Adobe brings Content-Aware Fill to video in After Effects

Just ahead of 2019’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, Adobe is rolling out its annual spring updates to Creative Cloud’s video and audio tools. Like last year, machine learning features powered by Adobe Sensei are the driving force behind new tools and workflow improvements to After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, and Character Animator.

Post-production professionals around the world will be delighted to learn that Content-Aware Fill is coming to video in After Effects. Once reserved for still images in Photoshop, Content-Aware Fill allows editors to intelligently remove unwanted objects and flaws from moving scenes. The feature combines technologies like optical flow and 3D tracking to make once tedious edits a breeze.

Content-Aware Fill for video highlights the significant strides machine learning and desktop computing power have made in recent years. The tool has only existed inside Photoshop since 2010, and was just recently overhauled for still images last fall. Adobe first previewed Content-Aware fill working on video footage in 2017 under the name Project Cloak.

Sensei-powered additions also extend to Adobe Audition and Character Animator. In Audition, Auto Ducking will automatically adjust the volume of background music tracks during dialogue. In Character Animator, Sensei drives improved puppet rigging with cleaner automated lip-sync and workflow improvements to Characterizer, the tool that turns artwork into animated puppets.

Starting today, Premiere Pro users can experiment with a new Freeform Project panel that allows editors to arrange clips and edits visually without being locked into a fixed grid or list layout. Clips can be stacked, color coded, and resized in the virtual workspace to build an intuitive workflow.

These and many more features across Creative Cloud’s video and audio apps will begin rolling out to desktop users today. Check out a list of highlights below, and visit the Adobe Blog for even more details on today’s changes.

Adobe is also rolling out significant updates to Dimension CC today, and we’ve covered those details in a separate post. All Creative Cloud apps are available as a $52.99/mo. subscription; individual apps are available for $20.99/mo.

Premiere Pro

Freeform Project panel

Arrange clips, sequences, bins, and other assets into layouts that work with how you think. Color code clips, stack them in groups to save space, make hero shots bigger and build assembly edits you can drag onto the Timeline.

Rulers and Guides

Layout titles and graphics with greater precision and consistency. New Rulers and Guides with improved snapping bring familiar Adobe design tools into your video editing workspace, making it easier to size and align graphics, still images, and video. Color code Guides for added efficiency and share Guide Templates to ensure brand continuity across your content.

View menu

Premiere Pro now has a dedicated View menu, consolidating Program Monitor commands and new commands for Guides and accessing or saving Guide Templates.

Improved Text tools

Work more efficiently with text in the Essential Graphics panel with all your titling and graphics tools in one place.

After Effects

Content-Aware Fill for video

Content-Aware Fill is now available to editors and visual effects artists allowing them to remove unwanted elements from video clips, such as production equipment, boom microphones or special effects wires that have inadvertently been included in a shot.

Expressions Editor

Designed to help you code faster and more accurately, the Expressions Editor allows you to navigate your code visually with syntax highlighting, line numbers, matching brace highlighting and code folding.

Audition

Punch and Roll recording

New Punch and Roll recording in Audition provides efficient production workflows in both Waveform and Multitrack for long-form voiceovers and narration. Use it to accurately punch in replacement audio and continue recording a performance without interrupting your flow.

Auto Ducking for Ambience

Create richer soundscapes and bring more atmosphere into your mix, without obscuring other audio. Part of the Essential Sound panel, Auto Ducking uses Adobe Sensei to automatically adjust the volume of background tracks around foreground dialog or music.

Character Animator

Better Puppet rigging

With better Puppet rigging you can apply behaviors, tag layers, and search through puppet rigs, allowing you to accomplish more within your established workflows. Apply attributes to single layers or any group of layers, simplifying the setup for complex puppets that allow for more nuanced performances. 

Jaw movement and Lip Sync improvements

Now a character’s jaw can automatically move in conjunction with their lip-synched, editable mouth visemes. Compute nutcracker jaw movement from scene audio; the power of Adobe Sensei generates better automatic lip-sync, by reducing the impact of noisy audio. 

New Twitch extension

Use the new Character Trigger extension for Twitch to enhance livestreaming performances by allowing viewers to trigger on-the-fly costume changes, impromptu dance moves, or signature gestures and poses. Surprise and delight your viewers, while adding interactivity and monetization to your Twitch channel.