Last summer, when I got the chance to attend Adobe’s exclusive training session for the Press, they showed us all the basics of their entirely new software line for the CS3 Production Suite. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, the explanation of Photoshop CS3 Extended (a software package that arguably ties with After Effects CS3 for having the most innovations) was glossed over in about 30 minutes.
As such, most of what I learned about Photoshop CS3 Extended I learned by grinding through the significant learning curve of the new features during beta and gold testing. As one might expect, a lot fell through the cracks. Fortunately, Total Training has prepared a number of training courses on this wonderfully improved version of Photoshop, including the one we’re looking at this month: Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS3 Advanced, with host Justin Seeley.
Read along to find out how this training series performs and, as a low-budget filmmaker using Photoshop CS3 Extended, how useful you’re likely to find it for everything from creating posters to painting special effects on live video.
Justin Seeley's enthusiastic training helps keep you interested and learning at a pretty good pace.
Comprehension
Don’t let the “Advanced” title fool you, as this is a perfect series for anyone who has even a general familiarity with Photoshop. In fact, Justin Seeley shows you many basic setups for both Photoshop CS3 and Bridge CS3 that will help you get more out of the system.
Seeley’s easy to follow method of teaching is both readily understandable and engaging, so you won’t have to worry about things going over your head in this series unless you are completely new to Photoshop. (For that situation, you should start with Seeley’s beginning training.)
Depth of Information
Before I go into the Depth of Information of what IS covered in this series, I should make you aware of what this series is NOT. It is not “Harnessing the Video & Multimedia Capabilities of Photoshop CS3 Extended.” While Seeley does cover some pretty cool techniques for using 3D, SmartFilters, and painting on video, this section is only 41 minutes long (out of the 8 hours of training) and is in the final chapter. As such, the main thrust of this training is still aimed at the print and web design artist, which is very useful, but very different from really delving deeply into the new multimedia capabilities. I hope that by next year’s CS4 release, they will make a designated third level training that really explores the video and multimedia capability in the PhotoshopExtended line.
Amongst the other print-related training, Justin takes you through a number of great retouching techniques.
Despite the more photographic and basic design bent of the training, filmmakers will find a lot of useful things in this series, which can be used for backgrounds in DVDs, posters, and their website. Seeley really explores adjustment layers, which allows you to make a lot of changes and adjustments to your pictures and backgrounds non-destructively and allows you to create some amazingly polished effects, once you know how to harness them. While he doesn’t get into the exporting options of the New Vanishing point, which lets you export 3D models from PS CS3 into AE CS3, he goes into serious depth on how to make use of the Vanishing Point feature inside of Photoshop, delving into some extremely useful ways to clean up backgrounds, which can be a lifesaver for greenscreen backgrounds.
Last summer, when I got the chance to attend Adobe’s exclusive training session for the Press, they showed us all the basics of their entirely new software line for the CS3 Production Suite. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, the explanation of Photoshop CS3 Extended (a software package that arguably ties with After Effects CS3 for having the most innovations) was glossed over in about 30 minutes. 
