Adobe is updating both Premiere Pro and After Effects today with some pretty nice quality-of-life features, but the most exciting are the new 3D transform tools for After Effects.
The new feature will combine position, scale, and rotation into one easy-to-use tool, mimicking what other professional 3D applications like Cinema 4E, Maya, and Blender have been providing users for years. Users can also focus on one type of property for greater precision.
As someone who has worked in After Effects for over a decade now, these updated 3D tools (aka gizmos) are long overdue and appreciated. Having all three tools directly accessible in the viewport is fantastic. Besides being easier to use and more precise, matching the UI philosophy of other applications will make switching between programs easier. In the past, navigating After Effects’ 3D space has been somewhat tedious and unintuitive, so I welcome the change.
In addition to the improved 3D interface, After Effects is also getting improved camera tools that are meant to make it easier to navigate 3D space. Premiere Pro is getting some updates, too, with scene edit detection able to automatically chop up already-edited clips, an HDR update for broadcasters, and a new quick export option right in the header bar. Most of the tools are launching first in the public beta versions of After Effects and Premiere Pro, so you’ll need to install those versions to try them out right away.
