Adobe has been working on experimental technology that could help speed up concept and planning work for graphic designers and audio engineers. The “sneaks” previewed during Adobe's MAX event include tools to transform sketches into a variety of sophisticated designs, as well as a feature to rotate 2D artwork as if it were 3D -Object.
“Project Turntable” is capable of the latter. The tool allows users to click a button and then drag a slider to automatically display a vector image and snap it into a different viewing perspective – something that would normally require an artist to completely redraw the image. The examples shown at the event retained their original design when rotated without warping into a new overall shape. For example, the dragon's yellow belly and tail remained in the same position throughout all changes.
If you prefer to work with physical media like pencil and paper, Project Remix A Lot can digitize these designs for you. The feature offers a “Sketch to Layout” button that takes a rough draft and uses generative AI to transform it into an editable digital image. Once a design is complete, users can also click the Layout Variations button to automatically resize the final image to a selection of different size formats more suitable for social media posts or blog headers.
We should note that there is no guarantee that these experimental tools will develop into publicly available features – Adobe uses its Sneaks program primarily to preview and generate demand for the cutting-edge technology it is working on to estimate functions. But many popular features like Photoshop's Remove tool and Adobe's Fresco painting app first appeared as sneaks, so there's a good chance we'll see them in Illustrator one day.
Outside of vector graphics, Adobe also demonstrated Project Hi-Fi, a Photoshop plugin that uses a portion of the user's workspace as a reference for AI image generation. It works a bit like Adobe's structure reference feature for Firefly, only with more scope for customization.
And for audio engineers, Project Super Sonic lets you create sample sound effects based on prompts or by clicking on an object in a still video, such as a flowing stream or ferns in a jungle. The tool itself can detect what the user selects and figure out how it should sound, so you don't have to manually search through audio libraries. Users can also adjust the timing of these sound effects with their own voice, which provides more control than a text description.