In some cases, power-user tools replace more accessible ones. The timeline now lets you collapse the A and B tracks for single-track editing or exclude tracks from the rendered movie. The Project window can display files as icons, thumbnails, or in a list format, complete with user-defined database fields, simple sorts, and Boolean searches. Premiere even boasts a Navigator window that makes it easier to maneuver and zoom the timeline. Extensively rewritten code builds in support for Microsoft DirectShow 5.0, Apple's QuickTime 3.0, and low-bandwidth Internet codecs, such as Real Networks' Real Video Streaming format.
Premiere delivers only a handful of new tools and effects.
Rudimentary title rolls and crawls are now automated, there are 14 additional audio filters, and you can control both audio and video filters with keyframes. Certain functions, such as a cross-dissolve transition, were noticeably slower in this version. A bug with the Intel Indeo 5.04 codec consistently produced a crash instead of a preview. Movies exported with the Indeo Interactive codec displayed glitches during transitions. Premiere's productivity-boosting interface is sure to appeal to professional video producers but is more difficult for dedicated Version 4.2 users to learn.