Red Giant Effects Bundle Also Includes Magic Bullet Looks and Instant HD

San Francisco, CA, October 14, 2008 - Red Giant Software, with popular products Magic Bullet, Knoll Light Factory and Trapcode, today announced that Panasonic expanded its long standing bundle with Red Giant Software to include ToonIt with its powerful AG-DVX100B camcorder purchased in the United States. Customers that purchase the AG-DVX100B camcorder between October 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008 will receive a complimentary copy of the Red Giant Effects Bundle, which includes ToonIt, Magic Bullet Looks, and Magic Bullet Instant HD. Panasonic began bundling Red Giant Software products with the AG-DVX100 line of camcorders in the summer of 2004.

About ToonIt

Red Giant ToonIt uses unique algorithms developed by Toonamation to transform images into beautiful cartoon shading and lines. Users can give video footage that sought-after cartoon look easily and quickly. The four plug-ins free users from time-consuming techniques like rotoscoping and hand painting, and give precise control over styles, shading and outlines. Now it is easy to quickly convert video into a stylized animation with great default settings.

About Magic Bullet Looks

Desert sunrise, Arctic tundra, nighttime urban streets: the look of footage defines the mood. With Magic Bullet Looks, users can define the style of their video or film, regardless of on-set conditions, with powerful imaging tools. Hundreds of presets are available to help set the mood for everything from a wedding to the next Sundance original. Magic Bullet Looks also includes the standalone Magic Bullet LooksBuilder, for pre-visualizing looks on set or anywhere. Portable presets load into any editing hosts, so the same Looks you create on set are the ones you finish with in the editorial suite: no need for an expensive finishing system.

About Magic Bullet Instant HD

Instant HD up-converts DV video into a variety of HD video formats. Users can choose from a list of preset resolutions to easily integrate DV video into a High Definition production. When scaling from standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD), Instant HD's algorithms generate the missing pixels with integrated sharpening and anti-aliasing for sharp, clear results inside your favorite video application.

About the AG-DVX100B

The AG-DVX100B debuts as the industry's first DV camera-recorder to allow camera-to-camera time-code synchro and user-settable file transfer. This allows the AG-DVX100B to be used for simultaneous multi-camera recording techniques often used in video production. In addition to superior image quality, high sensitivity, 24P/30P Cinema mode and manual operation, it has the specifications needed for full-fledged professional video production. For more information on Panasonic's complete DV Cinema product line-up, visit http://www.panasonic.com/dvcinema.

About Red Giant Software

Red Giant Software LLC (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/) is a San Francisco-based company that develops professional tools for digital video production. Products are available as plug-ins for popular video editing and effects applications including After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro, and Avid. All tools are based on production-proven technology developed by visual effects veterans.

Labels: Instant HD Pro, Magic Bullet Looks, Red Giant, ToonIt

Toon It is the newest Red Giant release since the acquisition of Digital Anarchy's video plug-ins and it's now available with shiny new installers. ToonIt! 1.1 becomes Red Giant ToonIt and includes support for all platforms including Avid

Give video footage that sought-after cartoon look easily and quickly. Red Giant ToonIt uses unique algorithms to transform your image into beautiful cartoon shading and lines. Its four plug-ins free you from time-consuming techniques like rotoscoping and hand painting, and give precise control over styles, shading and outlines. Quickly convert video into a stylized animation with great default settings.

• Download a trial version of ToonIt
• Buy Red Giant ToonIt
• Learn more about ToonIt in Toolfarm's Plug-in Finder

Labels: Red Giant, ToonIt

Yes, it's been a long wait for the ToonIt! speed update. But it's arrived! Version 1.1 brings multi-processor support to the product.

While ToonIt! is definitely not real-time (especially on HD), the update does dramatically improve things, especially when using After Effects CS3. ToonIt! is still a little render-intensive, but that is necessary to get the unparrelled cartoon rendering from video.

And... through Sunday, June 15, 2008, get ToonIt Film and Video or ToonIt Avid for just $259!

Learn more about ToonIt! in Toolfarm's Plug-in Finder

Labels: After Effects, Avid, Digital Anarchy, Sale, ToonIt

New Update Takes Advantage of Multi-Processor Machines for Notable Speed Increase During Render

San Francisco, CA - June 3, 2008 - Digital Anarchy, a leading provider of visual effects software for Adobe, Avid, and Apple products, today announced the version 1.1 update for ToonIt! Film/Video and ToonIt! Avid. Version 1.1 speeds up the rendering of ToonIt! by taking advantage of multi-processors. This allows users to quickly render cartoon-like images from film and video footage. The filters use advanced algorithms from Toonamation to create flat shades of color with full control over details like outlines, shading styles and halftone effects.

The ToonIt! 1.1 update adds a few new features, bug fixes, and speeds up rendering time by taking advantage of multi-processor machines. ToonIt! 1.1 renders 70-90% faster than version 1.0.2 and over 300% faster when using After Effects CS3 and a quad-core machine. Standard Definition footage takes about 1 sec/frame using After Effects CS3 and a quad-core.

Jim Tierney, president of Digital Anarchy, said, "ToonIt! has been incredibly well received, but many users have complained about the speed. So we spent some time optimizing it and retooling it for multi-processor machines. This has given ToonIt! a tremendous speed boost. When used with the great multi-processor support in After Effects CS3, the speed increase is pretty amazing. We're very excited about this update."

With these four plugins, artists can customize the 'toon' effect for almost any image with styles like Flat Cartoon, Graphic Novel, Line Art, and Pen & Ink. One of the main features of ToonIt! is its ability to create a smooth animation over time with very little jitter and minimal temporal artifacts. While other cartooning software frequently produces an undesirable 'vibrating' image when played back at full speed, ToonIt! filters reduce these graphic issues and produce very consistent, pleasing results from one frame to the next.

Pricing and Availability

ToonIt! Film/Video is priced at USD $299. ToonIt! Avid is priced at USD $295. Both products are on sale for USD $259 through June 15, 2008. Version 1.1 will ship with all new orders. The 1.1 update is free to existing users, who should visit the company's website for update instructions at: http://digitalanarchy.com/toonVID/request.php

ToonIt! Film/Video works in After Effects 5.5 and higher (including AE CS3), Final Cut Pro 4.5 and higher, Motion 2.1 and higher, and Premiere Pro 2.0 and higher. ToonIt! Avid works in Avid host applications that support the AVX1 and AVX2 standards. Both products run under Macintosh 10.3.9 and higher (including 10.5) and runs natively on Intel Macs. The products run under Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, Vista 32-bit and Vista 64-bit systems. Demo filters and samples are available at www.digitalanarchy.com.

Labels: After Effects, Avid, Digital Anarchy, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro, ToonIt

From the DA Newsletter:

The Mac version is looking very good, but we're having a bit o' trouble with the Windows version. Those of you that emailed last month about the Windows version are still on our list. We just need to get a build that we think is stable enough to send out. No point in sending you software we know is going to cause a steady stream of errors. Sorry this has taken so long, but that's the way it goes with development sometimes.

HOWEVER... those of you with After Effects CS3 don't need to wait for the multi-processor version of ToonIt. AE's multi-processor support, the Render Frames Simultaneously checkbox in the Preferences, will usually supercede ToonIt's MP support anyways. So if you have enough RAM for AE to render multiple frames on each of your processors you're getting as good of performance from ToonIt as we'll be able to give you. Same goes for those of you using Nucleo Pro from Gridiron Software.

Note on CS3 multi-processing: It is something of a black art as to how you get AE to fully use all your processors. What is happening is there will be a separate instance of AE running on each processor. Thus, you will need enough memory for all those instances of AE. Playing around with the settings in the Memory & Cache preference section will determine how many additional processors are used by the Multi-processing preference section. You don't usually want the Memory & Cache set to the defaults if you have a multi-processor machine. Changing the memory usage to 50 or 60% will free up memory to be used by other instances of AE. Also, setting the cache to a low amount like 10% can also affect how many processors will be used. Of course, if you have a memory intensive project, say 4k comp with a ton of layers, setting your memory to 33% may not be a great idea. And you might want to wait until you're ready to render to change the cache settings, as a low setting will affect how much you can ram preview. As mentioned, it's a bit of a black art which I admit I don't fully understand, so don't take this as the definitive guide on AE multi-processor support. These are just things I've run into while fiddling with settings on the various dualcore and quadcore machines we have sitting around the office here at the Anarchy World HQ.

Labels: After Effects, Digital Anarchy, ToonIt

We've just added a quick sale on most of our Wacom Tablets. Save an additional 4% off the regular discounted price at Toolfarm! Save on the Intuos and the new Cintiq tablets. It's an instant rebate.... so instant that we just knocked it off the price! The offer expires February 29, 2008.

Also on special: Digital Anarchy ToonIt! for Avid Limited time Toolfarm only introductory pricing of $229! Save $70! This offer also ends February 29, 2008.

You still have time to cash in on the Imagineer Systems mocha Node-locked License Crossgrade for mocha AE owners February 2008 Special! mocha AE owners can upgrade to the full version of mocha for just $399 through February 29, 2008. If you don't own mocha AE, you can still get in on the offer.

Red Giant Magic Bullet Looks Crossgrade from Digieffects Cinelook (Regular price: $399.00, Toolfarm price: $99.00) and the Red Giant Magic Bullet Suite Crossgrade from Digieffects Cinelook (Regular price: $799.00, Toolfarm price: $299.00). Save an additional $100 for a limited time! Offer Expires February 29, 2008.

Buy Boris Continuum Complete 5 AE and get Title Toolkit for FREE! Expires Saturday, March 1, 2008. Title Toolkit is available for a suggested retail price of $299 USD. In addition, Title Toolkit is now included FREE with Boris Continuum Complete 5 AE purchases (including the AE/FxPlug bundle and BCC 5 upgrades). This offer expires Saturday, March 1, 2008 and is valid for the download version of Title Toolkit.

Check out our Current Specials page for all of our specials. We keep it updated with the latest deals and we have some AWESOME deals for March. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss out.

Labels: Continuum Complete, DigiEffects, Digital Anarchy, Imagineer Systems, Magic Bullet Looks, Magic Bullet Suite, mocha, Mocha AE, Red Giant, Sale, Title Toolkit, ToonIt, Wacom Tablets

Digital Anarchy ToonIt! the popular cartooning effects package, now gives Avid editors the ability to reliably and easily creates cartoon-like images from footage. This is Digital Anarchy's first product for Avid. ToonIt! uses advanced algorithms from Toonamation to create beautiful cartoon shading and lines from your footage. It works in Avid Media Composer, NewsCutter, Avid Xpress, and any other Avid application that supports AVX 1 or AVX 2 plugins. This product is Intel Mac native. Mac 10.3.9 +higher. Windows 2000, Win XP Home, Win XP Pro, Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit.

Other news about ToonIt!, the long wait (and long render times) is over. They finally have a multi-processor aware version of ToonIt available to those of you who own it. To get it, please send your name, platform, host application(s), and serial number to beta@digitalanarchy.com. You MUST have already purchased it (the AE/FCP compatible version) to receive the beta. This will be a free update.

Labels: Avid, Digital Anarchy, ToonIt

From the Digital Anarchy Newsletter:

ToonIt does a great job of creating a cartoon look from video, but it's also capable of other types of 'painterly' and non-photorealistic looks. In this tutorial, we take a look out how to create some of those looks, by adjusting the ToonIt settings and applying other After Effects' filters before and after ToonIt.

This creates a pretty cool range of interesting effects. Check out the video tutorial and let us know what you think. Or... better yet, submit some of your own receipes for getting more than advertised out of ToonIt!

• Watch the video tutorial here
• The tutorial page, with that tutorial, example movies, and AE project downloads
• Buy Digital Anarchy ToonIt!
• Learn more about Toonit! in our Plug-in Finder

Labels: After Effects, Digital Anarchy, ToonIt, Tutorial

I wasn't at the meeting since I'm clear across the country, so I'm living vicariously through those who were lucky enough to attend. First, Dave Basulto has posted some images from last night's MGLA meeting on his site.

Second, Chris Meyer of Cybermotion had some great things to say about the meeting in a post to the AE List. Imagineer Mocha was shown. It's a planar tracker that uses the technology in the more advanced Mokey and Monet. Chris says, " It did some pretty darn amazing things, including continuing tracks successfully when large portions of the tracked object went off screen."

Marco S. from Digital Anarchy showed PlasmaFX and ToonIt! Chris says about ToonIt! " It was also an excellent example of the role frame rate plays in whether we perceive something as real or fantasy; keeping the result at normal video rate didn't look like you would expect it to."

Peder Norrby showed Trapcode Form (codename Flux). Form is the plug-in that people are really keyed up for the release, which will hopefully still happen this summer. It's similar to Particular but does lots of other cool things. Chris says "The couple of examples Peder showed using displacement maps and alpha mattes were particularly impressive".

Sean Safreed showedMagic Bullet 3 at the meeting. Chris says "...the new UI... it makes things soooo much easier for quick, broad strokes to get the look you're after without having to come to terms with a bunch of sliders (however useful they are)."

MGLA | Join MGLA's Mailing List

Labels: CyberMotion, Digital Anarchy, Flux, Imagineer Systems, Magic Bullet, MGLA, mocha, mokey, monet, PlasmaFX, Red Giant, ToonIt, Trapcode, Trapcode Form

Chances are: You know Digital Anarchy. For many of us, the software that Jim Tierney provided was the only way that we could get the clients to say "Ahhhhhhh".

For me, it started with Psunami Water. A studio I worked for wanted some "watery" animation - and I suggested some "water-like" plug-in. They looked at it, we punched in some new values, and the resulting animation wrapped up an otherwise long project.

Before Text Tools in AE Text Anarchy was the only way we could make "THE MATRIX TEXT", and every animator knows there are clients who asked for it on everything (shudder).

Digital Anarchy has paved the way with a bunch of tools that make creating "what clients see and want" easier for animators. Now - another: TOONIT!

While I DO NOT SUGGEST that slapping this plug-in on video will make your footage of an intern in a red dress look like Jessica Rabbit - it is an excellent alternative to rotoscoping, posterization and stripping channels.

(Plus, I've already seen is used on-air in its "AS IS" condition, so somebody out there has already used its default settings as a solution).

Jim gave me (and others who started to crowd in around me) a demo of the software.

Labels: Digital Anarchy, Psunami, Text Anarchy, ToonIt

From Ko's Ninja Crayon Blog:

After you decompress from SIGGRAPH, remember that the next MGLA meeting is Tuesday, August 21, at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre. It is Plug-In Night 2, with a stellar line-up:

• Imagineer Mocha motion tracker (okay - it's a standalone rather than a plug-in, but it's a heckuva tool)
• Digital Anarchy ToonIt! and PlasmaFX (Jim Tierney will be down to demo)
• Trapcode codename Flux (Peder Norbby is over from Sweden and will demonstrate in person)
• Magic Bullet 3 (the upcoming version of this much-loved film look suite)

$36,000 IN DOOR PRIZES!

Details are online at the MGLA site. They will be posting prizes and sending out a full email in the next week. This will be one of those don't-miss meetings. (And by the way - it's MGLA's 10th anniversary that night as well!)

Labels: Digital Anarchy, Event, Imagineer Systems, Magic Bullet, MGLA, mocha, PlasmaFX, Red Giant, ToonIt, Trapcode

Digital Anarchy's ToonIt 1.0 for Film and Video has been released and is available for purchase and download. Until July 4th, you can get it for $249 (reg. $299). ToonIt! runs in After Effects and Final Cut Studio. It's Mac Universal and FxPlug and even works in Vista.

ToonIt! is an easy way to give film/video footage that sought-after cartoon look. ToonIt! uses advanced algorithms to process your image and create cartoon shading and lines. Giving footage a 'toon' look is notoriously difficult and ToonIt! gives you the tools to create sophisticated cel shaded, pen & ink, and other stylized looks. I demo'd ToonIt! at NAB in Motion and it is amazing how it works. It analizes pixel by pixel and gives you freakin' amazing results.

Download the demo from Digital Anarchy, then come back and buy it at Toolfarm. Why? Because we love you.

You can also view video tutorials of ToonIt!

Labels: Digital Anarchy, ToonIt

Well, it was a long and wonderful week at NAB. I worked on the show floor at the Apple booth. I had a primo spot on the corner of the massive booth, right in the center of all the traffic. Look, I made Apple.com!. (Photo courtesy of Apple.com).

At the Apple booth, I demo'd FxPlug Plug-ins for Motion and Final Cut Pro. I was using a lot of beta plug-ins on Motion 3, which is in beta. Oh, boy.... Motion 3! Now this product is something to get excited about! I've always been an After Effects evangelist, but Motion 3 is going to give AE a run for it's money. I don't think it will replace AE by any means, but let's just say that there is a new kid in town who can play previews real-time, intuitive 3D, mind-blowing tracking and matching (using Shake technology) and has an incredible number of plug-ins that are out or coming out soon for it. I have to admit that I've never really given Motion the chance it deserves, but it ROCKS. I admit, I love it. I'm a convert.

I plan to review some of the plug-ins that I demo'd in the next week or so. I am completely impressed with CHV-Electronics plug-ins. They play real-time and are extremely versatile. A lot of the developers stopped by my station throughout the week. I saw a lot of Christoph Vonhrein, of CHV. He demo'd his plug-ins and really was able to show me the cool things that they can do. They do some mind-boggling effects... with real-time previews. These are probably my favorite FxPlug plug-ins. I had so much fun with them.

The Noise Industries FxFactory also impresses me. Noise Industries took the 2007 Videography Vidy Awards at NAB. Yes, they're that good. If you're using Motion or Final Cut Pro, YOU NEED BOTH CHV plug-ins and FxFactory. It takes a lot to impress me... really it does. I'll get some samples up soon. I highly recommend both plug-in developers products. They're inexpensive and fast!

I showed Trapcode FxPlug betas of Shine, Starglow and 3D Stroke and on a beta of Motion 3. They are basically the same plug-in as their AE counterpart. They are CPU accelerated, as opposed to GPU accelerated like most FxPlug plug-ins, so they were running about 8 frames per second for previews on the dual Intel processor I was running (it had 8gb ram and an ATI Radeon 1900 card). Not real-time but pretty fast. They brought lots of oohs and aahs.Trapcode 3D Stroke in FxPlug is a little different than the AE version. There are no paths in FCP, so they have a work around. There are a ton of preset shapes, plus, Sean Safreed from Red Giant told me that the trick is to save an SVG file (vector file) and drop it into the FxPlug folder. It will then show up in the drop down menu. I didn't try this, of course, because I didn't have Illustrator installed, but it sounded pretty straight forward. The Trapcode plug-ins will ship in a month, when Final Cut Studio Ships.

Zaxwerks 3D Flag was running real-time previews in Motion 3 and people were really impressed with it. I've made curtains and clothes hanging on a clothesline with it. It's also inexpensive and has a good track record, so it's a great tool for the old Final Cut Studio arsenal.

On Wednesday morning of the show, Boris Yaminsky of Boris FX comes up to me and was asking me about their Boris Continuum Complete 5.0 FxPlug plug-ins, which I didn't have on my machine. He comes back 10 minutes later with a drive and gives me a personal 20 minute demo of some of their plug-ins. They're really pretty fast and ran well in Motion 3. They were not quite realtime, but ran about 10-12 frames per second in previews. Not too shabby. They have a really nice keyer. I didn't have the full set, only about 20 of the 180 or so plug-ins that will be shipping, but what I saw was very cool stuff indeed.

I showed DV Matte Blast from DvGarage, which Toolfarm doesn't sell, unfortuately. It's very fast... real-time! However, it doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles of a more robust keyer. It does what it does well, but if you're looking for something with a light wrap, matte choker and so on, the Boris Continuum Complete Keyer was a really nice keyer. It got in nice and tight around hair and fingers on moving footage.

Another plug-in I didn't have was ToonIt! from Digital Anarchy. Marco from DA came over to my booth and installed it and gave me a quick tour and It totally gives the look of those Charles Schwab commercials. It does run really slowly, but it analyzes pixel by pixel so it's doing a lot of work. Also, it's still in beta, as is Motion 3. The look is perfect. They've got that nailed. I was using the ToonIt! Roto plug-in on some Ducati footage from Apple and it was impressive to say the least. Slow, but impressive. If you've tried to create this look on your own, it's not an easy task. I think ToonIt! is going to do very well in the plug-in marketplace.

Also, Marco from DA gave me a behind the scenes look at the Quartz Compositor and programming that goes into Plasma FX. That was really interesting. I had no idea what goes into the programming of plug-ins. I also had DA Plasma FX on my box, but unfortunately there was an old build installed, not to mention a beta of Motion 3 and things were not working as well as I would've liked.

The CHV, Noise Industries plug-ins and Zaxwerks 3D Flag are available now. The Boris, Red Giant, Trapcode, and Digital Anarchy plug-ins are shipping in a month or so.

Final Cut Server also took a few awards - Television Broadcast Top Innovation Award, Television Broadcast Top Innovation Award and the DV Black Diamond Award. I was so surprised to find out how many people are migrating from their Avids and are going to get Final Cut Server in their post houses.

They didn't show Shake there and several people asked me if Shake was EOL. Word on the street is that in 2008 a new version of Shake is going to blow all of our minds. Hold tight on that one.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended also won a Television Broadcast Top Innovation Award and a 2007 Videography Vidy Award and Adobe Soundbooth CS3 took a DV Black Diamond Award. Unfortunately, I didn't get to check out much of the Adobe stuff. I was at the Apple booth for the entire show. I did manage to see an hour long demo of the new features in AE CS3 and saw some great new features. The vanishing point feature looks really swell. The Beta of AE CS3 is now available here.

No, I didn't see the RED Camera, but there was so much buzz surrounding it. Everybody wants some.

I'll get some photos of the show, the parties and the people I met up this week. Our Podcast guys, Keith and Alan, did a knockout job and got interviews with Chris and Trish Meyer, Brian Maffitt, and so many other well known people in our little industry. They did the interviews at parties in the evening so everyone is relaxed and having fun. Keith played the Chris and Trish Meyer interview at the airport and it's a hoot. That Trish really dished it to Alan. I expect them to be up by Monday, after we've all had a chance to recover. Keith and Alan and I all flew out at 1am on the red eye last night. Alan and I were actually on the same flight. Anyway, I am totally looking forward to these podcasts from NAB.

See our NAB Photo Gallery!

Labels: Boris, CHV, Digital Anarchy, Final Cut Pro, Motion, NAB, Noise Industries, Podcast, ToonIt, Trapcode, Zaxwerks

Jim Tierney of Digital Anarchy Posted the following message to the AE-List:

Digital Anarchy are introducing a new plug-in at NAB called ToonIt!. As you might expect, it gives video various types of 'cartoon' looks, along with different edge styles (or Pen&Ink mode, which is just outlines). The plug-in does an excellent job of maintaining the fidelity of lines and color regions overtime, which is the usual downfall of most of the products that attempt to create toon-looks.

• Girl ToonIt! example
• Rowing ToonIt! example
• Aircraft Carrier ToonIt! example
• Dog ToonIt! example
• Red Dress ToonIt! example
• Backhoe ToonIt! example

I think they've really caught the Waking Life look in the first example. Digital Anarchy will be at booth #SL3827E at NAB and showing ToonIt!

Labels: Digital Anarchy, ToonIt