Learning Adobe Premier Pro CC
I would like to share with you my problems trying to learn Adobe Premier Pro CC. This software has a lot of features and a lot of apparent hidden tools. In other words, it is a rather difficult software to fly. I had just video taped a wedding and due to the complexity of the production assets, I could no longer use iMovie. I had the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of software loaded on my laptop and just knew that Premier was going to work. Problem for me is that I had to learn the program fast. Let me jump to the solution so you do not have to wade through this ratter long explanation. Just go to https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/tutorials.html
If you are interested in reading my rather long quest for knowledge as to how to edit with Adobe Premier Pro CC, read on.
BOOKS
My son told me not to buy any books and just use the Internet to learn Premier. I love books and can easily say that I am older than you. My daughter would call me retro.
I wasted a day trying to buy a book at a local book store. I even went to Fry’s because they no longer allowed you to call in and take to a person to check availability and price. Their book section had practically vanished. I predict that store will also vanish.
I spent hours trying to figure out what was the best book to buy on the Internet. I had Premier Pro CC version 2015. I did not want a book that was too old. I was really intrigued with Premiere Pro CC: Visual QuickStart Guide by Jan Ozer. It showed being published Jun 27, 2013, seemingly a bit out of date. I just love that format of book, quick outline and visual.
I settled upon Adobe Premiere Pro CC Classroom in a Book 2015 release. It seemed the best deal was to buy this book at Adobe Press. Problem was that the release date for the book was the same day I was ordering it, September 16, 2015. It would take a week to get the book. I spotted a nifty deal where I could also buy the eBook too for a discounted price. I got a hefty discount because the books had just been released or were about to be released. Here is where my assumption that the eBook would arrive earlier was wrong.
Order Details
This order contains:
1 . Adobe Premiere Pro CC Classroom in a Book 2015 release , 9780134309989 , Quantity: 1
2 . Adobe Premiere Pro CC Classroom in a Book 2015 release , 9780134310176 , Quantity: 1
3 . Total Discount , ($49.19)
Grand Total $63.93
The paper book was shipped the very next day, September 17, 2015. By the way, the publisher customer service did not know the book was ready to ship. I kept going to the publishers web site to download my e-book but nothing. I could not figure out what was wrong.
I sent customer service an e-mail asking why I could not download the eBook.
I get this response:
“Thank you for placing your order with Adobe Press. We regret to inform you
that the following item(s) from your order #WEB325633094370
placed on 9/16/2015 5:32:05 PM EDT have been cancelled:
Adobe Premiere Pro CC Classroom in a Book 2015 release, 9780134310176, Quantity: 1
We apologize that we were unable to fulfill your order within the time frame we originally indicated.
Your credit card has not been charged.
We encourage you to visit our website for further updates regarding the availability of this product.”
I looked at my bank account and indeed they lowered the charges to:
09/19/2015 AWL*Pearson Education ADOBE.PRESS NJ ONE L (-$45.35)
They did gave me a discount probably because I participated in an online survey.
But, I find this cancellation rather odd. The publisher canceled part of my order. I thought that should be my prerogative. If an item can never be shipped then the publisher should cancel. If the order is delayed, it would be nice to ask me, the customer, if I still want delivery.
The evening of September 22, 2015, just for kicks, I check Adobe Press web site and they announce that the book is ready the very next day, the very same day the print edition is due to arrive at my home.
“Adobe Premiere Pro CC Classroom in a Book (2015 release), Web Edition
By Maxim Jago
Published Sep 23, 2015 by Adobe Press”
Pricing as of September 22, 2015: available as a
Book $47.99
eBook $38.39
Web Edition $47.99
My point in all this is that you might think the electronic version might arrive before the print. Don’t assume that if the publication is hot off the press or hot off the hard drive. I actually finished the wedding portion of the movie project and have not yet received the book.
ON LINE TUTORIALS
YouTube
In desperation, I tried YouTube videos but they were all over the map for providing results. Some were good but the curriculum, the step by step learning process that a classroom teacher should put together for the class was obviously missing. I found I was bouncing around from one video that seemed to build to another video that failed.
lynda.com
I have access to lynda.com video tutorials and tried their Adobe Premier Pro lessons. It sort of failed for me. The first lessons were an over view. I want to jump in and start the process and not be shown a bunch of video overviews. I wanted to know right away how to start. Once I got into the meat, about lesson four, I began to become confused with all the prior lesson files and the new files the person was talking about. I finally took notes as to the keyboard shortcuts that one needs to use and made notes. This really helped. The J, K, L, I and O keys are extremely important. It took me a whole day to discover that on a Mac CMD and the left or right arrow will move your clip one frame. I needed to line up an unlocked separate audio track to video with audio and the CMD and arrow keys allowed me to gain perfect synchronization. If I had had a book, learning this would have not taken as much time.
The beginning of the main lynda.com lessons seemed to be clouded, not clear as to the beginning step by step process. I got the impression that steps explained in the introduction, I should integrate into the whole. Show me how to create a project and import my media from the beginning. Instead I was jumping around. I thus felt I was watching video’s that were less clear to me. I did pick up vital bread crumb information which did helped me.
adobe.com tutorials
The best solution for me was actually free. The embarrassing part is that it was right in front of me. Adobe offers terrific tutorials, better than lynda.com, in my opinion. This was my primary learning method. I guess my son was correct; don’t buy a book; use the Internet.
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/tutorials.html
Good luck to you. Adobe Premier Pro CC is a professional product and being so it may be a challenge to learn. Do not give up. I found that this program has a solution for every problem you will face. Finding that solution can be a challenge.