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Adobe Premiere Elements for Dummies Review by tvtv3
It'll Do, But...
Not long ago a friend of mine purchased a video camera to make some videos for his business' website, Facebook, and YouTube. The software he got to edit these videos was ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 8. Even though I've never edited videos before, I do have some experience with audio software I used in college and when I worked in radio, so I was brought on to help edit. We didn't discover until after we started setting things up that Adobe doesn't include any manuals with its software. That forced my friend to purchase a how-to book for the software. He chose PREMIERE ELEMENTS 8 FOR DUMMIES.
Working on the videos I've been impressed with what Adobe Premiere Elements 8 can do. It seems capable of doing just about everything an amateur filmmaker wants to do. However, it can be difficult to discover exactly how to do something. For instance, it took me nearly two hours to fix the volume of a particular clip.
PREMIERE ELEMENTS FOR DUMMIES has helped easing some of this confusion. Since having access to the book, I've been able to find the answers to most of my questions. In that sense, the book is a good resource.
However, like using Adobe Premiere Elements 8 itself, finding the answers isn't as straight-forward and simple as it should be. I've often looked in a chapter where I thought the answer should be based upon the chapter's title, only to discover later that the information is in another section. Also, there's way too much fluff in the book and not enough real substance. The first chapter gives a crash course introduction on how to make a video using the software. Instead of following up with details and specifics, the book goes into two chapters about what sort of camera you should use, what sort of computer you should use, how light is converted to video, setting up shots, etc. The last chapter is also a bunch of filler about what other accessories you should buy.
Then there's the overall writing style. Sometimes it takes the author almost half a page or longer before he actually gets to the point of what he's writing about. I don't mind silly little jokes, a short aside, or a relevant anecdote. If you're reading a chapter straight through instead of just a straight reference, these things help break up some of the monotony. But when there's a lot of filler writing that has no connection to what the book is supposed to be about, it bother's me because then the book isn't so much a reference tool but a showcase of the author's writing that also happens to be a reference book.
In addition, there really aren't enough photographs in the book. On average, there's probably one illustration or photograph every three pages. For a reference book about a software program like Adobe Premiere Elements 8, that revolves around being able to use the GUI (Graphical User Interface), that's way too few. Granted the pictures are usually large (about a quarter-a to half-a page each), but there really should be at least a couple of pictures for every feature reviewed.
PREMIERE ELEMENTS 8 FOR DUMMIES has helped me in using Adobe Premiere Elements 8 and it seems that it covers most of the features the software is capable of doing. However, finding out where the material in the book can be a little frustrating at times and the presentation of the material could have been handled better. Overall, since Adobe software has no manuals, it'll do, but it's not as good a reference book as it should be.