlike on a standard DVD, you can make these into truly high quality HD.

I also like the six audio fixes (you do have to play with them a bit to get them to the best sound), the more optimized HD editing, and the Facebook sharing as well. Certainly, for Mac users wanting to get in on Adobe Premiere Elements or those who are just getting started, this is a no brainer. For Windows users, all-in-all if you find the new features useful then it makes it a tempting upgrade and one I can recommend.