

Adobe intends to ship its Creative Suite 3 Master Collection in the third quarter of 2007, when the video applications are available. Those who own any two of those older suites may opt to upgrade to the Master Collection for $1,399. This big box of goodies will run $2,499 to $1,999 if you upgrade from CS2 or CS suites Studio 8, MX 2004, or MX or Adobe Production Studio Premium or Standard. However, the Master Collection does not include Lightroom for managing extensive photo libraries.

The CS3 versions of Premiere, Soundbooth, Encore, and OnLocation, in addition to Dynamic Link, require Intel-based Mac computers, which all of the other applications can run on as well as PowerPC-based Macs. Adobe's Dynamic Link technology now enables video editors to move content between Premiere, AfterEffects, and Encore while maintaining editability. Device Central allows mobile content designers to preview creations on skins of the latest handheld gadgets. Acrobat Connect Web conferencing can get members of your design, editing, marketing, and other teams on the same page at the same time. There's also the Version Cue file version manager and the Bridge content control center. OnLocation, a lightly repackaged version of DVRack (acquired last year), can help videographers tweak a shoot on site, in the studio, or out in the field.

Premiere and After Effects edit video-and unlike the previous version, this iteration of Premiere now runs on the Mac-while Ultra assists with chromakeying and Soundbooth edits audio. InDesign handles print layouts, while Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Encore, and Acrobat serve Webmasters and interactive professionals. Adobe's Master Collection will include the new Photoshop CS3 Extended, which integrates with Adobe's video-editing tools and Illustrator for vector graphics.
