COMING SOON -- PLUG-INS

I have had hundreds of requests for information on plug-ins and lets face it ... there are some great ones out there. As a beta site for the Magic Bullet I was fortunate to see the degree of work that goes into creating a truly great suite of tools. I'll be including GrainSurgery, the DFT suit, The TinderBox series, the Pinnacle series as well as any others that I can get my hands on. If you've got any requests or suggestions, drop me a note.

Adobe After Effects / Version: 6
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Adobe After Effects 6 is the single best motion graphics application in the business. Yes, there are far more expensive soloutions out there, and in some instances such as large shops where people only do elements of a shot that is later combined somewhere up the food chain, programs like Shake and Inferno are more appropriate. But for you and me, and the millions of other pixel pushers out there, this is the best there is.

The software provides complete creative control as you integrate media to produce motion graphics and visual effects for video, film, multimedia, or the Web. You can precisely control the position and motion of layers in your projects, and apply high-quality keying effects (now with Keylight built in to the pro bundle) to fine-tune your composites. Animate layered Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator files, and import Adobe Premiere projects. AE6 lets you add multiple masks to any layer, and then change their shape and position over time. Produce sophisticated audio and visual effects with more than 75 effects plug-ins and even animate text along any path with the sophisticated text managment tools.

Now with OpenGL acceleration the speed is seriously professional. While working on spome shots for Pirates of the Carabien, my wife was playing back full app, 2K .cin files in real time. After Effects is available in two versions to suit your needs. The Standard version provides core compositing, 2D animation, and effects tools. The Production Bundle delivers those tools, plus more powerful keying, motion control, distortion, and audio tools.

Adobe Premiere / Version: 6
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Adobe Premiere software is ideal for a vast majority of your video needs. It provides an economical solution for professionals who need a flexible, nonlinear editing system or just a way to create detailed storyboards. Since Apple's FinalCut Pro is such a hobbled together piece of bloatware, I use Premiere for the bulk of my acquisition and editing needs. Adobe Premiere lets you do all editing on-line, including graphics and special effects, with the same high quality as professional editing systems. New in system 6 is the ability to create streaming content. You can incorporate video images into multimedia presentations for delivery from CD-ROM, the Internet, or your hard drive.

CineWave
Pinnacle Systems Inc.
This video editing system comprises: Targa Cine video board, Final Cut Pro, Hollywood FX Silver and Commotion Pro video and effects software. The Pro Analog Break-Out-Box handles acquisition, post production and delivery of a wide range of video formats. I have switched over my entire production environment from Media100, which I've been using for nearly ten years to the CineWaveHD system. I now use it for all of the technical comparisons between various video formats on this site. Needless to say, it is an impressive performer. The only reservation that I have with regard to the CineWave System is that like so many of the other high-end desktop systems, they've nailed it to Apple's exceedingly mediocre FinalCut Pro software.

Combustion / Version: 1.1
Autodesk
Introducing combustion from Discreet. For the first time on Windows NT and Macintosh, one solution contains all the speed and visual interactively you need to produce compelling visual effects. We've been using this program on numerous broadcast and motion picture projects and have found it to be a powerful performer. As I mention in my book, this is a significant application because it bridges the worlds of high-end and desktop production. It has a rather steep learning curve but it puts you firmly in the big leagues.

Commotion / Version: 3.1.1
Pinnacle Systems Inc.
Commotion is a leading visual effects software solution for film and video professionals. Commotion's real-time performance is unprecedented on Macintosh or Windows NT based computers. Commotion's Rotospline feature gives you the ability to use an unlimited number of keyframeable Bezier and natural splines (b-splines). By creating intersections and overlays of rotospline paths, you can then generate complex mattes. Commotion's motion tracking feature lets you select as many objects as you want and track their position across a series of frames. Motion tracking can also be used to automate paint, rotosplines, and image stabilization. The creative tools in Commotion include AutoPaint, SuperClone, FX Brushes, and wire removal, making it a comprehensive solution for visual effects. Commotion supports many 3rd party plug-ins including AfterEffects. If you're getting into DV moviemaking, this package is one of the essentials and is in almost daily use around the Billups household. The only fault that I have with this program is that even though it comes bundled with the CineWave board, it is incapable of acquiring video with it. I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

Final Cut Pro / Version: 4
Apple Computer, Inc.
FINALLY! FCP4 rocks.
Final Cut Pro software combines professional video editing, compositing, and special effects in one affordable and flexible program. A Power Macintosh G5 computer with Final Cut Pro costs less than a tenth of the price of competing systems. While the basic version is geared toward FireWire enabled components, the CineWave HD system comes with a fully operating HiDefinition post production version.

OK, so maybe I wasn't exactly kind to versions 1, 2 &3 ... I think I may have even used the term "BloatWare" a few times. But, like everyone else, I plunked down my money for the upgrade. A-FRIG'N-MAZING! No more dropped frames, no more mid-edit chokes, no more mysterious "undocumented features" popping up. This version actually Works. Need I say any more?

iMovie / Version: 2.0.1
Apple Computer, Inc.
iMovie is an easy-to-use digital video editing software application in the classic Macintosh tradition. With convenient pull-down menus and with icons that represent familiar tools and objects, this application gives you the ability to cut and paste video clips and graphics simply by pointing and clicking. This integration with all things Macintosh is especially helpful for beginners because things you have already learned from using one program on your iMac will come in handy when you start using iMovie. Available as a free download from the company's website, this is truly a great little app. Somewhere between iMovie and FinalCut Pro lives a great desktop edit program.

Media100 / Version: 8
Media100
I was one of their first beta sites, for me, Media100 was the easiest editor to learn and has what I consider to be the most appropriate interface of all the systems on all the platforms. The new OSX version is rock solid and even more simple to use. If you just want to get in there and do it, this is the one to do it with. It puts the fun back into editing.

I can teach someone to edit a movie in ten minutes with a Media100. After six years with FCP, I'm still learning.

844X
Media100
I've played with the proto units a couple times and it is one of those things you've got to see to believe.

Media Cleaner Power Suite / Version: 5
Terran Interactive, Inc.
Collection of tools for production of high quality digital video for the Internet; includes Media Cleaner Pro, Sorenson Video codec, Ultra BlueICE and QDesign Music Codec. I devote a good amount of ink to this program in my book as well as several illustrations. I personally use this program nearly every day and is a 'must have' for anyone who wishes to venture into the internet.

Media Composer
Avid Technology, Inc
Avid's Media Composer digital nonlinear editing systems are used by thousands of film and video editors worldwide to edit commercials, feature films, television programs, music videos and documentaries. Available in a range of configurations, from finishing-quality to offline systems for creating rough cuts of film and video programs. I was one of the first people to use an Avid system, whie they were still in Beta testing.

I didn't particularly like their edit paradigm then and although it is greatly improved, it still isn't where it needs to go to be a true nonlinear system. Like everything except the Media100 system, it is based on the old A/B roll analogue metephore and while I understand why they used it in the beginning, why do they continue now that all those old editors have moved on or converted?

In the very early days of the American Film Institute's Media Lab, I gave the first seminars on nonlinear editing and started every class with a disclaimer of how poorly written I felt the Avid program was. Add to that the way they've disrespected their dedicated user base for nearly twenty years and you have all the ingredients for a company that should have gone belly up long ago. I say all this so that you can understand how much it pains me to say that the new AVID/DS HD is quit simply the finest HD system out there. Ouch!

MovieTools / Version: 1.6.4
McQ Productions
MovieTools provides a suite of utilizes for working with digital video on the Mac. It includes Field Rendering and De-Interlacing, Movie Interlacing, Field Interpolation, Alpha Channel and Chromakey functions, as well as movie comparison, Effects such as flips and rotation, and resizing between various video standards. If you're working with digital video on the Mac, MovieTools is a good, basic addition to your toolbox.

MovieWorks / Version: 5
Interactive Solutions, Inc.
Their new promotional campaign that promotes this package says: "It's like having "lite" versions of Macromedia Director, Adobe Premiere (video editor), Flash (animation editor), Sound Edit Pro (sound editor) and PhotoShop (photo/paint editor), all rolled into one for under $100." I have used this package and it performs as advertised. Probably the single best value in desktop video graphics.

QuickEditor / Version: 6.3.2
Mathias Tschopp
This, without a doubt is the finest shareware app in motion graphics. The "All-in-one-window" QuickTime editor offers a scalable interface; supports a range of file formats; offers over 100 transitions and filters; supports sound and music tracks as well as full support for QuickTime for both Mac and Windows computers.

SonicStudio HD / Version: 1.6
Sonic Solutions Inc.
SonicStudio is perhaps the most widely-used system in the world for advanced audio editing and CD premastering. A true multi-format mastering system, SonicStudio HD supports CD, DVD-Audio, audio for DVD-Video, and EMD mastering. SonicStudio is used today by major record labels, recording studios and mastering facilities to prepare more than two out of every three commercially-released CDs. SonicStudio users have consistently won Grammy®, Emmy® and Oscar® awards for their exceptional sound work. I run it on a dual processor IntelliStation NT and it rips.

Strata VideoShop / Version: 4.51
Strata Inc
Like everything else that comes from Strata, VideoShop is affordable, well designed and easy to use. If you've ever used a computer, you can use VideoShop. Even beginners can cut, copy and paste video clips almost immediately because VideoShop comes complete with everything you need to begin editing including FireWire and QuickTime 3 support. If you're just dipping your feet in the nonlinear water, try this.