In an announcement that has filmmakers around the world screaming "thank you", Adobe has released news that the Adobe Production Studio, the only comparative competitor to Final Cut Pro, is heading back to the Mac platform.

The suite, which Adobe describes as an "integrated video and audio post-production tool set", is comprised of eight different application (pro bundle):

• Adobe After Effects - special effects compositing
• Adobe Premiere - general non-linear editing
• Adobe Photoshop - still graphic manipulation
• Adobe Audition - sound editing
• Adobe Encore DVD - DVD production and design
• Adobe Illustrator - vector graphic manipulation
• Adobe Dynamic Link - preventing re-renders
• Adobe Bridge - "navigational control center"

Adobe notes that Soundbooth, the program that Adobe is currently offering as a free beta, will be replacing Audition in the Mac version of the Production Studio.  It is unclear as to Audition's future, however they do say it will continue to be developed for Windows users (strangely!).

The best news?  They claim it will be ready by mid-2007.  If this is true… Apple, you had best watch out. 

Adobe have released a beta of their Soundbooth application.

Soundbooth is best described as being comparable to the open-source favorite Audacity. It’s simple and to the point (they say “in the spirit of Sound Edit 16 and Cool Edit 2000″) - not too much in the way of in depth control. It’s designed for a more video-oriented audience though, rather than the audio professionals who are likely to jump to Audition or an even more dedicated environment such as DigiDesign’s Pro Tools.

I won’t stick too much commentary here, it’s already been blogged to death by the likes of DownloadSquad, DVGuru, etc.

You can find Soundbooth at Adobe Labs.

This one comes as a shock!

Adobe has bought Serious Magic, creators of fine software such as DVRack, ULTRA2, VlogIt, and all sorts of crazy programs that we video makers love to death.

Adobe said in the press release:

The purchase of Serious Magic accelerates our vision to make, not just video but all dynamic media, an even more ubiquitous communications vehicle, whether you’re delivering content for the broadcast market, over the web or on mobile devices.

The scary part for me was that they mention Flash Video so many times throughout the release. They obviously want Flash to be the ubiquitous platform for web video, but Serious Magic’s software is not aimed at that area of production — that’s where Adobe should be adding Flash export or similar features to Premiere.

Adobe has stated that there are no plans to stop selling any Serious Magic products. I can, however, see this making some of DVRack competitors like ScopeBox getting a few more glances.