Coming this fall … Adobe is going to release the next installment of its production suite, CS4. And after learning about some of the updated features, I have to tell you I’m quite excited. Here are some of the new or enhanced features I found most entertaining.

After Effects (AE), added several features making it even more user friendly while opening your creative genius with more tools. For instance you now have the ability to use adjustment layers like you do in Photoshop. Very nice! Also you can use the advanced clone tool to remove video blemished or add elements to your production. Adobe’s website mentioned filling a stadium of people which was fitting for DotLot and TBG as we just worked on the Madden ’09 rich media advertising. Here’s another great feature … import FLV files directly into AE. How many times have you wanted to edit or import a FLV into your production? There are so many other new and enhanced features that I implore you to look at. After Effects is an even more powerful than before.

Another Adobe tool we use often is Premiere. Here are some of the new / enhanced features YOU should be aware of: native tapeless workflow for RED, Panasonic P2, Sony XDCAM, and AVCHD. This is an awesome timesaver for us and keeps the content in its truest form. Premiere added per-sequence settings to mix content with different editing and rendering setting for each sequence. It’s something we ALL have been waiting a long time for. You can now edit multiple clip’s effects, speed/duration and transitions, all in one instance, another great timesaver. Import FLVs, cool! Blu-ray authoring. Finally, here’s a rather interesting one, automatic transcription generation with speech-to-text analysis where Adobe uses a built-in speech-to-text analysis to create a XMP metadata which allows you to make corrections to transcription. You’ll just have to see for yourself.

This blog is not the place to review all the awesome new tools Adobe has updated and enhanced. But I will tell you that with all these new features, you will see Adobe gaining more ground in the post production world, especially in online videos. Now have fun and explore all that Adobe can offer your productions.

Last month, DotLot™ teamed up with The Buddy Group and Deutsch to produce a series of rich media ads to help boost the launch of the Madden ‘09 game bundle that was released with a special edition PSP. The long list of involved clients included Sony, EA, Madden and the NFL.

It was a great shoot, which we shot on July 29th - the same day of the recent California earthquake. We built scaffolding in our studio, suspended stuntmen from the ceiling and captured it all with the RED ONE camera. It was a really challenging project that involved almost our entire company.

We thought it would be a good idea to shoot a little behind the scenes footage, so we hired Dave Gaw of Capra Media to follow us around for the day. This is what he came up with…

Great job, Dave! Thanks for making such a great video about the shoot.

This Friday DotLot is hosting a demo of the NewTek Tricaster with Keycode Media’s Mark Sambrano. We’re expecting a good turnout of some of our local friends and we’re excited to see this live web switcher in action.

I’ll post a full review after the demo.

Google has now entered into the browser world with its deployment of Chrome. At first it takes a little getting used to as the toolbars are now incorporated into the whole interface. But, what I think Google does best is how they use videos to walk you through how the browser works and what to look forward to. This form of explanation through illustration is ideal for all us visual types. Check it out: How To’s

There are several interesting features you might want to take a look at. For instance, dynamic tabs allow you to rearrange your tab’s order, move it to create its own window, and drop it back in to consolidate windows. It reminds me of Adobe’s new interface where you can create new windows for bins or tools as well as place them in the same window for tab navigation. It makes a cleaner interface and over crowding with toolbars and other nonsense we all download.

Another interesting feature is the “Incognito Mode”. It allows you to browser the web without storing a record on your computer. Now there’s an interesting use of browser technology. Now I can check the scores with peace of mind.

Google set out to create a browser to run on today’s complex web application better. Being a participant in this digital media space, one has to wonder how this new browser is going to handle all the other pitfalls of creating web pages with video, Flash, Flex, Air, Papervision, etc.  Overall, I’m very excited of this new entrant and I’ll be testing its limits to see if it retains my default browser award. Has anyone been using Chrome and want to share their experiences with us?

Sad news today from the VO world - Don LaFontaine died yesterday at Cedars-Sinai. If you have seen a movie trailer in the last 15 years then you have heard his voice, probably dozens or even hundreds of times. His passing is a great loss to the entertainment community.

You can read the whole Don LaFontaine article at MSNBC.com.

There are already a lot of video sharing sites. Some are designed for general video uploading and sharing and others are tailored to more specific audiences. The big daddy of them all, of course, is YouTube, which is not only the most common video site, but has managed to become the de facto resource for all online video.

YouTube has enough features to keep any video producer happy. You can create your own channel, get subscribers, have both public and private videos and even create interactivity using annotations. Why would there need to be any other video sites at all?

The real question should be ‘What is YouTube missing’? Scheduled programming? Live channels? Multi-screen videos? In my own experience with online video, I remember being in film school and checking out sites like Atom long before I even knew what YouTube was. At the time, Atom Film was a great place for film students to try to get their shorts shown. It was popular because it was targeted - it had a purpose.

Today there are a plethora of online video sites, some more niche than others. Lulu TV, for instance, enables content producers to upload all their video and audio creative into their own channel for syndication to their viewers. For all its great features, though, Lulu TV lacks the same thing that most other video sites lack - traffic. At the end of the day, YouTube is by far and away the most popular video site on the web.

What does YouTube lack? Are you using a site other than YouTube specifically because it offers features that YouTube does not? What are the features that would make YouTube perfect for you? If you think YouTube needs some work, or if you’re a die hard fan and you think it’s already perfect, we want to hear about it. Leave us a comment with your thoughts.

In my Space Invaders post I showed you a human performance video from YouTube’s NOTsoNOISY. Well, it looks like video director Guillaume Reymond (translated) is at it again, this time moving cars around to create a real-world transformer for the Images ‘08 festival being held this year in Vevey, Switzerland from September 11th-30th.

In this first video, we only get to see a disjointed making-of clip. Shooting from a remotely controlled blimp (not too dissimilar from the one DotLot uses to shoot our Seat Buddy projects) Reymond coordiated with several of the Vevey public service departments to get a chain of vehicles together that he used to represent a transforming robot.

I’ll be following Images ‘08 and giving you updates on this interesting piece as it develops. For now, check out the making of Transformers #01…