Adobe Buys Video Software Co. Serious Magic

Adobe Systems has snapped up video software company Serious Magic in a bid to capitalize on the increased prevalence of video on the Web.

Serious Magic is known for easy-to-use video editing tools aimed at home and business users. They include Visual Communicator, for recording and editing video presentations, and Vlog It, for posting video to blogs.

Adobe will continue to sell the Serious Magic products and also combine the company’s technologies in future Adobe products, it said Wednesday. Adobe’s video software includes the Premiere Elements editing suite and Flash Video, which is used to deliver video at YouTube and MySpace.com.

Serious Magic, based in Folsom, Calif., is privately held, and financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Adobe said the purchase won’t have a material impact on its finances. Mark Randall, Serious Magic’s chief executive officer, will become chief strategist in Adobe’s Dynamic Media division.

Serious Magic also makes Ovation, for customizing PowerPoint presentations, and DV Rack, for recording video directly from a camcorder to a hard drive.

The acquisition should help Adobe compete better with its rivals in video, which include Corel’s Snapfire, Ulead Systems’ VideoStudio and AIST’s Movie DV.

It’s Adobe’s second acquisition this month. Earlier it bought some vector graphics technologies from Actimagine that it will incorporate into Adobe Flash Lite, which is for mobile phones.

-James Niccolai, IDG News Service (Paris Bureau)

Related Links:

• Adobe Releases Acrobat 8, Updates Creative Suite

• Adobe Buys Actimagine, Extends Mobile Offerings

• Adobe Contribute 4 Released

• Adobe Offers New Photoshop Lightroom Beta

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