New Software Newsflash: Adobe Creative Cloud for Video Professionals – December 2013

As part of Adobe’s ongoing efforts with Adobe Creative Cloud to bring you updates on a more regular basis, the company has announced that a new update for uts Video Professionals line of products was released in December 2013. This update will allow video professionals to create better videos and use more fluid workflows. So what is included in this update? I will break it down by product line.

Premiere Pro

• Adobe has added Direct Link into SpeedGrade. In the past getting a timeline into a color-graded application was difficult and time-consuming. Now by using Direct Link you can open a sequence from Premiere Pro CC directly in SpeedGrade, do all of your color correction and grading work, and when you are done send the sequence back into Premiere Pro along with all the changes.

• Adobe has added an enhanced and more streamlined editing environment. Now there are new features, such as Monitor overlays that display information about sequences and clips when and where you need it, right on the screen. Also new: Ripple sequence markers now intelligently reposition themselves when you delete a segment so that the remaining clips (and the sequence as a whole) can maintain their relationships.

• Enhanced multicam support has gotten better, especially when you have to deal with editing six or more camera angles that were recorded on different camera formats. Now you can have more control in previewing effects and color correction applied to a multicam sequence.

• There is a New Mask Tracker that will give you a much improved workflow when you have to define, track, and modify individual elements or parts of a frame as they move through a shot. Mask Tracker gives you the ability to quickly and easily create a mask and have it (as well as any effects that are applied to the object) flow over the duration of motion of whatever has been masked.

After Effects

• Adobe has added Image Upscaling, which means that when you need to move to higher image resolutions using standard definition content or lower resolution to match the newer HD formats you will have help using the detail-preserving Upscale effect. This can turn standard definition shots into HD and can convert HD into 4K digital cinema resolution material.

• Now instead of copying and pasting the same set of effects, masks, and other property items to multiple layers and compositions, you can use the Property Links feature to make universal changes and updates to sets of layer properties. Make a change to the original property set and it is automatically cascaded to the linked instances.

Prelude

• On-set logging using an iPad will make your note-taking much more efficient. All you have to do is have Adobe Prelude Live Logger running on an iPad and you can easily track good and bad takes, moments of interest, and other things that can help out your post-production. You can upload your logger files to Creative Cloud and import them into Adobe Prelude and then everything can be synchronized into your workflow.

Overall, I think that this is really a very good update for video pros. The Direct Link color pipeline between Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade will increase the efficiency of your workflow and create a more streamlined path when working with SpeedGrade for color grading. That and the additional tools will make Premiere Pro a much improved product.

Then you have the improvements to After Effects, like the upscaling abilities, and one of my favorites – the property links to apply effects over a set of layers – is really a nice addition. Finally, the on-set logging will be a real boon to those who use Prelude regularly. I think that this is a very good upgrade and the best part is that for those who subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, the upgrade is free.