Yes, we know the video and audio quality are not the best, but first let me tell you about how this video was made. Technology is amazing. This was streaming live from my iPhone from the Lansing Center yesterday. They had video blocked at the convention hall so I couldn't go straight from my computer. This was recorded over 3G. Knowing that, it's not too bad, eh!
Alicia from Toolfarm is demoing Magic Bullet Looks and Video Copilot's new one, Optical Flares, from our table at the show. I finally got to see the video today. Yes, that is one extreme close-up on me! I needed a monitor on the front of the phone.
We are hoping to do some more live broadcasts from future events, like NAB. Hopefully we can work the bugs out by then and have better quality. I know we will not have wifi at NAB. It costs entirely too much.
Video Copilot's Optical Flares Review by Topher Welsh at AEtuts+
"Finally! Optical Flares is here and the behemoth of a lens flare plugin could not be more worth the months of hype! I decided to run through all the features, poke around and try out the plugin and give my exclusive opinion on how fantasmically AWESOME this thing is! Trust me, it has been well worth the wait."
Optical Flares is a plug-in for designing and animating realistic lens flares in After Effects. Video Copilot Optical Flares Plug-in for After Effects, Includes 60 Presets and Tutorials.
On-Lens Simulations Simulate dust & scratches on your lens that becomes visible by the light source. Includes 12 HD lens textures or use your own.
3D Occlusion Obscure layers by alpha or luminance to simulate the light source going behind objects in the foreground. Works with 2D & 3D layers!
Luminance Tracking Generate a lens flare from bright spots in your video such as a particle system or matte layer. Control resolution and threshold.
Mask Positioning Animate lens flares along the contour of complex shapes with ease. Great for detailed shapes that would require extra key framing.
Auto-Shimmering Add smooth flowing shimmer to elements with self-propelling animation. Simply set the amount and speed of the animation. -No Keyframes!
Chromatic Aberration Simulate realistic color bleeding around the outside of the lens. This effect also helps make the lens flares look more organic & natural.
Light Flickering Make lights appear more energetic with random light flickering featuring a unique seed for each light source. Choose from smooth or Twitchy.
32 Bit & GPU Ready Optical Flares renders up to 32 bpc offering high color fidelity as well as enhanced speed with Graphics card acceleration.
Flexible Core Objects Build stunning lens flares with the use of 12 powerful core objects. These elements offer unmatched flexibility with detailed control settings.
Precise Translating Control the position of each object with distance, offset and custom translation. These features are essentials to building anamorphic elements.
John Dickinson reviews Video Copilot's Action Essentials.
Action Essentials 2 is hard to fault, there simply isn't anything else like it on the market. Consisting of over 500 action stock footage clips in 20 categories from Atmospheres to Water, Action Essentials 2 has something for all motionographers and visual effects artists.
Greg Kupiec (The Ether) and Andrew Kramer (VideoCopilot.net) will show you some of their AE chops. Toolfarm's good friend Harry Frank will present the awesomeness that is Trapcode's Particular V2. This is a meeting you definitely do NOT want to miss if you're in the vicinity of Hollywood.
Come on out to AENY's meeting tomorrow Thursday, July 30, 2009, 6:45p-9:00p at P.S. 41 116 West 11th St., NYC (corner of 11th Street and 6th Ave.)
Thanks to our sponsors, the meeting is FREE. Visit AENY for more information.
Guests include freelance animator/artist Eric Epstein. He'll break down how he created this truly gorgeous experimental video using Trapcode particular 2 & PF Hoe 3D for camera matching.
Want to give Particular 2 a try? Download a free trial here!
Also presenting at the meeting is The Molecule, who provide all sorts of digital media. Their top shelf clients include ABC, FX, The History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, and others.
Severyal companies are throwing in door prizes, including Video Copilot, Red Giant, Digieffects and yes, of course, Toolfarm!
What is Action Essentials II? Action Essentials 2 is a collection of stock footage elements for compositing. Ideal for visual effects & motion graphics.
Pre-Keyed Stock Footage
Action Essentials 2 is great for Film-Makers, but you can also create exciting motion graphics too! The natural elements are great for building mixtures of unexpected elements like water and fire.
No complicated Keying with these clips! Just place an element over your footage and the background has built-in transparency.
2 VERSIONS AVAILABLE: Same Elements, Same Content, 2 Resolutions!
2K Film Resolution: [ 2048 x 1152 ] Action Essentials II 2K Version offers the most freedom for compositors with over 2.5X more resolution in each element. Whether you are working with in HD or plan to in the future, this collection offers the versatility and resolution needs of tomorrow. Plus a pretty sweet box!
720p High Definition: [ 1280 X 720 ] Action Essentials II 720p Version is ideal for SD and 720p work but many of the elements work great with 1080i projects as well. Especially effects like muzzle flashes and bullet holes, which are generally smaller in the frame.
System Requirements:
PC & Mac Compatible
QuickTime 6.5+
Compatible with: After Effects 6.5, 7, CS3 and CS4 Final Cut Studio Premiere and Premiere Elements Vegas Video Avid Other Quicktime Based Programs
The votes are tallied for the Toolfarm 2009 Plug-in Awards. Thank you for your input!
Congratulations to Trapcode Particular for being the most prized plug-in for After Effects, winning by a landslide! Congratulations also to the winner of the Drobo giveaway - Dan Owen of Ensightful.
It will be available in 2 versions: 720p HD (1280x720) and 2k Film-res (2048x1152). Sounds incredible! It will be out in June 2009. Follow Toolfarm on Twitter for notification as soon as it's released!
Video Copilot's Optical Flares Review by Topher Welsh at AEtuts+
Product Features:
