Adobe today announced some major improvements and upgrades to its 3D workspace in Adobe After Effects, making it easier for designers and video editors to animate and blend 3D objects with real-world footage and 2D elements. Not just this, Adobe also announced some significant updates to Adobe Premiere Pro (beta), such as a new colour management system and performance improvements, in a bid to streamline video editing workflows. The Adobe After Effects upgrades will make it easier for users to work with 3D models and seamlessly blend them into 2D environments. The software giant has also released a number of new tools and controls to make it easier to design in 3D and 2D at the same time. Moreover, users of After Effects can now animate and composit in 3D. Adobe Substance 3D and Adobe Stock offer endless 3D models, giving designers the freedom to craft their work with embedded animations that are included in their models. A look at features in After Effects According to Adobe, motion designers now have an expanded range of tools when working with native 3D objects in the 3D workspace. Three major new features - Embedded 3D Animations, Ultra-realistic shadows and colour shadows, and Depth Mapping for 3D models - will allow designers to make their 3D objects blend seamlessly and photo-realistically with real-world environments. After Effects now essentially supports embedded 3D animations, allowing designers to import 3D models (GLB or GLTF) with embedded animations. This makes it easy for motion designs to include 3D elements directly within the familiar After Effects environment. The ultra-realistic shadows and shadow catchers allow 3D objects to interact naturally with video footage. On the other hand, colour shadows enhance the realism factor by imitating the real-world lighting conditions. Depth mapping for 3D models allows designers to extract depth maps from advanced 3D scenes, adding ease to the post-processing effects such as depth-of-field blur or fog for a more immersive experience. Other features include new animation presets, camera and light support in the properties panel, and faster performance and a fresh new design. When it comes to colour management systems, the new update can transform RAW and log footage from nearly any camera into high-quality SDR and HDR, reducing the need for LUTs and speeding up the editing process. Designers will now have access to a wide range of colour space. Effects such as Lumetri are now colour space aware, ensuring smoother control as well as consistent colour and brightness when using Dynamic Link with Adobe After Effects.
