On Tue, 19 Oct 1999 23:00:55 -0500, "Bryan England" wrote:

>Can anyone tell me if there is enough difference between Adobe premier 4.2
>and 5.1 to upgrade to 5.1?
>I realize that with any upgrade, you are getting a better package, but
>hopefully there is someone out there who has used both and can make an
>honest comparison if they felt the upgrade was just.

If my memory serves me well enough...:

- 4.2 is bug-free and completely stable, assuming
you save VERY often; 5.1 has many known bugs, but
it is also stable in a good set-up if you save the
project very often (every 1-4 or so changes - save
every change you don't want an "undo" for for safety).
I now know what to watch out for in 5.1, so the
irritating bugs are less a problem for me now...
Most common bugs:
- When a picture or sound "rubber band" has been
adjusted and the clip is then cut, the left side
level goes to "zero" even though the rubber band
does not show this (adjust the right end of the
rubber band a bit, then return it to where it
should be). Nice, though, is the showing
of the percent height of the rubber band when a
"shift key" overall level adjustment is made in
5.1.
- 5.1 tends to randomly "forget" preview files
(assigning a specific location for these [instead
of "same as project"] helps).
- Changes made to a clip result in previously
rendered previews being removed or corrupted
(I use previews as just that - and when I'm ready
to output the finished edit, I delete all the
files in the preview folder, put the work-area
bar over the area to be exported, and hit "enter"
to do a clean remake of all the preview files).
- Using the "double arrow" tool to move the
project on the timeline results in the preview
renderings being out of place (I delete all the
preview files before proceeding).
- Opening the timeline scale box sometimes results
in "8 minutes" being inadvertantly selected, which
is a real bother if sound tracks are open (using
the "Mac" method of sliding the mouse instead of
clicking to open the box solves this problem).
- There are a few other minor nit-picks with 5.1...
- 5.1 offers multiple levels of "undo".
- The preview window in 4.2 can predominate; in
5.1 it can't, meaning that you need either a tiny
window size, a giant monitor, or two monitors (the
last is tthe best solution, and it is not expensive
these days to add another video card and monitor
with Windows 98 - a 15" monitor set to 800x600
serves well for the preview window...).
- The dual preview window is enormous, and for me
a waste of space - I prefer to switch to a single
720x480 preview window (the edges can be reduced
to save space) and use timeline scrubbing to adjust
clip in/out points. Since I prefer to adjust clip
sound overlap/mixing on the timeline anyway (and
exact adjacent-clip cut-points and transitions),
this solution works better for me than having the
awkward double preview window.
- The timeline in 5.1 has a large amount of valuable
real-estate occupied on the left edge by little-used
stuff (the timeline left edge should be better layed
out or be compressable).
- The track order is annoying in 5.1, but you can
reset the numbering so that "Video 1B" corresponds
to "Audio 1B" instead of "Audio 2", etc., making
the diverging sound and audio track order easier
to work with.
- 5.1 can directly handle 12-bit sound; 4.2 makes
an irritating mess of it.
- 5.1 has far more sound control than 4.2 (one needs
less often to take sound out to another program for
modification).
- Control of the sound-level "rubber-bands" seemed
easier for me in 4.2; it is harder for me to add
an adjustment point in 5.1 without unintended
placement happening.
- Sound representation in 5.1 is better near the
single-frame level, making multi-track synching
easier.
- Some filters and effects seem better in 5.1, but
there is not a lot here...
- I dislike the auto-shifting of a transition
when a clip end is adjusted in 5.1 (and the
reverse, which is worse...)
- The 5.1 "Navigator" is wonderful for zipping
around the timeline quickly (no need to colapse
audio tracks) - and it shows "orphan"-parts
locations, useful for removing odd single-frames,
small transitions, etc. sometimes left-over in
editing and sometimes troublesome unless found
and removed (hard to find in 4.2).

All together, the choice depends on what gear you
are willing to add (a second monitor and video
card are almost essential with 5.1), how you prefer
to work, and if you use the VX-1000 (12-bit sound
only). For me, 5.1 has been a valuable update
(12-bit sound handling, more sound filters, and the
"Navigator" were the most useful additions - and
it is an excellent program for editing multi-camera
videos and for applying filters varying with time),
but if these (and "3-point editing", which I don't use)
aren't issues for you , 4.2 may serve you better
than 5.1.