On Thu, 28 Jan 1999 01:56:26 -0500, Brandon wrote:

>I'm sure this thread circulated months ago for you guys but I ussually
>hang out at the computer animation groups. Anyway, I was just wondering
>what some of the major differences were between Premiere 4.2 and 5.x.
>Is it "worth it". Thanks

Mebbe.......;-)
I'm in the process of switching from P-4.2 to P-5.1
(DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE VERSION 5! [the 5.1 upgrade
is free, and essential...])
There are some interface differences to get used
to, and some functional differences to get used to...
The track layout is more logical, but it spreads
the audio and video tracks ever further apart when
more simultaneous AV tracks are added.
The audio features alone (for users of 12-bit/32kHz
sound, well-handled in P-5.1) are worth the price
of admission. I'm still trying to judge clipping level
visually as easily as I could in P-4.2, but the new
"normalize" feature partially solves this problem...
The preview window can be obnoxious, since I've
found no way to have it on top when scrubbing or
previewing - but the useless-for-me left-side
preview window can be eliminated and the frame
narrowed to help with screen real-estate
management... (I use a 720x480 preview size, so
the double window is rather territory-hungry, even
with two 17" monitors! ;-)
Scrubbing-with-effects/transitions/filters showing
now requires holding down the "Alt" key.
Tools don't go away after one use, so I still chop
up lotsa clips with the razor tool while trying to
select a clip after a cut, requiring time/effort to
undo the damage...
Some menues require an extra level to enter (pretty
silly), and other operations seem to take extra
mouse clicks to accomplish compared with P-4.2.
Rendering is slower than with P-4.2, but a recent
CPU upgrade to 450mHz with an overclocked cheap
Celeron 300A solved that problem (and got me the
useable 720x480 preview window [for NTSC mini-DV]
and real-time TV-out time-line playback of
transitions/etc. for checking short segments [I
never have been able to get successful long-term
time-line playback of edited-but-not-rendered-
and-saved-to-an-AVI-file footage]).
"Three-point editing" is not my thing, but P-5.1
has that ability.
There is not much difference in the filters,
transitions, etc. supplied, or in their use.
(I leave Ulead Media Studio on my computer, since
it offers some additional variations on standard
transitions plus some that aren't offered in
Premiere.)
Overall, for me, some operations are clunkier in
5.1, I don't like the interface aesthetics as much
as 4.2, the sound-handling in 5.1 is far better,
and, I'm switching to 5.1 (which so far has been
very stable on my PC).
Now, if Adobe had offered a "P-4.8", with
everything as it was in P-4.2, but with the
sound features of P-5.1 added...;-)
Good luck deciding!