Adobe has updated its Premiere Pro video editing program with a host of new features. Many of the improved tools utilize the power of AI to deliver faster and more intuitive ways to work. Version 26 of the program also drops the Pro suffix and it simply called Premiere.
Object Masks
Adobe Premiere has a new AI-powered Object Mask so creating masks of complex moving subjects is easier than ever. You can simply hover and click to create an Object Mask to mask and track a person or an object. As you hover, visual overlays snap into place, making it easy to identify the subject you want to mask. You can also choose from six colored overlays or opt for a black and white Alpha view.
You can use lasso and rectangular editing tools to add or subtract areas from the Object Mask. You can soften or resize the mask with the feather and expansion controls as well. Object Mask uses a new assistive AI model from Adobe that’s entirely on-device.
Shape Masks
Shape Masks have been updated and improved in the latest version of Premiere. Adobe has redesigned the Ellipse, Rectangle, and Pen masks to give you more creative control. You can also work with effects to blur faces or relight parts of your image. You can generate Shape Masks direct from the Toolbar then resize, move, rotate and feather them with the improved creative controls in your program monitor. In addition, the redesigned Bezier curves deliver smoother mask customization, and you can choose colored overlays to preview your mask. You can add, subtract and mix multiple masks together using different blend modes as well.
Mask tracking
Adobe says that mask tracking is now up to 20 times faster than previous version of Premiere Pro. You can even see exactly how fast your mask is tracking in frames-per-second. Bi-directional tracking also means that you can find the best starting frame then track forward and backward with just one click. With 3D perspective tracking, you can anchor your masks to the surfaces of screens, walls or rotating faces as well.
Additionally, Premiere now offers live tracking previews. This means that you can watch the playback of your mask as it tracks and identify areas that may need additional refinement once tracking completes. If your track needs adjusting, there’s a new Frame track editing mode where Premiere will combine the corrections with the tracked keyframes. As a result, you don’t need to manually adjust every single tracked keyframe.
Other new features
Firefly Boards is an AI-first space where you can explore, iterate and collaborate in real time. With the latest update, you can now send multiple assets from Firefly Boards directly into your current Premiere project. There’s also a new Frame.io V4 panel in Premiere so that you can ingest assets, share cuts and sync notes without ever leaving the editing app. Plus, Adobe Stock is now integrated inside Premiere. You can browse over 52 million clips then preview, license and import them without leaving Premiere. Although you have to pay for most of the assets in Adobe Stock, there are 92,000 free ones.
What we think
Adobe has added some exciting new features to Premiere to speed up your workflow and improve your output. The AI-powered Object Masks promise to deliver fast and accurate masking options. With the concerns that exist around AI at the moment, it’s also good to see Adobe confirming that consumer data is never used to train its AI models.
The improvements to Shape Masks and mask tracking mean that you can spend more time creating and less time waiting on the software. If you use Premiere Pro you should look to update your installation as soon as you can. However, it’s best practice not to upgrade in the middle of a project if it can be helped.
Pricing and availability
The latest version of Premiere is available to download now. You will need an active subscription to Adobe’s Creative Cloud.
