By Prince McLean and Kasper Jade at AppleInsider. Not much news on After Effects yet, but we're keeping an eye out!

"The fifth major release of Adobe's Creative Suite package (CS5) for graphic, video and web design professionals will finally see Photoshop for Mac emerge as a 64-bit application while several of suite's other component applications adopt Flash tie-ins aimed at keeping content developers reliant on the company's embattled multimedia platform."

Read the Full Article at AppleInsider.
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Labels: Adobe CS5, Apple, Dreamweaver, Flash, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, News, Photoshop

Sorenson Squeeze upgrade pricing will be going up January 1, 2010. Get it now and save. Maybe you have some extra money you need to spend before the end of the year anyway, and this is a good opportunity for an extra little tax write-off!

These changes will be an increase of $50-$100 depending on the upgrade. New pricing is listed below. Education and Government will continue to receive their discount.

Upgrades to Squeeze 6:

• From Pre-Squeeze 5 - $599; currently $499
• From Squeeze 5 - $399; currently $299
• From Squeeze 5 Pro - $299; currently $199
• From Squeeze 5 for Flash - $649; currently $599
• From Squeeze 5 for Flash Pro - $549; currently $499
  

Upgrades to Squeeze 6 for Flash:

• From Pre-version 5 - $449; currently $399
• From Squeeze 5 for Flash - $349; currently $299
• From Squeeze 5 for Flash Pro - $249; currently $199
  

We encourage you to place your stocking orders before the end of the year to help either your customers continue to get upgrades at current pricing, or to help you out once price increases.

There are many reasons to upgrade to Squeeze 6 as it now offers the following great new features:

Integrated Review & Approval workflow (Including a 1-year complimentary Sorenson 360 Review & Approval account)
Notification alerts via email, SMS text message
Automatic Publishing to Multiple Destinations, such as YouTube, Twitter, Limelight, Akamai and Sorenson 360
Faster Encoding, New Video Filters, and the Highest Quality Codecs
Preset Exchange— find many presets produced by the leading Compression Experts
...And many more!

Labels: Flash, Sorenson, Squeeze, upgrade

• Video Quality, Encoding Speed Significantly Improved
  
• New Review and Approve Capabilities and Notification Features Simplify Encoding Workflow
• New Direct Publishing and Syndication of Professional-Quality Video to YouTube, Twitter, Limelight, Akamai and Sorenson 360
• Enhanced Interface Improves Intuitive Design, Making Encoding and Managing Video Files Easy
• New Integrated Online Preset Exchange Gives Users Video Encoding 'Recipes' of Experts
• Users Receive Complimentary Sorenson 360 Review & Approval Account

SAN DIEGO (Nov. 3, 2009)

Sorenson Media today announced the immediate availability of Sorenson Squeeze 6, a significant update to the gold-standard video encoding software application. Sorenson Squeeze 6 provides the first total workflow solution for video professionals, enabling customers to employ innovative tools

such as email and text notifications and a secure review and approval process

that simplify the overall workflow and allow them to more easily encode and publish their video files on the Internet. Optimized video codecs and new filters have also been added, significantly improving video quality and encoding speed.

Video Management Made Easy

Working in tandem with the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network (Sorenson Media's re-imagined online video publishing platform), Sorenson Squeeze 6 includes a variety of new unique features that make encoding and publishing videos online easier:

• E-mail and Text Notifications. Sorenson Squeeze 6 can now send automatic notifications to clients, colleagues, supervisors, friends or the users themselves via e-mail and text message (SMS) when encoding jobs are completed. With this new feature, users can start an encoding job and walk away, knowing they will be notified immediately when the process is done.
  
• Review and Approval Workflow. Video professionals can now add their clients' and supervisors' contact information to Sorenson Squeeze, which will automatically send them secure, password protected videos for review and approval after encoding jobs are completed. This automated workflow is accessible from desktop computer Web browsers as well as the iPhone, enabling busy professionals to review and approve content on the go. After viewing a video, reviewer feedback and comments are immediately sent back to the Squeeze user, thereby streamlining the workflow of today's video professionals.
  
• Direct Publishing and Syndication. In addition to seamless publishing to the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network, Sorenson Squeeze 6 users can upload high-quality encoded files directly to popular social media sites, such as YouTube and Twitter, as well as to content delivery networks, including Akamai and Limelight.
• Enhanced User Interface. The Sorenson Squeeze 6 interface has been re-designed to simplify the video compression workflow and provide easy access to the software's powerful features, including encoding presets; high-quality audio and video filters; DVD burning tools; and the new review, approval and notification functions.
• Complimentary Sorenson 360 Review & Approval Account. Every purchase of Squeeze 6 includes a complimentary one-year Review & Approval account to the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network, making Squeeze the first end-to-end encoding and publishing solution.

Higher Quality, Faster Encoding, Expanded Compatibility

Sorenson Squeeze 6 surpasses previous versions of the software in both speed and quality by incorporating and optimizing the latest On2 VP6 and MainConcept H.264 codecs. Internal benchmark tests have shown Sorenson Squeeze 6 is up to 500 percent faster than Sorenson Squeeze 5 when encoding in the H.264 and VP6 formats, both of which are standard formats included with every copy of Squeeze 6. New video filters, including blur, RGB, tint, white balance and timecode, have also been added to improve the quality of any encoded video. New input and output formats have also been added to Sorenson Squeeze 6, including:

• New Input Formats: AVC-Intra and WMV with VC-1 for use in Blu-ray and Microsoft Silverlight
  
• New Output Formats: AVI, AIFF, DV Stream, Image Sequence, Wave, and WMV with VC-1

To coincide with the release of Squeeze 6, Sorenson Media has also launched an innovative new Preset Exchange, an online repository of professional “video encoding recipes” or presets. The presets in the Exchange have been created by top industry compression experts, thereby providing Squeeze 6 users with direct access to the same encoding tools used by seasoned encoding professionals to get the best quality out of their encoding processes. Because the Preset Exchange is seamlessly integrated with Squeeze 6, users can instantly import new presets into Squeeze by clicking “Install” on the Preset Exchange Web site. Along with previous integration with Avid's suite of editing applications, Sorenson Squeeze 6 also now works seamlessly with Apple's Final Cut Pro and iMovie. This process significantly improves workflow times by eliminating the need for cumbersome exporting and importing between applications and enables users to tap into the powerful Squeeze feature set directly from their favorite editing software.

Online Press Room

The Sorenson Media online press room is available at www.sorensonmedia.com/presskit, and includes downloadable press releases, company and product information, and high-resolution images.

Pricing and Availability

Sorenson Squeeze 6 and Sorenson Squeeze 6 for Flash are available for electronic download or for shipping in CD form. Sorenson Squeeze 6 is $799 and Sorenson Squeeze 6 for Flash is $499. Upgrades from previous versions of Sorenson Squeeze begin at $199. The complimentary one-year Sorenson 360 Review & Approval account includes 5 gigabytes (GB) of storage, 100 streams per month and a maximum video length of 30 minutes.

Labels: Flash, Sorenson, Squeeze

New to our store, the Spatial View SVI Stereo 3D Plug-ins & PowerPlayer

• SVI Stereo 3D Editor for Adobe After Effects
• SVI Stereo 3D Exporter for Adobe Flash
• SVI Stereo 3D Editor for Maxon Cinema 4D
• SVI Stereo 3D Renderer for Autodesk 3DS Max
• SVI Stereo 3D Renderer for Autodesk Maya 2.2
• SVI PowerPlayer 3.0

Here's a screen shot of SVI Stereo 3D Editor for Adobe After Effects

Labels: 3dsMax, Adobe, After Effects, Flash, Maxon Cinema 4D, Maya, Spatial View, SVI Stereo 3D Plug-ins

From Claudia Crask of SF Cutter:

April 28th will be at Adobe 601 Townsend in San Francisco. Mark Spencer a San Francisco Bay Area producer, freelance editor, and Apple-certified Trainer for Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and Motion.

Mark is teaching a number of classes at NAB - look in the Certification Training Schedule and will be presenting at the SuperBooth. Be watching for schedules, I will try to get an NAB .ning page going for everyone to connect and post info, parties and things to see.

Read more about Mark and his many accomplishments

Mark Spencer's motion website is a treasure trove of all things about Apple's Motion.

Also joining us is John Skidgel, a top Flash Video expert

Both John and Mark are SF Cutters and top people in the field.

Adobe will present a NAB wrap up - of new technology and things they cannot talk about yet, but will be big news by April. Thanks to Adobe for their Sponsorship of SF Cutters, the FCPUG Supermeets and many, many user groups, Final Cut Pro, Flash, Photoshop, InDesign, SF Mograph - all too numerous to list. It's an awesome job and lots of individualized attention and support.

We will have Mark Spencer's Motion books compliments of Peachpit Pressand John Skidgel's Flash Video CS3 compliments of Focal Press in the Raffle.

All presentations subject to final confirmation, and cooperation of the universe.

April 28th will have an increase to $15 per meeting for non Pro Team members to cover the cost of chair rental from May - Oct. and other increased meeting location expenses. This took a lot of deliberation, but basically I do not want to turn people away from meetings because of seating, if at all possible. and frankly it's a long time overdue for me not to stress out over it either. Things cost what they cost.
If we come into more sponsorship at some time we will adjust the monthly rates.

Labels: Flash, Motion, NAB, SF Cutters

Episode Version 5.1 release introduces cross-platform support, enabling fast, high-quality, easy-to-use transcoding between virtually any format - for both Mac and PC users

Nevada City, Calif., December 11, 2008 - Telestream today announced an important milestone for its Episode® Series media encoding software products. Previously only offered on the Mac platform, version 5.1 extends Telestream's Episode and Episode Pro desktop encoding products to the Windows operating system. Version 5.1 also brings watch folders to Episode desktop products for both Mac and PC users. Episode provides universal transcoding between virtually any video and audio format, offering ultimate flexibility in a single software package.

"With the addition of Windows support and watch folders, Episode 5.1 is more accessible and useful than ever," observed digital video compression expert Nate Caplin. "Episode Pro's deep format support and comprehensive set of professional-grade filters make it an essential part of my video transcoding toolkit. Whether I need to convert files for post-production or produce files for the web and mobile devices, I've never met an encoding challenge I couldn't solve with Episode Pro."

Episode products provide a fast, flexible and future-proof solution for virtually any SD or HD compression need. Episode desktop products include extensive fine-tuning compression capabilities, batch encoding and many presets which enable users to quickly create extremely high-quality output files. Cross-platform support in Episode and Episode Pro 5.1 means that users and organizations no longer need to learn and support multiple encoding tools for different purposes. The addition of watch folders in version 5.1 saves time and effort by enabling users to simply drop finished projects into folders for automatic encoding.

"Episode Pro is the closest thing I've ever found to a universal anything-in, anything-out transcoder," adds Caplin. "But its power goes beyond simple conversion and compression. What really sets Episode apart is the ability it gives me to easily massage any video source into clean output by applying its extensive set of video and audio pre-processing filters. With Episode Pro, I feel like I'm in control of my video."

Episode Series provides scalability from standalone desktop media encoding applications for individual users to powerful, server-based encoding applications for larger organizations with higher volume needs. Known for speed, quality and ease of use, Episode products simplify content repurposing for distribution to the growing number of digital media channels such as Web, DVD, IPTV, mobile phones and portable devices.

Version 5.1 offers a number of powerful new features and enhancements. With extended MXF decode and encode support, Episode continues to expand support for broadcast workflows and playout servers such as Avid, Omneon and K2. Episode now offers more robust, intelligent monitoring of incoming media to further automate and fine tune file transfer into Episode Engine for encoding and delivery to specified destinations.

Telestream's Pipeline device allows for media ingest directly from SDI tape or live sources into Episode Engine. In version 5.1, users can simultaneously encode media into any format with Episode Engine while it is being ingested with Pipeline - saving valuable time in critical workflows.

For Mac desktop users, version 5.1 adds enhanced functionality to the Apple Final Cut Compressor plug-in. In addition to encoding to any format, users can now adjust settings for Windows Media and Flash encoding - including resize, deinterlace and frame rate.

Cross-platform Episode desktop encoders for Mac OS X and Windows are available in two versions. Episode ($495) imports virtually any file format, including broadcast and professional formats, and encodes media to all major Web, DVD authoring, mobile and portable device formats, including Flash 8/9, Windows Media, QuickTime, H.264, VC-1, 3GPP, MPEG-1/2/4 and more. Episode Pro ($995) includes all of the same features and formats plus encoding to high- end broadcast and professional formats such as GXF, MXF, H.264 High Profile, DVCPRO HD, mobile multi-bit rate and more. Server-based Episode Engine products for Mac OS X start at $3,950.

Episode desktop products are now available for online purchase at www.telestream.net. Both the desktop and server products are also available from Telestream's worldwide network of resellers and distributors, as well as Apple online stores. For more information or a free trial, visit www.telestream.net.

Labels: Episode, Flash, Telestream

If you're one of those people who got up at 5am to shop for the best bargains, I hope you had fun. If you're like me and you'd rather sleep in and avoid the crowds, there's plenty of good deals here at Toolfarm.

• Boris Continuum Unit 50% Off Promo! The sale includes Film Look, Lens Flare Advanced, Motion Key, Glitters, Pan and Zoom, UpRez, and Chroma Key. Ends Dec. 1.
• GridIron Nucleo Pro 2 - Save $100 through November 30, 2008! Nucleo Pro makes your workflow REALLY work.
• GenArts Sapphire 2.0 for AVX - Save 15% on new licenses in November plus get a free upgrade to the upcoming version 3!
• Sorenson Squeeze 5 Pro - $50 off Squeeze 5 Pro through December 31th
• Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash - FREE professional video podcasting book with purchase!
• PowerProduction Software StoryBoard Quick 5 - Save $150 through Noon, December 1 2008!
• Digital Tutors Training Thanksgiving Sale November 24-30! Save 15%!
• Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium Upgrade Path 2 - Special introductory price until February 28, 2009
• Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium Upgrade Path 2 - Special introductory price until February 28, 2009
• Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Standard Upgrade Path 2 - Special introductory price until February 28, 2009
• Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium Upgrade Path 2 - Special introductory price until February 28, 2009
• Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Standard Upgrade Path 2 - Special introductory price until February 28, 2009

Labels: Adobe, Boris, Boris Continuum Complete, Digital Tutors, Flash, GenArts, Sale, Sorenson, Squeeze, StoryBoard Artist

LME 100 Cool Flash FLV Backgrounds is now available. LME has created a collection of 100 eye popping Flash movies in .flv format that can be used as background elements in Flash projects for corporate, business, personal websites and banners for Flash designers.

The collection is comprised of new motion graphics and many converted animations taken from our popular After Effects collections.

Labels: Flash, LME

Peter Kim has an article, More on Adobe's Pixel Bender in CS4 and Flash, GPUs, and Performance, on Create Digital Motion, with lots of nice images. He talks about Pixel Bender in AE CS4, Photshop CS4 and Flash 10.

Labels: After Effects, Flash, Photoshop

Swift 3D is a standalone application enabling designers to quickly and easily create high-quality 3D animations and scenes for use in Adobe Flash, Papervision3D, video, and other rich media design projects. Swift 3D v5 Mac Universal Binary is now available, and is a free update to existing v5 for Mac customers.

What's New in Swift 3D v5:

• New Papervision3D Export from Swift 3D V5 From designer to coder, we implemented Papervision3D with all skill levels in mind. In fact, beginners don't have to write a line of code to export their 3D scenes or models for Flash with interactive mouse rotation and zooming.
• Import and Render Transparent Textures Transparent textures also work with the Papervision3D and 3DS export. Swift 3D also renders refraction based on your settings.
• Orthographic Views Makes modeling a snap. Orthographic views take away the camera perspective that makes the task of lining up objects difficult.
• Keyframe Easing New easing controls work with the keyframes in your animation timeline to smooth out position, rotation, and scaling transitions.
• Extrusion / Lathe Free Transform Swift 3D V5 provides the missing tool from previous versions and improves workflow in both the extrusion and lathe editing environments.
• Built-in Optimization Swift 3D Version 5 adds a user-controlled post-render process utilizing slider controls that allow you to further reduce file sizes by 50% or more!
• Drag / Drop Animation Visuals New drag and drop animation visuals give you an at-a-glance view of pre-defined animation paths and rotations.
• .3ds Export Swift 3D now allows you to export your 3D models and scenes to the .3ds format for use in other 3D programs that support this industry standard file format. All materials, lighting, and animation are exported. This new functionality also allows tight integration with Adobe Photoshop CS Extended.

• Learn More and Purchase
• Upgrade from Previous Versions

Labels: Electric Rain, Flash, Swift3D

Nevada City, Calif., August 12, 2008 - Telestream today announced comprehensive encode and decode support for Flash 7, 8 and 9 video formats as a standard feature in its flagship FlipFactory® transcoding workflow automation applications and powerful Episode® batch encoding applications. Telestream is one of the first companies in the industry to include On2 VP6® Flash decoding and encoding as a standard feature in its products.

"We are pleased to be partnering with Telestream to put our superior-quality VP6 technology in the hands of all new Telestream Episode and FlipFactory customers," said Eero Kaikkonen, Chief Marketing Officer of On2 Technologies. "Delivering very high quality over lower data rates, On2 VP6 based Flash Video is much less compute intensive to encode and playback than H.264, and is not subject to burdensome content royalties, enabling Telestream's customers to cost effectively serve more compelling video."

"Telestream has lead the industry by providing media professionals with the broadest format support available and enabling them to automate their workflows in more ways," announced Barbara DeHart, VP of Marketing at Telestream. "We extend that support by adding On2's VP6 codec for Flash as a standard feature in our transcoding products. Industry experts have recognized the quality of our Flash 8 encoding, and Telestream is pleased to be able to offer that quality at an even greater value to our customers."

In the 2008 Encoder Shootout published in the Feb 2008 issue of Streaming Media magazine, author Jan Ozer reported, "In terms of encoding quality, [Telestream's Episode] Flash 8 results were the best, with files that were visually identical to On2's Flix Pro, the gold standard."

Belgium's IT.Enquirer reviewer Erik Vlietinck states that "the quality of your Flash videos will dramatically improve" with Telestream's Flash 8 encoding.

Telestream Episode desktop products with Flash now start at $495. The company's Episode and FlipFactory server-based trancoding products with Flash now start at $2,950. Episode desktop products are available at www.flip4mac.com. FlipFactory and Episode server products are available from Telestream's worldwide network of direct sales and resale channels. More information is available at www.telestream.net.

Labels: Episode, Flash, Flip4Mac, Telestream

A new prerelease version of Adobe Flash Player 10, code-named "Astro," is now available for download on Adobe Labs.

Labels: Adobe, Flash

If you've been waiting to upgrade some of your Adobe products, now is the time snag an upgrade at a lower price!

• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium Upgrade Path 2
  (Upgrade from Creative Suite or Macromedia Studio)
  Reduced from $1,199 to $1,099
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard Upgrade Path 2
  (Upgrade from Flash or Dreamweaver)
  Reduced from $799 to $599

Labels: Adobe, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premiere Pro

Our friends at Wildform have a great tool for quickly encoding, combining, animating and adding titles and effects to multiple video files: Wildform Flair. The program outputs to Flash and lets you create really eye-catching video presentations and projects that are perfect for distribution on the Web or CD. It uses the latest, high-quality Flash 9 video codec with full support for alpha channel transparency

Easily create outstanding Flash and video presentations, convert PowerPoint to Flash, author demos, tutorials and simulations and generate LMS compliant quizzes. Flair lets you create advanced Flash multimedia projects without any programming!

Features:

• Create advanced Flash projects without knowing Flash
• Convert your PowerPoint files to Flash
• Record on-screen activity
• Create quizzes (SCORM & AICC compliant)
• Convert video to high quality Flash (using the latest VP6 codec)
• Capture video and audio
• Generate high impact Flash text effects
• Animate your work and add interactivity
• Output small files sizes to share via the web, CD-ROMs and email
• Comes with over $2000 of valuable bonus downloads

What you can do:

• Create professional Flash & video presentations
• Convert PowerPoint to Flash
• Author E-learning quizzes and courses
• Generate demos, tutorials and simulations
• Produce multimedia websites, slide shows & ads

Here's a brief presentation on Flair's unique video capabilities, and view a product tour here.

Labels: Flair, Flash, Wildform

• Converting Bitmaps to Vectors in Flash - the latest Adobe Creative Suite podcast
• Logo Creation tutorial with Photoshop - From Dennis Radeke's The Genesis Project Blog
• Putting video inside the Photoshop UI - John Nack has an interesting article on his blog about this topic
• Camera Stabilization in AE (a gift from AE CS3 Studio Techniques) - From Mark Christiansen's Flowseeker blog. Mark walks you through a 5 minutes tutorial from FxGuide tv.
• Easy ways to green your post house from Post Magazine
• Motionworks Explosion Challenge: 1 week left Make a better explosion with Trapcode Particular and win a $500 voucher for Red Giant Software!
• Workflow Management in Cinema 4D v.10.5 Kai Pedersen's tutorial at Studio Daily

Labels: After Effects, Flash, Genesis Project, Photoshop

Sign up today for some free video seminars from Adobe! Here is a sampling of the classes:

• Creating Animations with After Effects and output to Flash
• After Effects 101 part 2: Creating motion backgrounds and elements
• Capture the best footage possible from your video camera and save editing time with OnLocation and Premiere Pro
• Working with Photoshop Extended to use with Premiere Pro and After Effects
• Create DVD motion menus that wow your audience using Adobe After Effects CS

There are a few more on the list as well. Classes start September 27 and go through late November.

Labels: Adobe, After Effects, Encore, Flash, OnLocation, Photoshop, Premiere Pro

Today, August 31, is the last day to register for Best in the SW at pre-conference prices. Don't forget!

Be inspired at Best in the SW
Meet the artists who created animations and visual effects for The Bourne Ultimatum, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Disney, The Simpsons and Nickelodeon.

Top Hollywood animators, motion graphics artists and VFX artists are coming to the Best in the SW: Flash Animation and Motion Graphics Festival to share their skills, work, and professional insights in panel discussions and workshop sessions. See how screen graphics were created for The Bourne Ultimatum. Learn about the VFX pipeline used in Star Wars. Discover how Disney and Nickelodeon animators are using Flash in their workflow. Learn new skills and techniques to apply to your own work in motion graphics, title design, broadcast design and animation.

This is the first time such a wealth of industry talent has come to one place—at the same time and in one location, ready to take you beyond technique to the art of Flash animation, broadcast design and motion graphics. Best in the SW covers it all: concepts, design and execution, in panels and sessions that include:

• The Art of Screen Graphics: The Bourne Ultimatum
• Flash Goes to Hollywood
• Advanced Cameras and Lighting in After Effects
• Flash Animation: The Art of Illusion
• Apple Motion: Meet the new 3D
• Character Animation Techniques in Flash
• Complex Animation Made Easy
• The Anatomy of VFXs
• Directing an Animated Feature
• Motion Graphics and VFX in Hollywood
• Zona Design: Design Made to Move
• Learn. Network. Celebrate the best.

Join the 2007 Best in the SW speakers, industry leaders and Adobe pros for a casual kickoff party in the Atrium at the Embassy Suites Hotel on October 8th. The conference opens on the 9th with Adobe favorite Michael Coleman giving a tour of the hottest motion graphics, broadcast design, and animation studios in the country using Flash and After Effects, followed by our annual Best in the SW: Flash Animation & Motion Graphics Awards program.

Be transported.
View the 2007 Domie Award winners and 40 minutes of the most innovative full-dome animations, motion graphics, and works of art at an after-hours party at the ARTS Labs Digital Media Garage on October 10th. Full-dome video is a rapidly growing medium with over 125 immersive displays deployed worldwide in planetariums and special-venue theaters. Freed from the "tyranny of the frame," artists transport viewers into fully immersive, mind-bending environments and alternate worlds as they explore storytelling techniques for this new medium.

An while you're at the ARTS Lab - join the party! We're blocking the street and making room for fun! Join the 2007 Best in the SW speakers, industry leaders and Adobe pros for an evening of food, drinks and music. See live motion capture demonstrations. Enjoy a unique visual sound design experience by artist Carla Barlow. Network with fellow attendees, enjoy food and drink, and be prepared for an evening of fun!

Take your pick.
Choose from the 3-day conference pass or full-festival pass that includes an extra day of pre-conference workshops. Then work hands-on with a pro in 2 days of post-conference intensives.

Best in the SW will be held at the Embassy Suites hotel in Albuquerque from October 8-11, 2007. For more information on conference events, or to register, visit www.bestinthesw.com.

Best in the SW 2007 speakers include:

• Zoa Martinez: A&E Networks, Animal Planet, Chrysler, Disney/ESPN, Dodge, HBO, SKY Italia, Time Warner/NY1
• Phil Nibbelink: Disney, Casper, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, An American Tail, We're Back
• Mark Coleran: The Bourne Ultimatum, Mission Impossible 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Stanton Cruse: ABC, Slacker Cats, MTV 2, Where My Dogs At, Cartoon Network
• Trish & Chris Meyer: Cybermotion, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, The Learning Channel, HBO, PBS
• Alex Lindsay: Industrial Light & Magic, Titan AE, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
• Chris Georgenes: Leapfrog, Nicktoons, Teletubbies, New Balance, Hasbro, Fuse TV, Carnegie Hall, PBS
• Dr. Woohoo: Fila, Bank of America, eTrade, CamelBak, Nike Golf, Nascar, Taylormade, NBC
• Ehren Addis: Universal Studios, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Old Navy, Atlantis, Motorola, Sketchers
• Michael Coleman: Adobe - Product Manager for Adobe After Effects
• Kevan O'Brien: Adobe - Video Expert

Labels: Adobe, After Effects, Best in SW, CyberMotion, Event, Flash

HDTV Quality Web Video Reaches the Masses With Industry Standard Video Codec in Flash Player

San Jose, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 21, 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the latest update for Adobe® Flash® Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which includes H.264 standard video support -- the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray® and HD-DVD(R) high definition video players -- and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio support, as well as hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced full screen video playback. These advancements will extend Adobe's leadership position in Web video by enabling the delivery of HD television quality and premium audio content through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player and pave the way to expand rich media Flash experiences on the desktop and H.264 ready consumer devices. The latest update for Adobe Flash Player 9 will be available in beta for immediate download later today on Adobe Labs.

With H.264 encoding already available in Adobe Premiere® Pro and Adobe After Effects® software, H.264 playback is now enabled in Adobe Flash Player, and will be supported by the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and applications developed with Adobe AIR(TM) software, including Adobe Media Player(TM). Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system application runtime that enables developers to use their existing skills to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop. The Adobe Media Player, which leverages Adobe's Emmy(R) Award winning Flash architecture, delivers engaging video experiences to viewers while offering content publishers new abilities to distribute, track and build businesses around their media assets.

"Adobe is committed to providing a seamless creation-to-playback solution that allows creatives and developers to produce video and rich-media once, and then deploy that content across the widest array of distribution and playback environments," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. "Already a broadly adopted industry standard, the inclusion of the H.264 codec in Adobe Flash Player, Adobe AIR, the Creative Suite(R) product line, and the upcoming Adobe Media Player will accelerate customer workflows, enabling the creation and repurpose of high-quality Web video content without extra development costs."

Broader Reach for Video Consumers

Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops, as well as a wide range of devices. Today, both live and on demand television shows are being delivered online with video that can be viewed using Adobe Flash Player, and the technology also powers the video capabilities of social networking sites such YouTube and MySpace. As Adobe expands Flash experiences outside the Web browser, content can be shared across different devices and people can get great video experiences on the video players of their choice, including the upcoming Adobe Media Player. Consumers can also stream user-generated content such as home movies from Adobe Premiere® Elements with Adobe Flash Player and play video movies on handheld, portable devices.

"MTV Networks has consistently led the industry in making its popular music, entertainment and comedy programming available everywhere so our audiences can stay in touch with all the great content they love from CMT, COMEDY CENTRAL, Logo, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike and VH1," said Nick Rockwell, senior vice president and chief technology officer for MTV Networks. "Flash is an important part of that strategy and Adobe's support of H.264 in Adobe Flash Player, Adobe AIR and the upcoming Adobe Media Player will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality video to our diverse audiences who expect it."

Content developers can reduce the cost of encoding and preparing data for distribution with H.264 and HE-AAC support in Adobe Flash Player, since these standards are already integrated into their existing authoring workflows. In addition, Adobe is working with an ecosystem of video encoding partners to expand rich media Flash experiences that already support these standards.

Availability

The public beta version of the update to Adobe Flash Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which includes H.264 and HE-AAC functionality, will be available later today as a free download from Adobe Labs. The final release is expected to be available via update in the fall. Demonstrations of Adobe Flash(R) Media Server and Adobe Flash Media Encoder supporting the new codecs will be held during the IBC 2007 at the RAI Exhibition and Congress Center in Amsterdam, September 7- 11 (Stand 7.721) and again at the Adobe MAX conference in Chicago, which begins September 30th.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information -- anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit http://www.adobe.com.

Labels: Adobe, After Effects, Flash, Premiere Pro

Roll-Out Completes Largest Software Release in Adobe's 25-Year History

SAN JOSE, Calif. - July 2, 2007 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection software. Adobe Production Premium CS3 is the industry's most comprehensive collection of integrated cross-platform post-production software tools, helping video professionals deliver stunning results for film, broadcast, DVD, Web, and mobile devices. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection combines 12 of Adobe's new design and development products in a single box - the most comprehensive creative environment ever delivered.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Master Collection ship today in North America, with other language versions - including French, German and Japanese - available by mid July. With Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Editions and Creative Suite 3 Web Editions already in market and receiving rave customer reviews, this completes the roll-out of the company's revolutionary Creative Suite 3 family, the largest software release in Adobe's 25-year history.

"One word: integration. People around the world will be amazed by how easy it is to move among applications in Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection and Production Premium," said Jason Zada, executive creative director and founder of EVB, a digital content marketing agency in San Francisco, CA. "Because our workflow is so heavily based on moving very quickly through applications, this new Adobe software will save us hundreds of hours that we can put back into our projects."

Capture-to-Delivery Workflow with Production Premium
Now available for both PC and Mac platforms, Adobe Production Premium integrates time-saving workflow technologies with milestone releases of Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3, Adobe Encore® CS3, Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator® CS3, Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional, and Adobe® Soundbooth^TM CS3, which can also be purchased as stand-alone applications. Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 software offers enhanced features such as new format support and a unique Time Remapping tool that improves slow motion and variable speed effects. After Effects CS3 software offers Shape Layers for drawing and animating vector shapes; the Puppet tool for stretching and manipulating 2D images as lifelike animations; and the Brainstorm tool for interactively generating and previewing animation variations. For audio, Soundbooth CS3 software enables post-production professionals to clean up recordings, polish voiceovers, customize music and sound effects-even if audio production isn't their specialty.

Special additions to Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium include Adobe OnLocation^TM CS3 for direct-to-disk recording and monitoring and Adobe Ultra® CS3 software for easy chroma keying. For Macintosh users, Adobe OnLocation requires Boot Camp and Windows (purchased separately) or a separate Windows® based computer. Adobe Ultra CS3 is only included in the Windows edition.

The Best Creative Tools Come Together
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection combines all of Adobe's flagship creative products, for the design and delivery of high-impact content across media - from print and the Web, to interactive applications, mobile devices, video and film. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection includes all-new versions of Adobe InDesign® CS3, Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Illustrator® CS3, Flash® CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver® CS3, Fireworks® CS3, Contribute® CS3, After Effects® CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro® CS3, Soundbooth® CS3, and Encore® CS3, as well as Acrobat® 8 Professional software.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Master Collection software will support Intel based Macintosh systems, Microsoft® Windows® XP, and Windows Vista^TM.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium are immediately available in the US and Canada through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store . The estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection is US$2,499. The estimated street price for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is US$1,699. There are numerous upgrade paths available for Adobe customers. For more detailed information about features, upgrade policies, pricing, and international versions, please visit: .

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium.

Labels: Adobe, After Effects, Creative Suite, Flash, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth

Check out some new Flash tutorials by Collis Ta'eed of FlashDen.net.

• Bend and Snap - Using Shape Tweens to do something different
• Super Zoom - Using a sequence of images to zoom in and out

I'll be adding a few more tutorials from Collis later this week. Enjoy!

Labels: Adobe, Flash, Tutorial