By Matt Jeppsen | e-mail the author

Premiere Pro’s last update was on 2/28/2005, with the minor 1.5.1 HDV plugin. So the news that PPro v2 is on the way should be of interest to the Adobe faithful.

DVGuru links to a post that claims v2 will be available on the 17th of this month. Quick summary follows…

The suite of software is to be called Adobe Production Studio, and will include Adobe Premiere Pro 2, After Effects 7, Audition 2, Encore DVD 2, and Adobe Dynamic Link. Adobe Dynamic Link allows you to use unrendered Adobe After Effects comps in PPro2 and Encore DVD 2.

Premiere Pro 2 and After Effects 7 will support directly exporting projects in Macromedia Flash Video (FLV) or Vector based SWF formats (of course).
After Effects 7 sports a new interface and includes “hundreds” of Animation and Behavior Presets (just like Motion, eh?). There is now OpenGL support, for more realtime previews and playback. Another addition is “non-destructive vector painting”, which enables you to paint on layers to clean up your footage, masking, etc. Motion tracking and stabilization is available in the Professional package only, as in previous releases. The interface updates supposedly make everything more “unified” and includes panels that dock and group. Adobe also dangles a few more templates and presets that should help get the creative juices flowing. After Effects is still available in both Windows and Apple Mac flavors.

Premiere Pro 2 will now offer DVD authoring with menus from the timeline and FINALLY native Multicam editing. Adobe says that Multicam clips can be synched “based on source timecode”, but includes no other details. Another new feature is called “Clip Notes” that allows you to attach audio and video notes to a specific section of the timeline, for collaboration or approval. Also included is support for 10 and 16-bit PSD files. Version 2 now offloads more of the processing to the GPU enabling faster previews and playback of certain effects. The Color Correction tools have been updated, Adobe says “Fast color correction allows for quick and easy adjustments, while secondary color-correction tools allow you to make more selective modifications for a professional finish.”

Encore DVD 2 features a new Slideshow Editor and Flowchart for defining and managing DVD navigation. There is mention of background transcoding of DVD content, but details are slim. Sounds good though. Another feature is “automated chapter menus”, that could be a really nice improvement. Chapter menus in Encore 1.5 was always a thorn in my side, as I remember. Another minor (but helful) addition is the ability to drop more than one clip/asset on a timeline. Handy. Encore 2 also has interface improvements.

Audition 2 offers a new mixing engine enabling real-time effects, recording, and monitoring. There are new NR and restoration tools also, and a nice addition is the Spectral Frequency Display.

This is a solid package, especially for those that already have an investment in the video Creative Suite. I think the bulk of current Adobe customers will probably get the update. Unfortunately for Adobe, I don’t think this is going create a influx of new users, as this update adds few new features that can’t already be found in other NLE’s and competitor software. And consider that there is expectation that we will see Sony Vegas 7 and Final Cut Pro 6 at NAB, in just a few months. A shame.

After Effects is the defacto standard for effects work, so it obviously stands alone. I think we are several versions away from Apple’s Motion making any major inroads into that arena. The additions to After Effects, while incremental and small in scale, seem to be well thought out and will probably be welcomed by AE users. Behaviors and more presets are going to be quite nice, because not all of us are FX gurus. And a common complaint about AE has been the interface, it’s archaic and confusing. Here’s hoping the new “unified” interface cleans things up a bit.

In my humble opinion, this bundled release is (with the exception of AE) Adobe frantically trying to keep up with the innovators and get a few sales in before the other companies drop their software. There is a post over at the AdobeForums by Patrick Masters that sums up the situation as I see it PERFECTLY. It’s a good commentary on Adobe’s professional video software.

UPDATE: I’ve posted links to reviews of PPro2 and AE7, as well as a quick feature rundown here.