Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium Upsell Review

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(More customer reviews)The Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium Package has nearly everything you need for high quality, professional-level post-production work as an independent filmmaker. For students who can get it at an educational discount, it's a no-brainer, but even while the retail price may sound expensive it's astonishing what you can get for the price and what you can do with it. (It's easy to justify shelling out thousands for the latest prosumer camcorder, but equally important are the tools for turning your raw footage into something that can be shared with an audience; as far as I can tell, this is the best comprehensive package of tools available for the motion graphics creator). If you have a computer that can run 64-bit applications, this package will basically turn your computer into a sophisticated post-production studio with the ability to create nearly anything you can imagine with images, photos, and video. All you need to add is a bit of creative talent, and a lot of willingness to learn, because these are sophisticated programs with a lot of features, that take experience and practice to use well. You can create animation (even interactive animation) with Flash and Flash Catalyst; you can create drawings and paintings with Illustrator; you can take photos and enhance them or even transform them into something completely new with Photoshop Extended (which also has some fairly sophisticated video and 3-d capabilities), you can edit footage together into a coherent narrative with Premiere Pro, and you can add realistic and fantastic effects and titles with After Effects, and you can fine tune the music and sound mix with Soundbooth, and can create dynamic dvds to distribute your work in Encore. All of the programs play very nice with each other (and have similar features so that once you've learned one you're on your way to learning another), and some allow you to import projects from other programs without rendering them, and also to go back into the original program and edit the project and have the changes appear automatically in the new program.
While I've had a chance to play around with all of these programs in the couple of months since their release, the ones I've spent the most time with are Photoshop Extended, Premiere Pro, and After Effects, which I consider to be the core programs of this package, the ones that really show what you can do with it. Some of the highlights of the new release are: (1) obviously, the Content Aware fill and enhanced selection tools in Photoshop, that give you a greater degree of control than ever before, and allow you to get rid of distracting elements or apply effects selectively, without destroying the realistic tone of a photograph; (2) in Premiere Pro what excites me most is the ease with which it allows you to work with a wide range of formats, without converting them first; the ability to work directly with the AVCHD files produced by my Canon VIXIA HFS10 has been a decisive factor for me in moving all of my new editing projects over to Premiere Pro from Final Cut; along with this, Premiere Pro has its new Mercury Playback engine that really helps to streamline the editing process, and allows me to preview adjustments automatically, without constantly having to stop and render things before I can see what I've done; (3) one very cool new feature in the CS5 package is that you can open up Final Cut Pro XML files in Premiere Pro, and from there you can open them up in After Effects, as I understand it always used to be much more difficult to get Final Cut Pro project files into After Effects, which was one of the reasons I never really jumped on After Effects until now; (4) After Effects enables you to achieve some very sophisticated and professional results, and its performance is better than ever; but the real standout in the newest version is the Roto Brush, that is basically a sophisticated video selection device, that allows you to isolate moving elements (such as a person) from a video clip so that you can apply selective effects to those elements, or place them in a new background entirely. It's not totally automatic, and requires some finessing (basically you have to make your selection and then it makes a series of very good frame by frame guesses as to what is happening to your selected element over time, and when it makes a mistake you have to fix it and keep going from there).
All of these programs demand some learning, but from what I've seen so far the results are worth it. I'm still effectively a beginner with these programs but I've a lot of fun learning them, and am very excited with what I've been able to accomplish in a short time. After Effects, especially, is an amazing and delightful piece of software, and I love the way it integrates so easily with the other programs in the Production Suite. While I'd used Photoshop and Premiere somewhat before the latest release, and only had a chance to spend a little time with early versions of After Effects, I find this latest version to be a massive upgrade and the most important new features seem to be focused on the needs of the independent media producer, whether it's a photographer who is beginning to work with video or a videographer who is becoming dissatisfied with the limits of doing most of their post-production work on a non-linear editor with limited ability to create sophisticated effects. A quick search on the internet shows that lots of young people already know the power of these tools for creating effects work that is comparable to that seen in big budget professional productions. Highly recommended.
By the way, one final thing I should mention is that Adobe has a very talented team of professionals who create the help files for each of the programs and who are active in the support forums, and available to give artistic and technical support. Nearly any problem you might face has been asked about and answered on the Adobe Forums, and any question that is posted gets a quick response, and the design teams seem to be paying attention to concerns and attempt to take them into account with each new upgrade. Plus, as suggested above, there are hosts of amateur and professional users who have posted advice and video tutorials for free all over the web. Just like when you buy a car you should take a look at the dealership, when you buy a piece of software you have to consider the support network behind it to help you get the most of it, and so far I've been very happy with the level of enthusiasm and support that Adobe seems to put behind their products, especially on the technical and creative side.

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Meet today's deadlines and tomorrow's challenges with breakthrough performance: Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium software accelerates workflows from scriptwriting through post-production, delivers the industry's best tapeless workflows, and introduces new CS Live online services.

Upgrade to Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium Customers who have a license for the following applications are eligible for upgrade pricing:
Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Web Standard, Production Premium, Master Collection
Adobe Premiere Pro 1.x, 2.x, CS3, CS4, & CS5; or any version of Adobe Premiere
After Effects 7.x (Professional or Standard), CS3 Professional, CS4, & CS5
Photoshop CS2, CS3, CS4, & CS5
Photoshop CS3, CS4, & CS5 Extended
Illustrator CS2, CS3, CS4, & CS5
Flash 8 (Professional or Basic); Flash CS3 Professional, CS4 Professional, & Professional CS5

Top reasons to upgrade to Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium
Breakthrough native 64-bit performance Work fluidly at HD and higher resolutions using all the available RAM in your system with native 64-bit support in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5, and Photoshop CS5 Extended. Run multiple suite components efficiently thanks to new shared memory settings. Eliminate intermediate rendering when moving assets between After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Encore, and experience faster performance between these components.
Mercury Playback Engine in Adobe Premiere Pro Work dramatically faster thanks to the revolutionary native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated Mercury Playback Engine, which provides rock-solid performance and stability, even at 4K resolution and beyond. Open projects rapidly, and create multilayer, effects-rich sequences without rendering.
Supported NVIDIA graphics cards for GPU acceleration include Quadro CX (Windows), Quadro FX 3800 (Windows), Quadro FX 4800 (Windows and Mac OS), Quadro FX 5800 (Windows), and GeForce GTX 285 (Windows and Mac OS). For an up-to-date list of supported cards, visit www.adobe.com/go/64bitsupport.
Script-to-screen workflow through integration with Adobe Story Speed up production and post-production through integration with Adobe Story, a new Adobe CS Live online service that allows you to collaborate on scriptwriting, create shot lists from your scripts in Adobe OnLocation, and then develop a preliminary rough cut in Adobe Premiere Pro. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time visit www.adobe.com/go/cslive for details.
Roto Brush in Adobe After Effects Isolate moving foreground elements from their--backgrounds in a fraction of the time using the Roto Brush. Efficiently find the edges of complex foreground elements and fine-tune selection edges, with extremely precise results.
Eye-popping 3D and naturalistic painting in Adobe Photoshop Extended Create eye-popping 3D logos and artwork by extruding any text layer, Smart Object, selection, or layer mask. Paint more naturally with expressive new painting tools, and cleanly remove unwanted objects with Content-Aware Fill.
Roundtrip editing with other NLEs Integrate CS5 Production Premium with your workflow, no matter which NLE you prefer. Move projects easily back and forth between Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro or Avid editing software.
Intuitive perspective drawing in Adobe Illustrator Represent depth and distance accurately on the flat surface of your Illustrator canvas. Generate perspective grids for 1-, 2- or 3-point linear perspectives automatically, with controls for horizon lines and vanishing points.
Use high-performance production tools to create engaging content for virtually any screen
Comprehensive, best-of-breed video production environmentWork faster as you tackle a broad spectrum of planning, production, and post-production tasks. Each component of Production Premium works smoothly with other components thanks to timesaving integration, roundtrip editing with other NLEs, and faster Adobe Dynamic Link performance.
Native 64-bit performance and the new Adobe Mercury Playback EngineWork fluidly at HD and higher resolutions with native 64-bit support in Adobe After Effects CS5, Photoshop CS5 Extended, and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. The new Mercury Playback Engine is native 64 bit and GPU accelerated* and provides rock-solid performance and stability, even at 4K resolution and beyond. Open projects rapidly, and create multilayer, effects-rich sequences without rendering.
* Supported NVIDIA graphics cards for GPU acceleration include Quadro CX (Windows), Quadro FX 3800 (Windows), Quadro FX 4800 (Windows and Mac OS), Quadro FX 5800 (Windows), and GeForce GTX 285 (Windows and Mac OS). For an up-to-date list of supported cards, visit www.adobe.com/go/64bitsupport.
Broad format support in Adobe Premiere ProExperience the industry's best tapeless workflow while working with virtually any format including DV, HDV, RED, DPX, Sony XDCAM, XDCAM 50, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD, Panasonic P2, DVCPRO HD, AVCHD, and AVC-Intra. Edit video from DSLR cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D; Nikon D90, D300s, and D3000; and others.
Richer, more compelling 2D and 3D images with Adobe Photoshop ExtendedExport video sequences from Photoshop Extended and import them into After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe Encore. Work with new painting tools; make complex selections more easily; and create 3D logos from text, masks, or vectors.
Compositing and animation tools in Adobe After EffectsDesign groundbreaking motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects with industry-standard After Effects. Get everything you need to create opening titles, animated graphics, and visual effects or to create and move images in 3D space.
Roundtrip editing and streamlined collaborationMove projects back and forth between Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro or Avid editing software. Accelerate workflows by taking advantage of integration with new Adobe CS Live online services, such as Adobe Story for developing scripts. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time--visit www.adobe.com/go/cslive for details.
Script-to-screen workflow through integration with Adobe StorySpeed up production and post-production through integration with Adobe Story, a collaborative scriptwriting tool that's part of CS Live online services. Integrated metadata support makes it easy to create shot lists in Adobe OnLocation and rough cuts in Adobe Premiere Pro. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time--visit www.adobe.com/go/cslive for details.
Editing efficiency through metadataAdd intelligence to your assets using innovative metadata features that make editing and compositing easier, and raise the value of your content when it is distributed online.
Encoding and delivery for screens everywhereBatch encode source files to a broad selection of formats that meet a variety of standards with Adobe Media Encoder. Author once in Encore CS5 for DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and searchable web DVDs. Preview and test content for mobile phones and other devices in Adobe Device Central.
Pristine audio creation in Adobe SoundboothUse Soundbooth to accomplish everyday audio tasks quickly while maintaining high-quality results and creative control. Remove noise from a recording, polish voiceovers, customize music to fit a production, and much more.
Interactive design with Adobe Flash Catalyst or Flash ProfessionalDesign interactive online video portfolios without writing code using Flash Catalyst, a new interaction design tool. Easily add video to sophisticated interactive experiences with a flexible, industry-standard workflow in Flash Professional.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5--Accelerate production with the new Adobe Mercury Playback EngineCraft your story efficiently with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 software, the high-performance video production solution that enables you to work dramatically faster thanks to the native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated Adobe Mercury Playback Engine. Edit natively with the video formats you want. Save time by batch encoding source content to a wide variety of video formats for web, disc, broadcast, film, device, and mobile delivery. Easily exchange projects with Final Cut Pro and Avid software, and enjoy efficient, collaborative workflows that accelerate production from scriptwriting to editing, encoding, and final delivery.

Improve your production workflowFocus on telling your story with powerful, flexible editing tools. With the native 64-bit Adobe Mercury Playback Engine, the industry's best native tapeless workflow, and unparalleled Adobe integration, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 sets a new standard in editing efficiency.
Collaborate openly and effectivelyWork in an open, extensible post-production environment. Write scripts collaboratively. Efficiently gather feedback from clients and teammates. Easily exchange projects with other Adobe software, Final Cut Pro, and Avid software.
Deliver engaging video practically anywhereCreate video optimized for online viewing as well as for broadcast, disc, film, device, and mobile distribution. From capture to final delivery, use metadata to make assets easier to find in production, create engaging interactive experiences, and help audiences discover your videos online.
Adobe After Effects CS5--Create motion graphics and visual effects with the industry standardAdobe After Effects CS5 delivers the visual richness required to get noticed in today's media culture. Use open-ended creative tools. Work efficiently on high-resolution projects thanks to native 64-bit support. And benefit from tight integration with Adobe's other leading software. Whether you're working in film, broadcast, online, or mobile media, Adobe After Effects enables you to create groundbreaking motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects.

Get 64-bit performanceWork more quickly with groundbreaking 64-bit performance that dramatically improves the experience of creating HD and higher resolution content. Streamlined tools and tight Adobe integration also accelerate your workflow.
Innovate visuallyExpress your visual ideas with freedom. Adobe After Effects CS5 revolutionizes motion design with an open-ended environment that fosters creative experimentation.
Composite efficientlyRealize your vision quickly and efficiently by drawing on a broad and deep set of tools designed to help you solve any creative challenge.
Deliver everywhereMaster modern media: Deliver your completed projects to the widest range of formats, from large format feature films and high-definition television to websites and mobile devices.
Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended--Create powerful images with the professional standardAdobe Photoshop CS5 Extended software helps you create the ultimate images for print, the web, and video. Enjoy all the state-of-the-art editing, compositing, and painting capabilities in industry-standard Photoshop CS5, and experience fast performance thanks to cross-platform 64-bit support. Also create 3D extrusions for logos, artwork, and motion graphics; edit 3D objects with advanced tools; and create and enhance motion-based content.

Innovate in 3DGo beyond traditional image editing by bringing 3D elements to your 2D artwork directly within your favorite digital imaging application, which now offers an easy on-ramp to 3D image creation.
Maximize creative impactExplore new creative possibilities with breakthrough tools that enable you to select, adjust, paint, and recompose images with tremendous precision and freedom.
Boost productivityAccelerate your workflow with fast performance on 64-bit hardware systems, smoother interactions thanks to GPU acceleration, and dozens of time-savers throughout the application.
Adobe Illustrator CS5--Explore new paths with the essential vector toolCreate distinctive designs for any project. Used by creative professionals worldwide, Adobe Illustrator CS5 software provides precision and power. Paint expressively with vectors, draw in perspective, and explore designing for interactivity. Move easily between Illustrator, other Adobe products, and Adobe CS Live online services. Get the job done efficiently but beautifully, moving quickly from multiple ideas to multiple outputs with complete control and delivering exactly what you had in mind.

Design with powerful creative toolsTake advantage of exceptional precision and power to create distinctive vector artwork. Combine highly controllable drawing tools with expressive natural brushes and dramatic effects to make unique, striking designs.
Work smoothly and efficientlySpeed up your workflow with innovations that encourage efficiency. Get the job done with purpose and agility using shortcuts and time-savers to take multiple ideas to multiple outputs.
Deliver virtually anywhereIncorporate vector artwork into essentially any project and deliver resolution-independent graphics across media. Enjoy tighter-than-ever integration with other Adobe products and go anywhere your creativity takes you.
Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5--Create expressive interfaces and interactive content without writing codeAdobe Flash Catalyst CS5 software is an approachable new interaction design tool. Use it to transform Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks artwork into expressive interfaces and fully interactive content without writing code, and publish as SWF or Adobe AIR files. Collaborate with developers who can open your project files with Adobe Flash Builder software to extend functionality, and leverage the reach and consistency of the Adobe Flash Platform.

Leverage the power of the Adobe Flash Platform to create interactive projectsRapidly create expressive interfaces and interactive content to your exacting design standards. Deliver your creative vision with the reach and consistency of the Adobe Flash Platform.
Approach interaction design without writing codeTransform static designs from Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or Fireworks software into fully interactive projects without requiring development or coding skills. Define behaviors and control sophisticated interactions with simple yet powerful menu-based commands.
Speed the design and development processUse familiar design applications to easily create and edit artwork. Developers can open Flash Catalyst projects directly in Adobe Flash Builder software, preserving design fidelity and interactions defined by the designer.
Adobe Flash Professional CS5--Create and deliver rich interactive contentAdobe Flash Professional CS5 software is the industry-leading environment for interactive authoring and delivery of immersive experiences that are presented consistently across personal computers, mobile devices, and screens of virtually any size and resolution. Design expressive content with professional typography and pixel-precise drawing tools, write code precisely and efficiently with code completion and customizable code snippets, and deliver superior-quality video to audiences practically everywhere.

Design with expressionCommunicate your creative vision without sacrifice and set the bar for interactive design with typographic precision, layout fidelity, and expressive motion-editing capabilities.
Write code quickly and easilyQuickly and efficiently write code with powerful authoring tools and integration with Adobe Flash Builder software. Easily add interactivity directly in the ActionScript language by injecting extensible code snippets.
Deliver in fewer steps and in more placesSave time and reduce the number of required steps when moving content from design, to development, and ultimately to delivery. Distribute consistently across personal computers, mobile devices, and screens of virtually any size and resolution.
Adobe Soundbooth CS5--Create and edit audio with easeAdobe Soundbooth CS5 software is a professional audio editor that makes it easy to create, edit, and clean up audio for all your productions. Intuitive, task-based features and tight integration with other Adobe applications save time and help you achieve professional results. Mix royalty-free, customizable soundtracks and sound effects with dialogue in the improved multitrack environment for complete creative control.

Simplify audio workflowsMake short work of everyday audio with a smooth, intuitive workflow that features task-based tools and tight integration with other Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium components.
Fix audio problems fastAutomatically detect and fix common flaws in audio such as hisses, hums, phase problems, crackling, and pops. Add reverb to match on-location room ambience. Match the volume of different dialogue clips.
Create soundtracks easilyDrag and drop Soundbooth Scores to create soundtracks. Make the music fit your visuals with easy adjustments to timing, and suit your project's mood with easy adjustments to intensity, atmosphere, and instrumentation.
Get professional-sounding mixesCombine music, dialogue, and sound effects on multiple tracks. Easily control EQ, volume, pan, and effects on each track using automation. Add mastering effects for final polish.
Locate dialogue quicklyConvert spoken dialogue into searchable text, and use custom dictionaries to increase the accuracy of asset search. Export transcripts to create searchable video.
Searchable web DVDs and other enhancements in Adobe Encore CS5Adobe Encore CS5 software is a versatile, interactive authoring tool for video distribution that allows you to deliver your projects beyond DVD and Blu-ray Disc. In a single operation, you can easily turn your DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects into web DVDs that now include a search interface. The new interface gives viewers a more engaging experience by enabling them to search within a web DVD using keywords. During authoring, Encore automatically creates a search database using metadata from speech-analysis text, subtitles in timelines and slideshows, and menu and button names.
Also new in Encore CS5 is the ability to:
Further enhance the viewing experience by creating web DVDs with a sleek, customizable playback interface that features easy-to-use playback controls and the option to watch HD video in full-screen mode.
Create a smoother experience for viewers when they choose from options across multiple menus on Blu-ray Discs. Browsable multipage menus show options across multiple menu pages without interrupting the playback of audio and video background elements. Multipage menus can be easily created in Adobe Photoshop or directly in Encore.
Working in the Adobe Premiere Pro timeline, you can take 4K projects directly to high-definition Blu-ray Discs using a workflow that maintains the original 4K content all the way to output, when it is finally encoded and scaled. This capability is especially meaningful to video editors and motion graphics and visual effects artists who work on projects at film resolutions.
Experienced Encore users will appreciate the ability to share Encore CS5 projects without worrying about platform compatibility. Encore projects can be moved between Windows and Mac platforms freely, without conversion. Editors and motion graphics and effects artists can benefit from native 24p project support for Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and web DVD titles, complete with 24p timecode in the timeline. (Previously, Encore placed all assets in timelines with a defaultframe rate of 29.97, irrespective of the properties of the assets.)
Continue authoring while you transcode your media assets. Adobe Media Encoder, a separate, 64-bit software application, encodes your files in the background, freeing Encore to process your authoring tasks. This separation of authoring and encoding is particularly important with 4K workflows, which can be taxing on your computer.

Efficient production and tapeless camera support in Adobe OnLocation CS5Adobe OnLocation CS5 provides an impressive array of production tools to help you shoot better and faster while saving time and money, both on set and off. New support for tapeless cameras extend the ways you can use OnLocation in your production workflows.
Spot problems in imported tapeless footage. Thanks to new tapeless camera support, you can use the comprehensive software waveform monitor and vectorscope as well as the audio spectrum analyzer in OnLocation to identify image and audio problems in imported files by quickly scanning your footage for audio pops, clipping, and video overbrights.
Logging with tapeless cameras. Get all the benefits of real-time, on-set logging when working with tapeless cameras. Simply tell OnLocation which shot is currently recording and then enter notes, comments, and additional metadata into placeholder clips. Using timecode as a reference, OnLocation automatically matches the information to the recorded clips when they are imported from the tapeless media, regardless of whether the camera is tethered to OnLocation on-set or whether the clips are imported during post-production.
Faster logging with Turbo Comments. While recording, the new Turbo Comments feature lets you add frequently used words--cast names, sports highlights, and so on--with a single keystroke to log live action accurately, consistently, and efficiently. OnLocation lets you store up to nine comments with unique shortcuts, for immediate, timecode-accurate logging.
Adobe Creative Suite 5 With powerful new creative tools, enhanced performance and workflows, and the ability to integrate with timesaving new Adobe CS Live online services, Adobe Creative Suite 5 software provides the edge you need to create rich content for virtually any media--print, web, interactive, video, audio, and mobile. Whether you need to produce printed pages efficiently or design and distribute engaging content online, on film, on air, and on device, you'll find the right combination of Adobe tools to increase your productivity and keep pace with your creative vision.

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