November 2015 Update
We’ve mentioned them a few times since releasing the 2015 version of Creative Cloud so we want to make sure everyone knows what we’re talking about when we say “Technology Previews.” Let’s start with our definition: Technology Previews are services and features in Creative Cloud that we’re releasing publicly before they’re complete.
Not to be confused with “betas” (features or new products that are complete but not fully tested), Technology Previews* are intentionally “unfinished.” In other words, the features are fully tested and supported, but we’re still perfecting their capabilities; “previewing” the technology gives Creative Cloud members the opportunity to trial the functionality and give feedback to the product teams—who use the information to further shape the development of the features.
With the November release we’ve included some updates and one new Technology Preview:
• NEW! Adobe Fuse CC
• Design Space in Adobe Photoshop CC (Updated)
• Publish Online in Adobe InDesign CC (Updated)
• Character Animator in Adobe After Effects CC (Updated)
• Creative Cloud Charts in Adobe Illustrator CC (Paused)
Read on for a descriptions of the features, how-to info, and feedback links:
Adobe Fuse CC
Incorporating the human form into layouts and images is something designers need to do all the time. It can be very challenging to find the perfect image and then match the angle and lighting to other design elements. Adobe Fuse CC (Preview) is a new desktop app that enables anyone to easily create their own customized, human 3D characters to use in creative projects. Fuse is integrated with CreativeSync so you can save a character from Fuse to a Creative Cloud Library and open in Photoshop CC to pose and animate, right inside the app. The advantage of using a 3D character in Photoshop is that lighting and perspective can still be adjusted easily and quickly at any point in the design process. Learn more:
Adobe Fuse CC (Preview) Tutorial
Adobe Fuse to Photoshop workflow Tutorial
Adobe Fuse Feedback
Adobe Fuse CC (Preview) is available for download in English only. The integrated CC 3D Animations (Preview) feature in Photoshop CC can be accessed from the Properties panel to pose and animate Fuse characters, right inside Photoshop. CC 3D Animations (Preview) in Photoshop CC is on by default and available for download in all builds except French, but as English only (e.g., the German version of Photoshop CC will automatically include the CC 3D Animations (Preview) feature in English). The only way to get the Technology Preview of CC 3D Animations in France is to download the English version of Photoshop CC and install it alongside the French version.
Design Space
In this latest release of Photoshop CC 2015, Design Space (Preview) gets tons of powerful enhancements based on feedback directly from customers like you. Design Space is a sleek new designated mode in Photoshop CC that offers new interactions and design-focused features that reduce clicks, mouse movements and clutter for designers working on apps and websites. Updates to this dedicated environment further streamline and optimize design workflows with a unified sampling experience, efficient masking, robust app and cross-document search and integrated layer and batch export.
Design Space has been integrated further into Photoshop CC so that it is now directly accessible from the Workspace menu and is available by default so you no longer need to go to Preferences to access and enable it. Design Space is also now offered in French, German, and Japanese in addition to English. Design Space is built for designers by designers and remains in preview mode so we can continue to build the best possible experience. The Photoshop team is excited to continue to get your feedback — check out Design Space today and keep the feedback coming!
For more details on where to go to find out more about Design Space including what’s new and to provide feedback, check out these resources:
Getting Started with Design Space Tutorial
Design Space Step-by-step Help Content
Design Space Feedback
Design Space on Twitter
Publish Online
Publish Online, a Technology Preview introduced in June 2015, allows you to easily publish and distribute digital versions of InDesign CC documents online, where they can be viewed on any desktop or tablet, in any modern browser. With this latest update, Publish Online is now available in all InDesign languages, and includes the ability to embed the link in a website, republish edited documents to the same URL, and share on Twitter and email, in addition to Facebook. Plus, you can now track total visits, unique views, average read time and more in the Web Dashboard. Learn more:
Publish Online How-to
Publish Online Feedback
Character Animator
Animating 2D characters has never been so fun and easy. Character Animator brings Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe Photoshop CC artwork to life with professional quality animation by using your webcam to track your facial movement and record your voice. So simple… Create a multi-layered character, label the body parts with Character Animator’s naming structure, add guides for special behaviors, and Character Animator will automatically rig the character so it’s ready to perform as soon as it’s imported. Now all you have to do is learn how to act.
A few more details…
Character Animator is installed with After Effects CC. First released in June, 2015, Character Animator is delivering its third update this year. Open it directly, or from After Effects CC by going to File > Open Adobe Character Animator.
Below are the notable changes to Character Animator we are releasing today:
- Multi-touch support to control character limbs
- Rigged puppets can now be shared between users
- Recording flexibility
- Performance improvements
- French, German and Japanese language support.
For complete details of what’s new and changed in Preview 3, see the “What’s New in Character Animator” page or check out this IBC presentation. For information about new and upcoming versions of all of our professional video and audio applications, see this overview video or blog. Also, check out the other video blogs: After Effects, Premiere Pro, Adobe Media Encoder, and Audition.
Learn more about Character Animator
Character Animator how-to
Character Animator feedback
Learn more about what’s new in After Effects CC
Creative Cloud Charts
Creative Cloud Charts (Preview), introduced in the June 2015 release of Illustrator CC as a technology preview, has been paused by the Illustrator team to revisit the design of the feature. Creative Cloud Charts won’t be part of the November 30, 2015 release of Illustrator CC. After November 30, 2015, when an Illustrator document containing a Creative Cloud Chart is opened, the chart will be converted to standard Illustrator vector graphics. Customers who have chart data they would like to save have until January 15, 2016 to visit the Creative Cloud Charts service and copy the chart data to a spreadsheet. For more information, see the Creative Cloud Charts FAQ.
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So that’s the Technology Previews short story. Help us write the longer story by giving us comments, feedback and suggestions. If you haven’t already, update to the November 2015 release of Creative Cloud, check out the Technology Previews, and let us know what you think.
Not a member of Creative Cloud? No problem. Technology Previews are also in the free trial versions of our apps. Go on, give them a try.
*Technology Previews can be enabled/disabled in the Technology Previews area of the Preferences dialog box in our applications but please remember: They are not production-ready, so exercise caution when using them for critical work.