Film/TV

Adobe Launches Productions Tools for Premiere Pro (MESA)

Adobe on April 14 launched Productions, new tools for Premiere Pro that it said in January were designed for organizing film projects and collaborative workflows. Productions “answers users’ needs for collaboration, efficiency and scalability in post-production,” according to Adobe, noting the tools improve workflows for feature film, broadcast and web-based episodic content, “whether you’re working on your own or collaborating with a team.”

The new tools improve projects with smaller project sizes and allow users to organize and cross-reference assets, collaborate with multiple editors and securely control the user’s media, Adobe said.
“At Adobe, we’re continually evolving to meet the real world needs of modern filmmakers and the various ways they approach their craft,” according to Van Bedient, senior business development manager at the company.

First previewed at the Sundance Film Festival early this year, Productions were “designed from the ground up with input from top filmmakers, Hollywood editorial teams and leading social video creators,” he said during a recent online Adobe Creative Cloud Video press briefing.

The tools are “already being used” on director David Fincher’s upcoming film “Mank,” he said. (That movie is about “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz.) “Early versions of the underlying technology were battle-tested” on recent movies including “Terminator: Dark Fate” and “Dolemite is My Name,” Bedient said.

Adobe had customers test Productions “from a range of workflows, from broadcast, sports, social media, episodic, feature film [and] documentary,” he said, adding: “Overall, the response has been phenomenal.”

“Productions provide established professionals and aspiring storytellers with new tools for staying organized, managing multiple projects efficiently and simplifying collaboration,” he told reporters and went on to provide a demonstration of some of the key features. More details about Productions were provided in an Adobe blog post.

Productions is available at no extra cost, he said, noting it is now built into Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software. “However, knowing that a lot of people are working remotely or have challenges with location at this time, we’ve been working closely with some of our virtualization cloud partners,” including BeBop Technology, on “hosting Productions in the cloud, allowing remote editing and collaboration from wherever you might be, with the simplicity and power of Productions” and Cross Project References, he said.

Noting that Adobe had intended to tout Productions at NAB Show in Las Vegas this month before the annual event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, he said: “As the situation with COVID-19 unfolds, Adobe is committed to providing the support and resources to try to navigate this challenging time for all of us.”

The company knows that the “need for remote collaboration has increased dramatically across the board, across all our segments as the community adapts and adjusts to working remotely,” he told reporters, adding: “In an effort to support our Creative Cloud Video community,” Adobe is giving all Premiere Pro and After Effects users on all Creative Cloud individual plans free access to its Team Projects hosted collaboration service until Aug. 17.

Team Projects enables users to collaborate across locations and share project updates in real-time in the cloud, as well as quickly create multiple versions and collaborate on shared work in progress, according to Adobe. Editors and motion graphics artists can “share projects without fear of overwriting someone else’s efforts,” it noted. Team Projects also allows users to easily work across After Effects and Premiere Pro without re-rendering and “auto-saves all your personal edits and provides access to them if needed,” it said.