Description:
Adobe After Effects 5.5 is the program of choice for motion graphics and visual effects maestros. No other software package can match its powerful and flexible 2-D and 3-D compositing and animation tool set. After Effects 5.5 offers seamless integration with other Adobe products such as Premiere, Photoshop, and Illustrator, allowing users to expand their creativity with pinpoint control for the Web, film, multimedia, and video. Additionally, the user interface is very similar to the interface in Adobe LiveMotion, making it a breeze for LiveMotion users to quickly learn this program. After Effects 5.5 introduces multiple 2-D and 3-D views, allowing users to view a composition from several perspectives simultaneously. A new Effects palette that helps users easily organize and apply effects is also introduced. Users can now view all of the installed effects and easily scroll through the list before making a selection. In addition, the effects window is completely customizable, letting users view effects based on their own criteria or by category. This version also introduces an assortment of new effects, including projection layers, colored shadows, a color stabilizer, advanced lightning, grid, roughen edges, four-color gradients, and cell pattern effects. With the new effects, users will have increased control over lighting properties and access to more than 90 effects in total. After Effects 5.5 has also improved the input and output options not available in earlier versions of After Effects. Advanced RealMedia export now allows users to export files directly into the RealMedia format. Users can easily create RealMedia streaming or Web downloadable files that support RealVideo and RealAudio. Users can also import Flash and MPEG-1 files into their compositions. 3-D camera data import from Maya, 3ds max, and 16-bit-per-channel formats such as Maya IFF, QuickTime, RPF, and SGI files are also supported. This allows users to work more efficiently and achieve professional-quality results for film, video, multimedia, and the Web. Artists and designers can now import RLA and RPF data directly into After Effects 5.5 to match 3-D shots exactly, thus quickly creating complete environments. This latest version of After Effects allows artists and designers to work more efficiently and with more media formats than ever before. Adobe After Effects 5.5 provides native support for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows XP platforms. After Effects 5.5 is also optimized for the Intel Pentium 4 processor. For this newest release of After Effects, users can expect to see extensive plug-in support and new productivity enhancements. Overall, Adobe After Effects 5.5 introduces an impressive array of new features and tighter integration with other Adobe products. --Rich Ting
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