Realize your creative vision with the countless new features and enhancements in Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium software, including support for next-generation tapeless workflows, project intelligence with XMP metadata support, powerful speech recognition technology, enhanced integration, and more. These essential innovations and improvements combine to give you the most important benefit of all–more time to explore, create, and deliver compelling productions.
Search for spoken dialog, make video clips searchable, and access rights management information and other types of project intelligence thanks to new support for XMP metadata across Production Premium. Click to enlarge.
Save time on every project by dynamically linking content between select components of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium. With Adobe Dynamic Link, you can see and hear updates instantly–without rendering–as you refine your project’s assets. Click to enlarge.
Use the powerful new Speech Search feature in both Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Soundbooth CS4 to automatically generate metadata that makes video searchable by linking the spoken word to timecode-specific text. Click to enlarge.
The redesigned user interface puts all of the controls for Adobe OnLocation on a single screen, while the Shot List (inset) lets you input vital information, comments, and more. Click to enlarge.
Switch to Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium
Licensed owners of Premiere Pro 1.x, 2.0 or CS3, Any version of Premiere, After Effects Professional 6.x, 7.0 or 8.0, Illustrator CS, CS2 or CS3, Photoshop CS, CS2 or CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Flash MX 2004, MX Professional 2004, Basic 8, Professional 8 or CS3 Professional can upgrade to Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium.
Top reasons to switch to Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium
Powerful integration, including expanded Adobe Dynamic Link, for exceptional productivity
Work with unparalleled efficiency, so you have more time to craft your vision. For example, expanded Dynamic Link lets you link content between Creative Suite 4 Production Premium components, so you can see updates immediately without rendering.
Project intelligence with XMP metadata
Capture valuable XMP metadata from your camera, and accumulate key information throughout the production process for intelligent media management. Use new Speech Search technology in Adobe Premiere Pro and Soundbooth to turn spoken dialog into metadata, making it easy to find particular clips and make video assets searchable.
Direct-to-disk recording and tapeless workflows
Shoot footage directly to disk from non-file-based cameras with redesigned Adobe OnLocation CS4, which now runs natively on Windows and Intel based Mac OS systems. Import and natively edit a wide variety of tapeless formats–including AVCHD, P2, and XDCAM EX–without transcoding or rewrapping in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.
Wide variety of output options
Deliver on film, on video, on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, online, and on mobile devices with smooth efficiency to reach more audiences.
Collaboration with clients and colleagues
Use the Adobe ConnectNow service to share project storyboards online before you shoot. Access improved Resource Central to find new assets, and quickly find news and inspiration in Bridge Home.
Editing efficiency with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
Utilize scalable, efficient, and flexible nonlinear video editing capabilities and superior integration with other Creative Suite 4 components to tell your most compelling stories. New native support for tapeless workflows and more than 50 enhancements make the editing process more efficient.
Motion graphics and visual effects with Adobe After Effects CS4
Be more productive: Searchable timelines and projects, easier navigation of nested compositions, expanded 3D compositing options including the ability to import 3D layers from Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, and the new Cartoon effect help you work more efficiently and open up new creative possibilities.
Industry-standard design with Adobe Illustrator CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended
Use an expanded set of creative options in Adobe Illustrator for designing static assets and creating storyboards, and take advantage of enhanced 3D support, Vanishing Point, and improved video support in Photoshop CS4 Extended to enhance your projects.
Interactive experiences with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
Work with a new animation model that makes Adobe Flash CS4 Professional easier to learn for new users, adds efficiency for proficient users, and provides even greater control for creating immersive interactive experiences.
Enhanced audio editing with Adobe Soundbooth CS4
Create and arrange audio clips for your film, video, and interactive projects for Flash with more flexibility using convenient, task-based tools along with new multitrack audio project support.
What’s included
Adobe After Effects CS4
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended
Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
Adobe Illustrator CS4
Adobe Soundbooth CS4
Adobe OnLocation CS4
Adobe Encore CS4
Top new benefits of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium
Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium includes hundreds of new features and enhancements. The following are some of the most important benefits of this new release.
New integration, including expanded Dynamic Link, for exceptional productivity
Tighter-than-ever integration among Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium components lets you work faster so you can stay in the creative flow.
Adobe Dynamic Link
In Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, the expanded Adobe Dynamic Link gives you tighter-than-ever integration when moving assets between After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, and Encore. Work faster and stay in the creative flow by eliminating intermediate rendering when you make changes to assets, whether you’re editing a sequence of clips in Adobe Premiere Pro, changing a composition in After Effects, refining a project in Encore, or sweetening audio in Soundbooth.
Here are some of the ways you can use Dynamic Link:
Send sequences directly from Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 to Adobe Encore CS4 without rendering them first. Sequences open immediately in Encore–any changes you then make in Adobe Premiere Pro are automatically reflected in Encore. Encore also reads chapter markers from the sequence, making it easy to set DVD chapter markers directly in the Adobe Premiere Pro Timeline.
Use sequences from Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 as a layer in your After Effects composition without rendering. Any changes you make to the sequence in Adobe Premiere Pro are automatically reflected in your After Effects comp.
Dynamically link Adobe Premiere Pro sequences and After Effects compositions to Adobe Soundbooth for quick audio sweetening.
As with previous versions of Production Premium, you can dynamically link After Effects compositions to an Adobe Premiere Pro project, where the comp looks and acts just like any other clip. However, when you make changes in After Effects, they’re automatically reflected in the Adobe Premiere Pro sequence. Similarly, you can dynamically link After Effects compositions to Adobe Encore projects.
Import live Photoshop 3D layers into After Effects
Leverage the new support Photoshop CS4 offers for 3D workflows by importing 3D models and using industry-standard painting tools to enhance their appearance. (For more information, see page 12.) Then, import Photoshop 3D layers into After Effects, move them in space, animate cameras around them, adjust lighting, and composite them with other elements. This new integration makes it easier than ever to composite 3D elements into a scene, and saves time by enabling you to make more design decisions right in After Effects.
Export After Effects comps as layered projects for Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
In Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, After Effects compositions can now be exported as layered projects that can be opened in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional. Native FLV, PNG, and JPG sources that have been transformed or faded are passed straight through, while many After Effects assets, such as text or Illustrator artwork, are preserved as vectors. Pixel-based layers–including video and rich graphics–may be rendered to a variety of formats including FLV, and are then presented as layers in Flash CS4 Professional.
Roundtrip audio editing
Convenient roundtrip editing saves you time. Now you can use the Edit In Soundbooth command from within Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro, or After Effects to send assets directly to Soundbooth, where you can clean up or enhance your audio. After your edits are complete, the files easily update in the Timeline or Project panel of Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, or After Effects CS4. You also can drive animation or create captions in Flash by laying down markers in Soundbooth CS4 and exporting them as XML or FLV files. Plus, the new Adobe Sound Document (ASND) format lets you save your multitrack audio projects created in Adobe Soundbooth as ASND files that can be easily shared with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and After Effects CS4 software.
These new features build on the integration previously available in Production Premium, offering you new ways to move assets fluidly between components as you refine your work.
Robust timecode display options throughout Adobe Premiere Pro give you the ability to work with SMPTE or frame-count timecode. Click to enlarge.
Navigating nested compositions in Adobe After Effects CS4 is made easier by the Composition navigator along the top of each Composition panel (right). A Mini Flowchart (below) reveals the nesting organization of related compositions Click to enlarge.
The new Cartoon effect in Adobe After Effects CS4 allows you to convert live action footage (left) into stylized imagery (right). Click to enlarge.
Enhancements to 3D support in Photoshop CS4 Extended include the ability to merge 2D layers (left) onto 3D layers (right)Ñeffectively turning a 2D image into part of the 3D object. Click to enlarge.
Project intelligence with new XMP metadata support
Metadata is the unsung hero of an efficient workflow, and the key to the perennial challenge of making video searchable. You have great footage, but do you know where it was shot, who the talent is, and if you have the rights to use it? And more importantly, can you–and your viewers–find the video content that’s most relevant? Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium delivers innovative, industry-leading solutions that answer these questions.
New XMP metadata support
This release of Production Premium pioneers new ways of using XMP metadata to make video assets searchable in After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, Encore, and OnLocation. Other components of Production Premium, including Illustrator, Photoshop Extended, Adobe Flash Professional, and Adobe Bridge, also offer XMP support for a complete, end-to-end metadata solution.
Metadata describes the content or characteristics of a file. With XMP metadata-enabled applications such as the components of Production Premium, meaningful descriptions and titles, searchable keywords, and copyright information can be captured and embedded in the file using a format that is easily understood by you as well as by software applications and hardware devices. And, as an open-source and extensible technology, XMP is freely available to developers and provides industry partners with standards-based building blocks to develop optimized workflow solutions.
Use new Speech Search to make dialogue in video assets searchable
Use powerful new speech recognition technology in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Soundbooth CS4 to turn spoken dialogue into text-based metadata that makes your video searchable. This new capability solves one of the biggest challenges in taking video online by automatically turning any spoken word into a keyword that points precisely to the places in a clip where the word is spoken. This unleashes considerable power, for both post-production professionals and all of us who watch video online. During the editing process, creative professionals can use Speech Search to quickly find the relevant points in a particular clip, or easily locate the right clip based on what gets said in it. Equally importantly, the time-accurate text that corresponds to spoken words is embedded in the output you render from Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Soundbooth CS4, so your video is searchable by other tools that can read XMP metadata, such as search and indexing engines.
In Adobe Premiere Pro, Speech Search can significantly speed the time-consuming process of wading through large quantities of footage to find the relevant clips. For example, you can quickly find all of the clips in a project that contain a particular word, or the opening lines of a scene from the script you’re shooting, by searching from the Project panel. Once you’ve narrowed your search, you can search within a particular clip for a word or phrase by using the Source Monitor, or you can skim the preliminary transcript that appears in the Metadata panel. Both approaches are significantly faster than manually scrubbing through a clip to find, for example, the spot in a long interview where the subject talks about a transformative trip to Zambia. Additionally, you can tab from word to word in the Metadata panel to make edits while ensuring that text remains synchronized to the spoken word. Soundbooth CS4 enables similar functionality, and exports text as cue points to drive animations in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional.
Acquire and retain asset intelligence throughout the production process
Because it’s easiest to capture key information about your assets when you’re creating and refining them, Production Premium offers automated processes for accumulating intelligence about them at every step of the production process. This asset intelligence–stored as XMP metadata–can speed the editing process, and it also adds value by enabling downstream searchability, tracking, and other types of communication–leaving creative professionals free to focus on visual decision-making.
During preproduction, create storyboards and plan camera moves using Photoshop CS4 Extended, Illustrator CS4, and After Effects CS4. Then, build a shot list in Adobe OnLocation CS4 that lays out your shooting sequence in advance and lets you keep track of details such as shot location, production team or DP notes, audio gear used, and so on.
When you use Adobe OnLocation CS4 on-set, essential metadata–such as lens focal length, white balance settings, and frame rate–are captured automatically. You can manually add to this metadata at the shoot to indicate which shot is the best take, or to log notes while recording. If you reshoot a scene, each new take inherits the metadata from the master shot. Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, After Effects CS4, Soundbooth CS4, and Encore CS4 all include the Metadata panel, so you can view and track these and other important details throughout your post-production workflow. Metadata also makes your assets searchable within the Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 Project panel, so you can locate assets and clips by filename, date, time, camera setting such as resolution or frame rate, shot location, or any other search term you’ve added to your asset or clip. (For more information about Adobe OnLocation CS4, see page 7.)
In After Effects, you can add new project- and layer-level metadata to streamline the flow of information within your projects. The new Metadata panel allows you to view and edit the metadata embedded in your media, which also makes it easier to integrate After Effects CS4 into an asset-management system. Metadata can also be accessed and edited using custom scripting. For example, you can generate a report of stock footage used in a composition in order to help determine accurate payment for rights-managed assets.
Next-generation tapeless camera support and tapeless workflows
Efficiently edit a variety of tapeless camera formats natively to save time and to retain the pristine image quality of your source material–without transcoding or rewrapping. You can import and natively edit content from Panasonic P2 cameras in DVCPRO, DVCPROHD, and AVCHD formats, and across multiple P2 cards. Similarly, you can import and edit content from Sony XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD cameras directly. Access the footage you want before you import it by viewing camera metadata and organizing files in the Media Browser panel. You can also edit directly from the P2 card via the camera or a card reader, or the SxS card using the camera or a card reader (XDCAM EX only), or you can use the Media Browser to transfer content to disk for better performance.
Connectivity with colleagues, clients, and peers
Tap into the power of the online community through your creative desktop. New online services accessed from within Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium let you search for help from the online community; share your screen with colleagues or clients in a few quick clicks; get color inspiration from your peers; and more. With new online services in Creative Suite 4, you can take your ideas to the next level.
Collaborate with your colleagues and clients
When you’re collaborating with colleagues and clients, Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium offers three ways to speed up the pre- and post-production process.
During the planning stage, you can initiate an Adobe ConnectNow web-based meeting session from within Illustrator CS4 or Photoshop CS4 and share storyboard ideas and concepts online with up to two guests at no additional service charge. ConnectNow is one of a set of services on Acrobat.com, which also offers file sharing and storage, PDF conversion, and an online word processor. These additional services are accessible via the Acrobat.com AIR application (included) and your web browser. (Internet connection required.)
For client review of dailies, use Encore to create a SWF file version of your project compatible with Adobe Flash Player to share the day’s shoot online.
Expedite post-production review cycles with Adobe Clip Notes, available in both new and previous versions of Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. Embed your video in a PDF file, then simply e-mail the file to your client to review and add timecode-specific comments, which you can view mapped to the Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effects Timelines.
Collaborate with your peers
Get the power of an online search engine within Production Premium, but with more targeted results thanks to Adobe Community Help. Searchable content includes in-depth product-specific Help, plus additional Adobe and third-partycontent chosen by experts in the production and design communities. With Adobe Community Help, you can find the focused answers you need to remove roadblocks. It’s the next best thing to shouting over your cubicle wall for help. (Internet connection required for extended content.)
Adobe Kulerª panel
You don’t have to be a digital artist to pick the right colors for your graphics, titles, and lower-third graphics. Using Adobe Kuler, explore, create, and share color themes in Illustrator, Photoshop, or Flash. Kick start your creative projects with color inspiration from the online Kuler community. Browse thousands of themes by newest, most popular, or highest rated; or search themes by tag word, title, or creator. Themes can be downloaded and moved to your Swatches panel with a single click. Or use an interactive color wheel that supports standard harmony rules to develop your own color themes that you can save, move to your Swatches panel, and upload to share with others. (Internet connection required for community functionality.)
Adobe Bridge Home
Visit Adobe Bridge Home–an online channel available in Adobe Bridge CS4–and stay up to date with what’s new from Adobe and the video and audio production, design, web development, and communities at large. Watch the latest video tutorials for your Creative Suite 4 software, listen to a podcast interview with a leading designer, or learn about the next training event in your community. Discover tips and resources that can help you work smarter and faster, making the most of your Production Premium software. (Internet connection required.)
Adobe Resource Central
Access product-related news and tutorials by using the Resource Central panel in Adobe Soundbooth, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Encore. Jump-start your audio projects with drag-and-drop efficiency using Soundbooth Scores and audio effects offered online. (Internet connection required. There are additional fees for some content accessed through Resource Central.)
Adobe OnLocation CS4 for shooting direct to disk and monitoring footage
Adobe OnLocationCS4 is powerful cross-platform (Windows and Intel-based Macs), direct-to-disk recording and monitoring software that helps you shoot better and faster. The completely redesigned interface puts control of all functions on a single screen and features the familiar look and feel of other Adobe creative applications. Use the professional on-set monitoring tools to calibrate your camera, set levels, and monitor signals to obtain the best quality video and audio and avoid time-consuming and potentially costly problems.
Shooting and capturing video directly to disk lets you record a two-hour event as a single clip or shoot as many takes of a scene as you need to get it right–no changing tapes, no solid-state memory time limits, no missed action. It’s a director’s dream come true–but when you’re editing, finding that one perfect take among dozens of outtakes can be difficult. To make it easier, Adobe OnLocation CS4 offers a Shot List that enables you to re-record multiple takes of the same scene retaining the metadata automatically from the original master shot. When you edit the footage in Adobe Premiere Pro, you can search for a favorite take simply by searching for metadata logged while you originally recorded the footage. Or, run the speech-to-text feature in Adobe Premiere Pro, which uses new metadata support to find words spoken by the talent.
Improved editing efficiency with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 includes more than 50 of the most requested editing enhancements that make the nonlinear editing workflow more efficient. These powerful and flexible editing features let you navigate your tools more quickly, access the assets you need faster, view detailed information in the manner you want to view it, speed up work in the Timeline with new keyboard shortcuts, eliminate time-consuming intermediate rendering with Adobe Dynamic Link (for more information, see page 3), and much more.
Timesaving editing enhancements
The many new features designed to help you work more productively include the ability to:
Create new subclips by simply dragging content directly from the Timeline to the Project panel.
Align new keyframes with existing ones by placing them precisely from within the Effect Controls panel–as you move keyframes, they snap to Sequence Markers, the playhead, clip edges, and other video or audio keyframes.
Use Copy and Paste to apply transitions while maintaining destination attributes like transition duration.
Paste clips directly at the end of previous clips–the playhead jumps automatically to the end of pasted clips.
Use the new Motion Editor panel in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional to control keyframes more precisely. Click to enlarge.
The ability to transform 2D elements in 3D space opens up the possibility of creating new looks in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional. Click to enlarge.
Multitrack support lets you quickly assemble all your audio elements, and save them as an ASND file that can be shared with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and Adobe After Effects CS4 software. Click to enlarge.
Adobe Media Encoder lets you use any combination of sequences and clips as source files and encode to an extensive variety of formats. Click to enlarge.
Robust timecode display
Precise editing and communication with clients are facilitated by the accurate display of timecode information. Whether you’re working with news footage gathered in the field, telecined film footage, or clips shot on a camcorder that supports timecode only by way of an accessory pack, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 offers you a variety of timecode display options. The source-media timecode display format acts as the default in both the Project panel and Source Monitor. If there is no timecode or frame rate associated with the media, say if it’s a still graphic or was shot on a camera that doesn’t record timecode, Adobe Premiere Pro will use the format specified in the Project Settings. You can display SMPTE-style timecode or frame-count timecode that you can set to start at frame 0 or 1.
Place items in the Timeline with timecode accuracy by dragging and dropping them. See up-to-date timecode information in the Info panel as you drag clips. Choose the appropriate timecode display mode separately for each sequence in your project. Use any supported timecode format as the timecode display mode in the Timeline, Info panel, and Timecode controls. View source-media information for clips in the Timeline using the Info panel.
More options with multiple selections
In the same manner as Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro now allows you to create and save combinations of effects as a single preset and apply them to multiple clips in a single action, helping you to work more efficiently. In Adobe Premiere Pro, applying a default transition across multiple selected clips, adjusting the speed/duration of a large number of clips all at once, or adjusting the audio levels on a number of selected clips without having to tweak them individually are just a few examples of how you can reduce time-consuming repetitive tasks.
Motion graphics and visual effects with industry-standard After Effects CS4
Packed with enhancements that streamline everything you do, Adobe After Effects CS4 is a must-have release that makes you more productive. Dozens of new features make it easier than ever to transform creative ideas into reality.
Searchable timelines and projects, plus easier nested-comp navigation
As your projects become more complex, it can be challenging to find a specific layer or other asset–especially when you’re on deadline or when you’re working in an unfamiliar project. After Effects CS4 eliminates this frustration by including live search functions directly inside the Timeline and Project panels. This new feature saves considerable time scrolling through lists and twirling open layers to manually reveal their contents. You can search projects for specific footage items or footage properties, and you can search timelines for layer names, properties, comments or expressions, effect names or parameters, and more. Search results appear as soon as you start typing, and can be limited to selected layers or may encompass your entire timeline or project.
Many artists use nested compositions inside After Effects as a way to break complex projects into smaller, more manageable elements. To make these composition hierarchies easier to navigate, After Effects CS4 features a Composition navigator along the top of each Composition panel, which displays the names of the incoming (nested) compositions as well as the outgoing (parent) compositions for the currently active composition. A Mini Flowchart also reveals the nesting organization of related compositions. This allows you to more easily visualize and navigate the structure of complex projects: You merely have to click on a composition’s name in the Mini Flowchart to instantly switch to it.
Cartoon effect
The new Cartoon effect allows you to create a stylized look for your video or other animated imagery, instantly applying the look of hand-drawn cel animation or watercolorpaintings to live action or computer-generated 3D imagery. Stylize footage for fresh new looks, or rescue low-resolution or poor-quality footage by smoothing and abstracting it. This new effects is useful for motion graphics and interactive designers looking to craft their own stylized treatments, as well as videographers and editors looking to eliminate the painstaking process of creating this popular effect by hand.
Streamlined 3D workflows
In addition to the ability to import Photoshop 3D layers (see page 4), After Effects CS4 contains two other major enhancements that make working in 3D more fluid.
X-, Y-, and Z-position properties can be keyframed separately, greatly easing the crafting of complex animation moves, such as having a camera smoothly change elevations and then hold while maintaining a constant forward or sideways velocity, or creating bounce-style actions. These separate properties may be collapsed back into a unified set of keyframes that control all properties at once.
A new Unified Camera tool takes advantage of a three-button mouse, allowing you to quickly switch between Track XY, Track Z, and Orbit movements. This allows you to work more intuitively while setting up camera positions. It also makes the experience of using cameras in After Effects more similar to other 3D applications.
Imagineer’s Mocha for Adobe After Effects for 2.5D planar motion tracking
After Effects CS4 includes Imagineer’s Mocha for Adobe After Effects, a stand-alone application with advanced 2.5D planar motion tracking. Mocha for After Effects helps solve problematic shots that are difficult to accomplish with point-based trackers, such as footage with objects moving out of the frame, lack of detail in the underlying footage, motion blur, and heavy grain or noise. Now you can avoid the guesswork and inaccuracies that result from hand tracking challenging shots, speeding up the process of generating solid four-point tracks, yielding position, scale, rotation, and shear information resulting in perspective-matched tracks.
Expanded 3D, motion, and compositing in Photoshop CS4 Extended
Photoshop CS4 Extended has added new features that help you be more productive. The new Adjustment and Masks panels provide quick access to tools you need to adjust color, tone, and selections of your images. New video enhancements include audio controls to simplify previewing and exporting sound with your animation. New 3D editing and compositing features let you paint directly on 3D objects, easily edit textures, and composite any design directly with and into your 3D models. Motion design support in Photoshop CS4 Extended gives you faster and easier access to individual frames and keyframes when painting or editing. Further, not only can you enhance your animation with 3D objects; you can add animation to texture maps on 3D objects–all within Photoshop CS4 Extended.
Expanded 3D editing and compositing
With Photoshop CS4 Extended, video and motion graphics designers can take advantage of three-dimensional assets created in today’s high-end modeling applications. Edit 3D properties such as lights, materials, and meshes, and add new lights to your image by taking advantage of the 3D engine. For the first time, you can paint directly on 3D models without having to unwrap any textures, and you can merge 2D layers directly onto 3D layers. Animate your texture maps by adding video layers to them. In addition to editing and manipulation, 3D support now includes the ability to create 3D objects directly from 2D images or depth maps. 2D pixel data (and/or layers) can also be rendered into a volume. Further, you can export 3D layers directly to common 3D file formats such as OBJ, KMZ, Collada, and U3D.
Powerful storyboarding capabilities
Photoshop CS4 Extended gives you more creative options for creating storyboards, animatics,and motion graphics effects. A revolutionary new illustration feature lets you paint and draw in Photoshop CS4 Extended as if you were working with canvas or paper on a table top. With the new Rotate View tool, you can simply spin your canvas to any orientation you desire–a boon to every tablet user and to illustrators in general. No pixel distortion, no craning your head to get the perspective you want, and no matter how you spin your canvas, Photoshop CS4 Extended adjusts your selections, grids, rulers, and other tools and features to match your chosen orientation.
Enhanced motion design
Adobe Photoshop is an essential part of the motion graphics workflow, and Photoshop CS4 Extended makes that workflow more efficient than ever, starting with enhanced preview of images composed of non-square pixels. You can now easily preview and export the audio content in a video file as well as the comments. Quickly turn on single-key shortcuts for animation, to greatly streamline your workflow. The Animation panel now lets you animate the 3D camera and object position in addition to render settings and cross sections. Plus, Adobe After Effects CS4 can now directly read Photoshop CS4 Extended 3D layers, as described on page 4. With the inclusion of expanded 3D editing features, Photoshop CS4 brings new depth to motion graphics workflows.
Preproduction productivity and scalable vector graphics with Adobe Illustrator CS4
Adobe Illustrator CS4 is all about what users have been asking for–productivity. As a video preproduction tool, the new multiple layout feature can help you create hand-drawn storyboards that can scale to accommodate whatever display mode you require–projected onscreen for viewing dailies, viewed at low resolutions over the web for remote review and approval, or even scaled to mobile device-friendly screen sizes so investors and other stakeholders can see what you’re doing on any screen, anywhere.
Scalable animated lower thirds
For post-production tasks such as the creation of onscreen graphics, Illustrator CS4 offers enhanced gradient tools to help you quickly create lower-third graphics and slates. Create a gradient of many colors and define the opacity of any or all individual colors. Being able to apply transparency within a gradient simplifies creating interaction between layers, and enables easy mixing and knockouts. You can use transparency to create cover-up fades or reveal underlying images. You can even apply multiple fills to a single object and set up some of those fills as gradients that include transparency that can easily accommodate multiple output options, from web-resolutions to high-definition video, without losing image quality.
Rich, interactive content with Flash CS4 Professional
As more and more clients demand video content to be delivered to the web, delivering projects that are high-quality but low-bandwidth has become imperative. Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium components now support H.264 using Adobe Media Encoder. You get two-pass variable bit-rate encoding, which automates the process of creating multiple encoded versions of your content. This makes higher quality video delivery easier and more reliable.
Object-based animation
Flash CS4 Professional now offers object-based animation, which dramatically simplifies designing in Flash while simultaneously providing greater control. Tweens are now applied directly to objects instead of keyframes, providing precise control over each of the individual animation attributes.
Motion Editor panel
With the new object-based animation model in Flash CS4 Professional, keyframes take on a new and significant role. You can now experience granular, independent control over every keyframe parameter, including rotation, size, scale, position, filters, and more, using the Motion Editor panel. Offering even more command over the creative presentation of your animations, the Motion Editor panel allows you to graphically control easing using curves.
3D transformations
Bringing perspective and dimension to your design can add an element of excitement and fun to any project. But until now, the ability to create motion was available only to expert users via ActionScript or other tools. Now, with Flash CS4, you can animate 2D objects through 3D space with new easy-to-use 3D transformation tools, greatly extending creative possibilities. Built for inexperienced and advanced users alike, the 3D transformationtools make motion effects available to everyone.
Metadata support
Flash CS4 Professional adds support for XMP metadata, which can be used to track assets across the production workflow. Additionally, metadata enables mobile devices to identify the type of content being played, allowing you to deliver a better user experience to mobile devices.
Everyday audio editing with Soundbooth CS4
You’ll find it easy to master your everyday audio editing needs for film, video, and rich media projects created in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro software with the convenient, task-based tools found in Soundbooth CS4. The addition of multitrack support provides more flexibility in arranging audio clips. Quickly match the volume of multiple audio clips, or match volume levels within a single audio clip. Adobe Dynamic Link provides tighter-than-ever integration between Soundbooth and Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and After Effects CS4. Plus, you can use the Edit In Soundbooth command from within Adobe Flash CS4 Professional or Adobe Premiere Pro to send assets directly to Soundbooth, where you can clean up or enhance your audio. After your edits are complete, the files automatically update in the timeline or project window of Adobe Flash CS4 Professional or Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.
Multitrack support
Sound for visuals usually comprises a variety of different elements: Dialogue tracks give voice to actors, animated characters, and featured talent; voice-overs supply narrative context; sound effects and ambient sounds create atmosphere and aural depth cues; and music provides emotional cues. The ability to work with multiple audio tracks–the most requested new feature from Adobe Soundbooth CS3 users–means you can assemble all the elements in a complex soundtrack into a final audio mixdown. Now you can work on more than one mono or stereo file at a time. Add tracks in the Project view to create new sounds with multiple audio clips, and mix multiple audio tracks and scores. You can even bring additional sound files into any given audio track.
Automatic volume matching
Equalizing volume levels within a specific file can be a challenge, especially if, for example, you’re cutting between two tracks, one of which is a carnival barker and the other is a dialogue track of a speaker who’s barely audible. The equalize-volume feature in Adobe Soundbooth CS4 corrects this type of problem with a single click. You can also use the new volume-matching functionality in Adobe Soundbooth CS4 to quickly match the volume of multiple clips to each other or to a single reference volume level.
Volume keyframing
Volume keyframing lets you adjust the volume of your dialogue and sound-effects tracks, as well as the volume of your audio over time. The volume keyframing feature is especially useful when you create podcasts: Soundbooth lets you record directly into a track, duck vocals, improve the quality and sound of voice-over tracks, and add sound effects.
New Adobe Sound Document
The new Adobe Sound Document (ASND) file format enables nondestructive multitrack audio editing, so you can always return to the original source files. Using snapshots, you can revert back to any previously saved condition of a file at any time. Snapshots are saved in the ASND files, and can be recalled, even after exiting the program and running it later. In the case of single files, the snapshot will preserve the current state of the file, including effects, fades, volume changes, and so on. In the case of multitrack projects, the snapshot will preserve the states of all tracks, all the clips in your project, and any changes you’ve made to them. The ASND file can be easily shared with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and Adobe After Effects CS4 without modifying the original audio files.
Output to any screen
Delivering your content to anyone, anywhere is a necessity, not a luxury. Creative Suite 4 Production Premium lets you expand your output options with support for a broad range of media formats. Reach a wider audience by moving beyond SD, DV, HDVD, and HD to DVD and Blu-ray Disc, as well as new web and mobile delivery formats. You can even create SWF versions of your DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects for viewing with Adobe Flash Player on the web, or on hand-held devices such as cell phones and iPods.
Adobe Media Encoder
Adobe Media Encoder, now a separate software component included with Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, works with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, After Effects CS4, and Flash CS4 Professional. Adobe Media Encoder helps you maximize your productivity by allowing you to continue creative work while files encode in the background. Adobe Media Encoder automates the process of creating multiple encoded versions of your source files, compositions from After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro sequences. Set up multiple items for encoding, manage priorities, and control advanced settings for each item individually. Use any combination of sequences and clips as sources, and encode to a wide variety of video formats, including FLV and F4V, Windows Media, MPEG-2, H.264, QuickTime, and more.
Flash CS4 Professional uses Adobe Media Encoder to deliver higher quality results with greater control. Two-pass variable bit-rate encoding and new support for the H.264 codec provide greater fidelity while providing you with more delivery options, including H.264 playback in the new Adobe Media Player.
Metadata support
Flash CS4 Professional adds support for XMP metadata, which can be used to track assets across the production workflow. Additionally, metadata enables mobile devices to identify the type of content being played, allowing you to deliver a better user experience to mobile devices.
Everyday audio editing with Soundbooth CS4
You’ll find it easy to master your everyday audio editing needs for film, video, and rich media projects created in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro software with the convenient, task-based tools found in Soundbooth CS4. The addition of multitrack support provides more flexibility in arranging audio clips. Quickly match the volume of multiple audio clips, or match volume levels within a single audio clip. Adobe Dynamic Link provides tighter-than-ever integration between Soundbooth and Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and After Effects CS4. Plus, you can use the Edit In Soundbooth command from within Adobe Flash CS4 Professional or Adobe Premiere Pro to send assets directly to Soundbooth, where you can clean up or enhance your audio. After your edits are complete, the files automatically update in the timeline or project window of Adobe Flash CS4 Professional or Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.
Multitrack support
Sound for visuals usually comprises a variety of different elements: Dialogue tracks give voice to actors, animated characters, and featured talent; voice-overs supply narrative context; sound effects and ambient sounds create atmosphere and aural depth cues; and music provides emotional cues. The ability to work with multiple audio tracks–the most requested new feature from Adobe Soundbooth CS3 users–means you can assemble all the elements in a complex soundtrack into a final audio mixdown. Now you can work on more than one mono or stereo file at a time. Add tracks in the Project view to create new sounds with multiple audio clips, and mix multiple audio tracks and scores. You can even bring additional sound files into any given audio track.
Automatic volume matching
Equalizing volume levels within a specific file can be a challenge, especially if, for example, you’re cutting between two tracks, one of which is a carnival barker and the other is a dialogue track of a speaker who’s barely audible. The equalize-volume feature in Adobe Soundbooth CS4 corrects this type of problem with a single click. You can also use the new volume-matching functionality in Adobe Soundbooth CS4 to quickly match the volume of multiple clips to each other or to a single reference volume level.
Volume keyframing
Volume keyframing lets you adjust the volume of your dialogue and sound-effects tracks, as well as the volume of your audio over time. The volume keyframing feature is especially useful when you create podcasts: Soundbooth lets you record directly into a track, duck vocals, improve the quality and sound of voice-over tracks, and add sound effects.
New Adobe Sound Document
The new Adobe Sound Document (ASND) file format enables nondestructive multitrack audio editing, so you can always return to the original source files. Using snapshots, you can revert back to any previously saved condition of a file at any time. Snapshots are saved in the ASND files, and can be recalled, even after exiting the program and running it later. In the case of single files, the snapshot will preserve the current state of the file, including effects, fades, volume changes, and so on. In the case of multitrack projects, the snapshot will preserve the states of all tracks, all the clips in your project, and any changes you’ve made to them. The ASND file can be easily shared with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and Adobe After Effects CS4 without modifying the original audio files.
Output to any screen
Delivering your content to anyone, anywhere is a necessity, not a luxury. Creative Suite 4 Production Premium lets you expand your output options with support for a broad range of media formats. Reach a wider audience by moving beyond SD, DV, HDVD, and HD to DVD and Blu-ray Disc, as well as new web and mobile delivery formats. You can even create SWF versions of your DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects for viewing with Adobe Flash Player on the web, or on hand-held devices such as cell phones and iPods.
Adobe Media Encoder
Adobe Media Encoder, now a separate software component included with Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, works with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, After Effects CS4, and Flash CS4 Professional. Adobe Media Encoder helps you maximize your productivity by allowing you to continue creative work while files encode in the background. Adobe Media Encoder automates the process of creating multiple encoded versions of your source files, compositions from After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro sequences. Set up multiple items for encoding, manage priorities, and control advanced settings for each item individually. Use any combination of sequences and clips as sources, and encode to a wide variety of video formats, including FLV and F4V, Windows Media, MPEG-2, H.264, QuickTime, and more.
Flash CS4 Professional uses Adobe Media Encoder to deliver higher quality results with greater control. Two-pass variable bit-rate encoding and new support for the H.264 codec provide greater fidelity while providing you with more delivery options, including H.264 playback in the new Adobe Media Player.
And while the tightly integrated cross-platform tools in Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium help you take productions from planning to completion, AdobeÕs video solutions span beyond content creation to delivery and playback. Use the Adobe Flash Media Server 3 family of products to develop new revenue sources based on secure streaming or protected download delivery. To learn more, visit www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver.
Mobile device workflows with Adobe Device Central CS4
Given the skyrocketing use of mobile devices around the world, getting up to speed with mobile design offers both rapidly expanding business opportunities and intriguing creative challenges. However, screen dimensions and video frame rates vary greatly from one mobile device to another. Adobe Device Central CS4 software, a visual testing tool that works with content from most Creative Suite 4 components, makes developing mobile designs easier and fasterÑeven if youÕre brand new to this emerging creative discipline. Develop content with your favorite Adobe creative tool, and then use Device Central to preview and test it on an extensive selection of devices under a variety of simulated real-life conditions. This lets you can make intelligent design decisions without a time-consuming trial and error process.
New and enhanced features in Device Central CS4 include an automatically updated online device library, automated testing on multiple devices, simulation of network performance impact on user experience, and improved video-packaging tools. Device Central also includes new tools for simplifying project management, collaboration, and deployment of content to mobile phones, as well as streamlined workflows for handling mobile video.
Adobe Media Encoder lets you output 3GP and H.264 video for delivery on mobile devices from Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium components.
New mobile authoring workflows in After Effects make the process of authoring for multiple devices more efficient. After you select the devices you want to author for in Device Central, After Effects creates a master composition, which in turn feeds a set of device-specific compositions, each reflecting the screen size and other parameters of your chosen devices. A corresponding set of render items is also created for these device-specific comps, allowing you to render and export a set of finished movies for a large number of mobile devices in one batch render job, and deliver engaging experiences to billions of mobile subscribers.
Part of the Adobe Creative Suite 4 family
Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection is your premier solution for professional creative work. Master Collection combines the best of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium, Web Premium, and Production Premium editions with advanced productivity features, so you can create content for virtually all media with one value-packed offering.
Choose Your Edition
With the tightly integrated tools and services in Adobe Creative Suite 4 software, you can create visually rich content for virtually any media–print, web, interactive, video, audio, and mobile. Find the one that’s right for you:
Adobe Creative Suite 4 also allows you to access features and services that are hosted online, such as Adobe Community Help, Adobe Kuler, Adobe ConnectNow (a service on Acrobat.com), Adobe InContext Editing, and Bridge Home.*
* This product may allow you to access certain features that are hosted online (“online services”), provided you have a high-speed Internet connection. The online services, and some features thereof, may not be available in all countries, languages and/or currencies and may be discontinued in whole or in part without notice. Use of the online services is governed by separate terms of use and by the Adobe privacy policy, and access to these services may require user registration. Some online services, including services initially offered at no charge, may be subject to additional fees. For additional details and to review the terms of use and privacy policy, please visit www.adobe.com.
Click Here For More Information