While that’s a lot of information, that’s not even getting into a fraction of the different things you can combine these elements of this program to create. To get more, you’ll just have to download the demo and try it out yourself.
Performance
The overall performance of VisionLab Studio was quite good, with the actual RAM rendering and export rendering being faster and easier than those in After Effects. And, unlike the processor/RAM-hungry Shake and Motion programs, computers with modest processing power could yield quite powerful results with VisionLab Studio. On SD footage, we actually found that we could get very good, reasonably fast results even out of our low-end 2 Ghz P4 with 512 MB of RAM, provided we had no other Pro applications running. For folks who want to use the HD and HDV capabilities of this program, you will want to upgrade to at least a 3 Ghz P4 with a gig of RAM. In addition to the support of HD and HDV, as well as PAL and NTSC, most of the features we expect out of any sort of video manipulation software were in place, from multiple layer manipulation to in-and-out point customization to layer “muting” capabilities.
Despite all the things that worked very well with this program, there were a couple things that I would really like to see touched up. The biggest of these involves the timeline itself and navigating it. Although there is a timeline meter showing where on the timeline you are and a readout that displays the appropriate timecode, there’s no way to type in a time you want to go to and have it take you there. This means you have to scrub through the timeline until you get to the point you want. This is made more frustrating because you can’t zoom in and out on the timeline itself. While this isn’t bad if you’re just doing an effects scene for a small sequence which will get exported and re-assimilated into another editing program, it is a pain if you’re actually using the program to do color-grading on an entire film. (The folks at FXHome confirmed that the timecode jump feature will be added as an update fairly shortly, but the ability to zoom-in and out on the timeline feature will probably not be along until the next full version of VisionLab Studio)
Another place I would like to see improvements are in more intuitive keying and color grading interfaces. As they are now, they’re a little counter-intuitive and require a few too many steps for a really smooth workflow. The color grading, especially, is stored in a couple different locations based on the time you wish to implement it which gets a bit confusing and slows down your performance. When I asked the folks at FXHome about this, they mentioned that the grading interface especially is a pretty new addition and that they should be coming out with some improvements to streamline it in upcoming updates. Keying improvements are being examined for feasibility, as well.
Value
With the power to create clean keys, composite layers of footage, create particle generated special effects, and color grade your footage, VisionLab Studio is an amazing value at $570!
Not to mention that they are constantly making new updates and tweaks available to their customers in the form of very easy to download update files. What’s especially cool about this sort of attitude is that they are often times willing to actually add features specifically if individual users ask for them! Can you imagine some of the other effects companies out there doing that?
In addition to official updates, their thriving community section is busily generating brand new effects that are quality ranked and free for download to any FXHome products users, the abilities and presets available for this program will only continue to increase. (I was browsing through there recently and noticed particle generated bullet hits for ricochets similar to those seen in ‘Broken’, magic fireballs similar to those in Harry Potter, and color grading presets that mimicked Domino nicely. Not that you would want to mimic Domino, but still…)
Final Comments Despite their reputation as a fan film company, FXHome has created a seriously powerful, seriously deadly piece of software in VisionLab Studio that is actually beginning to infringe on the territory of the industry heavyweight tag-team of Motion/Shake. While their training options and walkthroughs need some serious bulking up, this is a package that will allow you to do some pretty amazing things if you’re willing to put in the time to learn to use it properly. Not only that, but unlike every other special effects program on the market, it is actually streamlined for movie specific special effects like explosions, blood sprays, muzzle flashes, and, of course, light sabers! This is definitely a package that you owe it to yourself to at least download the demo and test out!
Ease
of Use
7.0
Depth
of Options
10.0
Performance
9.0
Value
10.0
Overall
Score
9.0
The
director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films,
Jeremy Hanke
founded Microfilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make
better films. His first book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) was released by MWP to very favorable reviews. He's curently working on the sci-fi film franchise, World of Depleted through Depleted: Day 419 and the feature film, Depleted.
