[Ninetto Makavejev]

Oh yes, Vista is the way to go, especially Vista-64 bit… like how about 6x faster than XP, according to this article:

https://digitalcontentproducer.com/affordablehd/newsletter/cs4_64bit_1208/

good luck,
n.m.

[Ninetto Makavejev]

I have to disagree with previous posters who complained about eSata.
I use ONLY eSata and there is an immense perk in performance compared to USB.

What many people don’t check – and therefore complain about hot swap/sleep problems – is that to make full use of eSata features you should have AHCI enabled in your BIOS, regarding your hard drive controller. If this is active, is simply works!

good luck, n.m.

[Ninetto Makavejev]

I use Premiere in the German version, so I hope my english equivalents match your real interface terminology:

1. Of course you can raise the entire clip without rubber bands: hit RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON on the clip and pick AUDIO VOLUME, where you type in the db increase/decrease you desire. BTW if you constantly need +3db and feel that this is too many steps for you… then AS FOR ALL EFFECTS (video or audio) you can create a custom pre-set which you throw onto the clip. Just as fast as your FCP keystroke.

To create e.g. the audio 3db preset, follow the steps above. Then click on the tab next to your preview monitor to get the EFFECTS CONTROL window. There you can see that the clip has been given the 3db boost. Now click under “audio effects” on VOLUME with the RIGHT mouse button. A menu appears offering you the chance to “SAVE AS PRESET”. You do that, giving it the name, e.g. 3DB BOOST.

Now if you use a standard screen layout, to the left of your timeline is a window with all EFFECTS which I always keep open. Here, under PRESETS (a folder with a little favorite star on it) is you custom-made 3DB BOOST. From now on it is only drag-and-drop to boost 3db.

2. Under the preview moniter, there is a little symbol like a movie frame, which if you click it shows/toggles VIDEO/AUDIO/Video plus AUDIO. This actually is much better than FCP since it allows you e.g. to only overlay/edit the Audio only, if you have only the AUDIO SYMBOL selected under the preview monitor. With FCP I have always to overlay the muxed Video plus Audio and then, Unlink and then remove the Video, if I only want audio. OR DO YOU know a better way in FCP?

4. I am not sure what you are asking here. Yes, stereo tracks are bundled/ganged into one audio track in Premiere. But you can use the audio effects to pan completely to left-or-right, or use the audio effect FILL LEFT, FILL RIGHT to make a stero track into a mono.

5. The command is in the menu under CLIP- LINK or UNLINK, there is also a symbol on the timeline for this which I do not use. Mostly I just use CLICK plus ALT-key to LINK/UNLINK.

good luck,
ninetto

[Ninetto Makavejev]

If your intended end product is DVD, then you should use your subtitle file in either DVDStudioPro or Encore. For DVDSP the STL-format is preferred, ENCORE requires the Adobe.txt format as a UTF-8.

Programs that can help you get the right format for your needs are BELLE NUIT or TITLE EXCHANGE. The latter can actually convert subtitles created in FinalCut (not recommended) into STL and other formats. BELLE NUIT is also very good. If you have access to Windows there are freeware programs that help convert subtitle formats (e.g. Subtitle Workshop)

If you really need the subtitles in FCP then you must render the subtitles as subpictures (graphic) and also the timecode as a separate file (edl or xml).

To add your subtitle file to your dvd-project, you import the Subtitle-file in proper format as a script to the respective Subtitle track in the timeline (in DVDSP or ENCORE). For DVDSP the font specified in the subtitle file must be installed on your machine.

Good luck,
ninetto

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Dear Tim Kolb,
thanks much for the reference to Jan Ozer’s article, this should really be required reading!

64-bit, here I come, but I think it will have to be a Mac. I have no desire to wade thru the jungle of Vista-drivers out there.

regards, ninetto

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Since all currently available versions of PremPro (yes also CS4) are still 32-bit applications, they cannot use more than 3.5 GB of ram, irregardless of whether you OS is 32-bit or 64-bit. This is discussed in the following thread:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/3/888092#888199

There it is also explained that a 64-bit OS will not make your Premiere per se run quicker, but adds an advantage when running multiple applications at the same time. So probably just changing to vista 64-bit will not help you unless you change some other elements of your configuration.

Adding raid, and cleverly dispersing your renders over different scratch disks will surely help speed things up. I assume you have already done the standard XP-tweaks concerning temp files and page-files not being on the system disk?

good luck, ninetto

[Ninetto Makavejev]

It is hard to determine just what Adobe was refering to with the “8-12% performance gain” with 64-bit comparison, since there is no 64-bit version for Mac. That said, Mac really isn’t such a “different animal” as Steve Jobs would like us to believe, since moving to Intel processors.

But back to the theme at hand: to Vista or not to Vista, that is the question. Here are some interesting remarks at the Adobe forum:
https://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b72483

It seems to me at this moment in time the complications of switching to Vista outweigh the possible perks. (BTW my 32-bit XP sees 3.5 GB of the 4 GB installed… although I have not research if this is true or just a cosmetic report in system info)

regards,
ninetto

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Okay regarding the possible perk using CS4 with Vista64bit: jeebies or no geebies, I found THIS INFO
https://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/09/23/adobe-says-mac-users-wont-miss-64-bit-support-much-in-cs4

in which Adobe estimates “only” a 8-12% gain in performance using 64-bit …

So is that worth the risk of VISTA, and 3rd-party plug-ins not working?

Seems to be NOT.

Other opinions/experiences?

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Some interesting points here. Has anyone done a practical comparison of CS4 on XP vs. Vista vs. Apple? Speed and stability-wise of course.

That said, I personally would never encode a project and continue editing simultaneously. Even with Canopus’s wonderful Procoder, I could get glitches in the encoded file if doing intensive editing at the same time… using a quad-core system.

Hey, Adobe has given us (back) the ability to batch encode, so surely the work flow should be as Mike described it, with encoding done in the peace + quiet at night.

I too was overjoyed that previews can now be done on an external monitor without dv-device with a simple mouse-click. Generally speaking, I am quite impressed with CS4 at this point… seems to run real smooth so far.
greetings, Ninetto

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Hello Manraj Singh,

my first impressions of CS4 are very very good. After much grief with CS3, I was skeptical about CS4, and even toying with the ultimate switch to FinalCut.

But CS4 seems real sweet – albeit, these are just first impressions with just 2 short projects over the period of a week.

The most important changes to me are the new (well except old Premiere 5 used to have it) BATCH ENCODE… and finally getting your material to easily preview on the device of your choosing, i.e. an external monitor not hooked up to a DV-device. Just with a mouse click, like Final Cut.

I haven’t tested it yet, but like FCP you can now also mix formats on the same sequence.

In general, my system seems faster/more stable with CS4 than CS3… I have read somewhere that CS4 administers the memory more effectively. Anyway the entire week was free of any glitches!

good luck,
ninetto m.