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Adobe brings sophisticated AR creation to the Mac with Aero Desktop

Adobe today announced the inaugural release of Aero Desktop, the long-awaited AR creation companion to Aero on iOS and iPadOS. Aero is available today in public beta as part of Adobe MAX 2020, where Adobe announced significant updates to its entire ecosystem of apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, and Fresco.

Adobe Aero on macOS and Windows allows artists to create precise and complex augmented reality experiences that can be further refined and previewed in a physical environment with an iPhone or iPad. Aero on iOS and iPadOS was released last year at Adobe MAX.

With both a Mac and iOS client, Aero is now one of the first serious alternatives to Apple’s own Reality Composer and Reality Converter apps. Artists already invested in the Adobe ecosystem will benefit from the integration of Creative Cloud libraries to quickly move content from apps like Photoshop into Aero projects.

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When Aero debuted on the iPhone and iPad, users needed to build their scenes entirely in an AR workspace, a limitation that could drain batteries and make it difficult to align objects precisely. Desktop authoring opens up new workflow possibilities.

In addition to the desktop app, Aero projects now support animated GIF and PNG sequences, allowing artists to quickly add 2D animations to a scene. Multi-track animations can now be added to existing objects and played sequentially. When it’s time to share your experience, Aero will generate a thumbnail and QR code with a link to the artwork.

Augmented reality artists are pushing the boundaries of storytelling with tools like Aero and Reality Composer, and Adobe continuously features some of the best pieces on its Aero Instagram account. Aero also now offers a Discovery tab with curated content from Behance.

Catch up with all of today’s announcements on the Adobe MAX website and check out our other coverage:

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Avatar for Michael Steeber Michael Steeber

Michael is a Creative Editor who covered Apple Retail and design on 9to5Mac. His stories highlighted the work of talented artists, designers, and customers through a unique lens of architecture, creativity, and community.

Contact Michael on Twitter to share Apple Retail, design, and history stories: @MichaelSteeber

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