Review: Total Training for Adobe Premiere Pro
Feb. 09, 2004 - I’ve been reviewing Total Training series for quite a while now, and after viewing hundreds of hours of their work, one would expect that the videos would become rather stale. That is not the case in one of their latest offerings covering Adobe Premiere Pro.
If you have been to one of Adobe’s convention booths in the last year, you have probably seen series host Jacob Rosenberg doing demos of how he works best in Premiere. In this series, he brings a lot of his independent filmmaking enthusiasm to this training. It is obvious he has a mastery of the subject matter as he quickly navigates through the interface quickly explaining everything he is doing. I really like this quick paced way of showing everything for two reasons – the first is that this series is on DVD, and any user can pause, resume, or find information they have missed. Second, it keeps the viewer from falling asleep while viewing, and third, his speed means more information can be covered in the limited time period (length of a disc).
[an error occurred while processing this directive]A current trend I have noticed with many of the Total Training series is that they are trying to limit the number of disc or length of time required to learn a project. Total Training for Adobe Premiere Pro is a three set, six DVD collection covering everything a user will encounter while working with the application. This is favorable because it keeps costs down and interest level high. Total Training has expanded this with their Essentials series, which I’ll examine in the near future.
Set 1 covers the fundamentals of Adobe Premiere Pro including the grand tour of the interface, and the Ins and Outs of working with DV. For those of you with previous Premiere experience, you may be tempted to skip over this set. However, because of the many changes that have occurred from version 6.5 to the Pro (and windows only) version, this may be something you need to quickly run through to get a feel for the new and exciting features within.
In addition to the grand tour, this set also works you through basic editing, simple transition effects, and includes all of the project and sample files you will be using through the entire training series.
Set 2 gets into some of the more advanced features of Adobe Premiere Pro including working with stills, titles, and more effects. I felt in these set that a great deal of time was being spent with stills, but upon reflection I figured there are a huge number of users out there who are using still images a montages for their work. While disc two covers working with stills and creating montages almost exclusively, disc one also touches on setting up templates and titles (including credit rolls) which are essential to having a quality video project.
Where this series really shines is in Set 3. In this set you actually work through real world projects to see exactly how you put everything together from start to finish. I was really impressed here. This is how more training series should work. Instead of just showing examples of how you might use a certain feature, having a real world project helps the user really understand the workflow the application demands. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced Adobe Premiere Pro user, you will definitely enjoy this set.
Overall, I was impressed with this Total Training series. From a dynamic instructor/trainer, to interesting and real world projects for you to work with, Total Training for Adobe Premiere Pro is a winner. Total Training has mastered the video training genre and their work really shows. I give this series a Strong Buy Recommendation.
For more information, including a complete breakdown of the topics covered on each disc, visit Total Training at www.totaltraining.com
When not working deep in the labs of the DMN Central Division testing the latest and greatest software/hardware products Stephen Schleicher can be found at the local university teaching a few courses on video and web production. He can be reached at schleicher@mindspring.com. You can also visit him on the web at www.mindspring.com/~schleicher
Source: Digital Media Online, Inc.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
