Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/110591
notes Budreau. "We released Version 6 for Sapphire at the end of 2011, and one of the big features was the new flare designer.That was big for our Autodesk, After Effects and Nuke users. It gave them control over every element of the lens flare, such as size, spacing, thickness, intensity — they could add textures as well as their own elements." With lens flares being so commonly used, Budreau says Sapphire users appreciate the ability to stylize their effects, making them their own. They also rely on GenArts plug-ins to speed up workflows and create timesaving shortcuts. "Anything that can take away the drudgery of their daily work," he notes. "They are always looking to find shortcuts using plug-ins." GenArts' Monsters GT suite features 52 plug-ins that are more "project specific." Budreau says that while Sapphire leans more toward "standard" effects, Monsters is anything but standard. "If someone needs a good smoke effect or candle effect, they would use Monsters GT." Monsters GT is available for Autodesk, Nuke and After Effects, with prices starting at $499 for a new license on AE and Nuke.The Autodesk package is $999. GenArts tends to work on a 12-16-month release cycle, and at press time, Budreau said the company was approaching the 16-month timeframe, so pros might expect to see some new products at NAB in April. Products are available through distributors and resellers, and GenArts has a shopping cart feature on its Website for purchasing suites online. In addition, GenArts has a sales team that can take calls and help customers with any questions they might have. BORIS FX Boston's Boris FX (www.borisfx.com) introduced three key products over the past year. At the NAB show last April, the company released Boris Continuum Complete 8 for After Effects, which complements the Avid product they offer. In January, Boris FX released a Final Cut Pro version that supports both FCP 7 and FCP X. Senior product manager Peter McAuley has been with Boris FX for 14 years and says the Version 8 release underwent a major reorganization that makes filters easier to find, purchase and use. "We've always had filters that were released in categories," he explains, "color, blurs, etc. But this time around we went through the entire set and found the categories would make more sense if there were more of them and if they were named in a more easily identifiable way, such as calling something glitters, lights or lens flares." There are now 16 effects categories that can be browsed. In addition, filters can now be purchased as individual units, which range in price from $199 to $299. "Somebody could need a vectorscope, and they could go and buy the vectorscope unit at a very reasonable price," McAuley explains. "If they buy one or two filters, and then down the road a bit more budget becomes available for VFX plug-ins, they can upgrade to the full package, and the amount they've invested in the company to that point is subtracted from the total price. It really works out well for everybody." Continuum Complete 8 features over 200 filters and the pricing is relatively consistent when it comes to host applications. "It's completely consistent across platforms for Windows and Macintosh," he notes. "With After Effects and Avid, there are some slight differences. There are transitions in the Avid package that would not be usable in the After Effects package. We have integration with Adobe's 3D camera and lighting system to a much greater extent than ever before. There's a very deep level of integration with After Effects. You can run a lens flare around a mask path or multiple paths. We can use these as paths for occlusion of the lens flare: so a lens flare that passes over a path will appear to pass behind an object." "There are 10 filters that are particle effects, and there's another category for keying effect, color and tone, and image restoration," adds Boris FX director of marketing, Rich D'Angelo. "Also new for Version 8, a number of filters in those key categories were completely revamped. Before the Version 8 release, [company founder/president] Boris [Yamnitsky] went to the engineering team and said, 'Look, we were among the first to have a particle effect, lens flare effect and glow effects, but we released them some time ago.' Going into 2012, Boris tasked the engineering team to really step up the lens flare, glow and particles so that we could say they were really the best in the industry." The result is a new particle system called Particle Emitter 3D, an all-new glow called Film Glow, and Lens Flare 3D, which integrates with After Effects' camera and lighting system. Boris Continuum Complete 8 for Adobe is $995 and Final Cut Pro is $995. The Avid version is priced at $1,995, and that allows buyers to move the license across different Avid systems — including Media Composer, Symphony, DS, and Newscutter — as their workflows change. The past year also saw the release of Final Effects Complete 7 ($895) for Avid, Final Cut Pro and After Effects. The release includes new transitions and flips, as well as popular clone and spiral dissolves. Dissolves can also fade to a user-defined color. Also released was Avid FX 6, a Boris Red bundle that's included with Avid products. The release is also available for Adobe Premiere Pro, Grass Valley Edius, or Sony Vegas Pro for $995, giving users motion graphics capabilities as well as compositing, motion tracking and masks. Those who purchase Continuum Complete for $995 can add Final Effects Complete for just $100. Likewise for Avid customers who purchase Continuum Complete for $1,995 — they can add Final Effects Complete for an extra $100. DIGIEFFECTS When Post caught up with Robert Sharp of Wilmington, NC's Digieffects (www.digieffects.com), the company had just completed a deal to sell its Buena Depth Cue product to Rowbyte Software, the developer of the 3D particle system plug-in for After Effects called Plexus 2. Buena Depth Cue allows users to create simulated 3D effects in 2D space. Sharp says the deal is a win-win for all parties, allowing Rowbyte to further develop the tool while Digieffects gets to re-center its focus on the Damage and Delirium products. Digieffects has been in business since the late '90s, creating plugins for After Effects, Premiere, Final Cut Pro and Motion workflows. www.postmagazine.com Post0213_026-28,30-VFXrav3finalread.indd 27 Boris FX offers effects tools for Media Composer (pictured), Premiere and Final Cut Pro 7 and X. Post • February 2013 27 1/24/13 4:55 PM