Premiere Pro 22.6 Released – Enhanced Masking for Titles, Improved Auto Ducking

Software NewsIBC 2022

by Francesco AndreolaSeptember 8^th, 2022

Adobe has rolled out an update for Premiere Pro (v22.6) mainly focusing on the Essential Graphics panel, which now allows more granular control over masking options. Additionally, a new Fade Position control joins the audio Auto Ducking sliders, while two more effects are now GPU-accelerated.

Over the last few years, with the addition of banks of tools such as the Lumetri Color, Essential Sound, and Essential Graphics panels, Adobe has set a clear direction for the development of their editing platform.

Indeed, most of these functions are designed around speed, and can be helpful for video editors and content creators having to deal with tight deadlines on a daily basis. The latest version of Premiere Pro remarks this decision by polishing some of the graphics and audio tools introduced with previous releases. So let’s take a closer look at what’s new in Premiere Pro 22.6.

Premiere Pro 22.6: new graphic tools

The ability to use a text or shape to mask other graphic layers was previously available within the Essential Graphics panel in Premiere Pro. However, this would also affect the strokes and shadows of the layer being masked. Hence, a new Mask only Fill option has been added to allow better control when masking using text or shape layers.

Moreover, if users need to adjust the styling of their titles and graphics, including fonts and colors, there’s now a faster way to access the Essential Graphics panel. This consists of performing a right-click on the graphic element of interest directly within the Program Monitor. This opens up a contextual menu, which now includes an Edit properties option.

Finally, all titles and graphics in a sequence, including Motion Graphics templates, can now be exported as a text file. This option, which was previously only available for Captions and Transcripts, is designed to facilitate proofreading and review, especially for those collaborators who normally don’t have or need access to your timeline.

Premiere Pro 22.6: Fade Position slider for Auto Ducking

The Auto Ducking function in the Essential Sound panel works by automatically adjusting the level of a soundtrack or ambience track to make room for voices and dialogues. When rushing, I relied on this feature on past projects. However, there was a major caveat. Indeed, the auto-generated key frames had to be manually adjusted to achieve the desired timing.

That is no longer the case. Indeed, a new Fade Position slider is now available under the Auto Ducking options in the Essential Sound panel. Basically, it contracts or expands the timeframe of action of the Auto Ducking, without having to do it manually.

New GPU-accelerated effects and Initializing GPU dialog box

The Unsharp Mask and Posterize Time effects now benefit from GPU acceleration. Personally, I prefer using the Unsharp Mask effect rather than the Sharpness setting in the Lumetri Color panel, as it provides more options and better control.

Lastly, a new Initializing GPU dialog box pops up to inform the users about the status of the operation happening in the background. A GPU initialization is necessary after installing a fresh version of the software or performing a driver update.

Price and availability

If you already have an active Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you should now be able to update to Adobe Premiere Pro 22.6. On the other hand, if you’re new to Premiere Pro, you can purchase a 1-year plan from B&H for $239.88.

As a rule of thumb, keep in mind that it’s always a good idea to avoid updating the software if you’re in the middle of a project.

What is your go-to editing software? What do you think of the new features in Premiere Pro 22.6? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!