Adobe updates After Effects with AI assistant and 3D depth-of-field

Adobe’s shift toward 'agentic' AI signals a move from simple prompt-to-video generation to sophisticated workflow automation. By enabling the AI Assistant to interpret physics and manage project hierarchies, Adobe is targeting the technical bottlenecks that slow down professional motion graphics production. This deep integration serves as a defensive moat against lightweight web-based competitors. Furthermore, the mandatory transition to Apple silicon for version 27 reflects a broader industry pivot toward unified memory architectures necessary for running heavy generative models locally. For enterprise studios, this necessitates a hardware lifecycle audit before the next major release cycle. Watch for the public beta debut of the AI Assistant at upcoming industry conferences later this year.

The rollout of the After Effects AI Assistant follows the June 2026 public beta launch of a similar tool for Premiere Pro. Per Adobe documentation from June 2026, the Premiere assistant focuses on high-volume 'assembly' work, such as detecting slates, generating transcripts, and building rough stringouts directly on the timeline. These features are part of a broader 'Agentic AI' strategy Adobe labeled 'Firefly Assist' earlier in the year, which aims to give creators more creative agency by moving beyond simple prompt-and-response interactions into collaborative, iterative workflows. In tandem with these software updates, Adobe is forcing a significant hardware transition. Per a July 2026 announcement, After Effects version 27.0 and subsequent updates will require Apple silicon (M1 or later) processors, officially ending support for Intel-based Mac systems. Adobe noted that this move allows its video and audio applications to leverage modern architecture and hardware acceleration more effectively. This alignment matches Apple’s own roadmap for macOS 27, which similarly drops Intel support. On the collaboration front, the migration to Frame.io V4 has reached a critical phase. Following the June 2026 migration of retail customers from legacy systems, Adobe confirmed that native After Effects integration for V4 would be fully supported by July 2026. This version introduces 'Workspaces' to replace the previous 'Teams' structure and offers a redesigned review panel that is aware of active sequences in the timeline, facilitating one-button version uploads and direct comment importing.