Adobe’s only announcement at NAB this year was the tease for multiple AI-enhanced tools coming to Premiere Pro, namely features integrating OpenAI Sora, Runway Gen 2, and Pikalabs, as well as Firefly video. Unfortunately specifics were lacking, though some details were teased in on-the-floor interviews, so we can gather some hints.

In addition, at MAX London, Adobe debuted their Firefly Image 3 Foundation Model, which should deliver more photorealistic output with greater detail and accuracy in a new Photoshop Beta with new gen AI features like Generate Image and Generative Fill with Reference Image.

For long-time After Effects users, this seems more of the same – there are many hungry AI-starved apps to feed! Still, it’s a bit of a let down to realize that advanced development for Premiere Pro seems to have priority over After Effects, even if the plan seems to be to strengthen 3D features for After Effects. Perhaps the emphasis on Premiere might help slow users switching to the much less expensive DaVinci Resolve, unless they too integrate 3rd-party AI tools. Certainly there are more users of Premiere Pro than After Effects, and they’ve been asking for better tools (think masking) and tool integration instead of being forced to an external app.

According to Paul Saccone, Senior Director of Adobe Pro Video Marketing, Adobe plans to streamline the workflow by bringing more tools inside Premiere Pro. It’s an ecosystem hub model that can incorporate third-party tools from variety of places, including AI tools. In his interview with Indiana Underhill, the Adobe rep said he expects a public beta of object removal/addition and the extend clip features by the end of the year. Third-party explorations are “probably a little further out.” We heard something similar from Adobe’s Jason Druss, Firefly video is expected by the end of the year, safe for commercial use with embedded content credentials.

Paul Saccone also mentioned an overhaul of audio workflows in Premere Pro that was introduced at a January film festival. Al-based audio category tagging recognizes audio types like sound effects and dialogue, then surfaces in context just the most important tools for that type of audio. Premiere will have new waveforms, intelligence scaling, and a bunch of other “game changing” stuff like enhanced speech. These features should be shipping in early May. For a full list of beta features, see What’s new in Premiere Pro. Premiere Gal previewed the new audio fading awhile back.

A new hope for After Effects might be the mention of a “massive investment in 3D” for After Effects, which came without further hints. No matter, we do have a list of new 3D features finalized and in beta for After Effects right now.

Video channels discussing the reveal of generative AI in Premiere Pro all have something unique to say, despite all commenting on the same short preview.

Theoretically Media had some probing questions on Adobe’s tease as he ably introduced the new Premiere AI features in Adobe Just Changed The Game! Sora, Gen-2 & Pika in Premiere?! For example, will Premiere have access to the full controls of 3rd-party AI apps, or just a subset?

He followed up with I Talked To Adobe About Sora, Gen-2, Pika, and the Future of After Effects, which as other news too. According to Adobe’s Kyle Gesuelli, the level of granularity and control in Adobe video products (and matching 3rd-party integrations) is not yet determined, though control should in any case steadily improve with development. Advanced development for Premiere Pro seems to have a definite priority over After Effects.

Also introducing Google Vids, The AI Advantage makes points stressing Adobe’s integration with other services in Adobe Surprises Everyone By Partnering With OpenAI. He also stressed that stability might also be a wise investment for the Premiere team!

In Adobe’s NEW AI Video Features are AMAZING! (Let’s Recreate Them), Curious Refuge has a few chapters on the NAB announcement. The new Microsoft tool looks like it might work better than the Adobe result for extending and animating a clip, and Curious Refuge says you can just use Runway instead in some cases for better quality.

Frame.io featured The New Premiere Pro AI Tools I’ll Definitely Be Using by Chris Salters, a general text on old and beta AI features. Elsewhere Chris posted Curious Refuge AI Filmmaking Course: Reviewed.

Digital Cinema Society has an interview with Adobe on basics, but adds a few new details, like the general release of Firefly video by the end of the year. See ADOBE – Integration of AI – Jason Druss – NAB 2024.

Also good is Kenny McMillan of ProVideo Coalition with Adobe’s Jason Druss on new features in Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Frame.io, and more. See From the NAB Show Floor | Adobe. NAB news was almost nonexistent for AE. But, starting in the video at 10:45, it seems  there will be there a general audience AE release in early May. It was also said that Adobe would be making a “massive investment in 3D” (we’ve already seen much come through in beta), but nothing about AI integration.

In another video, Adobe Introduces Frame.io v4, AI for Video, an Adobe rep talks 3D in After Effects to Geekazine, but doesn’t mention a massive investment in 3D. Perhaps some of the massive investment includes Substance 3D, a product that costs an extra $50/month.

Later, Mograph also had some impressions of Adobe’s NAB demos in ADOBE UPDATES: NAB and Adobe Summit.

There’s also videos on the new Firefly 3 beta, mostly from AI and tech tube channels. It’s logical to assume that we might see some of this in the official release of Firefly for Video by the end of the year. It’s handy stuff, but for video applications, guessing features now is like reading tea leaves.

Theoretically Media discussed a Massive Adobe Firefly & Photoshop AI Update!

photoshopCAFE looked at Massive Photoshop AI UPDATES, all new features.

TheUnlockr took a break from mobile-oriented reviews for How to Use Adobe Firefly 3 (& Why It’s the Only AI Image Generator You Should Use).

MattVidPro AI sees Firefly 3 as an in-painting option but not a top choice among generative AI tools; see Digging Up Recent Overlookead AI News! His views need better support, and detailed comparisons are no doubt coming. Matte Wolfe does these comparison roundups occasionally (6 month old results below), so look out for his update. Another consideration is that Adobe has well-known tools and integration, and Firefly 3 output is 100% commercial safe!