TECH TIPS
Anyone for Bridge? Adobe's Navigational Tool Helps
Manage Media
by Dieter Rozek
 Fig. 1. Adobe's extensive online photo library can be access via the link in the Favorites panel. |
Initially introduced in Adobe's Creative Suite 2, Adobe Bridge is now included in Adobe’s Production Studio ($1,699 Standard, $2,099 Premium) and Video bundles ($2,099.00). These bundles are currently available for Windows only. Bridge primarily serves as a navigational tool, while helping to organize and manage media within the production workflow. The strength of this program comes to light when having to move content from one program to another without having to go through the multi-step process of saving, importing and exporting.
Bridge
At first glance, Bridge looks similar to the built-in browser found
in Photoshop, yet upon closer inspection you’ll find greater
functionality. Bridge is capable of working with many different media
formats, including most audio, graphic and video files. There is a
small Preview panel built into the interface, allowing the user to
view or audition files prior to their use.
 Fig. 2. Customized layout arrangements can be saved under workspace headings. |
In the default configuration, the workspace is sectioned into four main areas. The left side consists of dock-able panels with resizable edges. The top section contains The Look In menu, allowing you to navigate to folders on your system, along with basic options to delete, rotate or sort your files. The main area on the right is where you will see the content of the selected folder. The bottom strip allows the user to adjust thumbnail size as well as choose different window views (see figure 1). The workspace can be customized and saved as a pre-set via the Window menu, or you can use one of the four supplied pre-set configurations (see figure 2).
 Fig. 3. Contextual menus are available by right clicking on a file. |
Once a file is selected, you can read any XMP metadata, stored with the file, in the lower left hand corner of the window (see figure 1). This metadata can be edited by right clicking on the file in the browser window and then choosing File Info from the pop-up menu (see figure 3). Keywords can be added to facilitate in future searches when using the built-in file browser.
If your workstation is connected to the internet, clicking on the Adobe Stock Photo icon, located under the Favorites panel, sends you to Adobe’s image library which can be browsed using the supplied search engine. By double clicking on a photo in the window, the file will open up in Photoshop as a “low resolution” (72 dpi) “preview” file. This file can serve as a proxy in cases where you don’t have the final version with which to work.
Photoshop
There are various Photoshop scripts built into Bridge and they can
be accessed under the Tools menu. Once you select one of these scripts,
Bridge will launch Photoshop and run the programmed script (see figure
4). Savvy Javascript programmers can write their own scripts for Bridge;
Adobe provides additional information on writing scripts at http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite
/pdfs/bridge_javascript_ ref.pdf.
 Fig. 4. Photoshop's automated scripts are accessible in Bridge. |
After Effects
In After Effects, under the File menu, you will find a new Browse
feature, which will launch Bridge and allow you to search media for
your project. While in Bridge, you can choose to place the selected
items in your project by accessing the Place option under the File
menu. This Place option also exists in a pop-up menu when right clicking
on an item in Bridge. In order for the Place option to be active,
After Effects has to be running simultaneously. This feature works
with Photoshop and Illustrator as well. There is also a link located
under the file menu, which allows you to switch back to the last program
you used to navigate to Bridge via the Browse menu option. In this
example, it would be After Effects (see figure 5).
Audition
In addition to the Browse Feature, you can select Reveal Session in
Bridge under the file menu to have Bridge take you to an Audition
session file (see figure 6). For those familiar with Avid, this is
similar to selecting Reveal File in a Media or Film Composer. This
feature affords a quick way to access your material at a desktop level.
Furthermore, audio files can be auditioned in the Preview panel prior
to importing them.
 Fig. 5. Bridge allows the user to place assets into either Photoshop, Illustrator or After Effects. To use this feature, these programs need to be running simultaneously with Bridge. |
Encore
Once you have created all of your assets to be used in a DVD, Bridge
simplifies placing these assets into a project. The Open in Adobe
Encore DVD As menu option, located in Bridge under the File menu,
automatically places the file(s) in the project according to what
is selected (see figure 7).
Beyond assisting in shuffling media from one program to the other, Bridge allows you to make basic changes to files such as batch renaming, rotating image files, viewing images in a slide show and adding labels to help in file management.
Though still in its infancy, Bridge provides us a glimpse into the future of what convergence is going to be all about.
Dieter Rozek is the Guild’s Training Coordinator, based in the Hollywood office.
[ return to top ]