James Lockman's Blog: Adobe: June 2010 Archives

Adobe announces Audition for Mac!

By James Lockman on June 23, 2010 8:37 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

One of the missing links in the Adobe production workflow on a Mac is professional audio editing software. Today, Adobe announced that Audition would be available on a Mac in a future release. #AdobeCP

Visit the Audition page on Adobe Labs.

The prerelease is scheduled to open in the Winter of 2010. According to the page, Audition for Mac will offer:

Powerful audio editing and multitrack mixing views
Superior noise reduction capabilities
Native 5.1 Surround support and multi-channel effects, plus other new effects
Optimized audio post-production workflows
Fast start-up, high performance multi-threaded processing, and parallel workflows

It's about time that Apple's Logic has some competition. Of course, Audition has been on Windows for years.

iOS 4 first impressions part 4: Voicemail warning

By James Lockman on June 22, 2010 10:55 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

After the iOS 4 update, I received several calls today that went to voice mail, but I wasn't notified of the voicemail. When I went to Phone, then selected Voicemail, I was prompted to enter my voicemail password. Not thinking anything of it, I skipped that step and moved on to something else. I got an email message from a client much later in the day saying that she had left me a voicemail in the morning, but I had gotten no notification on the phone. Yikes!

I returned to Phone this evening and then entered my voicemail password. There were two unheard messages from today, about which I was very unhappy. Moral of the story: be sure to visit Voicemail immediately after updating the iPhone, or you'll never know it when you get a message.

Flash Player 10.1 available for mobile platforms

By James Lockman on June 22, 2010 2:11 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

Adobe announced the availability of Flash Player 10.1 for mobile platforms such as Android and WebOS. #AdobeCP

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/201006/06222010FlashPlayerAvailability.html

When we talk about web events and web meetings, more and more we are asked about how mobile customers can participate. While there is a Connect app for iPhone, other platforms have been lagging. Now, with FP 10.1, many of the other platforms suddenly become viable web event viewers, and the reach of web events has just exploded.

I just finished delivering a Connect session on Connect for Web Events (Recording: Webinars that Wow! with Adobe Connect), and when I mentioned that Flash Player 10.1 was announced and that smartphones would be able to participate in Connect meetings (Connect is a Flash-based platform), there was a very positive reaction.

"THIS IS HUGE!" says one attendee (his capitals).

"Did you REALLY say that smartphones could attend Connect meetings?" asked another. "Yes, I did," was my reply. "WOW!" came the response.

Other responses were equally enthusiastic. While the Connect app for iPhone has been available for months, there is a huge pent-up demand for other smartphones to be able to attend web meetings, and with Flash Player 10.1 in the mobile marketplace, Adobe Connect becomes more relevant than ever before.

The Associated Press: Adobe to post 2Q results; analyst says CS5 strong

By James Lockman on June 22, 2010 10:57 AM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

Adobe is expected to post better than expected numbers for Q2 on the strength of strong CS5 sales. #AdobeCP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gS1sMma-MF0sB24LEgoId8zWO2vwD9GFRKTO0

The article states that "Creative Suite is used by small businesses such as design firms and advertising agencies." The analysts seem to miss the fact that Creative Suite is also used by giant media companies, global publishers, architectural firms, engineering companies, manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, research institutes, film and television studios, web designers, desktop and mobile application developers and more. It is also used by Fortune 100 businesses to create portals and manage access to business critical data. I assume that savvy financial researchers look at these other verticals when making their predictions.

This will be welcome news, as CS4 results weren't as strong as Adobe had hoped. I know that I still see a lot of CS3 and CS2 out there, but new hardware and operating systems will require a software update for many, many people and companies. The CS2 and CS3 users who held off will now be able to take advantage of 64 bit versions of Photoshop and the video tools, for instance, which increase productivity substantially on large files. As video moves to very high resolution capture, it is essential to have 64 bit apps and tons of RAM, and CS5 makes those hardware investments pay off in short order.

Avid advertisement in the Adobe After Effects Help

By James Lockman on June 20, 2010 9:24 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

As you might imagine, while searching for help on image stabilization, I was surprised to see this Avid ad in the Adobe Community Help for After Effects.

Of course, using the community model means that when content comes from sites other than adobe.com, you get advertisements from those sites. Perhaps there's a way to contextually replace competitor's ads in these sites with Adobe ads when they are viewed through the Community Help portal? Come on, Omniture, get right on that.

Creative Suite 5 Design Workflow series available at Total Training

By James Lockman on June 15, 2010 11:08 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

My Total Training for Creative Suite 5 Design Workflow series is now available at TotalTraining.com #AdobeCP

This training tackles the entire Design Premium suite, with chapters on Bridge, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, Fireworks and Dreamweaver. The series focuses on typical uses of each of the applications, while helping the user to understand how the different applications relate to each other.

Trainees work along with me on project files that are included with the training. We create artwork in Photoshop and Illustrator, and then use that artwork to complete projects in InDesign, Flash Catalyst, Flash, Fireworks and Dreamweaver. New users the quick start training they need, and veterans gain an understanding of the new features of Creative Suite 5.

This training series is available online, and will be available as a DVD soon.

Adobe quietly rolls out Flash Player 10.1 and AIR2

By James Lockman on June 11, 2010 7:31 PM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

Adobe announced the availability of Flash Player 10.1 and AIR2. #AdobeCP

While closing a recently revealed security hole in Flash Player, this release also paves the way for easier application development for multiple devices. Prior to 10.1, multiple screen development required multiple versions of applications to target different versions of Flash players. Flash Player 10.1 unifies the player across desktop and mobile platforms, making it possible to create one application that will work on desktop and mobile platforms.

This version of Flash Player will be the last version that will play on a PowerPC G3 with MacOSX 10.4.

Wow.

It amazes me that while Apple abandoned the G3 years ago, Adobe has continued to keep it in mind for its Flash Player. While it is amazing that the G3 remains on Adobe's radar, it is more amazing to me that there must be enough of them still operating in the world that Adobe has maintained support for it in the Flash Player.

It's been 1999 since a G3 PowerMac was made by Apple, but it continued to use the G3 in the iMac and iBook line until 2003. Flash Player 10.1 requires a 500 MHz G3, so that excludes all of the PowerMac towers and desktops. Knowing that in my kids' schools, they were using G3 iBooks until a couple of years ago and also that the schools sell them at rock bottom prices, it's not surprising that there's still enough users out there for one more go at Flash Player.

The story for AIR2 isn't so far reaching, though. It requires at least an Intel Mac and MacOSX 10.5. Along the develop once, deploy anywhere model, there is also an AIR prerelease program for Android. With Android in the mix, developers can create AIR applications that will run on both desktop and mobile devices.

Flash Player and AIR represent a tremendous opportunity for companies to reduce development time and costs by removing complexity in the development process.

Legislation in Chicago hopes to keep McCormick Place relevant

By James Lockman on June 7, 2010 10:40 AM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes

The Illinois General Assembly broke the union death grip on McCormick Place, making the venue more competitive for conventions and trade shows #AdobeCP

Read the full press release.

One of the long standing complaints from vendors in venues like McCormick is the requirement that they use union staff to move booths in to and out of the arena, plug in electrical connections, move carpeting, supply food, and more. According to the press release,

The new law calls for:
New labor work rules that reduce crew sizes, require less overtime pay and eliminate hassles for customers.
Expanding exhibitor rights, allowing customers to do their own work, regardless of booth size.
The appointment of a Trustee, former MPEA CEO Jim Reilly, to oversee operations during an 18 month transition period and select a private manager for McCormick Place.
Restructuring capital debt to allow the MPEA to further lower costs to customers and put the MPEA on sound financial footing.
Allowing shows to select outside electrical and food service contractors.
Auditing contracts to ensure savings are passed on to customers.
Make recommendations to whether Navy Pier should remain in control by the Authority or become an independent entity.

No mention is made of how the unions feel about this, but I imagine they aren't happy. Under the law, though, the unions do continue to operate in McCormick Center, and to provide the default set of services for vendors. Vendors will be able to choose their own contractors, however, which is what makes this law so bold.

The law is aimed at retaining a specific longtime customer of McCormick Place, the Graphic Arts Show Company. It produces shows such as the venerable Graph Expo and Print. I have worked as a presenter at these shows for Adobe and others over the years, and have been shocked at the amounts of money vendors must spend to exhibit. Not to mention how expensive it is for staffers to feed themselves and travel to and from the hotels to the venue. I have watched the number of exhibitors dwindle in recent years (including Adobe, who hasn't exhibited at a major Print Industry show in the US for a couple of years now), and it comes as no surprise that GASC would lobby for concessions to make its show more affordable for vendors.

The value of trade shows and conventions is severely diluted when big name attendees don't show, citing booth costs. These booth costs are driven not so much by the convention organizers but rather by the venue. It was not uncommon for a large booth's costs to exceed $1 million for an extended show, and that amount doesn't include the cost of staffing the booth. Having worked at many of these events and watched as the vendor's teams sit idle while waiting for an electrical worker to show up and connect a twist-lock plug that's sitting right out on the open, I appreciate the bold steps that the Illinois legislature have taken.

Let's hope this precedent extends to other trade show cities like Las Vegas, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and others. Let's also hope that companies like Adobe will return to these events and boost the relevance of the convention overall.

Adobe: June 2010 Archives