Adobe® After Effects® CS6 and Adobe® Audition CS6 (CC) from Adobe Systems . August 2013 . Vol. 19 No. 8

Cyber News and Reviews is a monthly column published for parents, teachers & business owners featuring kids educational software reviews, business software reviews (small business & home business), games and entertainment articles, a free resource since 1995.

August 2011 --Adobe® Dreamweaver CS5.5 Website Design Program
February 2011 --VIPRE® Antivirus Premium from Sunbelt Software
January 2011 --Adobe® Contribute CS5, Adobe® Soundbooth CS5 & After Effects CS5
December 2010 --Adobe® Premiere Pro CS5 and CS Live Services
November 2010 --Adobe® Illustrator CS5 and Adobe Flash Professional CS5

Adobe® After Effects® CS6

By Howard Berenbon

When you’ve completed your video or animation design, you can use After Effects CS6 from Adobe, to add creative enhancements to any video or animation.  After Effects lets you combine video, still images, graphics, text, and sound in 2D or 3D space and then animate any aspect of each element for a creative effect. 64-bit operating system now required (first featured in CS5) and offers improved speed and performance, needed when rendering high definition (HD), high resolution projects. CS6 includes new 3D capabilities and over 90 new and updated effects.

To begin a project, click on New Composition in the Welcome Screen, or from the main menu under Composition and you’ll start with Comp 1.  Then you can import an element, or objects, which can be videos, animations, sounds or photos, to combine and add your effects. Adobe refers to your elements or project assets that you bring into the Projects panel as “footage” even photos or sounds.  Hundreds of effects are selectable from the Effects & Presets pane at the right.  To load an object, right click on the Projects Panel, under Comp 1 (short for Composition) and a box will open that lets you import a file, or even load an Adobe Premiere Pro project. To work on an element, you must first add it to your Composition Panel by dragging it to the Comp 1 pane.  While you’re working, Adobe offers a quick way to get answers to your questions, especially important for people new to After Effects.  At the upper right hand corner of the screen, you’ll see the Search Help box.  Just type your question and you’re taken online to the very important Adobe Community Help site where you’ll see a list of matching answers to your search.

To preview your work, use the Preview pane where you can play and pause the video, mute audio and change the loop options. Also, the Effects & Presets pane is below the Preview pane and below that is the Timeline Panel (in the center below the Composition Panel).

When you’ve finished adding all the elements (or layers) to your project, you can start adding effects one layer at a time.  To begin, move your mouse to the Effects & Presets Panel and find the effect you want to add.  Then click on the effect name and it will appear in the Project Panel under the Effect Controls tab with variables you can modify to adjust the effect.

After Effects is a great application to help you make your project perfect for final production, but there’s a learning curve you’ll need to climb to get up to speed on some of those complex features.  If you need help, take advantage of Adobe Community Help and the After Effects video tutorials from Adobe TV. See http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-after-effects-cc/.

What’s New and Improved in After Effects® CS6

Global Performance Cache—Create more in less time, even in high-resolution projects. This revolution “under the hood” makes After Effects fast and responsive by taking full advantage of the 64-bit power in your computer’s hardware.

3D camera tracker—Track 3D elements with complete control over depth of field, shadows, and reflections. Automatically analyze and place 3D track points onto 2D footage in the background while you work. Combine moving and still imagery, graphics, and text in 2D or 3D space.

Ray-traced, extruded text and shapes—Extrude fully ray-traced text and shapes natively and take full advantage of reflections, environment maps, and more.

Variable mask feathering—Create a separate set of splines to precisely control mask feathering. Get the exact shape you want with the proper degree of softness at any point along the mask edge, resulting in a big boost to creative flexibility.

Integration with Adobe Illustrator—Instantly convert Illustrator vector art (AI and EPS format) into shape layers. Easily animate vector art in 2D or extrude to 3D.

Rolling shutter repair—Remove rolling shutter artifacts such as skew and wobble without forcing stabilization, using an improved version of technology originally introduced with Warp Stabilizer. Manipulate moving and still images using effects such as stylize, distort, and shatter.

New and updated effects—Enhance your creativity with 90 new and updated built-in effects, including the complete 16- and 32-bit CycoreFX HD suite (English user interface only).

Avid AAF and FCP 7 XML file import with Pro Import AE—Import and work with files created in Apple Final Cut Pro 7 or earlier versions, as well as Avid Media Composer and Symphony, letting you integrate After Effects with professional production workflows. mocha for After Effects CS6—Launch mocha for After Effects CS6 (English user interface only) directly within After Effects CS6.

Adobe® After Effects CS6 sells for $592 and is is available for the IBM PC or compatible multi-media computer with an Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Anthlon® 64 or faster processor running Windows 7 / 8/Vista / XP with 2 GB RAM, 10 GB hard disk space for installation,, 1280x800 display, 64-bit operating system required.  Also available for the Mac with a Multicore Intel processor, Mac OS X v10.6.8 or v10.7, 2 GB RAM, 4 GB of hard disk space for installation, 1,280 x 800 screen resolution.  For more information, or to order, visit Amazon.com.

Software Companies Mentioned
Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95110-2704
URL: www.adobe.com
800-833-6687

Adobe® Audition CS6 (CC) from Adobe Systems

By Howard Berenbon

Adobe® Audition CS6 is a great tool to help enhance your video and audio projects for the best possible sound. It efficiently handles recording, mixing and sound design, restoration and mastering, and it easily interfaces with Adobe’s Premiere Pro. New features include the Preview Editor to confirm before you commit, the Sound Remover to quickly remove audio elements, real-time clip stretching, automatic speech alignment, and new and enhanced sound tools like Noise Generator and Pitch Bender. Note.  Audition is a replacement for Soundbooth.

Audition will you help clear those unwanted hums, clicks, pops, and other noises that many be present in your projects (like pops and static from old vinyl records, or unexpected blips in digital clips). Effects include Amplitude and Compression, Delay and Echo, Filter and EQ, Time and Pitch, Noise Reduction/Restoration, Reverb and more. Audition CS6 still allows access to royalty-free sound effects, loops, music and sound beds, but now through the Help Menu by clicking on Download Sound Effects and More.  This link will take you to Adobe.com to create and account and log in for access to the royalty-free content.  Also, If you need a quick course on the basics of Audition then visit Adobe TV at http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-audition-cc/.

What’s New and Improved in Audition CS6 (CC)

A more connected Adobe Audition (new)
Adobe® Audition® CC is part of Creative Cloud™. That means you have access to all the latest updates and future releases the moment they're available. Sharpen your skills and master new tools with a rich library of training videos. And with Behance® integration, you can share your projects and get immediate feedback from creatives around the world.

Sound Remover (new)
Easily remove specific audio elements in just a few clicks. Select a sample of the unwanted sound; Sound Remover will scan the entire clip and remove that element from the recording. Repair or restore dialogue and production audio to deliver pristine results faster.

Preview Editor (new)
Confirm your edits before you commit. With Preview Editor, you can visually compare waveform tweaks, view multiple file sections simultaneously, and confirm time stretching before applying your changes.

Advanced sound design (new)
Adobe Audition includes many new and enhanced sound design tools, including Noise Generator and Pitch Bender, that let you create sounds and shape soundscapes to craft the perfect effect.

Enhanced multitrack editing (new)
Clear and comprehensive clip handling, manipulation, and grouping tools save time by letting you craft large multitrack projects quickly, apply edits and effects to multiple clips, and organize audio within projects easily.

Advanced sound design (new)
Adobe Audition includes many new and enhanced sound design tools, including Noise Generator and Pitch Bender, that let you create sounds and shape soundscapes to craft the perfect effect.

Roundtrip editing workflow
Seamless roundtrip editing on audio tracks lets you send clips, mixes, or sequences from Adobe Premiere® Pro to Adobe Audition and back for editing, restoration, and complete soundtrack creation.

Automatic speech alignment
Replace location dialogue with studio-recorded ADR and align it perfectly, even if the original audio includes background noise. Fix lip sync issues easily and deliver better production value faster.

Enhanced Spectral Display (new)
Edit audio with surgical precision using enhanced selection capabilities in the Spectral Display editor. Make multiple selections, create complex regions, and apply more accurate fixes with visual editing tools similar to those in Adobe Photoshop®.

Audio finesse (new)
Work efficiently with a streamlined interface. Dock panels to emphasize the tools you need most, and use new shortcuts, navigation tools, and timeline views to work smarter and finish faster.

ITU loudness metering (new)
Conform to today's broadcast regulations with a loudness monitor you can reference as you work. The ITU Loudness Radar panel provides visual feedback so you can quickly find and fix audio passages that exceed volume limits.

Adobe® Audition CS6 (CC) is available for $342.98.  It’s also bundled with Adobe® Creative Suite®6 Production Premium and Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 Master Collection. For more information, or to order, visit Amazon.com.