Adobe Max Recap: New AI Video Tools, Photoshop and Illustrator Updates

Adobe is kicking off a new era. At Adobe Max, the company’s annual creative conference that began Monday, Adobe’s leadership laid out the next generation of product updates, collaborations and new projects, including rolling out Firefly’s new generative AI text-to-video tool in public beta, a surprising athletic company partnership and over 100 new innovations in Creative Cloud.

The creative industry has been rocked by the advance of generative AI, which has become increasingly commonplace in creative software — and increasingly a controversial topic among professional creators, Adobe’s primary users. While some artists are taking legal action against AI companies, particularly around copyright infringement concerns, others are trying to discern what uses, if any, there are for AI in creative spaces. Adobe certainly seems to think there are some, as AI powers many of its product updates and is one of the main focuses of this year’s event.

CNET is on site in Miami at this year’s event, covering all the latest creator and AI news. Below is a round-up of all the biggest news Adobe announced during its keynote address on Monday.

Create custom Gatorade water bottles with Firefly

Many of the updates Adobe announced are aimed at Creative Cloud users, but this one is for everyone. Starting Monday, you can design your own custom Gatorade Squeeze water bottle using Firefly’s text-to-image capabilities on Gatorade’s website. With Gatorade’s free membership program, you can enter what you want to appear on your water bottle, and Gatorade’s site will use Firefly to try to bring your vision to life.

Firefly’s AI video tool is here

Adobe first announced its Firefly video tool in September, and Adobe confirmed Monday that the generative AI video tool will be available in public beta Monday. It will be the first publicly available commercially safe video model, trained on Adobe Stock and other public databases. In the app, Firefly can also transform reference images into B-roll footage and handle 2D and 3D animation.

Firefly’s AI video model is also being integrated into Premiere Pro, where it powers a new feature called generative extend. Generative extend lets users create new video clips, including video and audio. It’s supposed to help creators when they need a few extra frames, want to smooth out a transition or hold onto a shot for longer. 

The feature uses the previous clip as a reference and builds a matching video you can use to fill in the gap in your timeline. While it does use the content you’ve uploaded to create the new clips, your original clip doesn’t become part of Adobe’s training database. It’s available in beta in Premiere Pro starting Monday.

Those who use Adobe’s Firefly app or integrations will automatically have content credentials attached to their work — a kind of digital nutrition label that identifies a creator’s work and any AI use. Adobe announced a new, free app called Content Authenticity that’s dedicated to creating and managing these labels earlier this month.

New AI-powered editing in Photoshop and Illustrator

Photoshop and Illustrator are getting many updates, thanks in part to Adobe’s newest AI model, Firefly Image 3. Previously available only in beta, it now powers new features and updates across Creative Cloud programs. 

In Photoshop, its suite of generative tools — including generative fill that lets you create text-to-image designs for a certain space — is coming out of beta into general availability. Photoshop’s removal tool is getting upgraded to be better at removing distracting elements, like unintentional photo-bombers. Photoshop is also rolling out a new generative workspace in beta that creators can use to help ideate and brainstorm — it will also give creators access to a fast generation mode. Substance 3D viewer is also coming to Photoshop in beta, making it easier to edit 3D elements within a 2D design.

For Illustrator, Adobe is bringing a beta version of Project Neo into the program. Project Neo is a web app that was first teased at last year’s Max, and it’s meant to help designers and illustrators work and edit 3D designs. Deepa Subramaniam, vice president of product marketing for Creative Cloud, told CNET that Project Neo has been in a private beta with around 60,000 users and has been incorporating the group’s feedback.

A new feature called objects on path will save creators time while rearranging objects on a set path, helping keep them aligned without manually adjusting each piece. Image trace, one of the most popular Illustrator features, is also getting a major overhaul to hopefully make it easier to convert images to vectors. Generative shape fill is also getting better selection and controls.