However, taking my OCD nitpicks out of the equation: Do I like the rendered image all said and done... Not really. The results tend to be so glossy as to remind me of Jude Law in A.I. or Bruce Willis in Surrogates. Of course, I am more into texture and tack sharp details which lends more to realism or an implied truth. That is my vision.
On the other hand my wife (not pictured) loves how the plugin made her look. It seemed like the more surreal the photo became the more pleased she was. That is her opinion. (I think she looks far better naturally but that's me.)
I think it does perform very well. Not my taste but, it gets the job done and very fast. One thing that I would change is to add an in-program blemish selection tool. It could help you know how far you need to go to get the results that you are looking for. This would give the option to do all of your complete retouching all at once as opposed to have to give it a once over first in Photoshop.
Obviously, if you are on this site reading this review you are likely a filmmaker or aspiring filmmaker. You may be wondering what use this plugin will have, if any, for your feature or short film. Of coarse, promotional art or posters as well web sites and ad banners have been an important and invaluable part of selling your work to an audience. These images may be your first and maybe only way to grab viewers.
It really depends on how much still imagery you're going to be using in your promotional materials. If you're doing the next romantic comedy, then you may easily use this a whole lot. However, if you're wanting to find a good way to actually effect your film, you need to check out Beauty Box AE (click here to read Nikc's excellent review).
If you want nice looking still images and don't have someone who's gifted with Photoshop working on your materials, then Beauty Box could easily be a lifesaver (as well as a time saver). However, if you have someone who can put their passion into it, it's going to look more unique. The hard work always shows through. (Remember what you put out is your legacy, "film is forever, pain is only temporary". Enough of my artistic philosophy. . .)
Whatever my artistic views on Beauty Box Photo, it does what it was made to do. However, what may be a great plugin for the high volume local photographer is not as useful or productive for most microbudget filmmakers. (Again, Beauty Box for AE is a whole different story.)
