8 Replies Latest reply: Nov 18, 2011 7:48 AM by doane2u RSS

    Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?

    doane2u Community Member

      I just bought PE10 and am thinking about buying an instruction book and I would like to get one that covers the broadest areas of the program and hopefully goes beyond the scripted settings to reveal ways of doing custom effects, etc. while instructing in the most clear and effective way. I own CS5 and I am experienced in Photoshop, but have not used movie editing programs very much. I was impressed with two books on the market and both are about the same price: The Adobe PE10 Classroom in a Book for about $35 on Amazon and the similar Muvipix.com Guide to PE10 (color version) for slightly more at $40  Unfortunately, our local Borders Bookstore went under so I have no way of checking these two out to see which one covers the most in the most effective manner, so I hope there is some help here on the forum with so many here who are much more familiar with the program and probably have familiarity with both books, (maybe from PE9, which probably isn't too much different). I'm sure they are both excellent books, but would like to hear some feedback on what might be the advantages of one over the over, etc. It appears that the Muvipix book doesn't include a companion disk of files, but maybe that isn't a problem?

       

      Thanks everyone, and I look forward to your feedback.

        • 1. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
          nealeh Community Member

          This should help: New to Premiere Elements? Some Resources.

           

          In addition  there are two other books "Creating Hollywood Style Movies" (Paul Ekert and Carl Plumer) and "Cool Tricks & Hot Tips for Adobe Premiere Elements" (Steve Grisetti).

           

          I have both the books referred to in the resources link  and the "Hollywood Style Movies" book. I don't have the "Cool Tricks" book.

           

          Both the general books are good - if you have the money get both. If you can only get one get Steve Grisettis. The Classroom in a Book is perfect for those completely new to PRE or video editing as it essentially IS a classroom in a book. You get the files and build a project using different features in each chapter.

           

          For those more comfortable with the basics then Steve's goes further into the software and is far more useful as a reference book. Also, being independent, it covers flaws and workarounds you won't see in Adobes books. Get the colour version.

           

          I like "Creating Hollywood Style Movies" as it really does show how to build sophisticated looks and effects in PRE (based around PRE7). I cannot compare with Steves but, as he was technical editor for "Creating Hollywood Style Movies" and his book is more recent, it is likely the better buy.

           

          Hope this all helps.

           

          Cheers,
          --
          Neale
          Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

          • 2. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
            Steve Grisetti CommunityMVP

            Premiere Elements is technically not a broadcast program. It's a consumer video editing program -- although it can produce near-broadcast quality HDV and hi-def video.

             

            As Neale says, there aren't a lot of books out there specifically for Premiere Elements 10. However, I've written a couple, based on my 8 years hosting this forum and working with Premiere Elements support site Muvipix.com.

             

            Here's the basic book, which takes you step by step through virtually every tool in the program.

            http://Muvipix.com/pe10.php

             

            And here's one I did a year or so that focuses on creating special effects.

            http://Muvipix.com/CoolTricks

            • 3. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
              doane2u Community Member

              Hi Neal, and thanks for responding. Your link to the "New to Premiere Elements? Some Resources"  doesn't seem to be working, can you post it again? Your comments about Steve's book sound like that is probably the one I would like better.

               

              Steve: Thanks for your input, if you were comparing your PE10 basic book with the PE10 new Adobe Classroom book what would you say that your book has to offer that the Adobe book doesn't and how would you say it differs and in what way?  Thanks,

               

              There must be more opinions out there.. anyone?

              • 4. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
                nealeh Community Member

                doane2u wrote:

                 

                Hi Neal, and thanks for responding. Your link to the "New to Premiere Elements? Some Resources"  doesn't seem to be working, can you post it again?

                 

                Sorry, that's not the first of my failed links! It's weird - something in the new forum software seems to be trashing 'drag and drop' of discussion titles. The following should work: New to Premiere Elements? Some Resources.

                 

                Cheers,
                --
                Neale
                Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

                • 5. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
                  Steve Grisetti CommunityMVP

                  Classroom in a Book is a crash course in the program. It demonstrates it main tools by showing you how to do a dozen or so basic things with the program.

                   

                  My book is a reference book with step by step instructions for using virtually every tool in the program as well as offering tips and hints on how to make the program work at optimum efficiency.

                  • 6. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
                    Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                    Neale,

                     

                    As before, this one definitely works on Chrome on XP-Pro SP3.

                     

                    Hunt

                    • 7. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
                      doane2u Community Member

                      OK, Thanks Steve, that sounds like it is what I want!  I'll take a look at your muvipix site too, looks like there is a lot there and I wasn't aware of the seperate forum there.

                      • 8. Re: Premiere Elements 10 - Best Companion Instruction Book?
                        doane2u Community Member

                        Thanks, Bill, very helpful posts