The Rolling shutter fixer that was going to make my life so much easier? Well, it sorta works. But the circumstances that lead to success with this filter vary wildly, and it doesn’t work in all situations. Which is why, even with this tool in my toolchest, I’m going to be shooting my short with the D300s on sticks with little panning movement. (Because the depth of field with my f1.8 50mm lens is just SPECTACULAR, but I digress…)
Split screen is exactly what you might expect, with some strange variations of zooms that make me again wonder, “yes, but why?”
The spotlight effect initially seemed so pointless to me that I had to watch their demonstration video to see a reason to use it. Now I see it, but I don’t think I’ll use it.
A few of the other filters I felt were simply thrown in to pad the package.
I could MAYBE find a use for the Heated Vision plugin. Call Robert Rodriguez...
Value
So, with all this padding, and all the “yes, but why?” is Video Essentials III worth it? Well, the price point is excellent for a filter package (especially a cross platform package) at $79.95. So the value discussion ultimately comes down to what you’re making. For general filmmaking use, this package doesn’t have a lot to offer, but the elements it does have are good. For those making music videos, title sequences for TV series or the like, this package has a lot to recommend about it. I would, however, highly recommend taking it for the trial test drive that New Blue allows to see if it really will work for you.
Final Comments I really can’t fault a program for using the kitchen sink mentality when creating plugins. Are there people who might use any of these, sure, but I can’t help but think of the creation process for some of the presets: “Hey, look what I accidentally did!” “Perfect, put it in the package!” With a price point this low, however, if you can use 15% of these, the package has a nice value to it, and its ease of use will keep you happy.
Ease
of Use
8.0
Depth
of Options
7.0
Performance
7.0
Value
vs. Cost
8.0
Overall Score
7.5
David B. Grelck is a filmmaker and photographer. His first film, White Out, is being distributed on DVD worldwide, and the short film he wrote, produced and starred in “Gnome Man’s Land” is a web sensation.
