The other day I was poking around the closet next to the edit suite. I found 4 old copies of Adobe Premiere, going back to 5.1!!  As a long time digital videographer I’d been through all the old Pinnacle, Matrox and Canopus cards that came bundled with Premiere.  Cards like the Miro DC30, Pinnacle DV500 & DC1000, Matrox RT2000, 2500 and then RTX.100, Canopus DV Raptor and DV Storm and even an old Truevision Bravado and Digital Origin MotoDV.  I’ve had them all. While some I got via upgrade / trade-up programs, the bulk of them came bundled with Good Ole Premiere.

So what can you do with an old copy of Premiere you ask? Use it to upgrade to Premiere Pro CS4 for under $300 or even better, upgrade to the full Adobe Production Premium CS4 for around $1,000!! That’s right, any full version of Premiere going back to 5.x (Or even older) can be used to unlock a CS4 upgrade. No need to install it, you just use the serial number as part of the installation process for CS4.

I hear all the time how Final Cut Editors are frustrated that Apple won’t give them Blu-ray support. I agree it’s a problem. What you probably didn’t realize is that you’ve got a solution! That old copy of Premiere can be used to upgrade to Premiere Pro CS4, which includes Encore CS4. It doesn’t matter that your old copy of Premiere was for Windows, it can be used to unlock either the Mac or PC version.

I also hear from Avid and FCP guys saying they want to add After Effects or Photoshop to their workflow, but the cost of the full CS4 Production Premium (MSRP $1699) is more then their budget will allow. Once again, Adobe has a solution. They offer a point product upgrade to the full CS4 Production Premium for around $1,000. Your serial number from any old version of Premiere can be used to unlock this upgrade.  Once again, it doesn’t matter if you want the PC or Mac version of the point product upgrade, your old Premiere serial number will get the job done.

Not only does Premiere Pro CS4 include Encore CS4, you also get On Location CS4.  With On Location you can capture directly to your laptop - which saves you time and money. Get critical monitoring information while you record directly to disk with Adobe OnLocation CS4, now cross-platform with a new Adobe-standard interface. Save time and take the tedium out of logging with shot lists and metadata-based project intelligence.

In this tough economy we are all looking for deals and ways to save money. Turning your old copies of Premiere into new CS4 versions is like spinning straw into gold!