New QuickTime features in Adobe Premiere to include Web streaming and native DV editing

San Jose, Calif., (April 19, 1999) (Nasdaq:ADBE)--The world of desktop video editing and distribution is being revolutionized by two emerging technologies--digital video (DV) cameras and streaming video on the Web. These technologies will put the ability to create and distribute video content into the hands of millions. One of the core video architectures helping to advance these technologies is the newly announced QuickTime 4. As a leader in video content creation, Adobe Systems today announced its support for QuickTime 4. Adobe's flagship video editing product, Adobe® Premiere®, will take advantage of a host of new features within QuickTime 4, including impressive new capabilities for video streaming on the Web and native DV editing. This update to Adobe Premiere will be available this summer as a free plug-in for registered customers. Also in this update will be new support for QuickTime effects.

Adobe's complete Dynamic Media solution includes Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects®, Adobe Photoshop®, and Adobe Illustrator®. Adobe Premiere software fulfills the most demanding editing needs of small studios, industrial video professionals, event videographers, and multimedia and Web developers. "With QuickTime 4 and QuickTime 4 Pro, the industry's most popular digital media architecture now delivers live streaming audio and video in a sleek new interface," said Phil Schiller, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple Computer. "Adobe's announced support for QuickTime 4 should bring impressive benefits to tens of thousands of Adobe Premiere users on both Macintosh and Windows platforms."

New Video Streaming Support
While the previous version of QuickTime supported streaming video, there were some important limitations. Videos were written to the user's disk during the viewing process, and there was no capability to jump to parts of the video which had not been downloaded. Now QuickTime 4 provides impressive streaming capabilities using industry-standard real-time streaming protocol (RTP/RTSP). This technology allows the user to instantly view video on the web without downloading to their disk, as well as to instantly jump to different parts of the video. Adobe Premiere users can now create these streaming movies easily. The user can edit their video in any supported format like MJPEG or DV, and then export "hinted" QuickTime movies for the web. These "hints" are additional tracks of information that allow Web servers to intelligently stream media over the Internet.

"There are tens of millions of QuickTime users on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms," said Bruce Chizen, Executive Vice President of Products and Marketing at Adobe Systems. "The ability to create QuickTime streaming movies directly from Premiere will greatly accelerate video production for the Web."

Native DV Support on the Macintosh
Adobe Premiere has also added a variety of new functions to support video editing on the Macintosh platform. These functions include the ability to directly control DV cameras, to capture and export DV video and to simultaneously playback video from both the Adobe Premiere timeline and through the DV camera. These capabilities are available due to new technology within QuickTime 4.

DV is one of the most exciting new technologies in the video creation arena. DV is a digital video format, as compared to analog formats like VHS and Hi-8. This digital format has many benefits, including excellent picture resolution, relatively low camera and tape cost, and no generational loss during the duplication and editing process. It is a format that is being rapidly adopted throughout the video industry.

"Adobe Premiere and the new G3 from Apple makes an outstanding DV editing platform," said Charles McConathy, president of ProMax Technology, one of the nation's leading resellers of Macintosh editing systems. "All of the features that an editor would need--batch capture, device control and flawless timeline playback--are available right out of the box. Your camera, a Mac and Adobe Premiere are all you need."

QuickTime Effects
Adobe Premiere ships with dozens of transitions and effects filters to create an impressive variety of visual effects. The new plug-ins for Premiere extend the functionality even further by adding support for the effects built into QuickTime 4. These effects include cool transitions like explosions and implosions, as well as filters like film noise and color balancing. The Premiere user can now add these QuickTime effects to their repetoire of video styling.

Pricing and Availability
Available this summer, the new QuickTime 4 plug-in for Adobe Premiere is free and will be available for download worldwide off the Web at www.adobe.com/products/premiere.

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems is a leading provider of graphic design, publishing, and imaging software for Web and print production, and the second largest desktop software company in the world with annual revenues approaching $1 billion. The company builds award-winning software solutions for Web and graphic designers, professional publishers, document-intensive organizations, business users, and consumers. Adobe's products enable customers to create, publish and deliver visually-rich images and documents across all print and electronic media. Adobe's worldwide headquarters is in San Jose, California and its web site is located at www.adobe.com.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems builds award-winning software solutions for Web and print publishing. Its graphic design, imaging, dynamic media, and authoring tools enable customers to create, publish and deliver visually-rich content for various types of media. The company's products are used by Web and graphic designers, professional publishers, document-intensive organizations, business users, and consumers. Adobe is the fourth largest U.S.-based personal software company, with annual revenues approaching $1 billion. It employs over 2,400 employees worldwide and has operations in North America, Europe, the Pacific Rim, Japan and Latin America. Adobe's worldwide headquarters are in San Jose, California and its web site is located at www.adobe.com.