Today, April 4th 2013, Adobe revealed some details about the next generation of their video tools. In this tutorial series we give you some sneak peak about the next version of Adobe After Effects. The tutorials are recorded with the not yet published version of Adobe After Effects that will be shown by Adobe in their demos at the NAB show.

In this video we take a look at the new Refine Edge tool and the new Effect Refine Soft Matte effect of Adobe After Effects Next. These can be considered as improvements of the Roto Brush that already exists in CS6. Whereas the Roto Brush only allows to create hard matte lines, the Refine Edge tool allows to automatically separate complicated foreground elements like frizzy hair or motion-blurred edges from poorly lit or complex backgrounds. The Refine Edge Tool can be used in combination with the Roto Brush or also with any other rotoscoping or keying technique.

In this video, we show how to use the Refine Edge Tool and Refine Soft Matte Effect in combination with both the Roto Brush and a rotoscoping created with mocha AE.