I might be able to help you out a bit as i used to use Premiere Pro before i switched to Final Cut Pro. I assume by version 5 you are referring to CS5? n.n
Anyway let me try my best to answer you questions.
1. As far as i know you cant use Premiere Pro to capture directly from your webcam. I THINK Premiere Pro only allows direct capture from a DV/Firewire source? Someone correct me if im wrong but i think that's how it works. You will most likely need additional software to capture from your webcam and then later import it into Premiere Pro for editing.
From doing a quick Google search this piece of software here is offering to capture video/sound and its freeware which is also a bonus.
http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html - I've never used it so i cant comment on how good it is or how it works; but it might be useful to start you off.
2. This is what i recommend you use on start up.
(Standard 48khz) for just normal editing and standard definition
Or
(Widescreen 48khz) for normal editing and standard definition, with the addition of widescreen
Or
If you want HD i suggest you go into the folder which says "DVCPROHD" and select either 720p or 1080p.
The choice is really upto you assuming you know what you want. I work with HD footage so i use either 720p or 1080p (if your computer isn't the most powerful thing in the world i suggest 720p).
3. When it comes down to exporting it really depends what you want. When i export for YouTube i always go for .MP4 using h.264. This is usually the standard when it comes to exporting HD footage. As for resolution it should remain the correct resolution from when you first started your project. Example: If you started a new project using 720p the resolution should automatically be set to export as 1280×720; so i recommend you not playing with that, if you don't know what you're doing.
But like i originally said it really comes down to personal preference.
Before i sign off i just want to also say, a common mistake people always fall for when editing with Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro is the fact that they forget to set a "Scratch Disk" before starting a new project. I won't go into detail with what a Scratch Disk is, but just know its quite important for large projects. Basically to set one all you need to do is, when you start Premiere Pro and you select "New Project" within the next window you should see a browse area for "Scratch Disk" make a new folder where you are planning on saving your project and use that as a folder for your "Scratch Disk"
Anyway hope this information helped! I'm no expert in Premiere Pro, but like i said i used to use it before i shifted to Final Cut Pro. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask me and ill do my best to assist you!
Good luck!
