Adobe is mixing the robust tools of its professional video applications with the automation of artificial intelligence. Ahead of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show next week, the company announced several new features for both video and audio software, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Character Animator. Creative Cloud members have access to the updates today.
A major goal across the board was to speed up workflows, as video creatives are continually asked to deliver content in more formats across more devices, and further improve how all the Creative Cloud programs talk to each other.
Auto color matching comes to Premiere Pro
Adobe Sensei, the software company’s AI platform, powers two new Premiere Pro tools designed to speed up the editing process by automatically matching colors between separate clips and optimizing the blend of dialog with other audio tracks.
Checking the Color Match option will automatically adjust a clip to match a reference clip, which can be used to match footage from different cameras or shot at different times of day. An optional face detection feature will help achieve better skin tones when color matching.
Experienced editors need not worry: Premiere still allows users to fine-tune color by hand after the AI has done its thing. Adobe’s Patrick Palmer, senior project manager for editing, says the tool is designed to empower creators by offering a color matching shortcut while ultimately leaving the final results up to the video editor. A new side-by-side comparison view helps to quickly compare how Color Match is working.
The second Sensei-powered shortcut is called Auto Ducking. While working with audio inside Premiere Pro, checking the auto ducking option will automatically adjust the audio to prioritize one source, typically dialog. For example, the auto ducking can lower the volume of the background music when there’s dialog, then turn the volume back up after the dialog ends.
Like Color Match, Adobe is working to give video editors control over just how Auto Ducking plays out, including adjustments for sensitivity and fades. Adobe says video editors maintain the final control over the effect down to the keyframe level.
The update also includes enhancements when working with motion graphics templates, including new controls for rotation, scale, and position. Motion graphics are also now available inside the integrated Adobe Stock option, allowing editors to browse by type or search for a specific effect.
Adobe also rolled out new transitions and effects for 360-degree video. Moreover, additional headsets are now compatible with Premiere Pro thanks to integration with Windows Mixed Reality.
Faster motion graphics in After Effects
After Effects gains a similarly inspired update designed to streamline workflows. A new Master Properties option will allow graphics editors to adjust a single element that occurs in multiple locations all at once. For example, the tool allows an editor creating a credits intro to change the font in one step, rather than adjusting every credit individually.
The puppet tool also sees enhancements. The Advanced Puppet Engine gives users more control over the smaller details of the animations, particularly organic movements like the wind in a flag. The option to add animation pinpoints creates more precise animations, Adobe says.
Working with charts and graphs is also faster thanks to reusable graphics that automatically adjust when new data from a CSV or JSON file is imported.
VR and 360 content gets a boost, as well, with Adobe Immersive Environment allowing creatives to preview projects on a headset without exporting out of the program, and an option to adjust flat graphics to fit the spherical format.
Additional updates released today include a new ability in Adobe’s audio mixing and recording application, Audition CC, to directly import Premiere Pro projects while keeping sequences and tracks intact. Character Animator, a relative newcomer to Adobe’s portfolio, has also been updated with new animation triggers and particle effects for animating full-scene effects like snowfall.
