How To Prevent Obsoleting Dynamics Effect

[Trevor Asquerthian]

+1

[Simon Billington]

There is a new Dynamics Processing plugin that replaces it, which is a much more powerful version of the same plugin. It was quite important they do this because the code for the old Dynamics audio was incredibly old and lacking in quality.

Improved Audio Effects

New in this release of Premiere Pro CC 2017 | November 2016

This release brings new and improved audio effects to Premiere Pro, thus providing higher-quality sound processing and improved fidelity from Adobe Audition. This includes:

Adaptive Noise Reduction
Dynamics Processing
Parametric Equalizer
Automatic Click Remover
Studio Reverb
New hi-DPI aware effects supported as part of this release include:

Analog Delay
Chorus/Flanger
DeHummer
Guitar Suite
Phaser
Single Band Compressor
Tube Modeled Compressor
Vocal Enhancer
Multi-Band Compressor

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-pro/using/whats-new.html

Personally, I usually opt to use 3rd part effects much of the time anyway. I just wait for a killer sale and acquire something I’ve been really needing to either improve the quality of my work or speed up the workflow.

Among my favs for dialogue dynamics processing is Vocal Rider, MV2, and eMO D5 which is a swiss-army knife and very much like the old Dynamics plugin except better in my opinion. But I do have a few other favourites as well.

[John Petrula]

The Dynamics audio effect was an integral part of Premiere Pro for many years. I and other Premiere Pro editors have hundreds of lengthy videos which heavily utilize it. If Adobe removes the Dynamics effect, any project which utilized the Dynamics effect will suddenly have no audio effect i.e. you will have to redo all of the carefully done audio with another effect. This would be a nightmare. One might say, “Well, no one ever reopens completed projects.” Let me give an example why this is not realistic.

With the new “Export markers as a list” feature, I am re-editing my previous videos to add markers. Why? My users have wanted a way to have a list of entry points into a YouTube video to take them to a particular topic. With the “Export markers” spreadsheet file, I automated it so I create a Table of Contents PDF file. They love it. They want me to do it for over a hundred one hour talks. All my videos use the Dynamics effect. If Adobe removes the Dynamics effect, I will need to replace it with something. This will require a huge amount of time. This is one of many reasons I do not want the Dynamics effect obsolete.

Unfortunately, the new Dynamics Processing audio effect lacks the compressor level meter (bar) so interactive compression adjustments during playback are impossible since there is no visible feedback like you had with the obsolete Dynamics effect. It is like driving blind.

I have to deal with real world cases of one hour videos with different speakers using the same microphone during the same talk. This is not a Hollywood studio, but a nitty-gritty real world environment with non-actors. Dynamics audio solves 95% of my audio issues with a single interface which works. Hundreds of my end users frequently compliment me on the quality of the audio results. The Dynamics effect is why.

If Premiere Pro replaced Dynamics with say a Dynamics 2 so all my old projects would automatically be replaced with Dynamics 2, continue to work with their original settings, and Dynamics 2 had ALL the features of Dynamics plus additional features, I would be happy. But let’s get real. Adobe is not going to do that. Adobe will remove the Dynamics effect, my old projects will no longer work since the audio effect is gone, and the replacement effect interface is awful.

The solution is simple. Do not obsolete the Dynamics effect. And continue to offer new effects like Dynamics Processing.

For those who utilize the Dynamics effect everyday, please fill out the simple Premiere Pro Feature Request/Bug Report Form asking Adobe to make Dynamics a permanent feature, and not obsolete it. Your vote counts. Adobe prioritizes on how many requests they receive.

[Simon Billington]

This is why it would be still listed there as “Obsolete”. This means it would still be available for older projects, but moving forward you get the benefits of using a better designed, better sounding tool.

Whenever Logic declared a project obsolete, it was still there to be opened in older projects, but not available going forward. It’s the same kind of deal. However, even today, you can still Opt/Alt+Click the effects slot and the obsolete (Legacy) effects will be made available to you.

These obsolete plugins were around in the eMagic days, before Apple bought Logic. Although, I know Adobe is a different beast it does make smart sense to keep it around for a long time. Or come up with a way where all your instances of the older plugin in older projects will get transparently converted to the new tool.

Unfortunately, the new Dynamics Processing audio effect lacks the compressor level meter (bar) so interactive compression adjustments during playback are impossible since there is no visible feedback like you had with the obsolete Dynamics effect. It is like driving blind.

This is unfortunate and something I think I may have missed. With any luck many of the Premiere users will be disgruntled about it and requesting improvements from Adobe. You could also do the same. It’s still young, I think it has a bit of tweaking to go through, but you’ve got to start from somewhere.

Admittedly though, as a user of third-party dynamic tools, the Dynamics Processing still not ideal. I have found better options out there, more suitable to my workflow. Its an option not suitable for everyone, however.