Abobe Max Conference – 2021

I recently attended this year’s Adobe Max Conference. I use Adobe products all the time and thoroughly enjoyed the conference. There were hundreds of sessions. There was also the usual smattering of the famous, the academics, and wonderful artists. My favorites were the practical tips in Illustrator, Photoshop, and After Effects and that’s where I spent most of my time.

My take on this is that there are some exciting new technologies coming out way in AR. I wasn’t that impressed with the 3D tools presented. Considering the additional cost beyond the creative suite (appears to be its own suite), not worth it with all the hype. I’ve recently taken to learning and using Z-Brush and Blender and will be sticking with those. My one big disappointment was the lack of updates and information on Acrobat and Audition. I would love to see more about what the future holds for those tools.

However, the improvements coming to their core software are amazing. The graphic design, illustration, digital painting, and After Effects sessions (as well as Premiere & InDesign) were worth it. I found myself jumping out of sessions on 3D to join other awesome sessions. The social media sessions were worth a note (even if you don’t do much social media) because they had excellent hosts and they were generous with information and tips. Finally, one impressive aspect of the conference is the demonstration of the speed of Apple’s new Computers. If you can view the materials (not sure if you need an account), I recommend taking the time to watch as many videos as you can if you use Adobe products.