This is the application that started the desktop revolution back in the early 90’s when computer video meant only QuickTime (to many it still does), and QuickTime maxed out at about 160×120 pixels. Video professionals (working on traditional systems or perhaps the Video Toaster) watched from afar and laughed. As the years clicked by and the QuickTime files got larger, they laughed less. You know the rest.

But as desktop video began to be taken seriously and revolutionary systems like the Radius’ VideoVision made it possible to capture and output NTSC quality video, Premiere was starting to have a hard time keeping up. There were constant problems with audio/video slippage on longer clips, and other sorts of issues. Each new release of the software was touted as having fixed the problems, only to hear users complain of having been lied to once again.

Apple’s Final Cut Pro eventually stepped in and actually worked. Premiere faded away and was removed from the Mac platform for a number of years. Premiere has had a resurrection as “Premiere PRO”, a wholly new program Adobe is quick to tell you has nothing in common with the older versions. And as of CS3 it is also now back on the Mac platform.

One thing that has certainly changed is its need for power. While the older incarnations of the software could run on almost anything, some of use could not even try out Premiere Pro (PP) until we upgraded our systems this year to more powerful boxes (see http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/systemreqs/ for full specifications). This is the heftiest hardware requirements of any program in CS3 and undoubtedly a way for Adobe to ensure they do not get scoffed at again.

Having been away from Premiere since the olden days, a few of our contributors where shocked how similar it now looked to Final Cut Pro. This makes sense as FCP is the king and if memory serves, there were times in its life cycle that old-Premiere had looked something like Avid products when they were the hot ticket.

The real question of course is how it competes in production with FCP on the Mac, and options like Sony’s Vegas on the PC. This is a hard question to answer, especially so soon after shipping. And of course keep in mind that while FCP and Vegas are at versions 6 and 7 respectively, PP is only at version 3. It is also important to note that PP is available as a standalone product (with Encore) or as part of the CS3 suite. FCP which would likely win a mano-a-mano showdown, is only sold by Apple as part of the Final Cut Studio 2 suite, forcing you to compare by suite. Vegas is also bundled with its DVD package (DVD Architect), and it comes in at over $200 less that PP.

Right off the bat we can say that FCP is a more production tested program, winning points valuable points in our book. FCP also comes with Apple’s new interim ProRes 422 CODEC, used as the interchange compressor that shuttles content from program to program without loss of quality. Interim CODECS are all the rage right now and often cost a few hundred dollars extra. Adobe offers no such equivalent for its suite so you must either buy one or use more pedestrian options (QT Animation CODEC, etc).

Another perk on the FCP side is the inclusion of many effects from Motion, and of the SmoothCam technology (from Shake) that steadies hand held content. This should be in every serious NLE but is missing from Premiere. Instead the Adobe user must go to After Effects for such corrections. This can be forgiven if we are talking suites because at least CS3 comes with the power of AE, which is not the case with FC Suite.

This leads us to Premiere’s new interoperability with AE. Project comps in AE need no longer be rendered prior to importing them into PP. The clip is added and can even preview in PP, and any changes made to the file back in AE are automatically updated in PP. Further, PP projects can be set to render in AE’s queue and run over overnight.

PP also has enhanced workflows with the rest of the CS3 tools, more enhanced Flash controls including the creation of time line markers that convert to cue point in Flash FLV files for use in multimedia development and Actionscripting. New workflows for exporting to Encore for quickly developing interactive standard and Blu-ray DVD content. Even cooler, it can create DVD style navigation within Flash for online deployment.

There are also a range of new abilities including the “time shifting” which lets you take a clip and slow it down, speed it up, etc. without having to shop it up into mini clips like before. This allows the very stylish and trendy work seen in commercials the last few years. Of course, you have seen this because it is a feature other programs have had a while.

We tested its HDV capturing abilities with a few cameras and all went without much of a hitch. The files came in and all worked as expected. At times it hiccuped but most of the time things ran about the speed that SD DV ran a couple of years back. As discussed in the AE section, PP also supports Adobe’s great new Clip Notes features.

Bottom Line: If you are on a Windows box then the comparison with Sony’s Vegas is your thing. Vegas is a very well regarded application that offers good speed and is a real favorite for those who do a lot of audio work along with their video. If you are a hard core video editor day in and out you should probably hold off a bit and stay on production-proven systems like Avid or FCP.

However if your needs lean towards both graphics and more multimedia production, then Premiere Pro as part of CS3 Production Premium should have plenty to make you happy. It appears to be a solid product that should do everything expected of it. Should it turn out to be the true workhorse it seems, it will make everyone very happy to have another viable option, one of the few that are cross-platform.