For Immediate Release
Adobe Announces After Effects 4.0
Newest Version of Award-Winning Visual Effects Software Unveiled at Macworld
San Jose, Calif., (Jan. 4, 1999) (Nasdaq:ADBE) – With today’s
introduction of Adobe After Effects 4.0 software, Adobe Systems
Incorporated places the finishing touch on its comprehensive dynamic
media solution for creative professionals. Adobe After Effects has
long been considered the software tool of choice for motion graphics
designers and visual effects artists who want to produce professional
quality work for film, video, multimedia and the Web. After Effects
4.0 continues that tradition by providing a robust, feature-rich
product that delivers tighter integration with all Adobe
applications, greater creative control and enhanced productivity.
While visual effects artists have always been on the cutting edge of
dynamic media, After Effects 4.0 now empowers traditional graphic
artists to more easily put motion into their designs. This ability to
quickly and easily animate graphic designs is important because it
allows users to creatively cross-purpose their work, especially for
the Internet where dynamic content helps Web sites stand out.
Tighter Integration with Adobe Applications After Effects 4.0
software enables customers to cross-purpose content and incorporate
motion graphics into their designs as it works seamlessly with Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Premiere. With these tightly
integrated applications, users can perform dynamic media production
tasks faster and more efficiently. New to After Effects 4.0 is the
ability to import Adobe Photoshop adjustment layers, layer effects
and all transfer modes. This is in addition to those features found
in previous versions of After Effects that allow users to import
Adobe Photoshop files as compositions, while preserving layers and
transparency. Adobe Illustrator users will appreciate the ability to
preserve layers when importing files as compositions into After
Effects 4.0 projects. In addition, paths from Adobe Illustrator and
Adobe Photoshop can be used as masks in After Effects 4.0. Adobe
Premiere projects are imported as compositions into After Effects,
with edited clips appropriately sequenced in the Time Layout window.
“The ability to import layered Photoshop and Illustrator files is
fantastic,” said Boo Wong, Senior Compositor with Curious Pictures,
an international design and television production company. “The
closer Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects become, the more
efficiently we can complete our work.”
Greater Control for Maximum Creative Empowerment Adobe After Effects
4.0 software expands and enhances creative control by delivering
robust masking capabilities, efficient adjustment layers, powerful
new video and audio effects and other new features. For example,
users now have the ability to create up to 128 masks per layer. Then
they can combine, fill and stroke those masks, and, as in previous
versions, animate them over time. Users can also create adjustment
layers to apply effects to multiple layers in one step.
The sophisticated new visual effects in After Effects 4.0 include new
warping and simulation effects. This, combined with more than 85
standard effects, offers an extraordinary range of creative
possibilities to explore. The animation options are practically
limitless.
“Every artist in our shop uses After Effects on a daily basis,” says
Van Ling, Creative Director at Banned from the Ranch Entertainment in
Los Angeles. “After Effects provides so much creative control, the
artists are no longer boxed into working solely as a compositor,
match mover, rotoscope artist or animator. After Effects has really
freed everyone in our shop to be as creative as possible.”
Among the impressive creative successes from artists at Banned from
the Ranch Entertainment who use After Effects are the spectacular
visual effects created for blockbuster films including Titanic,
Starship Troopers, Dr. Dolittle and Deep Rising. Says Ling: “When it
comes to speed, ease of use and sheer creativity, After Effects is
the tool we’ve come to rely on.”
Enhanced Productivity Means Faster Results The increased speed and
improved frame caching capabilities of After Effects 4.0 enhance the
user’s overall experience. The new RAM Preview feature allows users
to see how their compositions will play back in real time without
rendering. In addition, users will experience a more streamlined
interface in which all of the work areas are presented as tabbed
windows. Productivity is further enhanced with familiar tools, common
keyboard shortcuts, tabbed palettes and other features common to
Adobe’s award winning family of products.
Standard Version and Production Bundle
After Effects 4.0 software serves two distinct audiences: motion
graphics designers and visual effects artists. To meet the slightly
different needs of these two groups, and to allow the application to
accommodate each user’s needs over time, After Effects 4.0 is
available in two versions: a Standard Version and a Production Bundle.
The Production Bundle includes all of the features in the Standard
Version plus new warping effects (Bezier Warp, Mesh Warp and
Reshape), plus a powerful set of motion control and keying
capabilities that offer even more precise control for visual effects
professionals. Particle Playground is a new Production Bundle visual
effect that allows users to create realistic simulation effects such
as swarming bees, falling leaves or exploding text. Six of the new
After Effects 4.0 audio effects are also available in the Production
Bundle.
Pricing and Availability
Adobe After Effects 4.0 software will be available in early February
in the U.S. and Canada, and is priced at $995 U.S. for the Standard
Version and $2,195 U.S. for the Production Bundle. Until April 30,
1999, registered users of the Standard Version can upgrade to the
After Effects 4.0 Standard Version for $199 U.S.; likewise, existing
Production Bundle users can upgrade to the After Effects 4.0
Production Bundle for $199 U.S. (after April 30, 1999 these upgrades
are $299 U.S.). The price to upgrade from the Standard Version of
After Effects 3.0 to the After Effects 4.0 Production Bundle is $795
U.S. until April 30, 1999, or $1,295 U.S. after May 1, 1999. These
offers are only available direct from Adobe. For complete system
requirements on Power Macintosh, Windows ’98 and Windows NT 4.0
platforms, refer to the Adobe Web site at
www.adobe.com/prodindex/aftereffects.
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems is a leading provider of publishing
and imaging software technologies, and the second largest desktop
software company in the world with annual revenues approaching $1
billion. The company builds award-winning software solutions for
professional publishers, web and graphic designers,
document-intensive organizations, business users and consumers.
Adobe’s products enable customers to create, publish and deliver
visually rich images and documents across all print and electronic
media. The company employs more than 2,600 employees worldwide and
has operations in North America, Europe, the Pacific Rim, Japan and
Latin America. Adobe’s worldwide headquarters is in San Jose,
California and its web site is located at www.adobe.com.