This is the eighth of a series of reviews that will cover what is contained in the Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5) Master Collection. When Adobe released CS5 this year, they not only will release single version products, but also five separate suites of products. They are Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Master Collection. You can go online to compare what is contained in each version. The goal of this series it to define what each product does and provide information of what the new version brings to the table.
Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software that is published by Adobe Systems. It can be used in both film and video post-production. It uses a system of layers organized on a timeline to create composites from still images and motion footage such as from video files.
It has become the industry standard for visual effects and motion graphics software. You can find imagery created in After Effects in everything from motion pictures, to cell phones, to websites. Now After Effects CS5 is packed with even more features aimed to make you more productive.
So what is new with After Effects CS5?
• Native 64-bit application – means that After Effects CS5 gives you numerous advantages, including the ability to fully use your computer’s memory for dramatic improvements when working on high-resolution projects. This means that with Native 64-bit OS support in After Effects CS5, you can work on ever-higher-resolution projects with more confidence. It also means that After Effects CS5 can access all of your computer’s available RAM and with After Effects CS5 running on a 64-bit operating system with 32GB of RAM, you can preview a 30-second HD comp at full resolution and at 32 bpc. This enables you to preview your entire composition at maximum fidelity without interruption.
• Roto Brush – gives you the ability to easily separate a foreground object, like an actor, from its current live action background so that it may be placed in a completely new environment. The Roto Brush provides a fast, efficient solution for isolating these foreground elements in complex scenes. In the past, this kind of work was time-consuming and expensive, and as a result, the technique was often reserved for big-budget projects. Once you’ve defined the foreground and background areas, you can control the quality of the edges between the two using options for smoothing, feathering, or choking (spreading inside or outside of the original edge). This gives you the ability to isolate elements for targeted color enhancement or placing design elements such as text or logos between actors and their backgrounds.
Article comments