A Quick Look At Adobe Visual Communicator 3

I remember seeing this program demonstrated at one of the DV Expositions in Los Angeles a few years ago. I had forgotten that Adobe had purchased Visual Communicator a while back.

I was messing around VideoWTF and noticed a mention of the program. So I swung by Adobe and checked out what was new about the program.


The software seems now to be targeted to small businesses, educators or those that want to present a professional message but don't have a lot of time or money.

You received a green cloth for the "green screen" effect. You can set up your script and have it projected as a telepromter on your computer screen and it works with web cams or web camcorder. It is unclear to me if the product does work with the new line of USB flash memory and hard drive camcorders. You might want to check that out be

For those in education you can add captioning/subtitles to the video. It does come with music, titles and guides to help you with the program.

Support Resources and Groups

Adobe certainly has a Visual Communicator support forum. If you think you might be interested in the program go there first to check out what the common problems are and the type of support that is given. You can check out the help manual; but I don't think it has been updated to reflect that many people now have USB camcorders.

Rob Zdrojewski is a busy dude. He is at the helm at the Teachme Google Groups and SchoolTV Made Easy. For education folks he also hangs out at the Ask Mr. Z blog.

This is an example of a tutorial video created by Rob that explains the unintentional "Chipmunk" audio effect.



It is also a good visual example of the features of Adobe Visual Communicator 3. The background, titles and music were all generated by the program.

Frugality vs. Time Saved

Ok, I do think that $400 smackers is a lot for this program. I can buy a camcorder, green sheets, some lights and have change left over. I come from a long line of frugal women so it is my DNA. I don't necessarily by cheap but I need to know if there is value in the purchase.

If this software and the stuff that comes with it helps you to efficiently create, produce and output video on a regular basis then you have saved time and money. I believe that is called a good return on your investment.

Me? Naw, I'm old school. I want to do it myself. But there is a value in this product for those that need to produced video content quickly and not have it look tacky.

Only you can decide if this is a good option for your creation needs..