ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.5
Production Bundle:
Cool Effects Made Easy

 James G. DeRuvo, Hardware Editor

When I walked into the LA Convention Center for DV Expo, I knew I was in for something special. I just didn't know how cool an experience it would be.

Adobe - makers of Premiere, the state of the art editing software for PC - had arranged for a private showing of the latest features of Adobe After Effects.

Adobe After Effects is specifically designed for the motion picture, video and broadcast realm as a 2D special effects program that is intuitive and easy to use. It's also unbelievably cool.

What makes this program so cool? Well, it takes your average PC and turns it into a Hollywood special effects center. Suddenly, every special effect looks like it has a big budget behind it. The production values AE bring to any project makes you look like you could produce the next big summer action flick.

AE gives its user the ability to create multi-layer composites for matte effects, execute 2D animation, render out sophisticated motion and time effects, and even metamorph special shots (like Photoshop graphics) over time.

And since it's Adobe, After Effects links right up with Adobe Premiere - fitting its special effects in like a glove. It can also export to Quicktime, and a host of other export formats. Naturally, it also works well with other Adobe based products like Illustrator and Photoshop graphic files. 

Although Premiere users can rely on the compositing features of the editing software, the sophistication of After Effects is well worth the investment as compositing effects are sharper, and the masks and mattes features are far and above some of the best around. 

There also a really cool feature that allows you to create some real life stained glass images that you would swear come right out of Westminster Abbey.

Any Premiere user who can afford the $1,900.00+ price tag would do well to pick up the Production Bundle for their multimedia software library. 

For more information, please visit Adobe Systems, Inc. at www.adobe.com. 

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Revised: February 10, 2002 01:28 PM Pacific Time.