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Synthetic Aperture Test Gear
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The Stats
- Developer: Synthetic Aperture
- Version: v1.1 (for AE 6.5 and AE 7), v2.0 for AE CS3
- Platforms: Mac OS 9/X, Windows 2000/XP
- Host Applications: Adobe After Effects
- Compatibility with After Effects 7 and Mac Universal Binary
Purchase Test Gear
Download Demo and Data Sheet
Description
Synthetic Aperture's Test Gear is a plug-in for Adobe After Effects which provides a variety of visual and audio test instruments for use by motion graphics artists and video editors.
"Key to solving any problem is the ability to measure it," said Robert Currier, President, Synthetic Aperture. "Unfortunately, that used to mean that you had to spend a lot of money on hardware test instruments. Now Test Gear not only adds unique measurement tools, but makes it affordable for every artist and editor to have proper test instrumentation on their workstation."
Test Gear provides motion graphics artists and video editors with a variety of test instruments to make objective measurements of their visual and audio work, all from within Adobe After Effects.
While the final measurement of any project is what it looks and sounds like, getting there has previously relied strictly on subjective viewing. Test Gear's objective measurement tools make it easy to check video levels and color balance, choose colors, view channel values in detail, and view digital audio, all within After Effects and without the need to apply effects just to make a measurement.
- Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope - Test Gear provides standard waveform monitor and vectorscope displays so that your work can be analyzed in the traditional manner without expensive outboard equipment. The waveform monitor can be formatted to show an entire frame or two fields. Options also include luma, luma plus chroma, parade, and RGB style displays. The display can be calibrated in IRE units or millivolts, as you prefer.
- Histograms - No longer do you need to apply an effect just to see a histogram display; Test Gear's histograms are always available. View red, green, blue, and luma histograms at the same time, or select an individual channel for greater detail. You can also zoom in and out to see the full range of data. In addition to the graphical histogram display, Test Gear also displays the minimum, maximum, peak and mean values in numerical form. The mean is also graphically represented, so you can quickly spot overall color casts.
- Color Picker - Choose colors using Test Gear's color picker window using RGB, HLS, HSB, web-color, and grayscale pickers. Colors that would exceed video broadcast limits are flagged and can be legalized with a single click.
- Color Swatch Books - Color swatch books keep collections of related colors always available for use in After Effects. Use one of the built-in swatch books, or create your own, keeping handy all the colors you've previously chosen.
- Image Slice Display - Test Gear's image slice display lets you define an arbitrary slice through the image data and examine the red, green, blue, luma, and alpha levels up close. Far more revealing than a point-sampling tool, it's ideal for checking edge values when pulling mattes from blue- and greenscreen material. You can also use it for examining color subsampling issues, edge sharpness, and other levels changes that are difficult to visualize with any other tool. Examine all channels at once, or view each channel individually.
- Audio Waveform Display - Test Gear's audio waveform display makes it easy to see your audio and check levels and spot cues. Optional level warnings flag audio as it approaches 0 dbFS, to help you avoid digital clipping. You can zoom in on a single frame, or display the audio from multiple frames.
- Audio Phase Display - Check the phase of your two-channel audio using both XY and stereo-image displays. This display helps prevent phase-reversal problems that could cause playback problems later.
- Audio Spectrum Analyzer - The audio spectrum analyzer shows you the frequency content of your audio signal. Use it to check for pitch problems or locate audio cues.
Feature List
- Provides a multitude of objective test instruments within Adobe After Effects.
- Standard waveform monitor and vectorscope display with numerous display options.
- Histogram display with minimum, maximum, peak, and mean measurements.
- Photoshop-style color picker with RGB, HLS, HSB, and grayscale modes.
- Color swatch books make it easy to pick colors from a pre-approved set.
- Image slice display shows channel levels through an arbitrary slice of the image.
- Audio waveform monitor with optional level warnings.
- Audio phase display with XY and stereo image modes.
- Audio spectrum analyzer.
- Resolution independent to work with NTSC, PAL, SD, HD, and film.
- No need to apply an effect to get display.
- Uses standard dockable palette windows.
- Includes User's Guide in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.
What's new in Test Gear 1.1
- Two new waveform monitor modes, including YRGB and Overlay displays.
- Scaling (zoom) of the vectorscope display to more easily view neutral colors.
- Support for ITU.R 601, ITU.R 709, and SMPTE 240M color spaces.
- Compatibility with After Effects 7.0.
- Compatibility with GridIron Software Nucleo.
System Requirements for v2.0
Macintosh Intel or Power-PC based Macintosh Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5 or later. QuickTime 6.0 or later Adobe After Effects CS3.
Windows Pentium III or better Windows-compatible PC Windows XP or Vista. QuickTime 6.0 or later Adobe After Effects CS3.
Support
FAQ
Is there a manual available?
Yes, the downloadable installer includes a 30+ page electronic User's Guide in Adobe PDF format. On the Macintosh, the manual will be installed in the Synthetic Aperture folder within the After Effects Plug-ins folder. On Windows, the manual will be available from the Start Menu under the Test Gear entry.
How do I open the User's Guide?
The User's Guide is in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. You'll need Acrobat Reader 4.0 or later to read the manual. You can download the free Reader from the Adobe web site.
Will Test Gear work in applications other than After Effects? They say they support After Effects plug-ins.
No, Test Gear will work only in After Effects. Test Gear makes use of interfaces to After Effects that are proprietary to Adobe and are not available in other so-called "After Effects compatible" applications.
I installed Test Gear and now I get the error message "After Effects error: unimplemented function" whenever I do a RAM preview. What's up?
This issue has been resolved in Test Gear 1.0.3. After updating Test Gear, delete the After Effects preferences. The problem should now be eliminated. If you do not want to delete all of your After Effects preferences, and are comfortable editing the preferences text file, you can delete only the "Pref_SOUND_PREVIEW_DEPTH" line in the "Main Pref Section". This will reset the problematic setting and RAM previews should once again function properly.
Compatibility with Earlier Versions of After Effects
Test Gear 2 requires Adobe After Effects CS3 or later.
If you are using After Effects 6.5, 7.0, or CS2, you will want to purchase Test Gear 1.1 instead, which is compatible with those earlier versions of After Effects.
Render Farm Information
- This page was last modified 16:35, 30 June 2008.
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