Barbie Fashion Designer Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Its lots of fun to design the clothes. You can spend hours and hours having fun creating new outfits then seeing them come to life using the fashion show option. However actually printing your dress and trying to fashion it onto Barbie is very difficult, frustrating, expensive, and hardly ever looks as great on real Barbie than it did on digital Barbie, which of course can be expected. Still, I would recommend the product for all the fun it provides, as long as you use it as a game rather than a practical clothing making tool.

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Barbie helps you design thousands of different outfits on the computer. Special printer-compatible fabric goes through your laser or ink-jet printer so you can really make cool clothes for Barbie. Design party dresses, career outfits, wedding gowns, and even something special for a romantic date with Ken. It's up to your imagination!

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Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Standard (Upgrade) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My friend worked with the MS team on this product. So reading some of the reviews, I've noticed quite a few inaccuracies. I personally have no direct connection with Microsoft and not interested in defending its interests much, but I'm against spreading bogus information.
First of all, there is no "3 strikes you are out" rule with the new Office 2004.
Some people seem to claim that Office 2004 can only be installed 3 times, after which user would have to do a clean re-install of the system. This is completely not true. Student and Teacher, Standard and Professional versions of Office 2004 do not have any special write protection and do not count how many times you install the program on your computer. However, license agreement for Standard and Pro versions states that you can only use one copy of software on one (1) desktop and one (1) laptop computer connected to the same network. Program does indeed check computers connected to the same network for opened Office 2004. If any Office 2004 program is opened on a desktop computer that is connected to the local network, it will refuse to launch until program on other computer is closed.
This is a security measure that doesn't affect regular consumers at all most of the time. The only reason for this is to make sure that small and even big businesses do not use one copy of a program on many computers. There is nothing new here either. Many companies have been utilizing similar security features for quite some time.
Student and Teacher edition which retails for a low price has ALL the features of Standard edition and can even be installed on three (3) computers at the same time.
The down side to it is that Student & Teacher edition cannot be upgraded in the future. But again, is not a big deal since upgrade for Standard version still costs more than full S&T edition. And of course, one must be a student or a teacher to purchase it.
I would recommend upgrading to the Office 2004 for many reasons. Not only you get a more stable programs now but also many new features like advanced Power Point timers, advanced printing themes and previews, audio note taking, a better option grouping and support for long file names, and many more. Most operations now also work faster and smoother.
Just like any new program, of course, Office 2004 will have a fair share of bugs, but they will be taken care of in a timely manner.
My Recommendation: Professional edition is a great buy for those who want to get Virtual PC 7.0 (included), as a VPC7 will retail for over half the price of the Office 2004.
If you are not sure about Office 2004 and would like to take it for a test drive, go to microsoft.com and download a "test drive" version. Try it out for yourself.
Hope this helps.

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Pinnacle Studio Ultimate V14 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Pinnacle Studio line of video processing software has a
very simple and intuitive interface. It is relatively easy
to learn the software. Even though it is for beginners/home
users, it does provide options for more advanced, Hollywood
style video processing. But only when it works.
I have used Studio consistently since its version 9. The
most recent version is now Studio 14 and it comes
in several variations: basic, ultimate, and ultimate
collection.
My recommendation: 4 stars for its simple interface. Zero
for everything else.
* Installing Studio 14 (in my case the Ultimate version)
If you purchased earlier "Ultimate" or "Plus" versions of
Studio, or if you bought fancy "transitions" or similar
premium features for earlier versions of Studio, the ONLY
way that you can take advantages of only SOME of them,
is to re-install the older Studio versions. In previous
installations of Studio, you could simply reuse your
activation code to get those features, plugins, or premium
options back. For Studio 14, your earlier activation codes
or serial numbers mean nothing. You have to reinstall old
software. But how many customers keep three, four earlier
versions of a software? Pinnacle never gave a hint that
an older version has to be kept.
Furthermore, even with older versions, you cannot recover
everything for Studio 14. For example, I had already paid
for two plugins (known as Heroglyph and Adorage). Even
though I re-installed Studio versions 11 and 12, I was
unable to get these two plugins activated. I contacted
Pinnacle. They asked me to repay for these plugins! That's
absolutely unacceptable.
Note that the above problems are well documented in
Pinnacle's own users' forums: to visit, go to pinnaclesys
dot com, under support, click on forums, and follow the
"edit" forum. Many customers have complained that they had
to go back and install Studio 10, 11, 12 in order to get
back some of their "transitions" or other premium features.
* Customer service: absolutely horrible
You will have a service code that entitles you to one phone
call. For other calls, you will have to pay. When I called
the support, it was an absolute waste of time. First,
there is a long queue. Second, the person only talked
in uncertain terms: "it should", "I think so", "try it",
"I am not 100% sure", etc. No definite or precise responses
to any of my installation or activiation questions.
* Pixelation problems continue
A popular feature of many video processing software is that
of making a video (DVD) of still photos, using certain
transitions or filters to make photo presentation more
fun. A common (and well documented) problem with Studio
version 10 and afterward has been pixelation. The photos,
especially at transition points, get pixelated and look
ugly. Pinnacle's response: it is your hard-drive, update
your video card driver, replace your video card driver,
re-size your photos, etc.
The pixelation problem is a very serious one as there are
several threads in the "edit" forum, each consisting of at
least 40-50 individuals experiencing the same problem and
complaining.
* Personal experience with Studio 14
No MAJOR differences with Studio 12. It crashed the very
first time but worked the second time. However, because I
still do not have access to many of the "transitions",
premium features, and plugins that I already purchased
with earlier versions of Studio, I do not know if I can
do anything other than simple video processing that I can
do otherwise with the free video software that comes with
the Windows operating systems.

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The ultimate software for making great HD movies at home. Make great movies at home.

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Sony Vegas Pro 9 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The product description above goes a LONG way into describing Vegas Pro 9's capabilities here, so I won't reiterate these ad nauseum.
However, if you're new to the field, is Vegas Pro 9 for you? If you're looking for the perfect, non-linear editor, and are seriously considering producing multiple DVD's as a business line (say you're a wedding videographer, etc.), then I'd respond with a resounding YES. If you're tired of being faced with restrictions of cheaper offerings (i.e. limited menu lengths, constrained templates, etc.) or if you're frustrated with compatibility limitations (only certain video files are supported, you need something that will read AVCHD video files), then here's another resounding YES. If you're looking into software that gives you full range in creativity, then another resounding YES.
If you're looking for software that simply takes your home movie and plops it onto a DVD with minimal rework, look elsewhere. I, however, use it almost exclusively for home movie use, BUT I edit my home movies heavily and create my own music videos which requires that I often look/listen to them on a frame-by-frame basis, so I appreciate the full range of power that is at my disposal.
I have been using Sony Vegas Pro 8 for quite awhile (you can see my full review on this site), so some of the Pro 8 users may wonder if it's worth the upgrade or not. Here are some points to consider that Pro 9 supports that Pro 8 does not:
* 4K images. 4000+ x 4000+ images are now fully supported for rendering. While some may be entranced by this, I had no use for this whatsoever.
* Lighting effects. Sony Vegas Pro 9 offers Glint, Rays, etc. I love these and I use them quite frequently to offer some additional punch on my title screen sequences.
* Fill Light. This feature alone was worth it for me in the purchase of an upgrade. Do you ever have a shot where there's a bright light source that tends to drown out the rest of your footage (that you want!) in shadows because of the differential exposure? Fill Light will brighten those dark images and leave the brighter portions of the frame alone!! This was highly, highly worth it to me since this type of exposure compensation is usually not available on commercially available camcorders.
Overall, Sony Vegas Pro 9 (which has BOTH 32-bit and 64-bit versions on the same disc) operates just as cleanly as its older brother Pro 8. If anything, it appears to operate even more smoothly and some of the buggy portions of the ProTitler appear to have been fully corrected at the time of this review.
I highly recommend this product. Happy editing!

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The Vegas Pro 9 collection offers an efficient and intuitive environment for professional video and broadcast production, as well as DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring. This comprehensive suite supports nearly all video formats including XDCAM EX and RED ONE, and provides a full complement of editorial tools for a streamlined workflow. With broad format support, superior effects processing, and the most powerful audio tools available in a NLE, the Vegas Pro 9 collection delivers everything needed to produce outstanding results. The Vegas Pro 9 collection includes 32- and 64-bit versions of Vegas Pro 9 software, DVD Architect Pro 5 software, and the Dolby Digital professional AC-3 encoder.

Precise editing tools Edit SD or HD video with drag-and-drop functionality, mouse and keyboard trimming, and ripple editing. Features include the ProType Titler, multicamera editing tools, 32-bit floating point video processing, customizable window layouts, color-coded snapping, improved HDV/SDI/XDCAM support, A/V synchronization detection and repair, and auto-frame quantization.
Broad Format Support Vegas Pro 9 software natively supports the newest professional camcorder formats including XDCAM EX and RED. Vegas Pro 9 software also includes support for still images greater than one gigapixel in resolution. Use Pan and Scan to create a stunning movie sequence from these large pictures while maintain HD resolution.
Superior audio control Vegas software provides the ultimate in audio flexibility, including unlimited tracks, 24-bit/192 kHz audio support, on-the-fly punch-in recording, 5.1 surround mixing, effects automation, and time compress/expand. Apply over 30 customizable, real time audio effects including EQ, Reverb, Delay, and more. Vegas Pro 9 software natively supports VST audio plug-ins--expanding your audio processing and mixing options.
Efficient, Professional Workflow for 32- and 64-bit systems The Vegas Pro 9 interface provides a fully customizable workspace for accomplishing a wide range of production requirements. Dock multiple windows across multiple monitors, and save your layouts to fit specific editing tasks; nest Vegas projects within the timeline, customize and save keyboard commands, and use application scripting to automate repetitive tasks. System-wide media management produces maximum efficiency. Network rendering saves time by using multiple computers and networked drive arrays to render complex projects. Vegas Pro software also supports 24p, HD and HDV editing.
Powerful Blu-ray Disc Authoring Burn movies to Blu-ray Disc directly from the Vegas Pro timeline for high-definition delivery. Use DVD Architect Pro software (included with the Vegas Pro collection) to author DVDs or Blu-ray Disc media with multiple video angles, subtitles, multiple languages, and special features. Preview and test your work in real time. Apply Brightness and Contrast, Auto Levels, Crop, and Anti-Flicker filters. Set CSS and Macrovision copy-protection flags for masters.
Full-featured XDCAM workflow The Vegas Pro 9 workflow for XDCAM and XDCAM EX is extremely intuitive and efficient. Vegas Pro 9 software provides all the tools needed to edit proxy and full resolution HD and SD XDCAM MXF files natively and supports all frame rates and aspect ratios, multichannel audio, EssenceMarks metadata, and all HD and SD XDCAM compression types. Vegas Pro 9 software can natively read all XDCAM EX frame rates and resolutions. The new integrated device explorer lets you preview and import only the files you need for your current project.
New--4K Support Vegas Pro 9 software natively supports frame sizes up to 4096x4096. The 4K image standard for digital cinema projection is 4096 x 2160 pixels. This level of resolution provides more detail and flexibility to pan and crop. It is ideal for compositing and video effects work, as it provides a high-quality final output.
Digital Signage Support Digital signage support in Vegas Pro 9 software makes it easy to author video for tall signage purposes. To shoot content for these displays, many tripods have a 90-degree camera-tilt option.With Vegas Pro 9 software you can edit in this format with a new "Rotation" setting in the video tab of Project Properties, as well as a "Rotation" setting in the Media Properties dialog (and related rotation commands in the Project Media item context menu).In addition to fast and easy rotation of source media, Vegas Pro 9 software can un-rotate the project output to render to existing widescreen formats, for playback on rotated displays.
Multicamera Workflow Edit multicamera productions intuitively and quickly by specifying shots as you watch your project. Switch between as many as 32 video sources with a keyboard command or a click of your mouse. Vegas Pro 9 software keeps all unused shots as alternate takes to make fine-tuning your edits more efficient.
New--Sophisticated Lighting Effects New in version 9 are Glint, Rays, Defocus, Starburst, Soft Contrast, and Fill Light. These effects let you simulate the effect of light streaming in from behind your source, create colored highlights, change the focus of your shot and more.
New--Enhanced 32-bit Floating Point Video Processing Work in 8-bit mode for speed, then switch to 32-bit floating point for extra precision during final rendering. This mode allows you to take advantage of greater color range for more vivid colors, reduced gradient banding and posterization for smoother color transitions, linear light capability for optically correct compositing, and many other precision enhancements.
Comprehensive HDV support Vegas Pro 9 software includes support for high-performance native HDV M2T playback, and 601/709 color space handling. Experience superior SD downconversion and frame-rate conversion including 24p, and precision upconversion for HD-SDI mastering. Vegas Pro 9 software also has powerful no-recompress technology for faster render times.
Interactive Tutorials Vegas Pro 9 software has a comprehensive help system, as well as detailed interactive tutorials that provide walk-through demonstrations of common features and functionality. These tutorials provide an easy step-by-step method of learning the product and the workflow necessary to complete most common tasks.
5.1 surround encoder Officially tested and certified by Dolby Laboratories, Inc., this professional encoding software optimally prepares AC-3 output for surround sound productions on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Encode 5.1 multichannel or stereo mixes to AC-3 format inside Vegas Pro software.
Customizable transitions and effects Vegas Pro 9 software includes over 190 video effects and 175 transitions--all fully customizable. Effects include: Film Effects, Chroma Key, Timecode Overlays, Media Generators, Credit Rolls, Text Effects and more. Use transitions such as: Clock Wipe, Dissolves, and Page Peels.
Advanced 3D video compositing Create compelling 3D video and text effects, with control over Z-depth, plane intersection, compositing, and more. 3D motion is real time and previewable via i.LINK connector1/IEEE-1394 hardware to an external monitor.
VEGAS PRO 9 FEATURES
Video Features
New--4K support for frame sizes up to 4096x4096
New--Support for capturing directly to XDCAM-compatible MXF files from supported SD/HDSDI sources
New--Adjust source media to automatically match project or render settings
New--Enhanced 32-bit floating point mode eliminates level and contrast changes during final rendering
New--Gradient wipe transition
New--Glint, Rays, Defocus, Starburst, Soft Contrast, and Fill Light video effects
ProType Titler
Intuitive multicam editing workflow
Digital signage support
Improved HDV, SD/HD-SDI support
Red-eye reduction (stills only)
Comprehensive XDCAM Optical Media support, including full proxy workflow
Superior frame rate conversions
Multitrack video editing on unlimited tracks
3D track motion
Enhanced video compositing
Keyframeable Bezier masks
Keyframeable transitions, filters, and track motion
3-wheel primary and secondary color correction filters
Waveform, Vectorscope, Parade, and Histogram monitors
Real time playback of effects, processes and transitions to external monitor
Credit rolls and text animation
Transition progress envelopes
Alpha channel support
Flash (.swf) format import
Support for any aspect ratio (4:3, 16:9, etc)
Supports multiple file formats and frame rates
24p DV support

Audio Features
New--Place audio without quantizing to frame boundaries
New--Choose how audio streams are handled when adding media to the Vegas Pro timeline
Professional audio mixer console
Broadcast Wave format multichannel support
AAF track volume and pan info support
Gracenote MusicID CD album recognition
VST plug-in effect support
Tape-style audio scrubbing
Audio recording, editing, and mixing on unlimited tracks
24-bit/192 kHz audio support
5.1 surround mixing tools
On-the-fly punch-in recording
Auto-input record monitoring
5.1 audio plug-in support for the master bus
Film-style 5.1 surround panning
Downmix monitoring
DirectX plug-in effects automation
Includes over 30 DirectX audio effects
ACID loop properties support
ASIO driver support
Keyboard event pitch shifting
Fader automation
Real time record meters
32 assignable effects and 26 Master and Aux outputs
Bus-to-bus routing
Solo or mute tracks
Master, auxiliary, and effects bus tracks

Editing and Workflow Features
New--Includes native 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vegas Pro software
New--Enhanced user interface with layout presets
New--Impressive lighting effects including Glint, Rays, and Fill Light
New--4K support for frame sizes up to 4096 x 4096
New--Updated UI to optimize viewing and usability
New--Audio mixing and Color Correction layouts
New--Browse XDCAM EX and AVCHD contents in Device Explorer
New--Set generated media to match event length
New--Additional keyboard shortcuts
New--Automatically adjust still images to match project output aspect ratio
Interactive tutorials
Scripting extensions
Save and recall window layouts
Flexible window docking
Cursor object "snapping"
Support for XDCAM essence markers
Envelope brush "painting"
Improved project copy and trim operations
Improved multiprocessor rendering
Project nesting
System-wide media management
AAF Import/Export
A/V synchronization detect and repair
Real time nondestructive editing
Split-screen A/B previewing
Simple drag-and-drop operations
Network rendering
Envelope automation recording
High Definition editing and output
Searchable Media Pool bins
Media subclips
Automatic crossfades
Trimmer window
JKL scrub; timeline and keyboard trimming
Real time A/V event reverse
Dual monitor support
Multiple docking windows
User-definable window layouts
Customizable keyboard mapping
Dual processor DV rendering support
Keyboard trimming and event shuffling
Edit on 23.976, native 24, 25, 29.97 or 30 fps timelines
Unlimited undo/redo
Media Explorer window

Capture, Export and Hardware Features
New--Native XDCAM EX reading and import
New--Support for gigapixel size pictures
New--Read and save DPX, OpenEXR, and MS HD photo formats
New--Open and edit RED ONE files on the timeline
New--Device Explorer for AVCHD and XDCAM EX devices
Blu-ray Disc burning directly from the timeline
No-recompress rendering for long GOP HDV
XDCAM partial conform for FAM mode
Export directly to PSP
AVC/AAC support
MPEG-2, Insert I-Frame at markers
ATRAC 3 input and output
Import from DVD camcorder disc
SDI deck insert editing per channel
Render to mxf for XDCAM
Blackmagic Design DeckLink board support
External control surface support
Advanced streaming media tools
Application scripting for task automation
Subtitle time/text export to DVD Architect Prosoftware
Windows Media 9 Series support, including surround encoding
RealVideo 9 support
QuickTime format support
VideoCD and multimedia CD burning
Red Book audio CD production
Advanced encoding tools
EDL export
MPEG-1&2 support
Supports Windows Media and RealMedia commands
Sony DSR-DU1 and DSR-DR1000 disc recorder support
J-H3 HDCAM player support for DV downconverts
3:2 pulldown removal from DV .AVI files
Exports chapter markers and subtitles to DVD Architect Pro 5 software

DVD ARCHITECT PRO 5 FEATURES
General Features
DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring
Scripting support
Random playlist playback
Parental control
Photoshop (PSD) layer support
Jacket picture creation
Theme export
Integration with Vegas Pro 9 software
Menu-based and single movie DVD creation
Easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality
Unlimited number of undo/redo
Media Explorer
Adjustable Project and File Optimization Settings
Multi-monitor support
Multi-processor support
Fully customizable toolbars
Get Media from the web

DVD Editing and Layout Features
Keyframeable transformations
Keyframeable crop and effects
Graphical subtitles
Title reordering
Snap to I-Frame
Greater than 100% zoom
4:3 and 16:9 preview settings
DVD mastering tools: DLT, DDP, CMF
Project playlists
Copy-protection tools (CSS and Macrovision)
Media effects
Project navigation tool
Still and motion menu creation
Support for multiple video titles
Real time external monitor preview via i.LINK/IEEE-1394
Subtitle creation and support
Multiple audio track support
Programmable end actions for menus and media
Project overview window
Enhanced asset behavior control
Multiple menus with up to 36 buttons per menu
Menu object editing, alignment and sizing tools
Text editing and shadow effects
Object snapping
Slide image rotation
Add, edit, and move chapter points
Title and Action safe grid area
Customizable themes
Menu looping

Video Features
Buttons on video
Crop and adjust dialog
Slideshow animations
Picture slideshow duration
Multi-angle video selection
DVD movie creation
Picture slideshows
Elementary stream import
24p DVD encoding
No re-encoding of compliant files
NTSC and PAL in normal (4:3) and wide-screen (16:9) formats
Imports AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MOV, WMV, and a variety of still image formats

Audio Features
ATRAC Support
Multiple audio track support
Music compilations
Attach audio files to menus
Media file previewing
Import WAV, MP3, WMA, PCA, AIF, MPEG audio, AC-3 5.1 or stereo into your DVD Architect project
24-bit/192kHz audio support

Testing and Burning Features
Burn mastered folder
8cm to 12cm DVD copy
Button overlap indication
Smart project re-prepare
Dual-layer burning and authoring support
Real time project previewing with virtual DVD remote control or to external monitor
DVD project verification and preparation
Advanced DVD disc optimization with adjustable bitrates
Fit to disc option
Supports a wide variety of DVD burners

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Adobe After Effects CS5 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After Effects is an incredibly powerful video effects editor and creator. It may seem expensive but for less than the price of a decent video camera, assuming you already have a decent computer that can run 64bit programs, you have a sophisticated program that allows you to build effects in your house that can rival and even match the work done in professional television and movie studios. Of course, much of the professional work you see on television and in films is already being done using After Effects and similar programs (after using it for a while, when I watch television, I'm on the lookout for commercials and effects within television programs that with a bit more practice I know I could create on my Mac using this program). As far as I'm concerned, After Effects is pretty much an essential tool for independent videographers and filmmakers. Basically, it allows you to manipulate and enhance video footage you already have in order to achieve exactly the look you want, and allows you to create video effects that can either stand alone or combine with your footage for some astonishing results. One thing, though, is that because this is an incredibly versatile program, that can accomplish nearly anything you could imagine, it is also quite complex.
This is not really a program to learn on your own by tinkering - I tried playing around with it for a few days, and was able to copy a few intriguing effects based on web tutorials. But when I tried to tweak things to my own taste or modify the recipe I found myself getting lost. There are lots of helpful guides online, and there is a very active and eager-to-help bunch of After Effects users with great advice, especially on Adobe's help site and their video tutorial site. To really get started with this program, though, you should expect to spend a few weeks working through something like the After Effects Apprentice, a highly recommended, easy-to-follow, hands-on guide and book. After working through that text, there's still a lot to learn, but you'd be ready at least to do some fairly interesting things on your own, and you'd know enough to follow along on some of the more sophisticated tutorials available on the web that show you how to do some amazing things.
One of the very cool features of After Effects is that while there is an enormous range of tools and adjustments and effects, they all work more or less the same way, or at least along the same lines. Each layer, each effect, each style, all have various properties or parameters, some general such as position, opacity, scale and color, and some quite specific to the effect. Each of these properties can be adjusted, not just once and for all but can be set to vary between two or more points over time, to create a smooth (or rough, as desired) animation. The basic workflow for any project in After Effects is roughly this: get your files, arrange them in layers in the time line, add effects or adjustments as appropriate, consider the various properties of your layers and effects and set keyframes to animate these properties over time, then see what you've done, and tweak it to taste. So while the possibilities are endless, the basic idea of each possibility is more or less the same as for all the others. What is exciting, though, is that because each effect or adjustment has so many different parameters, you can use each one of them in ways that perhaps no one ever anticipated. For example, I followed an online tutorial that showed me how to take a radar effect (that ordinarily generates little outwardly radiating concentric circles) and tweak it to the point where it could generate organic wisps of smoke in roughly the shape of words. (For an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about, see the opening sequence of the video attached to this review).
I'd played around a very little with earlier versions of After Effects, and always wanted to learn it better because of what I knew it could do (especially after reading The DV Rebel's Guide, whose author swears by After Effects as an essential postproduction tool for getting the best quality render from your video), but it's only with the new release of CS5 that I finally decided to put in the time to get to know the program. I'm still basically a beginner but I'm amazed at what I've been able to learn and accomplish in a month or so. One thing I noticed right away with the latest version is that performance has been enhanced; it previews more quickly, it has never "hung up" on me, and it is able to handle HD footage with lots of effects dropped on it. I don't have enough RAM (4GB) to take full advantage of the 64-bit processing of CS5, and that means that it can sometimes lag a bit when I'm trying to preview sophisticated effects, but I'm still able to use it just fine and achieve some very cool things. (For serious professional work, if you're using After Effects on a regular basis, it'd be smart to make sure you had at least 8GB of RAM with a multicore processor and a fast video card).
Just a few of the features I've really enjoyed using and exploring are: (1) its sophisticated time remapping capacities, that allow you to slow down and speed up footage without the artificial feel that results when I've tried to do that in standard editing software programs (such as Final Cut Express 4); (2) the upgraded Color Finesse plug-in that comes with After Effects CS5 and seems to me to be a much better color correction tool than I've worked with in either Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express (admittedly I've never worked with Final Cut Studio's Color program); (3) if you have Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 as well, it's easier than ever to open up Final Cut edits into After Effects (by opening them in Premiere Pro, and then sending them to After Effects via Dynamic Link; (4) the ease with which it allows you to animate titles and text, and the range of possibilities you can work with - especially for independent film work I can see how this would be a huge benefit because when you use the standard presets that come with the popular editing programs it's going to be obvious to other filmmakers, but with After Effects titling you can vary things to be exactly what you want them to be (in a realistic-looking 3-d space) and totally unique; (5) though professionals might laugh, I really dig the brainstorm feature, that allows you to select several parameters for a layer or effect and then let the computer show you a range of different results that could be achieved from tweaking these parameters; sometimes it comes up with some very cool looking approaches, and you get to take credit for them; (6) obviously, the really exciting innovation on CS5 is the rotobrush, which allows you to create animated masks, isolating elements from a video background in order to apply unique effects or adjustments to those elements, or even to extract them entirely from their background and place them in a new background. Effectively, if you really had to, you could go without the green screen. Of course, it's not completely automatic, and has to be finessed over time -- but it saves a huge amount of time over creating masks frame by frame, which is the traditional approach to rotoscoping.
I'm really just getting started with After Effects CS5, and I'll use it mostly for my own non-professional video projects, in the classroom and for fun, but I expect to be using it and learning with it for a long time. I assume that most video graphics professionals already know and use this tool, and will easily see the value of its new tools and performance. I'm mostly writing this review for independent filmmakers (like me) who have so far stuck with doing most or all of their post-production work (editing and effects) in their non-linear editor. To those I would strongly recommend checking this out, and I'm confident that if anybody like that takes the time to learn the basics of this program they'll quickly find it to be indispensable. It does things you just can't do in a piece of software, even a sophisticated piece of software, designed primarily for cutting up and arranging video. The program as a whole is a winning combination of some powerful new features for working with video in sophisticated ways, several enhancements on its already robust video and effect generation tools, and to top it all off its new support of 64-bit processing and its integration with a range of other powerful Adobe tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator and Premiere Pro. Highly recommended.
About the video: I like to say most of what I want to say in the written part of the review, and think of the video as a simple illustration, so this is just a quick and dirty look at a few things you can do with this program. I play around with words in the opening sequence, then I give a quick look at what you can do with the new rotobrush (obviously I didn't put the time into refining this that I could have, as you'll notice if you look at my right ear in the video), and also with older features such as the cartoon effect, and a demonstration of how After Effects can help fix shaky video.
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,...Read more›

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Adobe 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.

Create motion graphics and visual effects with the industry standard
Innovative compositing and animation tools Create high-impact communications by combining moving imagery, still images and graphics, text, and sound in 2D or 3D space, and then animating virtually any aspect of each element.
Responsive 64-bit performance Work more easily with complex high-resolution projects and see longer RAM previews thanks to native 64-bit operating system support. Enhanced disk caching allows you to spend less time waiting and more time creating.
Unmatched integration with industry standard Adobe applications--Enjoy a streamlined workflow with support for importing Adobe Photoshop images and layer types. Move easily between After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 software. Export projects for enhancement in Adobe Flash Professional CS5 software.
Unlimited creative options Manipulate moving and still images using hundreds of effects that stylize, distort, shatter, and more. Combine effects to create Hollywood-caliber visual effects. Create grids, radio waves, particles, and more.
Text and vector graphics creation and animation Create text and vector graphics in After Effects using familiar Adobe tools, and then animate these elements to create visually innovative motion graphics.
Comprehensive masking and keying tools, including new Roto Brush Control which portions of a layer are visible by drawing and animating masks. The revolutionary new Roto Brush tool handles rotoscoping in a fraction of the time. Remove bluescreen and greenscreen backgrounds with the award-winning Keylight.
Timesaving presets and learning tools Get a jump start animating text and creating synthetic backgrounds with more animation presets. Use Brainstorm to experiment and refine designs. Learn fast with help, tool tips, and training resources on the web.
Powerful motion controls Apply realistic motion blur. Use Timewarp to slow down and speed up footage. Remove unwanted movement with the Motion Stabilizer, or precisely match the motion of source footage with mocha for After Effects.
Professional results for every media type Deliver your work anywhere. Compatibility with an extensive list of output formats lets you produce animated content for virtually any media, from film and broadcast to the web and mobile devices.
High-fidelity color Get precise, predictable color in After Effects with support for high dynamic range (32-bit-per-channel floating point) color, including Pro EXR files, ICC-based color management tools, and new color lookup tables (LUTs).
Top new features of Adobe After Effects CS5
Native 64-bit application One of the most significant advances in After Effects is that it is now a fully native 64-bit application. This yields numerous advantages, including the ability to fully use your computer's memory for dramatic improvements when working on high-resolution projects.
Just a few years ago, it was normal to work on standard-definition video at a color depth of 8 bits per channel (bpc). Today, it is common to work on high-definition video at a depth of 16 bpc. And while some artists have used After Effects on film projects since the earliest versions, digital cinema cameras such as the RED One are now commonly in use--making 4K images in 32-bit floating-point color increasingly common. And the memory demands don't stop there.
For example, RED has announced cameras that sport 5K, 6K, 9K, and even 28K frame sizes. Native 64-bit OS support in After Effects CS5 means you can work on ever-higher-resolution projects with confidence.
On 32-bit operating systems, the 2GB to 4GB memory restriction for each application sharply limit how many image frames can be held in RAM at the same time--which in turn constrains the length of full-motion previews and the complexity of projects overall. Even with disk caching and virtual memory, working with HD content using older versions of After Effects on 32-bit systems means you may be forced to wait while images are swapped in and out of RAM or re-rendered the next time they are needed. Resourceful artists have developed strategies to work around these limitations--such as working at lower resolutions or frame rates or using "proxies" of lower-quality sources--but these come with the trade-off of not seeing your composition in its final form while you work.
With After Effects CS5, these limitations no longer apply. Support for 64-bit operating systems means After Effects CS5 can access all of your computer's available RAM. This has a dramatic, positive effect on the type, size, and complexity of projects you can take on--as well as how fluidly you can work. With After Effects CS5 running on a 64-bit operating system with 32GB of RAM, you can preview a 30-second HD comp at full resolution and at 32 bpc. This enables you to preview your entire composition at maximum fidelity without interruption.
Beyond being able to preview longer continuous stretches of your project, rendered image frames are more likely to be kept in memory, allowing you to move around a project's timeline or between compositions without losing already-rendered frames. Additionally, memory buffer errors due to RAM constraints are virtually eliminated. These improvements increase productivity, which in turn facilitates creativity.
Integrated memory management In Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium, you can coordinate RAM allocation for After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro , Adobe Encore, and Adobe Media Encoder thanks to cross-component memory management. This allows you to make the most of your system resources without learning complex memory-management settings.
Roto Brush Many shots require separating a foreground object--such as an actor--from its current live action background so that the object may be placed in a completely new environment. The revolutionary new Roto Brush provides a fast, efficient solution for isolating these foreground elements in complex scenes. In the past, this kind of work was time-consuming and expensive, and as a result, the technique was often reserved for big-budget projects. The new Roto Brush is so fast that After Effects artists can now perform rotoscoping on virtually any project--from previsualization to final composites--with greatly reduced concern about project budgets or deadlines.
To use the new Roto Brush, just draw simple paint strokes inside the foreground object, and let After Effects calculate where the rest of the foreground object is. If the foreground and background are similar, you can draw additional paint strokes to teach After Effects which elements are in the background. After Effects determines where the foreground and background are on subsequent frames; you can refine results with additional strokes. The process is fast and intuitive--and because After Effects does the hard work of finding the edges, Roto Brush eliminates the tedium traditionally associated with the task.
Once you've defined the foreground and background areas, you can control the quality of the edges between the two using options for smoothing, feathering, or choking (spreading inside or outside of the original edge). After Effects can calculate motion blur for fast-moving portions of the edge to deliver photo-realistic, professional results with minimal effort. "Edge chatter" from frame to frame is automatically reduced, and in addition you can remove background color from semitransparent edges of the foreground object. And if the resulting alpha channel still requires additional refinement, you can use the paint tools already built into After Effects to further tweak your results.
The Roto Brush expands your creative options by enabling you to offer results that require sophisticated rotoscoping--on virtually any project. Professional-quality results can be realized dramatically faster and with far less tedium: artists are already reporting that the process of rotoscoping is taking a fraction of the time it required in the past. This means you can accomplish creative treatments that previously were feasible exclusively on big-budget projects--from isolating elements for targeted color enhancement to placing design elements such as text or logos between actors and their backgrounds.
mocha for After Effects CS5 Real-world projects typically require motion tracking, and many shots present tracking challenges such as elements that go partially out of frame or include motion blur. mocha for After Effects CS5--an updated version of the software included with After Effects CS5--has a unique planar tracker that makes it easy to handle even the most difficult tracking and stabilization tasks. Also included in this release is the mocha shape plug-in, which enables you to use tracking data in new ways. stabilization tasks. (mocha for After Effects CS5 and mocha shape have user interfaces that are English only.)
This updated release of mocha includes the ability to apply motion tracking to hand-drawn masks, which is a significant time-saver. In addition, motion-blurred or semitransparent areas are easily handled with new support for varible-width mask feathers. And like After Effects CS5, mocha for After Effects CS5 is a native 64-bit application.
Included for the first time in After Effects CS5, the mocha shape plug-in enables you to copy and paste multiple motion-tracked masks from mocha to any After Effects layer, fully preserving all their qualities, including any variable-width mask feather settings. This is particularly useful for shots that contain camera movements or moving objects that require masking.
One of the other new features you will find useful is that Bezier or X-spline animated roto shapes created in mocha may be converted into mask shapes in After Effects, where they can be further refined and manipulated without requiring a trip back into mocha. Also with mocha for After Effects CS5, motion blur data is now included in the exported tracking data. This enables you to re-create the motion blur that occurred in the original footage.
AVC-Intra support and expanded RED camera support After Effects CS5 includes native support for the new AVC-Intra 50 and AVC-Intra 100 codecs, as well as expanded native support for footage from RED cameras.
AVC-Intra is used by high-quality Panasonic cameras like the AJ-HPX300, AJ-HPX3700 VariCam, and AJ-HPX2700 VariCam, as well as recorders like the AJ-HPM110. According to Panasonic documents, AVC-Intra 100 is the highest recording quality available in a one-piece camcorder--comparable to mastering video quality--and is explicitly designed and optimized for broadcast and production. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 also supports AVC-Intra, so there's no barrier to integrating After Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro projects if you want to use AVC-Intra.
After Effects CS5, like Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, provides full native support for RED R3D files, allowing you to import them directly without transcoding, rewrapping, or installing additional software. Because the files you import contain raw sensor data, you edit footage that is as close to what the camera captured as possible, enabling you to work nondestructively on the color and look of your projects. This includes the ability to edit enhanced parameters such as Debayer Detail, Chroma Denoise, White Balance, ISO settings, and more.
With After Effects CS5, you can work with content in all common RED R3D file permutations, including 2K, 3K, 4K, 4K HD, 16x9, and 2x1, using a number of different frame rates.
Auto-keyframe mode After Effects has long featured powerful, flexible keyframing. However, artists new to After Effects have expressed a wish for an automatic way to begin keyframing their animations.
To assist these artists, After Effects CS5 offers an Auto-keyframe mode. When Auto-keyframe mode is on, modifying a property automatically turns its stopwatch on and adds a keyframe at the current time. This prevents you from working with a layer's properties only to realize later that After Effects did not capture any of your changes. Parameters that can be automatically keyframed include position, rotation, shape properties, mask properties, effect point controls, and camera manipulation.
New Refine Matte effect and dozens of other enhancements In every release, After Effects introduces dozens of refinements to popular features. Experienced professionals know that while individually these changes may seem subtle, collectively they make the day-in and day-out experience of working with After Effects smoother and more intuitive. Among many such features added in After Effects CS5 are:
The new Refine Matte effect that allows you to take advantage of the intelligent edge tracking, dechattering, and motion blurring capabilities found in Roto Brush and apply them to any layer with a problematic alpha channel, such as keyed footage
New options that allow you to align layers to a composition's boundaries, making it easier to precisely center objects and clean up the layout of your image frame overall
Enhanced support for Photoshop adjustment layer types, including Selective Color, Black & White, and Vibrance; you can also apply these color correction effects to any layer
A new option for per-character 3D text animation that allows each character to orient toward the camera around its own anchor point, further enhancing the illusion of 3D
A new Type option in the Camera Settings dialog box that allows you to easily specify if the camera is a one-node or two-node camera, adapting to your preferred approach for aiming and animating 3D cameras
The ability to import layered PSD files which include extruded 3D layers created with the new Adobe Repoussé feature inPhotoshop CS5 Extended.
A new keyboard shortcut to point the camera to either selected layers or all layers, along with many other improvements to camera tools and settings
New options to color-code panel tabs with the composition, footage item, or layer's label color, making it easier to identify elements at a glance in a complex project
Rendered Output Modules can now be dragged to a folder in the Project panel, resulting in the import of the output files into that folder for quick inclusion of rendered elements
New keyboard shortcuts and mouse functionality to quickly move between viewing the entire timeline and returning to your previous zoom level
An enhanced Levels effect Histogram display showing individual color channel strengths
New options for specifying the size of Bezier direction handles and vertices for masks and shapes as well as direction handles for motion paths, making them easier to see on today's larger monitors
Tooltips added for each vertex in the Graph Editor, which display the layer name, property name, time, and value of the keyframe, making it easier to precisely check values at a glance
Numerous enhancements to scripting, including the ability to access parameters for adaptive motion blur, text tracking, label attributes, and per-character auto-orientation

Color Look-Up Table support After Effects CS5 adds support for custom color look-up tables (LUTs) in the popular 3DL and CUBE file formats, which may be loaded into the new Apply Color LUT effect. This makes it possible, for example, to receive from a film output facility a custom LUT that reflects the specific color correction they are performing on a project, and simulate within After Effects what the result would look like on a specific piece of footage or final composite. You can also use this new feature to predict how your images will look through an unusual output chain such as displaying through a certain projector at a trade show or site-specific installation. In short, Color LUT support gives you confidence that the creative and technical decisions you make will translate properly to final output in an even wider variety of situations than before, and help ensure color consistency across multiple devices.
Color Finesse 3 LE After Effects CS5 includes an updated version of one of the most powerful desktop color correction tools available: Synthetic Aperture's Color Finesse 3 LE. (Color Finesse has a user interface that is English only.) The latest release of this versatile tool introduces numerous refinements, providing you with new ways to perfect your images. New features in Color Finesse 3 LE include:
Hue and saturation curve controls, yielding finer control over your color corrections
A new vibrance control that works in a way similar to the one in Adobe Lightroom software, providing a more subtle alternative to altering saturation
Auto Color and Auto Exposure buttons for instant corrections
New highlight-recovery feature, meaning you lose less image detail when you have to conform high dynamic range footage to the limitations of video
Improved handling of non-square pixels
A simplified plug-in user interface for improved ease of use

Color Finesse LE is also capable of exporting your "looks" as color look-up tables, which can then be applied in After Effects CS5 using its new Apply Color LUT effect. Plus, Color Finesse 3 LE has been updated to natively support 64-bit operating systems.
Digieffects FreeForm Digieffects FreeForm--included with After Effects for the first time in Creative Suite 5--vastly increases your 3D design options, allowing you to do more in After Effects, such as creating flags, bending floating video panels, and extruding layers without requiring a side trip into dedicated 3D software. FreeForm automatically responds to 3D cameras and lights in After Effects, making it easy to integrate the results of this effect into any 3D scene. (FreeForm has a user interface that is English only.)
Work with collaborative online services Users of After Effects CS5 may also enhance their workflow on large After Effects projects by accessing Adobe CS Live online services, available separately, including:
Adobe Story, the innovative new online service for crafting scripts. Story allows you to capture metadata in the writing phase, and use that metadata to plan your shoot more efficiently in Adobe OnLocation and help produce a preliminary rough cut in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Adobe CS Review, an online service that enables peers and clients to take part in the review of page layouts, image comps, illustrations, and video sequences.
Acrobat.com, a set of online services for creative professionals who need to accelerate discussion and information exchange with colleagues and clients.

For more information about these and other CS Live services, visit www.adobe.com/go/CSLive.

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Adobe Premiere Elements Review

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(More customer reviews)Adobe's new Premiere Elements is a great video editing program! I was amazed at how rock solid it is.
It is easy to capture your video directly to the timeline, gives you real time editing even after applying all kinds of effects, a live TV preview to see your edits & effects (like you would see in a TV studio) and a great method for automatically generating your DVD with custom scene index.
The product included a complete manual, a full tutorial as well as a DVD with cool training movies on Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements. I was really impressed that it was easy to learn, but didn't limit my creativity. Every drag & drop effect is completely customizable.
If you want to mix photos and video in your project you should definitely check out the bundle of Photoshop Elements 3 plus Premiere Elements. The integrations is great. You can organize and edit your stills in Photoshop Elements and send them directly to Premiere Elements as a slideshow where you can do all kinds of cool pans & zooms (ala Ken Burns effect). You can also use Photoshop Element's shape tool to add thought bubbles and other cool effects into your video (think 60's style Batman special effects).
I found Premiere Elements to be much more stable than other video editing applications that I bought and have now discarded. I think you will too!
Some reviews worth googling:
Premiere Elements, Bob Turner
Premiere Elements, Marc Peters
Premiere Elements, James Morris
Premiere Elements, John Virata
Premiere Elements, Joe Lavery
Premiere Elements, Mike Langberg


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Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Complete with Alien Crossfire Expansion Review

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(More customer reviews)An excellent empire building and management game.
There is also much dark sci-fi going on.
The variety of customizable factions and units along with the inclusion of terraforming makes replay value high.
Over the years I have played this for an embarrassing number of hours until I just can't play it anymore. Perhaps my highest praise is this: I wish I had never seen it so that I could start all over again.
The only down side I can report is that late in the game, especially on large maps, there is considerable lag between turns. This is reduced with modern CPUs but not eliminated.
The voice acting is superb and there was obviously a great deal of thought put into the tech tree. The graphics by today's standards are crude. Doesn't matter. Get it, enjoy the time to explore it, maybe find Vel's Strategy guide when you want to up your game.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)Video editing on the PC is more voodoo than artisty - almost every "consumer level" editing program on the market has compatibility problems, the software that comes with the hardware tends to be next to useless (if you can get it to work at all), and customer support is TERRIBLE. Most of what is to be found is geared towards either 1) encoding low-quality video either from TV or cell phones or 2) "dummy-editing" for those that want to get poorly-edited YouTube video on the air. Consumers that want to do high-quality video editing but aren't professionals (read: can't spend thousands on one piece of software) are, for the most part, ignored.
Having messed with numerous products including Pinnacle Studio (very buggy and contains huge compatibility issues), WinTV's Win2000 (comes with their card - lacks usefulness), VirtualDub (free and having huge potential with numerous features, but unless you're willing to spend a tremendous amount of time working with it, have the exact hardware the fan-community is using, and have superior knowledge of the technology, you won't find it useful), etc... in the end, Premiere is the best. It is professionally done, VERY compatible compared to other software packages, powerful, easy to use, and easy to understand. If you want to do video editing on the PC, this is where you should start - everything else just creates too many headaches.
So, what can you do with Premiere Elements 3.0? You can combine multiple video clips into a movie; you can narrate a video; you can create video for your blog (if you have a camera); you can burn professional-looking DVDs with full menus that will blow people away. Whether you are making home movies of your kids, compiling a highlight reel of your best sporting moments, or making a movie on an extremely tight budget, this is the best software out there in the price range.
As to what 3.0 improves from 2.0: To the casual user not a lot. There are a few more minor options, but the big advantage comes when burning DVDs - in 2.0, my sports DVDs looked terrible with a great deal of "jumping" (I'm assuming this was caused by the software not using enough compression keyframes, but don't quote me on that) - in 3.0, everything is extremely clear and smooth. There are also more exporting options and more useable codecs, though the software still lacks the ability to switch to any installed codecs (a major flaw, IMO, but one most other programs at this level share).
Note: In order to make DVD templates (DVD Menus) for 3.0, you need Photoshop Elements 5.0 - earlier versions do not seem to work (or, at least, I can't get them to work properly). While you can make very good DVD menus within Premiere, you can't save them from Premiere for use in other projects. If that is something you might want to do (and, quite honestly, it may not be for many users), pick up the "bundled" version of Premiere and Photoshop and save yourself some money.
Now, a few things that Premiere Elements can't do/doesn't do very well:
- Capture video from "legacy" devices like VCRs. Premiere can capture video from some devices, but it doesn't work particularly well with many capture cards (nor is it really designed to). Either send your VCR feed through a digital camcorder or use another recording method ("Tivo" or a capture card with useful capture software).
- "Mega" special effects. Premiere Elements has numerous effects like dissolve, fade, time-stretching (slow motion), and distortion - it does not, however, do major CGI-effects. You might be able to pull of a Star Trek "beam in" effect, but you'll need another program for most others.
- Post-capture video improvement. Premiere Elements can do some video enhancement, but it is more of a timeline editing tool - if you want to significantly improve the quality of your captured video (removing major noise, massive high-quality zooming, etc..) you'll need another program.
To address a few other negative reviews...
"Just a quick warning: trying to deal with Adobe is a nightmare. I spent 45 minutes on their customer service line today, waiting for someone to answer. Twice, I was disconnected and had to call back."
I've never had to deal with Adobe's customer support, so I don't know whether or not this is true - I do know, however, that CS in other retail companies in this market is terrible."I imported some video from a DVD that I made myself, and the program shut down. It said I had to go to a website and type in a 20-digit "encoder activation" and the site would give me another number that I could use to activate the MPEG2 part of the product. But the site won't take the number. I keep getting an invalid code message when I type it in."
This situation is true - you will need an internet connection AND you'll have to register a code to enable certain compressors. However, all you need to do is copy and paste the code from the software window and into your web browser (there's even a button that will copy the code - you just have to paste it in). No one I know has ever had the problem described above - though it could occur.
"No web support or patches on Adobe site to date. "
There are numerous plugins available on the Adobe website and a patch - just go to the updates section of their webpage.
In conclusion: Premiere Elements is the best software out there for most users. Other reviewers should feel free to post if there is a better software package available.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 software makes creating and sharing impressive home videos a snap. Burn your footage to DVD in two simple steps, complete with a DVD menu and scene index, or quickly assemble your movie in the new Sceneline, where you can drag and drop to arrange clips and add effects and enhancements. You can even edit and preview your movie in one convenient window. When your movie is ready, share it on the web, on mobile phones, and virtually anywhere else.

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ClickArt 250,000 Review

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(More customer reviews)Very poor clip art. No way 250,00 clip art images: maybe 20,000? Who wants a zillion fonts instead of what was suppose to be clip art.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 7 Review

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(More customer reviews)I am NOT a newbie to video editing, in fact I have been an avid user of Adobe Premier Elements for some time now...with ver. 4 being the most recent before the version 7 purchase. Let me get this out in the open, I was disgusted with Adobe PE7 at first because I was trying to edit and burn footage from my same old camcorders....footage that Adobe PE3 and 4 handled just fine. I have tried MULTIPLE projects now and have yet to be able to render or burn a DVD using the MP4 (avc H.264) footage from my Sanyo Xacti or my Samsung NV24HD. Even worse I cannot keep a project of any size open long enough to do any editing before the program gives me a "low on memory" warning and then crashes! Version 4 was crazy enough, as I was always sure to hit the "save" button many times while editing, but this version 7 is a joke for these formats. I can't even add the MP4 files to the time-line without it crashing. Now for the good part and why I give this release a 4 star. I was asked by a buddy to edit and burn some youth football footage from his newly acquired Canon HF10 with SDHC card. I was excited. Although I had no clue what an .mts file was Adonbe PE 7 not only recognized it and imported it quickly...but I proceeded to edit both video and audio (together and separately)as well as burn to a regular DVD (not BluRay). It was a great experience. The only reason I won't give this a 5 star is that Adobe still shows this PE7 program as being compatible with MP4 and I beg to differ as a user...but if you are going the direction I want to go, AVCHD and BluRay, etc...Adobe did something right in this category. I will add that while i am not a big fan of the GUI of Pinnacle Studio Plus 12 it has handled ALL of my format types without a problem. I am running Vista Basic on a Celeron 1.60Ghz processor (Dell Inspiron 530 desktop) with 4GB of ram.
UPDATE: Now that I have purchased my OWN Canon HF10 AVCHD camcorder (1080 high-def) Adobe PE7 is my go-to program for this type of footage. Again, it handles the AVCHD / .mts file format flawlessly. Check out my other reviews for some other programs I have tried like Corel VideoStudio X2 and Magix - Movie Edit pro 14. If you are going to be working with AVCHD, certainly any of the Canon HF series camcorders that put .mts on sdhc flash cards...then I believe Adobe Premier Elements 7 is the best option.

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Franklin Covey Planning Software 8.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)The most annoying bug in my experience of running this software under Windows 2000 is that every time I open it, the toolbars have each moved down to a separate line, and I must realign them all in one row. Frequently and inexplicably, the work panes have all shrunk, and I must resize them all manually (this is not simply done with one click of a Restore button). So, for a software package that advertises that it's going to help you organize your time, it fails from the start. The interface is clumsy--it's still operating in the Windows 3.1 days and struggling to keep up with the current Microsoft interface. Clearly, Franklin Covey has not invested in software design and maintenance. The product is loaded with bugs. There is no added advantage to using this product over Microsoft Outlook. Scheduling is a joke.

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Sync all your information and view it from virtually anywhere with FranklinCovey Planning Software 8.0. Whether you use a wireless phone, handheld, online calendar, corporate scheduling software, or FranklinCovey Planning Pages, FranklinCovey Planning Software 8.0 keeps all your information in one system and in sync. Simply enter your appointment schedule, address/phone lists, contacts, task list, notes, and more into one device, such as your handheld or wireless phone. You can then sync it to the rest of your productivity tools, like your desktop software applications, Web calendars, and more. FranklinCovey Planning Software 8.0 allows you to always have the most current information at your fingertips.
This quick process will allow you to sync your data with Microsoft Outlook 97, 98, or 2000; Lotus Notes; Lotus Organizer 4.1/5.0/6.0, 95, or 97; ACT!; Palm OS Handhelds; Pocket PC Devices; and more. Intuitive, customizable views provide a clean planning environment that puts everything at your fingertips and includes powerful new weekly task and appointment views. Switch easily between My Planner, Info Manager, and What Matters Most views and their associated applications. TrueSync technology provides users a one-click, multi-point synchronization of all the changes in information among every supported device and application simultaneously.

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Photo Album 7 Deluxe Review

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(More customer reviews)I had little photo editing experience when I used "Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe". I found this software suite to be an excellent digital photo editing tool for basic users. It allows novice users to perform complex or seemingly impossible editing tasks with little more than intuition and this tool. It is not a resource designed for the advanced user or photographer who needs more sensitive and professional tools.
It allows the user to easily organize, sort, edit, share, retouch, and, in general, explore creatively with your digital photo file. It guides the user in linking music with slide shows and video presentations, including song selection and music synchronization.
This suite is simple and intuitve for any user in my estimation. It loads easily and its features can be addressed through drag and drop icons in a fairly user friendly manner. I found the retouching tools to be the most useful as well as the most fun element for me in my explorations. All the standard retouching tools are available including erasing blemishes, whitening teeth, eliminating red eye, and even a painting on a suntan tool.
The intuitive interface allows easy organiztion of your photos from sort, find, search by various identifiers (name, text, date, etc.)to editing and sending. There are a large number of project templates (calendars, scrapbooks, collages, etc.) that I did not explore. Lastly, the working with videos section seems equally simple and self-explanatory but I have not done any video editing yet.
All in all, many of the features of "Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe" can be found in freeware or among resident tools on some computers. But this software suite has combined a large number of useful digital photo and video editing tools into one simple user friendly package. Believe me when I say I enjoyed several hours exploring many of its features and I am definitely a novice at photo editing. I recommend this product for what it does and how it does it.

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Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe is your complete digital photo editing suite! Enhance your photos in an instant with easy photo-fixes and effects. Use powerful editing tools to remove blemishes, whiten teeth and paint on a suntan, so everyone looks their best! Make scrapbooks, greeting cards, calendars, collages and more using hundreds of professionally designed templates. Email, print or save your photos on DVDs. Download, view, trim and show off video clips. You can even combine photos, video clips and music to make an amazing slide show you can burn to DVD to play on your TV. Photo Album gives you all the tools you need to make the most of your photos and videos.

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Standard Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm positive you're reading this because you are wondering what is eligible for an upgrade. Relax cheapskates, virtually everything makes you eligible:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/it-it/vs2008/products/cc263904(en-us).aspx
"
Upgrade Pricing Eligibility
To qualify for upgrade pricing, you must be a licensed user of one of the following products:
* An earlier version of Microsoft Visual Studio
* Any other developer tool (including free developer tools, such as Visual Studio Express Editions or Eclipse)
Upgrade pricing eligibility does not apply for Volume Licensing programs.
"
If worse comes to worse, install the free express edition and register it, but it looks like any old version of Visual Studio will do.
You're welcome!

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MicrosoftVisual StudioStandard 2008 Win32 English Upgrade DVD DVD

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The Print Shop Design Suite Professional Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been purchasing The Print Shop for about 5 years now, and this latest edition is the best one yet. I'm having so much fun exploring and tinkering with some of the new features! My creative projects are really going to pop after I start using this bad boy with a vengeance. :-)
At the beginning, I was puzzled as to why the installer did not launch when I put in the Install DVD-ROM. But, fortunately for me, I'm a bookworm and I actually took the time to read page 13 in the user's manual. It told you what to do if the program did not launch. For Windows XP, simply click the Start button, click Run, and type D:\Setup.exe. Make sure you substitute the letter for the actual drive you're using in place of the letter "D." Mine just happened to be "E." The Install Wizard popped right up and ran smoothly with no problems. I had it installed in less than five minutes.
Installing the Design Suite software was little tricky, but I soon figured it out. It didn't launch right away, either. For Windows XP, simply click the Start button, click Run, and type D:\launcher.exe. Make sure you substitute the letter for the actual drive you're using in place of the letter "D." Again, mine was "E." It will open up another window with about 4 files listed. Double-click the blue icon at the bottom and the blue and white Design Suite window pops up. On the right side of the screen near the bottom, you'll see 4 blue tabs. Each one is a different component of the Design Suite. One thing to remember: Leave the original blue and white Design Suite window running in the background. The reason for this is because every time you click on one of the blue tabs, you're going to open up a new window. Once you're finished with one of the programs, just close the newest window and go back to first one and click each successive blue tab. Continue to do that until all of the components are installed. Then you can close everything out.
All in all, it took me about 15 minutes total to install all of the components, including the time it took me to register them. The programs are easy to use and easy to navigate. I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase.
In the end, I'd recommend this software to all and give them this bit of sound advice: If you have problems installing ANY type of software, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! A little reading at the beginning will save you a lot of time in the end. It's a shame the previous reviewer had such a hard time and couldn't complete in the span of a day what took me approximately 15 minutes to complete. Hope this review helps someone!

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The Print Shop Design Suite Professional Edition provides powerful tools for photo editing, drawing, illustration, web design, publishing, file management and creating PDFs. Includes: Professional tools for Photo Editing such as color correction, image manipulation, mapping functions and Web optimization. Get Tools for Drawing & Illustration that allow you to draw using pastel, charcoal and watercolor effects, create and edit vector art!Build and Design sophisticated Web pages without HTML coding. Includes dynamic web templates and tools to easily embed video and animation.The Print Shop Pro Publisher Deluxe Features comprehensive art gallery, page layout and professionally designed project templates to create brochures, stationery and more.Also includes file organizer and a PDF creator.

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Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT)RED Upgrade with SP1 Review

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(More customer reviews)Even though this version of Windows Vista Ultimate is clearly a costmetic edition, it sure offer's a nice visual touch. I was happy to grab this eddition because of the donation Microsoft gives, but also because of the nice beautiful RED it entraps you in. Microsoft Vista is actually a huge improvement over XP to me, and I have been mostly happy with the merge. I enjoy the ease of use, and all of my software and devices have ran very nicely on it. My PC is only an Acer with AMD 5200 Dual Core, and a 512MB basic Nvidia graphics card and 2GB of memory. If your pc has at least 2GB of memory, and at least 128MB of dedicated graphics, Vista will run great with the full visual experience, 1GB works good as well just without the fancy visual effects. I love the built in Fax software with Ultimate, and the networking tools, so if you must have the business side of Vista, this is your best bet!!! Works great, and very enjoyable after adding a few of your own 3rd party software favorites.

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More secure, making it better able to protect systems; Get more done…faster and easier; matches the current and future compatibility with software, peripherals, and services; Stay connected—in or out of the office

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Corel DVD MovieFactory 6.0 Plus Review

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(More customer reviews)I used this product for a month on the recommendations of a video forum group. It was for the specific purpose of burning HD-DVD compliant videos onto standard 4.7GB DVD's using a standard DVD burner.
The biggest problem with this product is that importing files take a long, long, long time. Whether you choose your desired file from a dialog box, or drag and drop it onto the open Ulead DVD Movie Factory window, the program basically locks your computer up for the next hour. Note that this is BEFORE you do anything with the file.
It's not just with high definition videos either. Standard definition files also take a long time to load.
Technical support from the Corel website is basically non-existent save for some FAQ's and a users forum. Even if you click on the so-called "Technical Support" link it takes you directly to the FAQ's. You can't even get email support. I at least got that with Microsoft.
Looking through those forums I realize that others who use this product with Windows Vista have the same issues. The label on the box says "Works with Windows Vista", just not how well.
Hopefully I'll have better luck with Nero.

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Corel DVD MovieFactory 6 PLUS Windows

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Adobe After Effects CS5 Review

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(More customer reviews)Ignore the star rating. Just a warning that because this is a native 64-bit application it needs to be installed on a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or Vista. While the product description says Windows XP, the box itself does not list 64-bit Windows XP as supported (and you probably don't want to mess with WXP 64-bit in the firs place). Unless you already have a 64-bit OS installed you will need to reinstall your OS and all its other applications as well to install Adobe After Effects CS5.

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Adobe 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.

Create motion graphics and visual effects with the industry standard
Innovative compositing and animation tools Create high-impact communications by combining moving imagery, still images and graphics, text, and sound in 2D or 3D space, and then animating virtually any aspect of each element.
Responsive 64-bit performance Work more easily with complex high-resolution projects and see longer RAM previews thanks to native 64-bit operating system support. Enhanced disk caching allows you to spend less time waiting and more time creating.
Unmatched integration with industry standard Adobe applications--Enjoy a streamlined workflow with support for importing Adobe Photoshop images and layer types. Move easily between After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 software. Export projects for enhancement in Adobe Flash Professional CS5 software.
Unlimited creative options Manipulate moving and still images using hundreds of effects that stylize, distort, shatter, and more. Combine effects to create Hollywood-caliber visual effects. Create grids, radio waves, particles, and more.
Text and vector graphics creation and animation Create text and vector graphics in After Effects using familiar Adobe tools, and then animate these elements to create visually innovative motion graphics.
Comprehensive masking and keying tools, including new Roto Brush Control which portions of a layer are visible by drawing and animating masks. The revolutionary new Roto Brush tool handles rotoscoping in a fraction of the time. Remove bluescreen and greenscreen backgrounds with the award-winning Keylight.
Timesaving presets and learning tools Get a jump start animating text and creating synthetic backgrounds with more animation presets. Use Brainstorm to experiment and refine designs. Learn fast with help, tool tips, and training resources on the web.
Powerful motion controls Apply realistic motion blur. Use Timewarp to slow down and speed up footage. Remove unwanted movement with the Motion Stabilizer, or precisely match the motion of source footage with mocha for After Effects.
Professional results for every media type Deliver your work anywhere. Compatibility with an extensive list of output formats lets you produce animated content for virtually any media, from film and broadcast to the web and mobile devices.
High-fidelity color Get precise, predictable color in After Effects with support for high dynamic range (32-bit-per-channel floating point) color, including Pro EXR files, ICC-based color management tools, and new color lookup tables (LUTs).
Top new features of Adobe After Effects CS5
Native 64-bit application One of the most significant advances in After Effects is that it is now a fully native 64-bit application. This yields numerous advantages, including the ability to fully use your computer's memory for dramatic improvements when working on high-resolution projects.
Just a few years ago, it was normal to work on standard-definition video at a color depth of 8 bits per channel (bpc). Today, it is common to work on high-definition video at a depth of 16 bpc. And while some artists have used After Effects on film projects since the earliest versions, digital cinema cameras such as the RED One are now commonly in use--making 4K images in 32-bit floating-point color increasingly common. And the memory demands don't stop there.
For example, RED has announced cameras that sport 5K, 6K, 9K, and even 28K frame sizes. Native 64-bit OS support in After Effects CS5 means you can work on ever-higher-resolution projects with confidence.
On 32-bit operating systems, the 2GB to 4GB memory restriction for each application sharply limit how many image frames can be held in RAM at the same time--which in turn constrains the length of full-motion previews and the complexity of projects overall. Even with disk caching and virtual memory, working with HD content using older versions of After Effects on 32-bit systems means you may be forced to wait while images are swapped in and out of RAM or re-rendered the next time they are needed. Resourceful artists have developed strategies to work around these limitations--such as working at lower resolutions or frame rates or using "proxies" of lower-quality sources--but these come with the trade-off of not seeing your composition in its final form while you work.
With After Effects CS5, these limitations no longer apply. Support for 64-bit operating systems means After Effects CS5 can access all of your computer's available RAM. This has a dramatic, positive effect on the type, size, and complexity of projects you can take on--as well as how fluidly you can work. With After Effects CS5 running on a 64-bit operating system with 32GB of RAM, you can preview a 30-second HD comp at full resolution and at 32 bpc. This enables you to preview your entire composition at maximum fidelity without interruption.
Beyond being able to preview longer continuous stretches of your project, rendered image frames are more likely to be kept in memory, allowing you to move around a project's timeline or between compositions without losing already-rendered frames. Additionally, memory buffer errors due to RAM constraints are virtually eliminated. These improvements increase productivity, which in turn facilitates creativity.
Integrated memory management In Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium, you can coordinate RAM allocation for After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro , Adobe Encore, and Adobe Media Encoder thanks to cross-component memory management. This allows you to make the most of your system resources without learning complex memory-management settings.
Roto Brush Many shots require separating a foreground object--such as an actor--from its current live action background so that the object may be placed in a completely new environment. The revolutionary new Roto Brush provides a fast, efficient solution for isolating these foreground elements in complex scenes. In the past, this kind of work was time-consuming and expensive, and as a result, the technique was often reserved for big-budget projects. The new Roto Brush is so fast that After Effects artists can now perform rotoscoping on virtually any project--from previsualization to final composites--with greatly reduced concern about project budgets or deadlines.
To use the new Roto Brush, just draw simple paint strokes inside the foreground object, and let After Effects calculate where the rest of the foreground object is. If the foreground and background are similar, you can draw additional paint strokes to teach After Effects which elements are in the background. After Effects determines where the foreground and background are on subsequent frames; you can refine results with additional strokes. The process is fast and intuitive--and because After Effects does the hard work of finding the edges, Roto Brush eliminates the tedium traditionally associated with the task.
Once you've defined the foreground and background areas, you can control the quality of the edges between the two using options for smoothing, feathering, or choking (spreading inside or outside of the original edge). After Effects can calculate motion blur for fast-moving portions of the edge to deliver photo-realistic, professional results with minimal effort. "Edge chatter" from frame to frame is automatically reduced, and in addition you can remove background color from semitransparent edges of the foreground object. And if the resulting alpha channel still requires additional refinement, you can use the paint tools already built into After Effects to further tweak your results.
The Roto Brush expands your creative options by enabling you to offer results that require sophisticated rotoscoping--on virtually any project. Professional-quality results can be realized dramatically faster and with far less tedium: artists are already reporting that the process of rotoscoping is taking a fraction of the time it required in the past. This means you can accomplish creative treatments that previously were feasible exclusively on big-budget projects--from isolating elements for targeted color enhancement to placing design elements such as text or logos between actors and their backgrounds.
mocha for After Effects CS5 Real-world projects typically require motion tracking, and many shots present tracking challenges such as elements that go partially out of frame or include motion blur. mocha for After Effects CS5--an updated version of the software included with After Effects CS5--has a unique planar tracker that makes it easy to handle even the most difficult tracking and stabilization tasks. Also included in this release is the mocha shape plug-in, which enables you to use tracking data in new ways. stabilization tasks. (mocha for After Effects CS5 and mocha shape have user interfaces that are English only.)
This updated release of mocha includes the ability to apply motion tracking to hand-drawn masks, which is a significant time-saver. In addition, motion-blurred or semitransparent areas are easily handled with new support for varible-width mask feathers. And like After Effects CS5, mocha for After Effects CS5 is a native 64-bit application.
Included for the first time in After Effects CS5, the mocha shape plug-in enables you to copy and paste multiple motion-tracked masks from mocha to any After Effects layer, fully preserving all their qualities, including any variable-width mask feather settings. This is particularly useful for shots that contain camera movements or moving objects that require masking.
One of the other new features you will find useful is that Bezier or X-spline animated roto shapes created in mocha may be converted into mask shapes in After Effects, where they can be further refined and manipulated without requiring a trip back into mocha. Also with mocha for After Effects CS5, motion blur data is now included in the exported tracking data. This enables you to re-create the motion blur that occurred in the original footage.
AVC-Intra support and expanded RED camera support After Effects CS5 includes native support for the new AVC-Intra 50 and AVC-Intra 100 codecs, as well as expanded native support for footage from RED cameras.
AVC-Intra is used by high-quality Panasonic cameras like the AJ-HPX300, AJ-HPX3700 VariCam, and AJ-HPX2700 VariCam, as well as recorders like the AJ-HPM110. According to Panasonic documents, AVC-Intra 100 is the highest recording quality available in a one-piece camcorder--comparable to mastering video quality--and is explicitly designed and optimized for broadcast and production. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 also supports AVC-Intra, so there's no barrier to integrating After Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro projects if you want to use AVC-Intra.
After Effects CS5, like Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, provides full native support for RED R3D files, allowing you to import them directly without transcoding, rewrapping, or installing additional software. Because the files you import contain raw sensor data, you edit footage that is as close to what the camera captured as possible, enabling you to work nondestructively on the color and look of your projects. This includes the ability to edit enhanced parameters such as Debayer Detail, Chroma Denoise, White Balance, ISO settings, and more.
With After Effects CS5, you can work with content in all common RED R3D file permutations, including 2K, 3K, 4K, 4K HD, 16x9, and 2x1, using a number of different frame rates.
Auto-keyframe mode After Effects has long featured powerful, flexible keyframing. However, artists new to After Effects have expressed a wish for an automatic way to begin keyframing their animations.
To assist these artists, After Effects CS5 offers an Auto-keyframe mode. When Auto-keyframe mode is on, modifying a property automatically turns its stopwatch on and adds a keyframe at the current time. This prevents you from working with a layer's properties only to realize later that After Effects did not capture any of your changes. Parameters that can be automatically keyframed include position, rotation, shape properties, mask properties, effect point controls, and camera manipulation.
New Refine Matte effect and dozens of other enhancements In every release, After Effects introduces dozens of refinements to popular features. Experienced professionals know that while individually these changes may seem subtle, collectively they make the day-in and day-out experience of working with After Effects smoother and more intuitive. Among many such features added in After Effects CS5 are:
The new Refine Matte effect that allows you to take advantage of the intelligent edge tracking, dechattering, and motion blurring capabilities found in Roto Brush and apply them to any layer with a problematic alpha channel, such as keyed footage
New options that allow you to align layers to a composition's boundaries, making it easier to precisely center objects and clean up the layout of your image frame overall
Enhanced support for Photoshop adjustment layer types, including Selective Color, Black & White, and Vibrance; you can also apply these color correction effects to any layer
A new option for per-character 3D text animation that allows each character to orient toward the camera around its own anchor point, further enhancing the illusion of 3D
A new Type option in the Camera Settings dialog box that allows you to easily specify if the camera is a one-node or two-node camera, adapting to your preferred approach for aiming and animating 3D cameras
The ability to import layered PSD files which include extruded 3D layers created with the new Adobe Repoussé feature inPhotoshop CS5 Extended.
A new keyboard shortcut to point the camera to either selected layers or all layers, along with many other improvements to camera tools and settings
New options to color-code panel tabs with the composition, footage item, or layer's label color, making it easier to identify elements at a glance in a complex project
Rendered Output Modules can now be dragged to a folder in the Project panel, resulting in the import of the output files into that folder for quick inclusion of rendered elements
New keyboard shortcuts and mouse functionality to quickly move between viewing the entire timeline and returning to your previous zoom level
An enhanced Levels effect Histogram display showing individual color channel strengths
New options for specifying the size of Bezier direction handles and vertices for masks and shapes as well as direction handles for motion paths, making them easier to see on today's larger monitors
Tooltips added for each vertex in the Graph Editor, which display the layer name, property name, time, and value of the keyframe, making it easier to precisely check values at a glance
Numerous enhancements to scripting, including the ability to access parameters for adaptive motion blur, text tracking, label attributes, and per-character auto-orientation

Color Look-Up Table support After Effects CS5 adds support for custom color look-up tables (LUTs) in the popular 3DL and CUBE file formats, which may be loaded into the new Apply Color LUT effect. This makes it possible, for example, to receive from a film output facility a custom LUT that reflects the specific color correction they are performing on a project, and simulate within After Effects what the result would look like on a specific piece of footage or final composite. You can also use this new feature to predict how your images will look through an unusual output chain such as displaying through a certain projector at a trade show or site-specific installation. In short, Color LUT support gives you confidence that the creative and technical decisions you make will translate properly to final output in an even wider variety of situations than before, and help ensure color consistency across multiple devices.
Color Finesse 3 LE After Effects CS5 includes an updated version of one of the most powerful desktop color correction tools available: Synthetic Aperture's Color Finesse 3 LE. (Color Finesse has a user interface that is English only.) The latest release of this versatile tool introduces numerous refinements, providing you with new ways to perfect your images. New features in Color Finesse 3 LE include:
Hue and saturation curve controls, yielding finer control over your color corrections
A new vibrance control that works in a way similar to the one in Adobe Lightroom software, providing a more subtle alternative to altering saturation
Auto Color and Auto Exposure buttons for instant corrections
New highlight-recovery feature, meaning you lose less image detail when you have to conform high dynamic range footage to the limitations of video
Improved handling of non-square pixels
A simplified plug-in user interface for improved ease of use

Color Finesse LE is also capable of exporting your "looks" as color look-up tables, which can then be applied in After Effects CS5 using its new Apply Color LUT effect. Plus, Color Finesse 3 LE has been updated to natively support 64-bit operating systems.
Digieffects FreeForm Digieffects FreeForm--included with After Effects for the first time in Creative Suite 5--vastly increases your 3D design options, allowing you to do more in After Effects, such as creating flags, bending floating video panels, and extruding layers without requiring a side trip into dedicated 3D software. FreeForm automatically responds to 3D cameras and lights in After Effects, making it easy to integrate the results of this effect into any 3D scene. (FreeForm has a user interface that is English only.)
Work with collaborative online services Users of After Effects CS5 may also enhance their workflow on large After Effects projects by accessing Adobe CS Live online services, available separately, including:
Adobe Story, the innovative new online service for crafting scripts. Story allows you to capture metadata in the writing phase, and use that metadata to plan your shoot more efficiently in Adobe OnLocation and help produce a preliminary rough cut in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Adobe CS Review, an online service that enables peers and clients to take part in the review of page layouts, image comps, illustrations, and video sequences.
Acrobat.com, a set of online services for creative professionals who need to accelerate discussion and information exchange with colleagues and clients.

For more information about these and other CS Live services, visit www.adobe.com/go/CSLive.

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