Today Adobe announced the newest version of its popular consumer video editing software, Adobe Premiere Elements 4. Also announced was Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. The two programs will be available for purchase as a bundle package or separately. Adobe puts particular emphasis on sharing video via social networking sites with this new release, but also adds a lot of new features that should benefit everyone. (UPDATED)
Adobe Premiere Elements 4 has the ability to encode video directly to the Adobe Flash format, which is perfect for YouTube and other sites that share the same architecture. You can even upload movies directly to a YouTube account.
A new feature in Adobe Premiere Elements 4 called Movie Themes will allow you to create a fully edited movie - complete with transitions, music, and titles - from a sequence of clips. These styles include event-based themes like Birthday and Wedding as well as style-based themes such as Silent Film or Music Video.
Adobe Premiere Elements 4 also features a new audio mixer, the ability to animate titles, and an image stabilizer filter for reducing camcorder shake. Elements 4 also includes the ability to burn to Blu-ray discs.
One surprising omission from the new software package is that there appears to be no support for the AVCHD format. Since the majority of new HD camcorder use this format, it is interesting to see that there is no mention of it, I will try to ascertain whether or not Adobe has included or is going to include support for AVCHD in this version.
UPDATE: Adobe has informed me that they are working on support for AVCHD in Premiere Elements 4 and plan to include it in a future update. No ETA at the moment, but you can rest assured that you will get AVCHD support at some point.
Adobe Premiere Elements 4 is available immediately for download and will be available from your favorite retailer very soon. New users are looking at $99.99 for Premiere Elements 4 on its own, and previous owners can upgrade for $79.99.
