(Disclaimer - My apologies to Kevin Monahan and others at Adobe who’ve genuinely tried to help me. This is not a personal issue with you guys. It’s an overall experience that I simply had to write about).
I ran to Adobe Premiere a couple of years ago when Apple decided to alienate an entire community of editors with it’s release of Final Cut X. Premiere was such a great option at the time. Almost all formats were fair game, there were some wonderful features that made everyday workflow better, and Adobe was constantly updating the software to make it more “final cut-ish”.
After a couple of years, however, I’ve come to a rather sobering conclusion: I’m Adobe’s battered wife!
What do I mean by this? I’ve divorced myself from FCP and married a new program that provides me with a home and what I need to survive, and even treats me great a lot of the time, but also abuses me on a regular basis. The problem is, we’ve had many children at this point, and since almost all my colleagues are now on Premiere, I have nowhere else to go.
How am I still being continually abused? Bugs. Big, ugly, cockroach-like bugs that seemingly won’t die, and sometimes even resurrect. These bugs have infested my professional life, costing me a great deal of time, money & sanity.
Below is a list of my few top-torments. As you read, please keep in mind that I’ve used Premiere on no less than 3 top of the line Mac Pro towers, including the New Mac Pro (the “trash can”), and Apple’s most up to date laptop for 2014…
CRASHES
I started on CS 5.5. Back then Premiere Pro crashed several times a day. It’s almost always triggered by clicking between sequences. The newest version, Premiere 8.1, is going for an all-time crash record, averaging once per hour. Thank God Adobe doesn’t build cars or we’d all be dead or disfigured!
OCCASIONALLY-SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE
Despite the New Mac Pro’s improvement with formats like 4K RED files, no matter how much money I spend, ram I allocate, or processor power I throw at my projects, this issue continues to haunt me on a regular basis when I work with some video filters, speed ramps, or nested PSDs. Most recently a handful of animated JPEGS with simple movements and a sepia filter that had my system choking.
ABYSMAL SUPPORT AT TIMES
I gave up on the usual phone support a while back, which seemed to always involve a charming Indian phone agent me through the same steps: “clear media cache, create a new user account, try creating a new project,”, and my personal favorite, “we’ve just released an update that addresses your issue”.
2014 has been the worst when it comes to support. My new Mac Pro, Apple’s fastest (and most expensive) computer every constructed, has had the same Premiere issue since day one. Random horizontal lines on rendered footage. You can read pages and pages of a discussion I began on this by the way. Myself and other users who deal with this problem have been getting the equivalent of blank stares from both Adobe and Apple for the better part of a year. My computer just finished a 3rd round of replacement parts at the Apple store, and the next step is to replace my computer altogether.
PREMIERE VERSION 8.1 - THE SPAWN OF SATAN
Satan designed this update. I won’t even bother listing how many awful time and sanity stealing issues came with this package. I’m convinced it’s one of the seven seals of Revelation. After one maddening week (I had to finish the project I began on it), I’ve rolled back to version 8.0 until Adobe hires an exorcist, or at least properly tests its software before releasing it to the mainstream.
A BOX OF CHOCOLATES
I could go on and on, but the point is that you just never know what you’re going to get when you update Premiere Pro. Everything might work, or you might be screwed. Your media may decide not to reconnect due to a filter you chose to use. Your audio waveforms may decide being invisible is a good idea. The conformed frame rates on your slowmo clips may suddenly get amnesia. Your project may begin puking up green frames into your final sequence. The one certainty is that you’ll have crashes. LOTS of crashes. Not a fun way to live as a professional editor.
In summation, I’ve been both impressed and beaten to a pulp by Premiere’s blessings & curses over the past couple of years. Adobe has enabled me with a fantastic power tool that sometimes goes haywire and attacks me. And no matter how many times I beg them for stability, it just hasn’t happened yet.