Adobe Video Collection, Part 2

By David Em

November 10, 2003

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In my last column I looked at Premiere Pro and Audition, the video and audio editing components of Adobe's Video Collection. Both those programs, as well as the bundle's Encore DVD authoring program, are Windows-only. This week we'll check out After Effects 6, Adobe's venerable multilayer video compositing and effects software that works on both PCs and Macs.

Of all Adobe's multimedia, animation, and Web apps, no program has the dedicated following of After Effects. That's because After Effects was the first desktop program that enabled small independent video shops to compete with the big video post-production facilities that charge many hundreds of dollars per hour to massage video in complex ways. I would argue that After Effects has single-handedly turned the video post production industry on its head.

Of course, back in the dark old days of the mid-nineties, an inexpensive Mac program like After Effects couldn't compete head-to-head for raw speed and power against dedicated video hardware that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the latest crop of Macs and PCs relegate that situation to the dustbin of history, and After Effects 6 is the proof in the pudding.

Cross-Product Integration

One of After Effects 6's major strengths is its integration with other products in Adobe's product line, particularly Photoshop and Premiere Pro. After Effects has been described as Photoshop in motion, and Photoshop's influence is indeed very strong in this version of After Effects.

Layered Photoshop still image files import as time-based layered compositions, and Photoshop text elements, guides, layers, and distortions can now be seamlessly imported as well. Powerful Photoshop features such as its robust text engine, and image cloning have finally migrated to After Effects 6 (more on those below).

Premiere Pro projects can be imported directly into After Effects with transparencies and cross dissolves intact.

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