New Era Production Studio From Adobe
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Adobe has released a new video and graphics production suite pitched as the most complete post-production solution available.

The new suite is an extension of the company’s highly successful Creative Suite and includes new versions of After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, Encore DVD. The bundle also introduces a host of new tools such as Dynamic Link and Flash Video export capabilities designed to improve workflow in production houses.

The workflow improvements afforded by Adobe Dynamic Link will allow users to move After Effects compositions directly into Adobe Premiere Pro and Encore DVD, without having to render them first. Changes are automatically updated, so users can instantly see refinements in context.

Additionally, a new unified interface makes the switch between packages seamless for the user while a new level of integration allows users to do things like capture footage using Premiere Pro from within After Effects.

A full-featured file browser, Adobe Bridge, can be launched independently or accessed from any Production Studio component, while the new Clip Notes leverages PDF format to expedite the client review and feedback process by supporting a commenting interface for video and audio. Reviewers can add timecode-accurate comments to the video, which can then be exported and returned to the editor as PDF files. Once imported into Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, the comments are shown as markers in the timeline, providing frame-accurate feedback for the editor.

The Production Studio suite also includes Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator CS2 and more than eight GB of royalty-free design assets to give any level user a head start on their creative project.

Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio is available in a Standard edition (After Effects Standard, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop with Dynamic Link) for $1999 or $2999 for the Premium edition.

Of particular interest to existing users the company announced new versions of Encore, Premier Pro and After Effects.

Adobe Encore DVD 2.0 simplifies the DVD creation process and increases productivity with a new Slideshow editor, Flowchart view, interactive menus, and royalty-free templates and images.

“Adobe Encore DVD 2.0 rounds out our post-production solution for video and audio to create a completely integrated authoring environment,” said Jim Guerard, vice president of product management, Web and Video Solutions for Adobe. “With its added workflow enhancements and advanced integration with industry-leading applications-Photoshop, After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro-Adobe Encore enables video professionals to create DVDs that best showcase their creative work.” 

Release 2.0 also features a completely new flowchart window providing an efficient graphical view of the navigation of DVD projects which can be used at all stages of DVD production. Navigational links with drag and drop support make it easy to work within the innovative interface layout designed to reduce clutter.

Adobe Encore DVD 2.0 for Microsoft Windows XP carries an estimated street price of $629 (upgrades start at $269).

The new video editing application Premiere Pro 2.0 offers greater integration with After Effects to make layered files transportable between the two. Adobe says that deeper creative control makes it possible to fine tune and adjust virtually every aspect of the production to get the desired results.

Adding native support for HD, SD, and HDV adds greater format flexibility
and with new support for the AJA Xena HS real time encoding card, the app is now a professional level solution pitched at a pro-sumer price point. Estimated street price is $1499 (upgrades start at $349).

Release 2.0 of Audition takes digital audio editing to a new level, supporting real-time, instant audio feedback while mixing thanks to a completely redesigned low-latency mixing engine.

For high levels of mixing power, audio professionals can monitor audio inputs through the signal chain and record parameter changes in real time. These fast and accurate tools are tightly integrated into the Multi-track View, which supports an unlimited number of tracks and can record up to 80 simultaneous live inputs.

Street price should be $629 (upgrades $229).

After Effects 7.0 adds support for OpenGL and Flash video export capabilities. The inclusion of a range of canned animation presets offer shortcuts to professional level animations. Users can quickly create great-looking animations with hundreds of fully-customisable Animation and Behavior presets for animating text, effects, transitions, and backgrounds.

Like other applications in the new range, Adobe has done a lot of work on the user interface for After Effects as the result of user feedback. With dockable panels, users can eliminate overlapping windows and palettes, re-arrange panels while saving their customised workspace.

After Effects 7.0 has an estimated street price of $1799 for the Professional edition and $1249 for the Standard edition. Upgrade pricing is around $359.

 

See the Adobe Website for more detail.

http://www.adobe.com/products/productionstudio/main.html

 

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