Question: Adobe just announced a whole new lineup of their video-production applications. I’d heard that they were coming back to the Mac platform, but I had no idea they’d retool everything, even adding new apps. Could you summarize what’s new in each of the products and why I might want to upgrade?

Answer: On March 27, 2007, Adobe held a high-profile event in New York City and announced Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium, which is the successor to Adobe Production Studio. Available for both the Windows and Macintosh platform, the applications included in the bundle are: After Effects CS3 Professional, Premiere Pro CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3, Encore CS3, Flash CS3 Professional; and three new applications—Soundbooth CS3 for audio production and manipulation, OnLocation CS3 for direct-to-disk video capture and on-set monitoring, and Ultra CS3 for fast, effective keying. Features (as Adobe calls them) available in CS3 Production Premium include Adobe Dynamic Link, Capture In After Effects, Adobe Device Central CS3, and Adobe Bridge CS3.

The CS3 Production Premium bundle isn’t set to ship until the third quarter of this year, so it’s a little early to list all of the new features of each application. But here’s what we know so far.

Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional
New Shape Layers enable more flexible vector drawing and animation. A new Puppet tool provides an intuitive approach to animation. Essentially, you click to add pins at the “joints” where movement should be constrained. You can then animate the layer by simply dragging a pin and then watch as the keyframes are automatically set. The popular Adobe Clip Notes utility comes to After Effects for the first time and streamlines review and approval. Lastly, there’s Brainstorm, an innovative and fun-to-use tool that frees you to explore a wide range of animation possibilities interactively with one mouse click.

After Effects new Brainstorm feature suggests animation variations based on parameters you choose.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
Premiere Pro CS3 has improved slow motion with variable speed control. A new Time Remapping feature creates variable-rate time stretches directly in the Adobe Premiere Pro Timeline, with real-time feedback, keyframe control, and improved image quality. The original Mac video-editing application is finally back on the Mac platform (for Intel Macs only).

Adobe OnLocation CS3
OnLocation is the new name for the Serious Magic DV Rack application. For many users, OnLocation will save time and raise the quality of footage captured because it captures directly to your computer’s hard drive as you shoot, and uses professional on-set monitoring tools. OnLocation is a Windows-only product but will come with the Mac bundle for users to run under BootCamp.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended
The new Photoshop CS3 Extended has tools specifically for postproduction work that aren’t available in the standard version of Photoshop CS3. You can now paint individual frames and clone from one frame to another on imported video files in the new Timeline mode (part of the enhanced Animation palette). You can also import 3D models and easily add 2D graphics.

Photoshop CS3 Extended includes the ability to paint, edit, and clone on video layers with frame accuracy.

Adobe Illustrator CS3
Illustrator CS3 has new document profiles for video (about time!) and an intuitive new Crop Area tool. Use this new tool to create a rectangular crop area of any size. The Control panel provides preset crop area selections along with options for custom sizes and positions, pixel aspect ratios, and display controls for items such as rulers and safe areas.

Adobe Flash CS3 Professional
Workspace panels and other interface elements have been refined to match those in Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro, which should make it easier for video pros to adopt Flash into their workflow. You can export your video with markers to the Flash video format with your markers converted to cue points, making it easier to enrich those productions in Flash using enhanced interactive authoring and drawing tools.

Adobe Soundbooth CS3
Soundbooth takes the place of Audition in the video suite and is designed to be easier to use for those who work with visuals. It will allow you to accomplish everyday audio-production tasks, such as trimming clips, removing noise, creating sound effects, and polishing voiceovers. AutoComposer lets you customize the length and mood of music to match your production. Open and edit any of the dozens of included Soundbooth Scores and use keyframes to quickly change or customize the score’s length, intensity, and instrumentation to best suit your production needs.

Adobe Encore CS3
This new version adds Blu-ray disc authoring and Flash authoring support. You can actually create Flash versions of your DVD and Blu-ray disc projects that are ready for distribution on the Web from within Encore CS3. The program creates the interactive SWF content without scripting and without mastering the Flash authoring environment. Users will get to deliver DVD-style menus, interactivity, and content to the more than 700 million computers and devices worldwide that have the Flash player installed!

Adobe Ultra CS3
Ultra CS3 compensates for keying nightmares such as uneven lighting, wrinkled backdrops, and frizzy hair. You get support for all standard HD and HDV resolutions and aspect ratios, and for a variety of standard frame rates. Ultra also lets you use your laptop to preview keying while on location at the shoot, and it also features real-time color correction and 32-bit rendering quality. Ultra will be a Windows-only product, but unlike OnLocation, will not ship with the Mac version of CS3 Production Premium.

Requirements & pricing
The Windows version of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium will require Windows Vista or Windows XP. The Mac version will require Mac OS X running on an Intel or PowerPC processor, with the following limitations: Adobe Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, and Encore, as well as the Dynamic Link and Capture In After Effects features, will only run on a Mac with an Intel processor. Adobe OnLocation and Ultra run only in Windows and thus require Boot Camp and Windows (purchased separately) on a Mac.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium will be available in North America for an estimated price of $1,699 directly from Adobe or through Adobe Authorized Resellers. Licensed users of the current Adobe Production Studio bundle (Premium or Standard edition) can upgrade to Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium for an estimated price of $799. If all you have is one of the products, such as After Effects or Premiere Pro, you can upgrade to the full CS3 Production Premium bundle for an estimated price of $1,199.

So should you upgrade? Absolutely. With tighter integration and the inclusion of three new apps, plus the Extended version of Photoshop, you can’t go wrong with Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium.