Is Premiere Elements for me?

Question

Well, not really for me, but for a friend whom I may be prepared to help. This friend, in his early 70s, will be working very much at an amateur level. I've seen some of his work (quite amateurish), and I may be prepared to help improve them because the stories are interesting. I've spent 20 minutes looking at the overview of Elements, but have come away feeling it's not for him. I'm hoping I'm wrong.

He's been using a thing called iskysoft (?) and it's a bit flakey in his estimation. It's probably just him, though.

I'll help him if Elements has certain similarities to Premiere Pro (which I'm quite experienced with), and if all those automated aspects of Elements can be avoided. So these are my questions, with regard to how similar is Elements to the Pro.

Q1: Does elements offer several timelines for both video and audio?

Q2: Can a user manually import files into a holding area?

Q3: Can transitions be manually applied to video and audio files?

Q4: Are imported files stored with the project, or are they referenced?

Q5: Can projects be exported into a variety of formats at user-selectable bit rates: quicktime, mp4?

If Elements can be used as a cut-down version of Pro, I'll help him. If most things are almost fully automated, and that automation can't be avoided – I won't be helping.

Any suggestions most appreciated.

Bill Sprague · Accepted Answer

Q1: Up to 99 tracks of video and audio.Q2: The user imports files in to a media "bin" that can be separated into named groups. From there the media files are selected and brought to the timeline.Q3: Yes, there are a lot of transitions for both audio and video. They range from simple to complex.Q4: Files brought in are referenced. There are "archive" choices that will put the project and all the source file copies where you choose. Q5: Yes, there are both simple and more complex optional choices to control formats and bit rates.Premiere Elements does not have some of the Pro tools.1. Multi camera support. It can be done on timelines, but is clunky.2. Auto syncing of audio that is recorded separately from the camera. It can be done manually.3. Stabilization is there but not to Warp standards.4. You don't work in sequences. It is sort of like one big sequence.The current version does not burn Blu-Ray discs but will do DVDs.Please consider installing the free trial before you spend your friend's money. That's the best way to see if your friend's computer is up to the task. There are excellent introductory tutorials available on YouTube or from within the program itself. I can give you links to some Vimeo videos I've done entirely within Premiere Elements if that helps.Good luck!Bill

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