Adobe® Contribute CS5, Adobe® Soundbooth CS5 & After Effects CS5
By Howard Berenbon
Adobe® Contribute® CS5 is an easy-to-use program that allows you or your client to edit, update and maintain a Website without using a full-blown design program like Dreamweaver. If you’re the administrator, you can allow partial access to anyone: experienced Web designer, as part of a team working on a complex design, or inexperienced users who want to contribute to the operation of the site. You can limit access for security reasons as well. Also, knowledge of HTML code is not required, so anyone with a need to add content can contribute. When Websites are complex with dozens of pages and multiple features requiring a team of design professionals, Contribute is the perfect solution. Team members can work on the part of the design that matches their experience, while the administrator retains control over the full design.
Starting Contribute CS5
Once installed, and run the program, you’ll see that the main menu looks a lot like all the other Adobe CS5 products. At the very top, you’ll see several menus: File, Edit, View, Bookmarks, Review, Insert, Format Table and Help. Just to the right is the “Bridge” ion if you need to browse, locate, and view your creative assets. Below, the screen is divided into several sections. Starting from the left you’ll see Browser: Start Page and just below that is the HOW DO I … section. If you need help, you can get all the instructions you need. Topics include add a Website page, add content, modify a Web page, work with blogs, administer a Website and troubleshooting.
Before you begin editing you’ll need to connect to your Website or Blog. To set your connection, click on the Website Connection or Blog Connection icon in the center of the main screen. You can also use the Create Connection button at the top, below “Start Page.” Next, you’ll enter URL login and your name and e-mail address for identification as a Contribute user. Once you enter Done, your site will open in Contribute and you’re ready to begin. Now, just browse to the page you need to edit, as if you’re in a Web browser, and then click Edit at the top of the page to open. Now, revise your page on screen, in the WYSIWYG format (“what you see is what you get”) without the need to know a bit of Web programming code. When you’re through making your changes or additions, click on the Publish button at the top toolbar to upload your modifications. It’s as easy to use as any Web browser.
What’s New and Enhanced in Contribute CS5
Predefined Content Types - New
Define content types that specify the design template and review process that will be used automatically when a new page is created. Content type can be HTML or XML.
XML Editing - New
Edit XML file content without opening an XML editor; insert and delete data without altering the document structure. Easily update Spry data sets and other pages that render content from XML files or dynamic XML-based sites.
True WYSIWYG Web Authoring – Enhanced
Take advantage of enhanced CSS rendering, which enables content authors to edit without writing code and to see the results of their edits instantly. Adobe® Contribute® CS5 immediately updates edits to XML content and Spry widgets.
Rich Media support - Enhanced
Easily drag and drop images, FLV and SWF files, or PDF documents into your web pages. Contribute automatically uploads the dependent files to the web server when the pages are published in predefined locations.
Cross-browser Preview - New
Verify the look and feel of updated pages in multiple browsers. Windows® users can view three browsers simultaneously for side-by-side comparison.
Subversion support - New
Manage site files more effectively in collaborative, version-controlled environments with support for Subversion® software. Roll back pages to previously archived files using Subversion.
In-browser Editing - Enhanced
Allow authors to edit pages directly in a web browser with no need to open another application. The Contribute CS5 in-browser editor supports most browsers, including Firefox 3–3.6 and Internet Explorer 7 and 8.
Collaborative Publishing – Enhanced
Establish collaborative workflow processes to author, review, and publish content. Define different review paths at the template level, whether a single approval for an internal web page or multiple sign-offs for a public page.
Dynamic Website Editing – Enhanced
Add content to dynamic websites powered by Movable Type, TypePad, or WordPress. Simply define the Contribute connection with the proper settings, and site content is instantly available for updating.
Adobe® Contribute CS5 sells for $199 and is available for the IBM PC or compatible multi-media computer with an Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor (Intel Core™2 Duo or AMD Phenom® II recommended) or faster processor running Windows 7 / Vista / XP with 512 MB RAM, 1 GB of hard disk space for installation, 1,280 x 900 screen resolution, DVD drive and Internet Explorer 7 or 8, or Firefox 3 or 3.5 for Adobe Contribute Web browser plug-in. Also available for the Mac with a Multicore Intel processor, Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6, 512 MB RAM, 1.4 GB of hard disk space for installation, 1,280 x 900 screen resolution, a DVD drive and Firefox 3 or 3.5 for Web browser plug-in. For more information, or to order, visit Amazon.com.
Adobe® Soundbooth CS5
Adobe Soundbooth CS5 is used to for perfecting and enhancing audio in any creative project: video or audio only, mono or stereo and more than one file at a time. It also easily integrates with in Flash CS5 Professional, Premiere Pro CS5 and After Effects CS5. Precision tools allow accurate cut, copy, paste, fade, trim, volume and stretch audio with audio and visual feedback. The program includes a number a number of Soundbooth scores and lots of royalty free sound effects.
After you run Soundbooth, you’ll see a gray main menu at the top left with File, Edit, Clip, View, Tasks, Processes, Effects, Window and Help buttons. In the upper left box you’ll find the Files and Scores section. Below is another section with four tabs: Tasks, Effects, Markers and Properties. To the right is the Editor about covering two-thirds of the screen. To start editing, click on the File menu and load your audio file. You’ll see the title and waveforms displayed in the Editor space where you can start editing and creating.
At the Clip menu the functions include Edit Clip, Back to Multitrack, Split Clip, Add Score Clip, Replace Score Clip, Extract Audio, Edit Original and Link Media. From the Tasks menu you can Change Pitch and Timing, Clean Up Audio, Create Loop, Remove a Sound and Volume Correction. Under Processes, you can Fade In, Fade Out, Make Louder, Normalize, Hard Limit, Equalize Volume Levels, Auto Heal, Change Pitch and Timing, Capture Noise Point, Reduce Noise, Remove Clicks and Pops and Remove Rumble. Effects available include Analog Delay, Chorus/Flanger, Compressor, Convolution Reverb, Distortion, Dynamics, EQ: Graphic, EQ: Parametic, Mastering, Phaser and Vocal Enhancer.
What’s New and Enhanced in Soundbooth CS5
Multitrack support - assemble all the elements of a complex soundtrack into a final audio mixdown
New Adobe Sound Document - enables nondestructive audio editing
Automatic volume matching - quickly match the volume of multiple clips to each other or to a single reference volume level with a single click
Volume keyframing - adjust the volume of your dialogue and sound-effects tracks or adjust the volume of your audio over time
MP3 compression preview - allows you to preview the sound quality at any selected bit rate and see the consequent file size before saving.
Improved integration with other Creative Suite 4 software - use Edit in Adobe Soundbooth command from within Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Adobe After Effects CS4 to send audio files directly to Soundbooth for clean up or enhancement
Adobe Dynamic Link workflows – creates a direct link between new or existing audio files in select Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium components.
Looping tool enhancements – includes automatic beat detection to create seamless loops and you can adjust the in and out points by individual beats until you get the right loop
Additional Soundbooth Scores and improved workflow - free and purchasable Soundbooth Scores are available online through Resource Central
Speech Search – turns spoken dialogue into text-based metadata so you can search your video files.
Adobe® Soundbooth CS5 sells for just under $199 and is available for the both the PC and Macintosh. System Requirements: IBM PC or compatible, 1.4 GHz or faster processor running Microsoft Windows XP, or Vista or Windows 7 with 1 GB RAM, 2 GB RAM for HDV and HD playback, 2 GB Hard Disk space for installation, 1280x900 display with OpenGL 2.0 compatible graphics card, DVD-ROM drive and QuickTime 7. Multicore Intel processor Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6, 2 GB RAM for HDV and HD playback, 2 GB Hard Disk space for installation, 1280x900 display with OpenGL 2.0 compatible graphics card, DVD-ROM drive and QuickTime 7. For more information, or to order, visit Amazon.com.
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Software Companies Mentioned
Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95110-2704
URL: www.adobe.com
800-833-6687
