Adobe OnLocation CS4

Adobe OnLocation Creative Suite 4 (CS4)is a valuable - if not critical - component of the CS4 package, and it has been substantially improved for the suite's fourth version. If you've used it in the past, you'll love the new look and feel and potentially some of the new features. If you haven't, several of the new features may convince you to crank it up and give it a whirl.

As you may know, OnLocation started life as Serious Magic DV Rack. It served four primary functions when you connected your DV/HDV/DVCPRO HD camcorder to a computer. First, it let you use your computer monitor as a video monitor - with zebra stripes, positioning guides, and the like. While the product was invaluable for color and exposure adjustments and static framing, the half-second or so of latency between camera or subject motion and screen update made it tough to follow moving subjects.

Second, DV Rack provided waveform and histogram monitors and a vectorscope to allow you to fine-tune exposure settings and color adjustments. For many shooters, including me, this was the most significant value-add because standalone scopes are expensive and a challenge to lug around.

Third, DV Rack provided QC functions such as an Automated Quality Monitor that detected video and audio clipping. Finally, DV Rack could also serve as a digital video recorder, capturing video to disk and even controlling your camcorder's recording functions.

When Adobe bought Serious Magic, Adobe folded DV Rack into Premiere Pro and CS3 bundles as OnLocation with few changes other than branding. Because DV Rack was Windows-only, Mac users needed BootCamp or its equivalent to run OnLocation, even though all other CS3 modules could run natively on Intel Macs.

Since then, Adobe has clearly invested in the CS4 version by porting OnLocation to run natively on Intel Macs. In addition, Adobe completely revamped Serious Magic's clunky faux-hardware scheme into a configurable Adobe style featuring multiple savable workspaces and keyboard-driven workflow. Though there was an early miscue, most OnLocation users - particularly those on a Mac - will be pleased with the results.

Folks who were immune to OnLocation's charms in the past may be seduced by one of two completely new features. First is support for Adobe's Extensible...