Adobe Revives Premiere for Mac

[MacRumors]

Macworld reports that Adobe is announcing a new Mac version of Premiere for Intel-based Macs that will be part of a package called Adobe Production Studio which also includes Adobe Encore DVD and Adobe Soundbooth.

Adobe dropped Premiere for the Mac in July of 2003, citing a small Mac marketshare for the product.

With Apple's switch to Intel and growing market, Adobe is changing its mind:

“If you look at the industry as a whole, Mac customers are very important to us,” said Simon Hayhurst, director of product management for dynamic media at Adobe. “Pulling Premiere from the Mac was probably the hardest decision we ever made. It was always our intention to bring that back, and Apple’s move to Intel made it easier.”

The new version of Premiere is said to be built from scratch and "would have everything that the Windows version has, including tight integration within the suite." The final package is expected to be released in mid-2007.

Adobe's choice to make Premiere Intel-based Mac only is consistent with their release of Soundbooth.

Adobe Premiere for the Mac will be demoed at Macworld San Francisco.

[iMikeT]

Unless this is priced significantly lower than Final Cut Pro, I predict that Premiere will still have little support on the Mac.

[Freg3000]

Competition = Awesome.

This is great news, and further shows Adobe's commitment to the Mac platform.

A good way to begin (a bit early) MWSF.

[groovebuster]

Another app that is intel only...

I wouldn't have guessed that the PowerPC would be abandoned so fast by Adobe. I am not impressed...

groovebuster

[Squareball]

Originally Posted by iMikeT

Unless this is priced significantly lower than Final Cut Pro, I predict that Premiere will still have little support on the Mac.

I don't know, I think they are banking on switchers who are mid level video editors. I have a friend who has been on windows his whole life and hears all about the great things macs have to offer but since he makes his living doing video editing and uses premiere, he is hesitant to switch because he doesn't want the downtime of learning new software.

I will say though, FCP isn't all that hard to pick up if you already know video editing.. but I imagine it will be a draw for some switchers.. enough?? Not sure.

[whoooaaahhhh]

Originally Posted by iMikeT

Unless this is priced significantly lower than Final Cut Pro, I predict that Premiere will still have little support on the Mac.

As an editor, it's mostly what each person prefers. I like FCP and I don't like AVID, the fact that it's several thousand dollars doesn't affect how much I like it, I just don't like it. Premiere is the same way, I don't like it because of the interface. But, I believe that there will be more support for Premiere on the Mac now because Premiere is still used by many small time houses that are slowly switching to mac but are unready to jump into FCP. Lots of wedding cutters and news cutters like the Premiere interface. It has a chance. But you are right, FCP is a much stronger contender and will almost assuredly knock Premiere's socks off.

Originally Posted by groovebuster

I wouldn't have guessed that the PowerPC would be abandoned so fast by Adobe.

Really?

[york2600]

Originally Posted by groovebuster

Another app that is intel only...

I wouldn't have guessed that the PowerPC would be abandoned so fast by Adobe. I am not impressed...

groovebuster

Adobe knows that if you're doing any graphics or video editing you're buying a computer every 2 years anyways. Why bother making a new app run on PowerPC. The people that actually buy the stuff won't mind shelling out some cash for at least a Mac Mini with a external hard drive array.

[solvs]

Originally Posted by groovebuster

I wouldn't have guessed that the PowerPC would be abandoned so fast by Adobe.

Only half abandoned. The rest of their apps aren't even Universal yet. I suspect there will be people buying the bundle for the other apps, and I know After Effects will still be popular, but I doubt Premiere will make too much headway.

Then Adobe can cancel it again and claim lack of sales.

[AndyR]

Wish Adobe but get of there backsides and sort out a UB version of Shockwave Player already!

[From Win to Mac]

The main reason i switched to Mac 5 years ago was when i started editing in "Premier" and it crashed so bad and sucked so much that I looked at Macs.

But I've used Premiere Pro, and it's a pretty solid product, so that's cool. The feature I miss the most was the Filmstrip Export.

[bousozoku]

Originally Posted by groovebuster

Another app that is intel only...

I wouldn't have guessed that the PowerPC would be abandoned so fast by Adobe. I am not impressed...

groovebuster

They've gone from being lazy and cheap to being...ummm, lazy and cheap, except on the end user pricing, of course.

[abbazaba]

premiere was the first NLE i ever cut on...i absolutely love it, though i've used final cut pro exclusively since i switched to mac. this is great news!

[Butthead]

Originally Posted by york2600

Adobe knows that if you're doing any graphics or video editing you're buying a computer every 2 years anyways. Why bother making a new app run on PowerPC. The people that actually buy the stuff won't mind shelling out some cash for at least a Mac Mini with a external hard drive array.

Not many Intel Mac users wanting to buy Premiere would be using a Mac Mini, perhaps a film school grad might use a MacBook at minimum.

Originally Posted by solvs

Only half abandoned. The rest of their apps aren't even Universal yet. I suspect there will be people buying the bundle for the other apps, and I know After Effects will still be popular, but I doubt Premiere will make too much headway.

Then Adobe can cancel it again and claim lack of sales.

Probably cancel it again, as fast as a new TV series which doesn't get good ratings immediately.

Adobe will probably not release any new software updates for PPC, all new software will proabably be only Intel, no 'universal binary' for them. They are cheap to the core.

so Adobe always intended to return (premier) to the Mac? What a load of BS, they return when they think (wrongly or rightfully in their predictions of sales #'s) there is potential for increasing sales. The second they think sales are dropping, they will abandon the Mac again.

[groovebuster]

Originally Posted by york2600

Adobe knows that if you're doing any graphics or video editing you're buying a computer every 2 years anyways. Why bother making a new app run on PowerPC. The people that actually buy the stuff won't mind shelling out some cash for at least a Mac Mini with a external hard drive array.

Doesn't make sense...

a) If you are doing video editing on that level, you wouldn't work with a Mac mini. You would buy a pro machine.

b) The problem is that the classical graphic apps (Adobe Creative Suite) are not even UB so far. To work with CPU hungry apps under Rosetta is not really senseful... so that's a reason not to buy a Mac Pro so far.

c) My Quad G5 is not exactly an old machine already. I bought it in Dec. 2005 and I am pretty sure that it will be a good work station for another 2 or 3 years.

d) If you make the switch to an intel machine, you HAVE to update all your software to the newest version to avoid working under Rosetta (which in most cases should be avoided for productive work). This is adding up quickly to thousands of dollars extra just for software licenses at once. So if I intend to work with Premiere (because of which reason ever), I have to shell out a lot of extra money to get a fully productive workstation.

The UB were intended to make the transition between platforms as smooth as possible and that the user/customer can decide when he wants to switch his hardware. Adobe's approach to this matter is absurd. At the moment I would only consider working with Premiere if all my other software was already UB and I would consider switching to a MacPro anyway... which will be not the case for at least another 12 months. And at that time my Quad G5 will probably still be a very usable machine for minor jobs, but will be still useless for apps that are intel only already today...

groovebuster

[solvs]

Originally Posted by groovebuster

At the moment I would only consider working with Premiere if all my other software was already UB and I would consider switching to a MacPro anyway... which will be not the case for at least another 12 months. And at that time my Quad G5 will probably still be a very usable machine for minor jobs, but will be still useless for apps that are intel only already today...

That's because Premiere isn't meant for you.

Or, well, anyone else apparently.

[groovebuster]

Originally Posted by solvs

That's because Premiere isn't meant for you.

Or, well, anyone else apparently.

[spookje]

Nice, Premiere Pro would be nice for the Mac. Gone with the crappy Final Cut Pro that program sucks really hard or it could be the Decklink software for it, though. Just unstable.

[popelife]

The last two versions of Premiere for the Mac were monumentally awful (version 5 never worked), and I wasn't exactly devastated to see them dump the Mac version. Although I'm a fairly "casual" video editor, I moved to FCP and never looked back.

It's like a girlfriend/boyfriend who treats you really badly, then dumps you... and comes back two years later and says how much they miss you. You're not going to be that impressed (especially now you've got a much better-looking boyfriend/girlfriend that you actually enjoy spending time with).

[pixelpp]

This on DIGG: http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2007/...04025307.shtml

[NickFalk]

Originally Posted by popelife

The last two versions of Premiere for the Mac were monumentally awful (version 5 never worked),

Neither did the Windows-version - the main reason why I became a macuser. Thanks Adobe!

As for anyone claiming FCP is unstable, I think you seriously need to check your system. FCP is the strongest challenger to Avid while Premiere (mostly because of Adobe's earlier failings) is considered something of a advanced toy by many...

[siurpeeman]

could this news be a reflection of increased mac marketshare?

[Porco]

Funny.

July 2003:

Adobe Systems Inc. on Monday announced a new version of its digital video application, Premiere. The new version adds features and is completely redesigned, but the company also dropped support for the Macintosh, citing financial considerations and Apple's continued foray into the software market as reasons for the decision
[....]
"If Apple's already doing an application, it makes the market for a third-party developer that much smaller," said David Trescot, senior director of Adobe's digital video products group. "I think you're going to find that more and more -- if Apple's in a software market, third-party vendors are going to skip it."

January 2007:

“If you look at the industry as a whole, Mac customers are very important to us,” said Simon Hayhurst, director of product management for dynamic media at Adobe. “Pulling Premiere from the Mac was probably the hardest decision we ever made. It was always our intention to bring that back, and Apple’s move to Intel made it easier.”

More and more but always their intention eh?

[CmdrLaForge]

I think that this is really great news. I really love Final Cut but I think that competition can only make it better. Adobe has always great student deals and I do hope that they include After Effects in that package. That would be an awesome deal.

Cheers
LaForge

[Passante]

First Adobe canceled Premiere due to "small Mac marketshare for the product"

Now they release a new version only for Intel Macs, what is presently a small percentage of the Mac installed base.

A piece of the puzzle is missing.

[NickFalk]

Originally Posted by CmdrLaForge

I think that this is really great news. I really love Final Cut but I think that competition can only make it better. Adobe has always great student deals and I do hope that they include After Effects in that package. That would be an awesome deal.

After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Audition and Encore are all parts of the suite...