Removing and replacing background without the need for green screen

[romantic_Rocket0D4D]

Hello, I used to work with Fimora but got very desilusioned and am now looking for another video editor. In the past I worked with Premiere Elements but went to Filmora because all the rendering drove me crazy and indeed Filmora was much better at that. There is another feature they have that I would like my new video editor to have, which is the Smart Cutout. That bypasses the need for green screen. You just draw a line through the subject and then can use any background you like and no problem if you are wearing green clothes. As I have been away from Premiere Elements for a few years, I hope a lot has changed for the better! Thanks. 

[John T Smith]

I have never heard of a feature like that... download the trial (output has a watermark) and you have (I think) 7 days to test

http://www.adobe.com/products/elements-family.html

[romantic_Rocket0D4D]

Thanks for your reply, John. I have now downloaded the trial version but it seems a lot more limited than the older version I had? Is it only because it is a trial version or have they downgraded it a lot? Doesn't seem to have essential things like keyframes, zooming is awfully complex, and I fear that the endless rendering is starting again. What I liked from my old premiere elements was the amount of effects and transitions, which I later missed in Filmora, because to use most of them you have to pay extra. Filmora does had th smart cutout, which is not at all perfect, although they should only put it out there when it is fully developed. With Christmas I was wearing green embellishments but could use the chroma key function do to the Smart Cutout and you can even film outside and then delete the background, so, basically, when it is fully working, no need for green screen anymore. Speaking of which, I didn't see any option for chroma key on the trial version of Premiere Elements? I have the feeling that it has really been downgraded from what was before. Also I am used to working with several timelines stacked on the top of one another, which does not seem to be possible here and another thing is sincing my voice to the clips, that does not seem to exist either? 

[John T Smith]

You are trying to do things that I've never done, so I really can't help

I have v2021 and the only thing I really know is that the current v2024 has removed the ability to create a DVD as output... so it is entirely possible that other functions have also been removed

[romantic_Rocket0D4D]

Thanks for your reply anyway, John. I was baffled when I did a trail with the 2024, how rudimentar is seems to be, just one timeline.... I wish someone would bother to come up with software that is really great, does most things a normal person needs, if fully tested, includes everything without need for extra costs to get the basics and with great technical and customer service at a reasonable price. Maybe asking too much? 

[Steve Grisetti]

Sounds like you're describing Premiere Pro and After Effects.

[romantic_Rocket0D4D]

Hi Steve, I was talking about Fimora. Do you mean the Smart Cut Out? I have never tried either of those you mentioned. 

[romantic_Rocket0D4D]

I have now downloaded the trial version of Premiere Elements and it seems that in the past few years it was heavily toned down, maybe in order to force people to go for the Pro? I really love it, other than the time it took to do the constant renders and if it still was like it used to be (minus render), and maybe even more updated, I would go back in no time. Still have the older versions, but they are unusable even on Mac. Funny that Filmora, which is not such a big name as Adobe, and never rates very high hardly has any need for rendering other than when you export, and even then, if you forget, it is no problem! 

[John T Smith]

I don't work for Adobe, so this is only MY opinion

Premiere Elements is aimed at the hobbyist market, and is (relatively speaking) a very simple editor

Premiere Pro is aimed at professionals and advanced hobby editors, and has MANY more functions... with the drawback for the non-professional (ie-paid for working) being that it is only available via subscription

If you want more than PrEl will do, and you don't want to pay for a subscription, you'll have to find other software

[romantic_Rocket0D4D]

Many thanks, John! Actually I had made a mistake with Premiere Elements, I had it on Quick instead of Advanced. But anyway, when I looked around there were things I didn't like, like the fact that you don't have the footage you downloaded on the show on the top, next to the screen where you watch the video and also on the lower bit they how have a wide banner with a few options, which doesn't need to be there because if you work on a normal laptop then the timeline becomes too small. It doesn't make sense to me. I friend has just spoken to a friend of his who does professional videos and she uses Premiere Pro but it is far to expensive for someone like me. I would probably not use many of the functions, although I am also not the kind of amateur who goes for very simplistic videos. What I am going to do is to start a few trials, like I did with PE. I wish they would also show their interfaces on the websites, because to me that is very important. I don't want or need a huge learning curve. Many thanks for all your help........... still waiting for someone from DaVinci to answer my question as to why after trialing with the DaVinci interfact I can't now switch to Final Cut Pro, not even after uninstalling. All very time consuming, if you ask me. I wish there was less choice but better stuff and maybe not so awfully expensive.