Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 17, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
After Effects 7.0 is available now. New features include a revised, more flexible program interface, support for the OpenGL 2.0 standard and extensive options for export in Flash Video format (FLV). After Effects 7 is available either as an individual product or as part of Production Studio, also presented today, Adobe’s new program suite for the audio and video sector.
Dockable control panels keep the workspace tidy, and its brightness can also be adjusted. After Effects 7 supports Adobe’s cross-application file browser Adobe Bridge and, as part of Production Studio, provides access to Adobe Dynamic Link, a new technology intended to simplify the workflow decisively. Dynamic Link makes rendering an After Effects composition before importing it into Premiere Pro or Encore DVD unnecessary. All After Effects layers remain accessible, and changes from After Effects can be viewed without delay in Premiere Pro or Encore DVD respectively, without the video having to be rendered. Rendering is necessary only at the end.
Support for the OpenGL 2.0 standard is intended to accelerate the rendering of combined 2D and 3D compositions and thus shorten production time. After Effects 7.0 enables users to display blending modes, motion blur at the 2D level, anti-aliasing, track mattes and shading in the highest playback quality.
After Effects 7 also offers a new graph editor with which users can create animations across layers, gain complete control over keyframe editing and are intended to benefit from simplified effect synchronization. Through support for HDR color (High Dynamic Range) with 32 bits (only in the Professional version), After Effects 7 is intended to simulate the behavior of light realistically and provide improved precision and realism when handling color. The time-warp function (only in the Professional version) offers better control over the interaction between frames that run in time lapse or delayed.
Finally, After Effects 7 can also export material in FLV format, the video format of Flash, just acquired with Macromedia.
After Effects 7.0 is available now for Mac OS X (10.3.9 or higher) and Microsoft Windows XP. The Standard version costs 925 euros, while 1510 euros are due for the Professional variant. Updates are available for 278 euros each. The update from Standard to Professional costs 695 euros.
After Effects 7.0 is part of the new complete postproduction solution Production Studio, within which Premiere Pro 2.0, Audition 2.0 and Encore DVD 2.0, among others, were also presented at the same time.
Further Links:
- Adobe’s After Effects Site
