With
that said, they have made some minor removals. You can no longer create chapter-based
DVDs directly out of Premiere Pro, which isn’t a big deal because Encore now comes with every version of Premiere Pro you can buy.
(The standalone version of Premiere Pro includes Encore, as well.)
As I was never able to get the chapter-based export to work quite right in Premiere
Pro 2, I was even less saddened by its farewell. However, one absence that
did sadden me was the choice to remove 2d3’s plugin, SteadyMove.
This little plugin was very helpful for handheld footage that needed to be stabilized.
While After Effects has a stabilizer you can use, it was nice to be able
to use 2d3’s tool directly in Premiere Pro. (For those curious about
buying it separately, the only version of SteadyMove that’s now available
is SteadyMove Pro, which lists for $499.)
Unfortunately,
one feature that was highly requested did not make it into this release. There
is no AVCHD support in Premiere Pro CS3, which means that folks
who have some of the less expensive HDV camcorders that record to hard drive in
the AVCHD format cannot natively import their footage. With that said, there is
a workaround in the form of the $250 Black Magic Intensity PCI card which
directly inputs the HDMI interface that AVCHD camcorders utilize and will at least
allow AVCHD-using filmmakers to work in the CS3: Production Premium
environment.
(For
more information on this program, check out our standalone review here.)
After
Effects CS3 Professional
This is the single program
that has received the most improvements in the CS3 lineup (with the exception
of Photoshop CS3 Extended, which you could actually argue is a completely
different program than Photoshop CS3). The training on After
Effects CS3 that was extended at Adobe’s reviewer’s workshop
was literally three times longer for After Effects than it was for virtually
any of the other programs in the lineup!
While
there are too many new things to cover, I’ll mention a few of the especially
cool features.
Possibly
one of the strangest new features that’s also amazingly useful is the new
Puppet Tool. When I first heard about this, I admit that I kind of dismissed it
as being pretty silly. However, after playing with it, I was really impressed
with how cool it is! Basically, the Puppet Tool allows you to take an Alpha-channeled
still, like a person who's been chromakeyed, and manipulate their body with push
pins. With a plethora of custom options, extremely complex animations are possible
in a way that's very hard to describe. If you use this feature on multiple layers
of a simple image, infinitely complex animations can be achieved. (We were shown
a test user animation in which the user had created a complex Pixar-quality animation
of Mike from Monster's, Inc. using only a single still image of Mike that had
been sliced into separate layers! Verbal description can't do it justice and,
unfortunately, we can’t get the legal right to show it here.)
Another
awesomely useful feature is the new Brainstorm Feature. Designed for folks who
want to try out multiple variations of filters, Brainstorm allows you to randomize
almost any attributes you choose of your filters and settings. Once you've chosen
what features to randomize, Brainstorm will show you 9 different versions of your
creation. You choose those that are closest to what you're looking for and it
comes up with nine more options that are based on the ones you like. This really
ended up being something that we were all extremely excited about once we got
a chance to use it! To see all the variations that we came up with as a group
was truly astounding! (After you use it, you’ll understand why I believe
it’s possibly some sort of an interactive psych profile!)
Another
extremely interesting and useful feature is the new vector-based Shapes layer.
The shape layers can be modified to create virtually any shapes you want and then
stylized repeaters will allow you to make the shapes multiply and interact in
a variety of ways. One of the simplest effects to create with these new options
are geometric motion backgrounds like those that are constantly used in ads for
Target. Obviously, when Brainstorm is unleashed on these shape layers, things
get even more spectacularly psychological! According to the After Effects
supervising managers, they used to have contests to see who could come up with
the most bizarre creations using these two features. I would have enjoyed being
a fly on the wall for those test contests!
