I am very much an amatuer video editor. I enjoy it, but I mainly put together videos of family gatherings, events, and stop action videos with my kids’ toys. I’ve been using Premiere Elements for a while and really enjoy it. My takes are not meant for the professional but for those wanting to do something with old/new family footage and have little to no experience.
Admittedly, Premiere Elements looks daunting when you first open it. But Adobe has refined the experience to make it’s more accessible and automated options front and center. This can make a big difference for those wanting to jump in without ever seeing the program.
INSTALLATION
Just a few comments as installing Adobe Premiere Elements is virtually identical to installing any other computer program. You will need an Adobe account. I’ve had one, but never really take advantage of what it offers. You can use it to store photos, etc., but I use other programs for it. I have an account because you’re required to have one. But, it does offer some benefits to those willing to incorporate it into their workflow.
It takes about 10-15 minutes to download/install and once it’s done, you simply enter in the serial number in the packaging (or if it was emailed to you). Then you’re off and running.
USER INTERFACE
What’s new to this version, at least what I noticed, was the pop up menu when you open the program. In the past (at least 2018 and 2019 versions) when you opened up Elements it just went to the video editor screen and you pick Easy, Guided or Expert modes. Now, this window pops up and asks you what you want to do. That’s what I mean by putting the accessible options front and center. You can even type in the search bar what you want to do (say video photo slideshow as a basic example) and it takes you right there. Or, you can click on the video editor button and go straight to the video editing timeline.
The editing screen is basically the same (again, to me) as it has been in years’ past, with the main difference being the shading and outlines of buttons. It looks more modern I guess. But I like it, and it makes me feel like I have a new program vs. spending money to buy the same program.
GUIDED MODES
To me, the biggest and most significant changes are in the guided modes. I can’t truly say what parts are brand new, as I haven’t owned the past few years’ updates, but they are really fun to use and it’s an easy way to get a guided tutorial (rather than having a YouTube video open concurrently).
I want to start by saying, the guided modes isn’t like some services where you simply upload the videos and the program spits out something it curates. (i.e. Quick app for GoPro does this). It’s guided in the sense of showing you how to perform certain edits.
Say you want to make a slow mo video, or time lapse, you click on that option under guided, ‘fun edits.’ From there a pop-up screen pops up and it uses green boxes to show you were the buttons are to perform this type of edit. There’s even arrows in the pop-up box if you need to go back a step.
One of my favorite “fun edits” was the animated motion titles. It was an easy way to put sophisticated titles into your videos. The animated overlay, I’m pretty certain is an entirely new feature, and it too, is a lot of fun. It’s exactly what it sounds like, there’s an animated overlay on your video. One example was clouds, which would surround say, darkish footage of a house. But it wasn’t just a static cloud, like the title suggests, it was animated.
I wish there were more blueprints so to speak, for those of us who need a spark of creativity, to create entire movies. Whereas Elements is more of a “here’s how you create this type of effect.” But frankly, that seems like a tough ask. And honestly, part of the fun is simply getting in there and figuring everything out.
But like I said, Adobe doesn’t just take your videos and pump out a curated movie, you still need to have an idea of what you want to do with it.
CONCLUSION
Adobe Premiere Elements is not going to eliminate the feeling of being overwhelmed for novice or beginner video editors. But it has a lot of easy to use and easy to follow rules to help guide you in figuring out how the software works. At the end of the day, you get out what you put into it, but Elements 2022 helps you unlock the power of its software a little easier.