This post is part of an ongoing series that reviews various video equipment and why I recommend it to businesses.
While editing software is not equipment per se, it is an essential tool to create videos, so I figured it’s still a good place to start when looking at equipment you’ll need to produce a video.
There are many video editing software solutions available to the general public. However, the two that stand at the top of the industry and are used most by professionals are Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro.
As with most things where there are two main competitors – you’ll find your Premiere supporters and you’ll find your Final Cut supporters.
While not a universal trend, I see Mac users as natural fits for Final Cut and Windows users as a good fit for Premiere.
Most of us in the non-creatives world of business use Windows-based PCs. So, I tend to stick with and recommend Premiere for businesses looking to bring video in-house.
But this post isn’t meant to be a Premiere vs. Final Cut debate. So let’s just discuss what makes Adobe Premiere a good choice for businesses.
Adobe Creative Cloud
One main reason why it makes sense for business professionals to use Premiere is that many companies often already have access to the system through an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for other apps they use in their marketing efforts like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
If you don’t have Creative Cloud already, it still makes sense to go in this direction, because for a bit more money each month, you can gain access to these other apps. If you’re going to be doing video work, having access to Photoshop, After Effects, and Audition are great resources to help you build a professional video. Not to mention – once you have Creative Cloud, you can use these other apps for various projects you may be working on.
As of 2019, purchasing Premiere by itself will run you $20.99/month, while Creative Cloud is $52.99/month for the 30+ creative desktop and mobile apps that come with the collection.
Robust Capabilities
From editing a video together to adding captions and creating bottom third graphics, Adobe Premiere will give you the capabilities to edit together any type of video you may have in mind.
Effects
Whether its animating text, enhancing images, or adjusting audio, Premiere has an enormous number of Effects that can enhance your video in virtually any way. Even better – you don’t have to download them individually; they come as a default with the program.
Animation
With key frame capabilities, you can make virtually any part of your footage, text or images display, move, or adjust at any time. More broadly, you can make pretty much any part of your video do pretty much anything you can think of.
Export Presets
Don’t know the exact settings you need to use to post your video to Facebook or YouTube? Premiere has built-in presets that allow you to export your video based on where you ultimately want to publish it. Just select your desired Preset during the export process and Premiere will adjust the settings accordingly.
Color Correction
Not to rain on your parade, but no matter how good of a job you do filming, your raw footage will likely still need a bit of help to make it perfect. Fortunately, Premiere has robust color correction tools. And if you are like me and don’t have a great eye for color, Premiere has tools you’ll love. Its Lumetri Scopes are basically charts and graphs that show you how color is being displayed in your footage. In other words, you can use science to correct the color in your footage, instead of just your eye.
Conclusion
While I’m sure not everything is perfect for the Hollywood editor working on blockbuster movies, for people like you and me, Premiere gives you every tool you’ll need and more.
Sign up to get a free list of gear recommendations for any budget!
You’ll receive our latest posts and other valuable video-related content for businesses.
Biz Video Lab 