Kicking the Tires on the Adobe Premiere Pro CC 8.1 Update

PVC By Scott Simmons

It's more than kicking the tires really since I've cut two jobs in it already

It was announced at IBC and shipped at Adobe MAX (I wonder if this will become the norm?) and it?s another big update to Adobe Premiere Pro. We dissected the features when this update was announced but now that we?ve had the chance to work with it we can dig in a bit deeper. I?d have posted this sooner but I?ve been editing!

The first thing you?ll notice is the interface. It?s darker and the preference won?t lighten the interface to the near white that it was before. Gone are the yellow high-lights and outlines of windows and that is replaced with a brand-new blue. I like the blue over the yellow of before as I think it?s easier on the eyes when staring at it for hours on end. And I have started at it for hours on end.

More than that I?m a fan of interface refreshes in general as I think it keeps them more engaging as long as it don?t break things. The buttons and other interface elements now just look cleaner. If you remember the cluttered Adobe Premiere Pro of old this current interface is something you probably thought you?d never see. It?s welcome. Though not everyone is happy with the blue.

The biggest interface change that tripped me up was the removal of the little fly out menus from the upper right corner of all the windows. That would often include the Undock and Close Panel as well as some specific window functionality. Many of those options have been moved into a pulldown menu that?s to the right of each tab. Other less interface related options have been moved to the Settings wrench menu. I think this is a good thing as there?s less clutter and menus all around but it definitely takes getting used to since we?ve lived with those upper right-hand corner menu options for so long. read more...