Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium beta

Elsa Wenzel CNET

Published: 30 Mar 2007

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Adobe's new CS3 Production Premium software package is built to serve the growing number of professionals and enthusiasts with creating film, Web and mobile phone content. For instance, an agency could use CS3 Production Premium to create a comprehensive advertising campaign in which TV commercials, Web sites and smartphones can share motifs without forcing creators to duplicate work (the new CS3 Master Collection takes this a step further.). Although Adobe representatives claim they don't intend to lure legions of users away from Apple's popular FinalCut Pro, we suspect that Adobe CS3 Production Premium's well-stocked arsenal may tempt many creative types seeking a comprehensive suite.

Adobe CS3 Production Premium is set for a summer release and will include the new Photoshop CS3 Extended, which integrates with Adobe's video editing tools and with Illustrator for vector graphics. Premiere and After Effects edit video (and unlike the previous version, this iteration of Premiere now runs on the Mac), Ultra assists with chromakeying and Soundbooth edits audio. OnLocation, a lightly repackaged version of DVRack (acquired last year), can help videographers tweak a shoot on site in the studio or out in the field. Flash and Encore serve interactive designers.

Adobe has focused on integrating the various applications, revamping Flash with an interface that better resembles its other offerings and looks less like the work of its former maker, Macromedia. The Production Premium bundle offers shared keyboard shortcuts, enhanced tweaks to workflows and streamlined management of palettes. Shared file formats and dragging and dropping allow you to move content briskly between the applications. In the process, the programs will keep layers, colour settings and styles intact. Flash, Fireworks and Dreamweaver provide native support for Photoshop files, keeping layers intact; Illustrator files get the same treatment in Flash and Fireworks. You can also export Photoshop layers to Flash or Flash Video, and export its video layers to After Effects and Premiere Pro.

Adobe's Dynamic Link technology now enables video editors to move content between Premiere, AfterEffects and Encore while maintaining editing access. The CS3 versions of Premiere, Soundbooth, Encore and OnLocation, in addition to Dynamic Link, require Intel-based Mac computers, which all of the other applications can run on in addition to PowerPC-based Macs.

Photoshop CS3 Extended includes features for animators and video editors who want to render their work for After Effects. The new Movie Paint feature allows you to edit movie frames as you would with images in Photoshop. This version of Photoshop also incorporates a new Clone Source palette and Onion Skinning. New document profiles include default settings for various types of media, including those for video and the Web. The new Crop Area tool lets you draw a rectangle appropriate to the type of media you're creating and to view the content within that frame.

New creative tools in After Effects CS3 Pro include Shape Layers, which allow you to create vector shapes and text without opening Illustrator. Adobe is also introducing Puppet animation for 2D images. Want to make a 2D image of an actor look flexible? This tool lets you do so by adding simple pinpoints, say, to his hands and feet, and then stretching them with the stroke of a mouse. You can also tweak new, preset Brainstorm animations to your liking. Other CS3 additions include the capability to apply 3D effects to individual text characters. And After Effects will allow you to take notes attached to specific points of time in a movie or animation, and then share the comments with others through Clip Notes.

In Premiere CS3 Professional, there will be less-complicated controls for slowing down and speeding up motion in videos. Time Remapping lets you create slow-motion and other time effects with keyframe precision within the timeline.

Used in tandem with Premiere Pro, OnLocation (formerly DV Rack HD) enables you to capture digital and high-definition clips via FireWire to a Windows XP or Vista hard drive instead of to tape, eliminating the need to capture and import later. During the recording process, OnLocation allows you to monitor levels and correct errors and inconsistencies that may be hard to spot from a camera alone. This application even enables prerecording that can capture something that happened up to 30 seconds before you pressed the Record button. Mac users will need Windows and the separate BootCamp tool to use OnLocation.

Adobe intends to ship Production Premium in the summer, following the Q2 release of the Web and Print suites. Unlike the beta trials of CS3 Web and Design, we have not tested any iteration of CS3 Production Premium. Adobe CS3 Production Premium will be available for £1,409 (ex. VAT); for £599 (ex. VAT) for those upgrading from Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio Premium or Standard; or for £1,159 (ex. VAT) for those with After Effects or Adobe Premiere Pro.

For now, Photoshop CS3 beta is available free for download; it has a two-day timeout, which you can extend with a valid Photoshop CS serial number. Free beta trials of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional will become available for download from Adobe Labs on 16 April.

Professionals who need to create consistent, cross-platform work for video, Web, mobile gadgets and print should consider theCreative Suite 3 Master Collection. Those who work mostly with layouts for print media should consider Creative Suite 3 Design Premium; while Web designers may only need Creative Suite 3 Web Premium. Hobbyists or those on a slim budget might want to consider software from Corel instead, such as Painter X and ULead Video Studio 10 Plus, or Apple's iLife suite. Overall, however, Adobe CS3 Production Premium looks like it will be the most comprehensive software package of its kind on the market. We'll report back with rated reviews after we test the various applications.

 

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