After Effects CS6 (Review)

Posted by on Aug 17, 2012 in MicroFilmmaking, Reviews, Reviews (Software), Software | 6 comments

After Effects is a pretty essential tool for most filmmakers who are incorporating any type of graphic treatment to their work, and this latest update is a major one specifically designed to increase the speed at which you can create, without waiting on your computer. This alone makes this update more or less essential for anyone who relies on After Effects as part of their normal work-flow, but the addition of the camera tracking feature and extruded text are also HUGE.

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Flash Professional CS6 (Review)

Posted by on Jul 27, 2012 in Reviews, Reviews (Software), Software | 0 comments

Today, though, despite what Flash has done for the internet and its builders, the climate has drastically changed presenting a frigid reception to the once indispensable toolset. New media devices, like the Apple iPad (with its huge adoption rate), have decided to freeze out the plugin from being used and in so doing splinter the market on utilizing it in production. On top of that, the rise of HTML 5 has finally brought a way for developers to create rich media without having to depend on complicated scripting or purchased software. These big changes beg the question “Is Flash still relevant anymore?” In Flash Professional CS6, Adobe has made some integral additions to answer that very question.

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Lightwave 11 (Review)

Posted by on Jul 19, 2012 in Reviews, Reviews (Software), Software | 0 comments

Finally! NewTek is hitting it’s stride again with Lightwave 11. In my review last year about Lightwave 10.1, I’d commented enthusiastically about my conversation with Lightwave user and evangelist, Rob Powers. He’s been in the trenches with Lightwave on multiple film productions and has been able to bring that common-sense utility and passion for workflow quality into the forefront. I’d enjoyed getting reintroduced to Lightwave (LW) and rated it very highly. But also apparent was where it was lagging in what is now ‘standard’ abilities in competing software. LW 11 is now engaging those ‘standard’ features into version 11 and NewTek is doing it with a very sharp eye towards user friendliness.

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Twixtor V5 (Review)

Posted by on Jul 14, 2012 in Reviews, Reviews (Software), Software | 1 comment

It’s a plug in designed to blend frames, and it has enough options to keep you happy. It’s not just about slowing down or speeding up. You can change frame rates in general, taking 30fps footage and getting a better 24fps output is certainly a great option, this should work for converting any frame rate you require. As far as I know, the amount of frame rate changes you can implement to clip is limitless, given your OK with waiting for a long render to create new frames. The amount of controls given to each keyframe is pretty impressive.

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Monsters GT v7 (Review)

Posted by on Jul 11, 2012 in Reviews, Reviews (Software), Software | 0 comments

Monsters is a pretty high-end set of plug-ins. Atmospheric effects like Raindrops for example are meant to seamlessly integrate with live-action footage and give the impression that you rented a $10,000 rain machine on your low-budget shoot. Everything here looks pretty convincing, and unlike many other plug-in sets, there are very few “throw away” effects. GenArts clearly spent a lot of time making these look great.

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