Adobe brings Premiere back to the Mac

[Jacob Mason]

Well, it looks like Adobe's had a change of heart.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/01...iere/index.php

[Drew Curran]

This is strange news.

Still I suppose it will help sell Mac hardware to premiere users who have held back from switching to OSX from Windows.

Andrew

[Boyd Ostroff]

Hey Jacob. Please don't copy and paste complete articles from another site as that creates a copyright issue for DVinfo. It's fine to include a link or a brief quote however.

Drew, I agree. This is good for Apple as it might remove yet another barrier to people considering a switch. But I would be really surprised if Mac Premiere becomes a moneymaker for Adobe.

Heh, I started video editing with Premiere on the Mac myself with version 1 back around 1995 or so. Later I upgraded when I got more serious about video, and shortly afterwards Adobe dropped the Mac version. But by then I had already switched to FCP 3 and it was a huge improvement over Mac Premiere. Of course a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, so it will be interesting to see how the two programs hold up now that the playing field is more level on Intel hardware.

[Matt Ludwig]

Does that mean theoretically Premiere projects will open on both Mac and PC?

[Nate Schmidt]

I'll take this as good news.... with another pro level editing app on OS X that's in the same price range as FCP, that should really push Apple to keep improving FCP, and keep it on the cutting edge.

[Evan Donn]

From the looks of the screenshot, it's got the same single window interface layout/conventions as AE7, which I feel has made AE significantly less useable. That's enough to keep me in FCP - it's even made me look more seriously at alternatives to AE. Maybe it works better in an editing situation, but it'll have to have some significantly unique functionality to make it worth the time spent to find out.

[Jeff Chandler]

Competittion is good. I wish I had Intel Macs in my high school studio, because I would definitely get PP3. My students prefer it 0ver FCE/FCP (they find it to be more intuitive). Keep in mind, too, that it's not just Premiere. It's the suite, and some people may by enticed by the integration of PP, AE, and Photoshop.

[Drew Curran]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Drew, I agree. This is good for Apple as it might remove yet another barrier to people considering a switch. But I would be really surprised if Mac Premiere becomes a moneymaker for Adobe.

Heh, I started video editing with Premiere on the Mac myself with version 1 back around 1995 or so. Later I upgraded when I got more serious about video, and shortly afterwards Adobe dropped the Mac version. But by then I had already switched to FCP 3 and it was a huge improvement over Mac Premiere. Of course a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, so it will be interesting to see how the two programs hold up now that the playing field is more level on Intel hardware.

Premiere has really tight integration with After Effects, which could be the deciding factor for switching to premiere on the Mac for a lot of people.

I use Premiere on the PC at work, but sill prefer FCP. I remember 2 years ago when I switched to the Mac and FCP it was like a breath of fresh air as far as editing goes. The current premiere would not make me switch back. Just MHO.

Andrew

[Jeremiah Hall]

I wonder if people are going to remember when Adobe dumped Premiere for mac the first time around. That's when I made the switch to FCE (thanks to Apples trade-in program), then FCP. After spending that much on the program, plus the upgrades, it left a bad taste in my mouth at the time.

[Christopher Lefchik]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah Hall

I wonder if people are going to remember when Adobe dumped Premiere for mac the first time around. That's when I made the switch to FCE (thanks to Apples trade-in program), then FCP. After spending that much on the program, plus the upgrades, it left a bad taste in my mouth at the time.

If I'm not mistaken there was some talk at the time that Adobe dropped Premiere on the Mac because Apple refused to give them access to some PowerPC chip code. If true, it was obvious that Apple wanted to lock out Premiere in favor of Apple's own FCP.

Now that the Macs run Intel chips, however, access to chip code is obviously not a problem for Adobe, and they can now compete on a more level playing field with FCP.

[Harm Millaard]

Two remarks to these developments:

Current users would probably react with, so what.. and could see this development as having to pay for the Mac development, while in their perspective the priority should have been on repairing bugs and honoring feature requests.

Working on both platforms with Adobe may be an advantage for a number of people, but the file format of each platform may be bothersome for that exchange.

[Richard Alvarez]

Its hard to know with certainty who the 'difficult' party is in terms of dropping or addopting "mac" for Premiere. Keep in mind that AVID was developed on Macs, and Mac tried to 'push them out' when AVID developed a PC version. Apple deveolped FC and AVID STAYED with Mac. I still get MAC versions with every upgrade. (Though truth be told, I don't need them... yet.) AVID still sells MAC computers, so it's a plus for Apple. Maybe Premier figures if AVID sells dual platform, it might be a good idea?

Marketing mentality is beyond me.

[William Hohauser]

Originally Posted by Richard Alvarez

Keep in mind that AVID was developed on Macs, and Mac tried to 'push them out' when AVID developed a PC version.

It might be my memory but I thought it was the uncertainty of Apple's very existance at the time (pre-return of Jobs) and the fact that Windows NT was turning into a more robust operating system compared to the traditional Mac OS that sent Avid and Media 100 to develop PC versions. It was in response to the impending flight of all NLEs that compelled Apple to create Final Cut. Maybe there is a gray area in the time line but I remember Media100 trying to get me to dump my Mac for a PC version of the NLE (and a lot of money to Media100).

[Theodore McNeil]

1) This is from memory... But my understanding is that something called Key Grip (later renamed Final Cut) was actually was developed by ex-Adobe developers working for Macromedia. Their goal to make something Quicktime based and more professional than premiere.

Macromedia decided that it just wanted to be just a Web development company and so they put it up for sale. No else wanted it, so Apple got it to make sure that there would be professional editing system based in the Quicktime codec.

I can't remember the timing, but... I think Adobe dropping Mac-Premiere was not directly related to Apple acquiring Final Cut, rather it was more of a happy coincidence.

2) Premiere on MACs can only be good for Final Cut Pro. You run faster when someone is chasing you. It's funny, just as Apple is making moves to become a real challenge to AVID in the pro market, Adobe is setting up camp in it's backyard.

[Richard Alvarez]

It's a might small world out there, and quite a bit of co-inkydink cross pollination and development, threats and counter threats, push comes to shove "You can't fire me I Quit", "I'm going to take my code and go home.." in the whole game. That was my point. (Add to the fact that the lead developer of Premiere was 'recruited' 'stolen' 'hired' 'jumped ship' (take your pic) from Adobe to help develop FCP... which is why they bore such a striking resemblence in the early days.

Nah, competition is good. Every forum has someone saying "Why can't WE have XYZ??? SUCH AND SUCH ALREADY HAS IT!!!"

For myself, a PC and AVID user, who learned some Premier back at 4.0... I'm watching the new VISTA developments, and not liking what's on the horizon. SO... my NEXT computer might be a Mac. No harm, no foul as I already own MAC versions of AVID... and it never hurts to have a copy of Final Cut on hand as well.

Watch and wait.