You read that title correctly: a solid video editing option is coming to Chromebooks with a new initiative from Adobe called Project Rush. The details are a little scant at the moment as they’ve just unveiled the whole thing to the public at this year’s VidCon, but from what we can see thus far, the entire project looks insanely encouraging. So let’s talk real quick about what we do know and what we’re hearing from some others who’ve talked with Adobe about how this will affect Chromebook users in the months ahead.
What We Know For Sure
First, I want to cover what Adobe has said either in their announcement, on their blog, or directly to the few tech journalists who are at VidCon and got a chance to chat with a rep there.
The premise for Project Rush is simple yet audacious in its scope. One editor that pulls the best parts of Adobe Premier, After Effects, and Audition into a truly cross-platform, easy-to-use application. There are a few tidbits of it actually being used on stage from the VidCon reveal, and we’ll drop that video below, but Adobe is really pushing this towards content creators on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, so a big selling point is ease of use without dropping too many features.
We’ve signed up for the early Beta release, and rest assured if/when we get in, we’ll have many more details to share on the way it all works. Right now, however, the bigger picture is how this software will handle multiple devices. Connected to your Adobe Creative Cloud account, all your changes and edits – regardless of what device you are editing on – are always in sync with one another.
And when Adobe says multiple devices, they mean it. Project Rush will utilize the same tools and abilities on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android across the board. The same features, tools, access, and abilities will be shared across all platforms. If you start a project on your iPad and decide to finish up on your Windows PC, it will all be synced up and waiting for you regardless of hardware.
Most exciting for Chromebook users is the progress Google seems to have made with the Android version when it comes to Chromebooks. Ant Pruitt of Tech Republic got a private conference with Adobe and confirmed:
As we all know, Android support is hit or miss because of the varying devices running that OS. Adobe assured me that the flagship devices will not have an issue running Project Rush. This includes the likes of your Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones. Forde said that Google and Adobe have worked so closely together on this project, Google now has measures in place that will change how GPU performance will be on Android (for the better) to allow content creation and consumption to be an amazing experience. So amazing, even Chromebooks capable of running Android apps will be able to easily utilize Project Rush.
With multi-track video, multi-track audio, Adobe After Effects templates, and access to Adobe Stock, the ability to create high-quality video on a Chromebook is finally within reach. When this app moves out of Beta and into users’ hands, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to Chromebook adoption will simply vanish.
I’ll be straight up with you: I don’t edit video. Joe does all of that for us, so when I look at what Project Rush offers, some of it already goes over my head. My guess is the feature set will be plenty for most creatives and some of you will think it is too simple. I’d bet 90% of YouTube creators will be able to use it as their go-to editor and the other 10% are either too invested elsewhere or simply not interested in change. In the second video we include below, the Adobe rep makes it quite clear that Rush is not a toy or a playful little app: it is meant to get work done.
Some Unknowns
There are some things bouncing around the internet already about Project Rush that I can’t quite find solid answers for just yet, so we’ll keep looking. However, these things are likely questions you are already forming, so I want to talk about them for a second.
First, we don’t know that there will be a web version. A couple blogs have said there will, but there’s absolutely nothing official from Adobe on that. They say Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. In the latest episode of TWiG (This Week in Google Podcast), the above-quoted Ant Pruitt mentions that in his chat with Adobe, they are planning on having a version of this on the web as well. Again, I can’t find ANYTHING official, but having a web version of this whole concept would be extremely compelling.
Next, we dont’ have a release date or pricing yet. Adobe has only said Project Rush will be available later this year. That could mean next month or in December. They are also mum on the price tag. I’d guess you’ll have to sign up for a monthly Creative Cloud account to access the app, but that is simply a guess. Again, I personally am excited about this simply because it has long been a stumbling block for creatives looking at Chromebooks. If this app delivers the way Adobe is promising, that is a big barrier removed for mainstream Chromebook adoption, for sure.
Some Videos
As promised, here are some videos that show all this in motion. They aren’t the greatest videos, but you’ll see the app being used across platforms and get a taste for what is coming. There is a place to sign up for the Beta if you are interested, to you can also check that out here. Additionally, here is the official blog post from Adobe if you want to read some official stuff from them as well. Enjoy!
