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Firstly, After Effects, Lightroom Classic, and Media Encoder are some of the best software I've used and are some of my favorites. However, a small problem makes me question daily if it's a good idea to continue using these programs. I feel the hype around AI is so inflated that Adobe seems blinded by investor money. Instead of adding practical features useful to us creators, Adobe is busy catering to investors with features like Generative AI, which makes no sense to me as a videographer.
YES, artificial intelligence is the future of video or photo editing. But please remember that it’s currently limited. It isn’t of high enough quality to be used at 100%. Artificial intelligence can be beneficial in video editing, and yes, it represents the future. However, please don’t forget about features that expedite and provide flexibility to the editing process, rather than adding so-called “creative” features of generative content. I produce my own content. I don’t need someone or something else to generate it for me. Allow me to work faster with my content, and I’ll produce better results than any AI.
Every day, I contemplate switching to DaVinci Resolve, and it bothers me because I don’t want to make that shift. I'm familiar with Premiere Pro and I don’t want to relearn another program, like I did when I transitioned to Premiere Pro initially. But the lack of useful updates in the 2024 version (except New Text-Based Editing feature) pushes me towards that decision. I received no meaningful new features in Premiere Pro, except for things like Firefly and Generative AI, which are useless to me. I need stability. I'll attach a video showing that 5 minutes post-update, I couldn’t open Premiere Pro and faced numerous issues with After Effects.
Another point, Premiere Pro could be way better if not for the seemingly clueless developers. A simple example: color grading.
Why isn’t there proper masking and tracking for color grading in Premiere Pro? Why can’t I use masks that track seamlessly? Sure, I can do this in After Effects, but it isn’t the software I want for final edits.
Why do simple mobile apps perform tasks faster and more efficiently? Why can’t a program that utilizes the same ARM architecture on my Apple Mac Studio M2 Ultra do what my 5 year old iPhone 11 can?
In conclusion, Adobe needs a wake-up call. These are just a few immediate issues that came to mind, but if Adobe continues prioritizing investors over real content creators, who are increasingly switching to DaVinci Resolve, they'll either adapt or become obsolete like Sony Vegas Pro.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I do always say that everyone's mileage always varies. I never expect another user to see things as I do. I expect every user will see things differently from any other user.
Plus, I do appreciate that we are all different, and want as many viewpoints expressed here and elsewhere. Please do not see my comments as trying to control or criticize yours, simply to share my perspective. I do understand your feelings, and you did a good job expressing them. Please keep doing so!
So ... given that approach ...
I work for/with/teach pro colorists, mostly based in Resolve. So I work in Resolve (especially color, go figure!) a lot. And am on the LGG colorist's forum and the BM forum daily. I'm very familiar with "both sides" here.
Since BlackMagic clearly went after imitating PrPr/Ae/Au with Resolve 17, continuing in R18, they've had growing problems with stability and complaints exactly like yours. I think those are probably due to mimicing the Adobe attempt to have one app be all things for all platforms, media, workflows. Random crashes, "updates" tanking projects, all of that now exist in the BM world also.
So I suggest moving to Resolve may or may not be an improvement. For some it is, for some it isn't. The general editing tools in Resolve 18 are still in many areas significantly below those of Premiere. And motion graphics in Resolve is also oft a challenge ... as Fusion can be as complicated as Ae, and the color/dynamic range issues inside the app between Fusion and Color are a continuing problem for many.
Resolve's color correction is of course vastly superior. Relatively, Lumetri allows for very few truly targeted corrections unless you know enough, and have the right hardware, to make it work. And especially, to do so quickly. I can ... but am always pestering the Premiere staff for vastly more targeted and user-alterable controls.
At least, "we" finally have what I've argued for since what, 2019 or so? Whenever Premiere first added some limited HDR capabilities ... anyway, that's the unified color management panel. Which is now in the Lumetri panel's new Settings tab.
That alone is a HUGE upgrade to the capabilities of the app and the user's ability to control ... and to check! ... what's going on. Perfect? No. Vastly better, quicker, better organized, more capable? Oh, Hades yes.
And the pros I hear and work with are mostly pretty jazzed about several recent changes to Premiere, the lead clearly being the "text based editing" process. Which is certainly not perfected yet, but as is, is vastly better than anwhere else. I've found "TBE" to be of great use as so much of what I do is talking heads, often multicam, short promos, and tutorials.
The folks I know doing doc work are nearly ecstatic ... most of the time ... over TBE.
And a number of the pros I work with and communicate with were at MAX this week, and were also very impressed by the classes they went through on how to use the entire machine learning "AI" stuff to both speed up their workflows and to do things they couldn't easily do otherwise.
I'm still a novice at some of those things, but ... when the guys and gals I know were that impressed, well ... it seems I've more to learn, doesn't it?
And that's one thing that is always there ... this is a rapidly changing "industry". Dizzying, at times. Each of us tends to have our heads down and focused on our own patterns. And then, you get around someone who's doing stuff you didn't even know possible, and go ... woa ... um ... what the ... ?
And that's when you realize you need to spend some time learning again. I, for my sins, get to do this across Premiere, AfterEffects, Audition, and Resolve. And need to be aware of processes and changes in Baselight and Avid, though I don't use either.
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I agree @R Neil Haugen... I've been using Premiere Pro since version 1.5 (PC)