When Premiere Pro debuted on the Mac as part of Adobe CS3, it was as though Adobe took the license plate off that old moped in the garage and put it on a hot new motorcycle. With Premiere Pro CS4 , Adobe continued to retool the program and retrofitted the Mac version to more closely match the Windows package. The latest version of Adobe’s professional video editing program doesn’t look much different at first glance. But taking it for a spin reveals that most of the work went into the engine.

Premiere Pro CS5 sports the Mercury Playback Engine, a software mechanism that improves the program’s performance—especially when paired with a qualified GPU. And like some other programs in CS5, Premiere Pro has become a native 64-bit application, shattering the RAM limitation imposed by 32-bit programs. Other features include expanded tapeless format support, scalable playback resolution, the Ultra chromakey effect, better still frame export, and the ability to export directly from Premiere Pro. But apart from enhanced performance and stability, the most notable new feature is how Premiere Pro CS5 fits into a workflow that integrates new software and services.

Adobe Story

CS4 expanded the Premiere Pro package to include OnLocation and Adobe Media Encoder—programs dedicated to the beginning and the end of the video creation process. CS5 extends its reach into the pre-production phase with a script creation and collaboration program called Adobe Story, which is still in beta. read more...