GenArts is well known for creating professional, easy-to-use plug ins that offer photorealistic effects without an extreme time commitment. The first time I stumbled upon GenArts was at NAB 2009 when they were showing off Monsters GT for the first time, demonstrated by ILM's lead digital artist, Chad Taylor. Chad showed how they were able to use Monsters to help create the amazing effects seen in Iron Man and the latest in the Indiana Jones saga. A crowd gathered and flooded the surrounding booths just to get a peek at what Monsters GT could do, only to be disappointed when they saw that it only worked for Autodesk.
Times have changed. Monsters GT is now available for After Effects, Sony Vegas Pro, Fusion, and Nuke as well! Now everyone can take advantage of their physics based particle generation to replicate real and unreal phenomenon like fire, smoke, rain, and heat haze. And that's just the beginning.
Photo-realistic particle-based FX are simple and powerful.
Ease of Use
The great thing about all of the Monsters GT plug-ins is they give pretty realistic effects without any adjustments. If you are just putting together something rough and need to get the general idea across, that's a helpful attribute for any plug in. From the moment you download the software to the moment you finish your project, Monsters is very easy to deal with. But the customizability of each particle-based effect is what you really need, and GenArts really delivers.
Depth of Options
As with all of the FX Plugins from GenArts, there are a wide array of adjustments and options with which you can use to create your unique looks. With all of the particle effects you can choose how much gravity should affect it, wind, velocity, etc. All with ever easy to navigate tools that don't require instruction.
Though there are many options for each effect, there are not a ton of useful effects. That is said with the price tag of $999 in mind, since you will most likely want to use Monsters along with other plug-ins. Monsters acts in tandem with GenArts Sapphire very well, though you could also use many of the effects that come standard with After Effects to complement Monsters GT.
Why shoot in night vision when you can have night vision this clean and crisp?
Performance
The different effects you can get from Monsters GT can really come in handy, especially when used in conjunction with real elements such as those from Video Co-Pilot's Action Essentials 2. Monsters does a great job of adding those details that can really sell a shot, since you can customize the effects to your exact specs, and then add in filler and accents with Action Essentials elements or other elements of your choice. The best effects have to be the Heat Haze and Rain, photorealistic effects that are easy to manipulate and use. If you are having trouble with any particular effect, there are several helpful videos on their website, or Class on Demand, YouTube Channel if you require more detailed instruction.
Monsters has a bevy of powerful FX.
Value
As with GenArts Sapphire, Monsters GT is pretty expensive, especially for microfilmmakers. But if you check out their website and get a feel for what the effects do, you can also use their monthly rental option, and only get them when you need them for a specific project. That's an aspect of GenArts that I love. They believe so strongly in their products that they allow rentals, knowing you are going to feel like a crack addict once your monthly rental is up!
Final Comments I have to temper my comments regarding GenArts Monsters because I must look at it from the sense of a microfilmmaker on a low budget. If the circumstance was that you had $2,000 to spend on software including your NLE, I would not recommend it. But if you look at it from the perspective that the more complete your editing suite is, the more side jobs you can get to help pay it off and pay off your passion projects, it's worth a serious look. Anyone who has taken GenArts Sapphire for a serious test drive can certainly attest to GenArts' ability to create some amazingly unique and photorealistic effects. Monsters GT continues that tradition.
Ease
of Use
9.0
Depth
of Options
8.0
Performance
9.0
Value
vs. Cost
7.0
Overall Score
8.5
A.J. Wedding is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has won festival awards for his first feature film, "Pop Fiction". As a writer/director, he has won several awards for his short films, and recently garnered worldwide distribution for a feature film titled “The Disappearance of Jenna Matheson” releasing this year. His hit web series, “Infamous” created an instant fanbase, and spawned interest from networks to create a tv series based on it. A.J. currently works with The Production Green, directing and editing commercials as well as developing his next feature film, "Junior Crew."
