Product Reviews

This release of Adobe Production marks a rather special occasion. As part of the huge CS3 release from Adobe, every member of its portfolio has received a refresh, but it has a particular significance for video: for the first time in over four years, Premiere Pro is once again available on the Apple platform. Thanks to Intel-powered Macs, Final Cut Pro once again has a serious Adobe competitor.

As with the last few releases of Adobe's video products, you can make substantial savings by opting for a bundle, although the options have changed yet again with CS3. There's no longer a Standard version, just the Premium one, so your choice is between this and the Master Collection. So,

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you can either have everything video related for less than £1,300, or pay around £500 more for absolutely everything Adobe publishes with CS3 in its name.

The Production Premium bundle includes Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional as its core components. Photoshop CS3 Extended, and Illustrator CS3 continues the tradition of inclusion started with the first Creative Suite Production Studio. You now also get the full Professional version of Flash CS3 and, since there's no Standard suite anymore, Encore CS3 also comes bundled. However, Audition has been replaced by Soundbooth CS3, which has a feature set more in keeping with video production than Audition.

Entirely new to the suite are OnLocation CS3 and Ultra CS3. The latter is a specialised tool for using green-screen techniques to create a virtual studio. A few extra widgets are also provided, including CS3 versions of Bridge, Dynamic Link, and the Adobe Stock Photos online image store.

So you get a lot of software for your money - more, in fact, than the original Creative Suite version of Production Studio Premium, for around £50 less. Production Premium is a great deal, but only if you'll be using enough of its main applications on a regular basis.