When Adobe bought the popular Cool Edit Pro audio-editing program and released it as Adobe Audition in 2003, it was a move meant to give video professionals a full-featured, easy-to-use environment for working on audio tracks. Three years later, noting that even Audition demands some audio chops, Adobe is introducing Soundbooth, a more visually oriented approach to the audio problem.

Soundbooth, available now in a free public beta (at labs.adobe.com/technologies/soundbooth/) that Adobe helps will give video pros ample opportunity to kick the tires and offer feedback, will be the default audio app shipping with Adobe Production Studio starting sometime next year, and Audition will remain available as a standalone application for audio specialists. (Product Manager Hart Shafer told StudioDaily that Adobe is developing Audition 3.0 even as Soundbooth enters beta.) read more