Adobe is introducing Text-Based Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, an entirely new way to edit that makes creating a rough cut as simple as copying and pasting text. Adobe has worked hard to make Premiere Pro today the fastest and most stable version they have ever released, and they’ve added dozens of improvements that editors have been asking for, like automatic tone mapping, background auto save, enhanced collaboration tools, and more.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Adobe After Effects and the new Properties panel means working on compositions is a lot faster — and makes the application more welcoming for the next generation of motion designers.
New features in Premiere Pro
Text-Based Editing transforms rough cut workflows and opens new ways of working with video. Powered by Adobe Sensei, Text-Based Editing in Premiere Pro uses the latest AI to automatically transcribe your source media. Instead of watching hours of footage just to find the right sound bites, now you can skim through transcripts, search for keywords, and add them to the Timeline to start your rough cut. Premiere Pro generates a transcript for your sequence as you build it. So, once you’ve got a few clips on the timeline, you can copy and paste phrases in the sequence transcript and watch the edits in the Timeline automatically change to match them. Text-Based Editing is like having a “paper cut” of your transcript, except it’s built into your NLE (Non-linear Editing). And, when your edit is complete, Text-Based Editing gives you a ready-made transcript that can be used to quickly generate captions.
Automatic tone mapping makes it easy to work with different media and colour spaces in the same timeline, without requiring LUTs (Lookup Tables) or custom colour settings. Today’s cameras record an amazing amount of colour and detail, so usage of log and other HDR formats is growing. Automatic tone mapping converts the wider colour gamut of HDR files, like iPhone HLG, and popular log formats, like Sony S-Log, so that they display correctly in standard sequences. Unlike LUTs, tone mapping is non-destructive, and you can apply colour grading across your media, without the risk of artifacts or clipping highlights.
Beyond the new features, Adobe is doubling down on delivering improvements you’ve asked for. Not only is Premiere Pro faster and more reliable, but they’ve also added background auto save, which saves backups as you work, without interrupting your flow. There’s new format support and GPU acceleration for ARRI, RED, and more — and with new launch reset options, it’s easy to perform routine maintenance tasks, like clearing your media cache.
Other improvements shave valuable seconds off tasks, like dragging to select track targets, more accurate masking, faster motion graphics templates, and the ability to bulk edit titles in the Timeline. New language support for Speech to Text brings Premiere Pro’s captioning toolset to Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish speakers, for a total of 18 languages around the world. Updates for collaborative editing make it easy to work together with other editors in the same project. A complete version history tracks each change in the Team Project and Sequence Locking ensures no one else can make edits to something you’re working on.
New features in After Effects
Modelled on similar panels in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, the Properties panel in After Effects makes motion design faster. Instead of drilling down into layers to make adjustments, controls are presented to you contextually, right beside the composition window. It’s easier to try things out and iterate on designs. The Properties panel also works with Essential Properties, saving you even more time when you need to create multiple versions of the same type of graphic. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out in motion design, the Properties panel shortens the distance between ideas and execution in After Effects.
Also now available is Selectable Track Mattes, a highly requested feature that saves time by letting you reuse the same matte for multiple layers. New keyboard shortcuts make your track mattes workflow even easier. Adobe has changed Colorama so that it defaults to the native After Effects colour picker, a feature request that saves clicks every time you use it. Last year, Adobe added 50 animation presets, which After Effects artists loved. This year they will add over 50 more presets to help you create animations without having to start from scratch.
Along with improving your workflows, Adobe is helping you keep After Effects running in peak form. You don’t have to be an IT expert to use the new diagnostic tools for things like resetting your preferences or troubleshooting plugins.
Availability
Many of these features, such as Automatic Tone Mapping in Premiere Pro and ACES/OCIO colour management in After Effects, have been released in recent updates. Other features, including Text-Based Editing and background auto save in Premiere Pro and the Properties panel in After Effects are currently in public Beta and will be released in May.
Contact the Dax Data team to find out more about Adobe’s industry-leading editing software for film and visual effects.
