Extra Extra, read all about it! Adobe has announced the second beta release of Lighroom 3! For the first time ever that I know of, there is a second round of beta testing for an Adobe product that it has released to the public. With even more improvements and performance enhancements, the latest release of Lightroom 3 is very exciting!
Probably the most exiting feature is the addition of video management! Now keep in mind, you can’t edit videos in Lightroom (yet), but given the movement of photography and videography toward convergence, this is not surprising. In fact, as I recall, Tom Hogarty alluded to this when he interviewed on the podcast last year! Those guys at Adobe are pretty impressive, with R&D having that much lead time! If only I had caught the innuendo then! 🙂
Here’s the full (unedited) feature set from the Adobe Labs website:
- Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images
- Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras
- Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta for outstanding overall high ISO quality
- Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control
- Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback
- Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback
Lightroom 3 beta 2 builds on the enhancements introduced in the first Lightroom 3 beta release:
- Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image libraries
- State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
- Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
- Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
- Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
- Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you want
- New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
- More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)*
For all the details and more info, including the download link (it’s free!), visit: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/
