Adobe is in the final stages of beta testing and optimizing After Effects 5 and is expected to ship it in mid April. New features in version 5 include:
- Composite layers in 2D or 3D space with fine control over multiple cameras and lights.
- Animate layers hierarchically by defining a parent-child relationship between any two layers.
- Use nondestructive vector paint tools to reveal an image over time, draw animated cartoons (with onion skin functions), etc. Strokes can be recorded to the current frame, to sequential frames in real time or continuously.
- Use expressions (written in Javascript) to define relationships between parameters so that you can create procedural-type animations without using keyframes.
- 16-bit per channel color support (Production Bundle only).
More information available at Digitalproducer.com. A PDF describing new features highlights can be downloaded from Adobe's website.

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