concerns about doing a feature doc in Premiere

[Loch Phillipps]

There are some things I really don't like about the way Premiere handles media management that I have expressed before which make me wary of trusting it for a feature documentary where there will be lots of footage and likely multiple editors. Would love anyone's feedback on this, whether Premiere can be trusted or not. We would also appreciate any suggestions on how to set a project up and organize it for the long haul.

Here are my main concerns:

1. When an editor brings in a sequence from another editor, Premiere creates a whole pile of new pointer files, even if these already exist in the project. I worry that this will get very messy with sequences being passed back and forth.

2. When media files get disconnected, an editor typically has to locate and reconnect them manually, a time consuming process. Premiere's "search" function seems not to function well.

3. When you match frame a clip in a sequence, Premiere does not take you back to the original clip, but rather the prior sequence where the clip was used. The further removed you get from the original source, the less likely you are to be able to find it via match framing.

In some of the shorter projects I've worked on in Premiere, I've had difficulties at times with media getting disconnected and in sharing edits back and forth. It seems that if you aren't extremely careful managing media, Premiere isn't going to help you the way that Avid (the leader here) would. I'd prefer to use Premiere for a whole host of reasons, but media management becomes a much bigger concern when there is a lot of it.

I've also had situations where Premiere projects, particularly after they've left alone for a time, become corrupted.

I had hoped Adobe's "Team" software would address some of these problems but it seems that it isn't going in that direction. I think Adobe has a great opportunity to establish itself as the industry standard, but I don't think they'll get there without improving the less flashy area of media management. Or am I overreacting and are there a lot of editors out there who have full confidence in Premiere for unwieldy projects?

Thanks,

Loch

[R Neil Haugen]

Dave Helmly and Kevin-Monahan​ are the two people at Adobe I'd suggest you should make contact with. Dave works with "long form" Hollywood type projects as his main focus, and Kevin is both the Product Support Manager and an excellent editor in FCP & PrPro (besides being a decent colorist) in his own right, as a former editor & teacher of FCP to his peers.

Kevin has written a couple detailed and excellent articles on using PrPro within large-group long-format projects.

Neil

[Loch Phillipps]

Thanks! I'm not sure how to email Dave, but messaged Kevin. I'm not an expert on these sites, but will try to find the articles he's written that you mention.

[R Neil Haugen]

Kevin can both help, and can connect you. I was a Teaching Assistant at the last MAX for Dave & Karl Soule, both ​very​ knowledgeable and helpful on this sort of thing. Impressed with both of them. Had some good long discussions over editing, the workflow of editing & video projects, the kind of projects he assists with, and general knowledge of the craft. He's worked with several of the major studios as they've worked their projects via PrPro.

And Kevin ... just seems to know this stuff ... cold. And can tell you the differences between this and Avid & FCP ... and all the other things out there.

Neil

[Jim_Simon]

For any kind of collaboration, you should be using either Team Projects or Adobe Anywhere.  I believe those services will ameliorate these concerns.

[Loch Phillipps]

Thanks Jim, I have to look into that more. Do you have any specifics? Will using Team Projects stop Premiere from creating all the extra pointer files when we pass edits back and forth? My understanding of it thus far is that it's more about integrating Premiere with AE and Audition. I would love it to be more than that!

[Jim_Simon]

I've never had to collaborate, so...you'll need to do that research yourself.

Sorry.

[R Neil Haugen]

Kevin would have that info. Those two things Jim listed were designed to make a team/large group effort. There can be twenty people trying to access a project or more at a time in a big-budget flick, or major doc or that sort of effort.

Neil

[R Neil Haugen]

There's another LONG thread that has some info in the last post that would be of info, he's a number of links in this post ...

Neil

Re: Any way to prevent dupes in Premiere Project file?