Rating: 
Summary: A Good Value, But the Titler Is Very Sluggish
Review: Adobe Premiere 6.5 has been getting the job done for us and is quite stable. We seldom see a crash.
Our only real gripe with the application is from the Titler. It's a nice and sophisticated tool, but response time goes from sluggish to glacial when creating and editing rolling credits lists. A typical movie credit with 8K of characters can take 20-30 seconds for the titler edit screen to update. Forget about using this titler in a production environment where deadlines exist. However, if you have 16 hours with nothing else to do, you can achieve very nice results on a credits roll-style title sequence in Premiere 6.5. Adobe severely needs to optimize the code behind this titler.
Rating: 
Summary: Real-time restrictions
Review: I would have rated this upgrade four stars or more had Adobe made it clear that real time is only available IF a Premiere real time project setting is created. The advertisement conveniently failed to make it clear that real time preview is not available to any type of project except a DV - NTSC/PAL Real-Time project.If you use real time hardware (in my case a Matrox RT2500), I must make a Matrox project to use my hardware's render free abilities thus disabling Adobe's real time previewing.
If I open a DV - NTSC/PAL Real-Time project setting I can use Adobe's real time previewing at the expense of losing my Matrox's hardware real time ability.
Nor can I edit or even view my video clips captured in the Matrox type DV File within the Premiere real time project setting.
So if you choose to capture your DV files in your hardware's proprietary DV file format, Premiere's real time project can't read it - it has to be captured or converted to plain DV (NTSC or PAL). Its convenient use the upgrade on a laptop, but remember you have to waste time reconverting the video files to use on your real time hardware. Don't be confused what Adobe is doing here. They've given Premiere real time preview (hit the return key to see immediate results play at normal speed but you cannot advance/reverse at any other speed manually) meaning you can't drag the time line cursor back or forth to see the results.
Premiere is great news if for those who want "real time" PREVIEW results without hardware but is useless for those with real time hardware.
Adobe threw in few new effects but if you own extra hardware yours probably already does it.
Rating:
Summary: Real-time restrictions
Review: I would have rated this upgrade four stars or more had Adobe made it clear that real time is only available IF a Premiere real time project setting is created. The advertisement conveniently failed to make it clear that real time preview is not available to any type of project except a DV - NTSC/PAL Real-Time project. If you use real time hardware (in my case a Matrox RT2500), I must make a Matrox project to use my hardware's render free abilities thus disabling Adobe's real time previewing.
If I open a DV - NTSC/PAL Real-Time project setting I can use Adobe's real time previewing at the expense of losing my Matrox's hardware real time ability.
Nor can I edit or even view my video clips captured in the Matrox type DV File within the Premiere real time project setting.
So if you choose to capture your DV files in your hardware's proprietary DV file format, Premiere's real time project can't read it - it has to be captured or converted to plain DV (NTSC or PAL). Its convenient use the upgrade on a laptop, but remember you have to waste time reconverting the video files to use on your real time hardware. Don't be confused what Adobe is doing here. They've given Premiere real time preview (hit the return key to see immediate results play at normal speed but you cannot advance/reverse at any other speed manually) meaning you can't drag the time line cursor back or forth to see the results.
Premiere is great news if for those who want "real time" PREVIEW results without hardware but is useless for those with real time hardware.
Adobe threw in few new effects but if you own extra hardware yours probably already does it.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice new features but dropped support for old features
Review: I've just started using 6.5 after upgrading from 6.0. The new title designer and the feature to create MPEG2/DVDs work very well. I'm quite pleased with them. The real problem is that Adobe has dropped support for TitleDeko, which I've used quite a bit, and for Real Player and QuickTime. The TitleDeko lack of support means that projects created with 6.0 using TitleDeko won't work with 6.5 unless you re-create the titles...a major hassle for no apparent reason. It would have been nice if the new version supported using title created with the old version. Also, it is no longer possible to create video for the Web using RealPlayer and QuickTime...funny how this didn't make the sales brochure. You're on your own to buy products that support RealPlayer and QuickTime with 6.5, a significant unplanned expense. I'm just not that impressed with Adobe's lack of communicating that features have been dropped and incompatibilities created. The software they've included to make DVDs seems to work well, although I found the interface a bit confusing initially. I had a problem with one video being converted to MPEG2/DVD with a couple of seconds at the end being deleted. I don't know which software caused it, I suspect Premiere, and it doesn't happen all the time.
Rating:
Summary: Nice new features but dropped support for old features
Review: I've just started using 6.5 after upgrading from 6.0. The new title designer and the feature to create MPEG2/DVDs work very well. I'm quite pleased with them. The real problem is that Adobe has dropped support for TitleDeko, which I've used quite a bit, and for Real Player and QuickTime. The TitleDeko lack of support means that projects created with 6.0 using TitleDeko won't work with 6.5 unless you re-create the titles...a major hassle for no apparent reason. It would have been nice if the new version supported using title created with the old version. Also, it is no longer possible to create video for the Web using RealPlayer and QuickTime...funny how this didn't make the sales brochure. You're on your own to buy products that support RealPlayer and QuickTime with 6.5, a significant unplanned expense. I'm just not that impressed with Adobe's lack of communicating that features have been dropped and incompatibilities created. The software they've included to make DVDs seems to work well, although I found the interface a bit confusing initially. I had a problem with one video being converted to MPEG2/DVD with a couple of seconds at the end being deleted. I don't know which software caused it, I suspect Premiere, and it doesn't happen all the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Crashes when trying to export
Review: I've tried this software on multiple computers and had trouble with it crashing while exporting MPEGs and also during Advanced Windows Media Export. The level of quality of this software is quite poor. It could be an incompatibility with Windows XP (both Home and Professional), but since the box says it's XP compatible I'm not quite sure. Adobe has been sued in the past (class action lawsuit) due to the lack of stability of Premiere 5.0, which I was upgrading from. I only upgraded because I didn't want to pay a lot more for original software of some other brand which I'd have to learn from scratch. Adobe seems to have learned nothing from its experience in court, and is again putting out software which doesn't meet decent standards. Software that doesn't work as advertised should not be put on the market. Please do not buy this software, as it isn't ready for prime time, at least for XP users. Please show Adobe that putting out software that doesn't work is not a good way to make money. I guess I'm stuck waiting for the next update from Adobe. Any word on when that will be? I would start another class action lawsuit, but after paying for the upgrade I can't afford a lawyer. Just kidding, but the upgrade is overpriced considering just about everything is the same as it was in 6.0, which I have experience with. Titles already came with Adobe 5.1 so I'm not sure why everyone thinks that's a new feature. The only thing new is real time preview and MPG-2 support, which doesn't even work properly on 2 out of 2 of the machines I've tried it on (both generic Pentium 4s with plenty of memory). The manual is for the wrong version and is completely useless for those trying to learn the new features, such as MPG export (see the dialog box help button for that). In the video export section, they mention a "Save to web" feature which no longer exists, and the nonexistent CD-ROM Optimized Plugin. At least in the online help index they indented the subtopics under a particular topic (in prior versions it was a big mess), which at least makes it easy to find out that they don't have a topic you're looking for. To summarize, my recommendation is to stick with 6.0 or go with some other brand entirely, if you can afford it.
Rating:
Summary: Crashes when trying to export
Review: I've tried this software on multiple computers and had trouble with it crashing while exporting MPEGs and also during Advanced Windows Media Export. The level of quality of this software is quite poor. It could be an incompatibility with Windows XP (both Home and Professional), but since the box says it's XP compatible I'm not quite sure. Adobe has been sued in the past (class action lawsuit) due to the lack of stability of Premiere 5.0, which I was upgrading from. I only upgraded because I didn't want to pay a lot more for original software of some other brand which I'd have to learn from scratch. Adobe seems to have learned nothing from its experience in court, and is again putting out software which doesn't meet decent standards. Software that doesn't work as advertised should not be put on the market. Please do not buy this software, as it isn't ready for prime time, at least for XP users. Please show Adobe that putting out software that doesn't work is not a good way to make money. I guess I'm stuck waiting for the next update from Adobe. Any word on when that will be? I would start another class action lawsuit, but after paying for the upgrade I can't afford a lawyer. Just kidding, but the upgrade is overpriced considering just about everything is the same as it was in 6.0, which I have experience with. Titles already came with Adobe 5.1 so I'm not sure why everyone thinks that's a new feature. The only thing new is real time preview and MPG-2 support, which doesn't even work properly on 2 out of 2 of the machines I've tried it on (both generic Pentium 4s with plenty of memory). The manual is for the wrong version and is completely useless for those trying to learn the new features, such as MPG export (see the dialog box help button for that). In the video export section, they mention a "Save to web" feature which no longer exists, and the nonexistent CD-ROM Optimized Plugin. At least in the online help index they indented the subtopics under a particular topic (in prior versions it was a big mess), which at least makes it easy to find out that they don't have a topic you're looking for. To summarize, my recommendation is to stick with 6.0 or go with some other brand entirely, if you can afford it.
Rating:
Summary: Setting the Record Straight
Review: mitchler2 says Premiere 6.5 does not support Quicktime or Realvideo...neither of which is true! They are definately included in my legally purchased copy, but excluded from the illegal versions I've seen on the web. I think it's pretty good, actually, and the MPEG2 support alone is worth the price of the upgrade, in my opinion. The new titling feature is fantastic, although I wonder why they invented a new type of style instead of using compatable Photoshop styles. I DO agree with mitchler2 and other reviews concerning real-time preview: it's not truly real-time previews, like you can get with Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video. Overall, Premiere never has been a high-end tool, although some broadcasters do use it. It's best feature in my opinion is it's interface and it's integration with other Adobe products.
Rating:
Summary: Setting the Record Straight
Review: mitchler2 says Premiere 6.5 does not support Quicktime or Realvideo...neither of which is true! They are definately included in my legally purchased copy, but excluded from the illegal versions I've seen on the web. I think it's pretty good, actually, and the MPEG2 support alone is worth the price of the upgrade, in my opinion. The new titling feature is fantastic, although I wonder why they invented a new type of style instead of using compatable Photoshop styles. I DO agree with mitchler2 and other reviews concerning real-time preview: it's not truly real-time previews, like you can get with Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video. Overall, Premiere never has been a high-end tool, although some broadcasters do use it. It's best feature in my opinion is it's interface and it's integration with other Adobe products.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Value, But the Titler Is Very Sluggish
Review: Since you're looking at the Upgrade version, you must be a Premiere user. This version offers better MPEG-2 support for DVD production than do prior versions, so it's very tempting. However, other reviewers have described instability problems with Windows XP. At the end of August 2003, Adobe is introducing Adobe Premiere Pro. "Pro" Version is "built for the exceptional performance of Microsoft® Windows® XP systems." You can upgrade to Pro from prior Premiere versions, but there isn't a Pro version for Mac. It sounds suspiciously like rather than offering a fix for compatibility problems, Adobe is selling the fix as an "upgrade." If I had known about Pro, I would NOT have spent the money on this version. However, if for some reason you prefer to buy the obsolete version, you may benefit from my installation experience. To install the product, you need to enter a serial number during installation. The directions direct you to the back of the jewel case for the serial number. However, the jewel case does not have a serial number. The registration card has a number pre-entered for you in the serial number spot, but this ISN'T a valid serial number. Adobe charges for technical support and I refuse to pay for technical support for when my problem is a defective product. So I called customer service, who verified that I was a registered owner of a previous version and made me fax my receipt of purchase for the upgrade to them. They promised that Adobe Security would contact me in 2 days with a new serial number. Five days later (three business days and a weekend), I called Customer Service asking for a serial number. They responded that they had all my information, but since the Customer Service representative had entered something incorrectly in their computer, the case wasn't being processed. The representative apologized, fixed the mistake, and promised me a serial number within 48 hours. 47 hours and 59 minutes later, I'm back on hold with Customer Service trying to get a serial number. This time, the Customer Service representative told me that you need to enter the serial number from Premiere version from which you're upgrading. Logical, but why wasn't I told this in my last two calls? She apologized for the fact that I found installation "confusing." However, the installation instructions for the product specifically direct you to the CD jewel case. I'm not confused; the instructions for installation are clear and I followed them properly. She replied that the same instructions are supplied with the full and upgrade version. They just don't work for the Upgrade version. For the money this upgrade costs, Adobe could afford to include proper instructions. Indeed, its interesting to me that they sell their technical support and then knowingly give you the WRONG instructions for installation. And if you're thinking you can just use your serial number from your old version, that doesn't work either! I needed to enter my old serial number with three numbers appended to the end of it. These three numbers didn't appear anywhere in my old version, only my Customer Service representative knew them. There really was no hope of being able to install this program without telephone assistance. All this hassle and a version comes out in a few weeks that fixes the compatibility problems with Windows XP. If Microsoft had updated Windows and that forced me to upgrade my Adobe products, I might find that to be fair. However, Adobe Premiere 6.5 is sold as a Windows XP program. You're not allowed to mention prices in these reviews, but we all know that these "upgrades" are a three digit expense. I have to spend again in three weeks to get another program with the same features but better compatibility with my operating system? I'm yet another Adobe customer who likes Adobe products, but not the experience of being an Adobe customer.
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