If one Adobe design application, such as Photoshop, is equivalent to, say, a box of crayons, then Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection would be like a drawer packed with crayons, markers, paints and pencils in hundreds of hues. This heavy-duty software suite contains 17 equally heavy-duty applications — every major professional package in the Adobe pantheon for digital design. With it, you should be able to shoot, edit and produce a TV-quality commercial; then repurpose those video clips for the web and mobile phone browsers as well as a companion DVD; then use the existing images, logos and text in a printed newsletter or magazine ad campaign. However, for those who may not need so many tools, Adobe is also fine-tuning five other versions of CS3.
Adobe's Master Collection will include the new Photoshop CS3 Extended, which integrates with Adobe's video-editing tools and Illustrator for vector graphics. InDesign handles print layouts, while Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Encore and Acrobat serve webmasters and interactive professionals. Premiere and After Effects edit video — and unlike the previous version, this iteration of Premiere now runs on the Mac — while Ultra assists with chromakeying and Soundbooth edits audio. OnLocation, a lightly repackaged version of DVRack (acquired last year), can help videographers tweak a shoot on site, in the studio or out in the field.
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Hands-on take on CS3
"Given a total lack of obvious new features, to hear that Adobe will be charging upwards of £300 for an upgrade from CS2 was pretty shocking," says ZDNet member 1694.
There's also the Version Cue file version manager and the Bridge content control centre. Acrobat Connect web conferencing can get members of your design, editing, marketing and other teams on the same page at the same time. Device Central allows mobile content designers to preview creations on skins of the latest handheld gadgets. Adobe's Dynamic Link technology now enables video editors to move content between Premiere, AfterEffects and Encore while maintaining editability. The CS3 versions of Premiere, Soundbooth, Encore and OnLocation, in addition to Dynamic Link, require Intel-based Mac computers, which all of the other applications can run on as well as PowerPC-based Macs. However, the Master Collection does not include Lightroom for managing extensive photo libraries.
This big box of goodies will cost between £1,969 (ex. VAT) and £1,485 (ex. VAT) if you upgrade from CS2 or CS suites; Studio 8, MX 2004 or MX; or Adobe Production Studio Premium or Standard. Those who own any two of those older products may opt to upgrade to the Master Collection for £1,229 (ex. VAT). Adobe intends to ship its Creative Suite 3 Master Collection in the third quarter of 2007, when the video applications are available. Until that time, you have the option to purchase one of the other CS3 versions and upgrade later for the difference in price.
For now, Photoshop CS3 beta is available free for download; it has a two-day time-out that you can extend with a valid Photoshop CS serial number. Free beta trials of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional will become available for download from Adobe Labs on 16 April.
For most users, the Adobe CS3 Master Collection will be overkill, despite the significant cost savings over acquiring the applications individually. Unfortunately, it's licensed — and activated — on a suite basis, so you can't buy the Master Collection and distribute the apps around a workgroup, a department or a small studio, which seems the most effective use of an uber-suite like this. We'll report back again after we test the various applications.
