The annual Adobe MAX show draws a huge crowd of creatives from all fields eager to learn about the latest innovations in Adobe’s products. But the show also attracts many big names in tech, from Google to Microsoft, who are eager to show off their new products to such a large audience of creative power users. After browsing the show floor, getting hands-on demos, and speaking with representatives, here are what we found to be the best photo and video products at Adobe MAX 2017.
Scene Stitch
Typically, when you Photoshop an object out of a photo, the algorithm will look around that photo for patterns and textures it can use to fill the hole. This is handy, but the results sometime make it obvious that something is off due to repeating patterns that look unnatural. The next generation of the tech is smarter— it compares the image to an entire database of photos. So, if you cut something off of your lawn, it will look for similar patches of grass in outside images, then pull in the data it needs.
Cloak
Removing a distracting object from a video is difficult. You can rely on finicky software or edit each frame individually, and even then you can end up with inconsistent results unless you meticulously compare each frame as you go. A feature called Cloak tracks an object and automatically replaces it (using a method similar to Scene Stitch) while ensuring that there’s no distracting fluctuation between frames. Versions of this are possible now with other software like After Effects, but this looks dead simple if it works.
Project Puppetron
Photoshop’s stylized filters have never been very good, but this demo is more about mimicking a real artistic style instead of trying to fake it. The algorithm can analyze a portrait done in line drawing or some other medium, and apply that same look to a regular portrait photograph. There are apps that do similar things now, like Prisma, but the demos shown here are a much more accurate representation of the original.
Project Scribbler
I don’t like the idea of “colorizing” images that started in black and white, but this deep learning-based image generation system does an impressive job with a single click. It analyzes the scene and then applies color with surprising accuracy. It can also apply textures from photos, in case you want to mock up a handbag from a sketch.
SonicScape
Video that shows a 360-degree scene is on the rise, but recording sound to go with it is difficult. SonicScape allows for the sound to adjust appropriately as you move your head around while consuming VR content. It’s literally surround sound, but reactive to your head movements.
PhysicsPak
This demo is geared toward illustrators and designers who want to fit a lot of objects into a specific shape. It's a narrow use case, but the animation that happens roughly two-minutes into the video of cats forming the letter A is mesmerizing and worth watching even if you can't draw more than a stick figure.
Adobe has unveiled the next generation of its Creative Cloud with four new applications. The applications are Adobe XD CC for experience design, Adobe Dimension CC for 2D to 3D compositing, Character Animator CC for 2D animation and Cloud-based photography service — Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC.
Adobe also announced feature updates to its flagship applications including Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC and Premiere Pro CC. All of these updates include capabilities powered by Adobe Sensei, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) platform.