Strategy for learning the Adobe Video Collection ???

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I've finally decided to stop piddling around and learn the Adobe apps in-depth.
I been dabbling with Photoshop and Premiere for years, but mainly learning the
bare essentials to get a small project done quick & dirty & sloppy. I bought
the "Total Training" DVDs and now I can see the awesome power that these apps
hold, so now I need to take them serious and roll up my sleeves, fire up the PC,
put on my thinking cap, etc.....

The basic question I have is.....should I learn all of the apps (Illustrator,
Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects) all at once, or sequence them? Trying
to learn all of them simultaneously seems daunting, so maybe I should tackle one
at a time? I was thinking of starting with Illustrator CS - just to master
basic concepts like vectors, layers, masks, color palettes, etc. Then, move on
to Photoshop CS. Once I got a good grasp of static image design with
Illustrator & Photoshop, I can move to After Effects and Premiere Pro for motion
graphics.

I am giving myself a year to learn all 4 apps, but I know it takes many years of
diligent practice to become a "Master" at any one of them. I just want to be
able to competently work in any of the 4 apps and do typical projects that a
small graphic arts studio would handle. Since I dont have any art training, I
assume it would be wise to get some books on design and film production to learn
the fundamentals before I tackle computer graphics and editing.

Thanks for the feedback....