Editing and video content creation workflows are about to get easier and more exciting, with major updates coming soon to Creative Cloud, bringing more Adobe magic, expanded support for cutting edge technologies, and an even more connected creative experience. At NAB 2014 Adobe will preview the next wave of innovation in pro video, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Prelude, Adobe Audition, Adobe SpeedGrade, Adobe Story, Adobe Media Encoder and Adobe Anywhere for video.
A more powerful NLE
The Adobe pro video applications already set the standard for integration, and the next wave adds even more interoperability. Two major new features in Adobe Premiere Pro CC leverage After Effects technologies to let editors do even more within their NLE. With Live Text templates, users can modify text in After Effects compositions without leaving Premiere Pro. Powerful new Masking and Tracking in Premiere Pro make it easy to add feathered masks that follow a subject through a shot. That makes it a breeze to add an effect to a moving object, or to blur out faces or logos for the duration of a shot. Both features include support for Dynamic Link so clips with Live Text templates or Masking and Tracking data can be opened in After Effects for additional fine-tuning or additional animation.
With the new Master Clip effect feature, changes that are applied to a Master Clip ripple down to every part of that clip in a sequence—so there’s no need to copy and paste effects to each clip individually. The Premiere Pro update also offers a faster editing workflow with improved handling of large projects and accelerated sorting and searching in the Project panel, as well as enhanced graphics performance, with support for a wider range of GPUs, including GPU debayering for RED media.
“Premiere Pro offers industry-leading support for the latest file formats and hardware, so that today’s editors can handle almost anything you can throw at them, whether it’s 4K RAW material, or footage from one of the new cameras, like the ALEXA AMIRA,” said Al Mooney, senior product manager. “And with all the new integrations between Premiere Pro and other Creative Cloud tools and services, editors have never had more creative power at their finger tips.’ (watch Al Mooney's overview video showing the new Premiere Pro features)
A more connected After Effects
Along with the new Live Text Template and Masking and Tracking integration with Premiere Pro, After Effects artists will love the new keying effects for getting better results from compressed or badly-shot blue or green screen footage with the new Key Cleaner effect, especially in conjunction with the new Spill Suppressor effect for controlling color spills.
In addition, the After Effects CC update includes Kuler integration, so users can capture colors on their iPhone or in their browser and save them as color swatch themes, to use in motion graphics compositions, or as references for VFX work. Typekit integration provides access to over 700 fonts in the Adobe Typekit library, and the improved Media Browser makes it easy to navigate, including complex media types, such as P2 and XDCAM material.
“From high profile projects, like the Walking Dead, to repairing shots in independent features, we’re seeing fantastic visual effects work being done in After Effects,” said Steve Forde, principal product manager. “Features like the new keying tools bring a little more of that Adobe magic into the workflow and allow artists to move through shots that much more easily.” (Watch Steve Forde's video introducing the next After Effects update)
The complete filmmaker’s toolkit
The new updates also offer a more flexible Direct Link color pipeline between Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade CC, the powerful grading application included with Creative Cloud. The Direct Link integration now includes the ability to toggle the Lumetri effect on and off inside SpeedGrade and hide or show tracks or adjustment layers for an easier overview of complex timelines. The new Master Clip effect in Premiere Pro also works in SpeedGrade so grading adjustments applied to one part of a master clip automatically affect all the other parts of that clip on the timeline. With new broadcast standard scopes, including a new YUV Vectorscope, and more refined grading tools it’s never been easier to bring cinematic brilliance to video projects. (Watch product manager Patrick Palmer demo the new SpeedGrade features)
Adobe Audition CC, the Creative Cloud audio editing application, introduces support for Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus, making it easier to create deliverables for broadcast, along with enhance multitrack and custom channelization, so users can create audio with as many channels as required (Durin Gleaves shows off the new tools in Audition in this video)
The new update to Adobe Prelude CC, the ingest and logging app, introduces the Tag Panel, an innovation that dramatically speeds up shot logging by allowing users to create color-coded tags that can be added to footage with a single click. Building rough cuts in Prelude gets a lot simpler, too, with drag-and-drop assembly, ripple trimming, and new keyboard shortcuts.
Adobe Story CC Plus, the scriptwriting and project planning app, now offers support for Live Entertainment workflows, allowing broadcasters to customize scripts for programs with music-driven scripting and camera movements. Along with support for a huge range of formats, the new Adobe Media Encoder CC update can create DCPs for playback on Digital Cinema systems, and AS-11 content packages for creating broadcast deliverables. New fault-tolerant rendering auto-heals red and black frame issues without holding up your render queue (Watch Patrick Palmer show off the next AME update)
Open to working Anywhere
Adobe Anywhere for video is a collaborative workflow platform that empowers Premiere Pro, After Effects and Prelude users to work together using centralized media and assets across standard networks. Adobe Anywhere is a separate offering from Creative Cloud, but support for connecting to Adobe Anywhere is already built in for every seat of Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Prelude CC – as well as early access integration for After Effects. New features for the next Anywhere update include Hot Backup, providing real-time back up of the Collaboration Hub, Rough Cut Support, making it easier to start editing rough cuts in Prelude CC and finish sequences in Premiere Pro CC, as well as improved integration with After Effects CC which allows you to use Dynamic Link in Anywhere productions to place After Effects compositions in Premiere Pro sequences.
“We live in an incredible time with industries moving away from narrowly defined roles to a much more dynamic, more connected creative process,” said Bill Roberts, senior director or product management. It’s no exaggeration to say that to make a film today, all you need is a camera, a laptop, and Creative Cloud.”
Creative Cloud for everyone
There is a Creative Cloud plan for everyone, including monthly or annual individual memberships, Creative Cloud for Teams, which is ideal for small businesses and makes it easy to add, or remove seats depending on how many staff are involved with a project, as well as enterprise and educational editions.
To learn more about the next wave of innovation in Creative Cloud for video, register for a special online seminar – Thursday, April 10, 2014
Download our NAB 2014 What’s New (PDF)
Check out Film Riot's hilarious “Adobe and the Frog” video.
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