Adobe After Effects CS4 in Software

Interoperation

We have already mentioned how After Effects can now export layers to Flash Professional. This is achieved by exporting to XFL, with options to use FLV or PNG rasterisation. With FLV, the advantage is that the footage isn't recompressed when output from Flash. Basic positional transformations are also preserved, and can be edited further in Flash Professional.

It's this interoperation with the other Adobe CS4 applications that's key to the CS4 upgrade of After Effects and it marks a major step forward, but it's a double-edged sword. The improvements are impressive - particularly the inclusion of Mocha - and ensure it remains the king of compositors, but many of the most significant new abilities will be lost on those buying it on its own or simply upgrading from a previous version. It's just as well the upgrade price is relatively cheap.

Author: James Morris