Reviews, tutorials and news (previously: IT Enquirer)
Turning Final Cut Pro X into a grading application a la Da Vinci Resolve is what Chromatic, CoreMelt's latest plugin sets out to do. It succeeds pretty well by cramming a lot of functionality into this full-blown colour grading solution. It's the only plugin that delivers the ability to select colour ranges right in the clip viewer, but to appreciate its power to the fullest, a lowly iMac such as mine won’t do.
FxFactory released yet another great plug-in, 3D Video Walls. This plug-in contains a whole bunch of titles that you can create illusory 3D video walls with, based on the videoclip underneath it. If you want to have a dynamic backdrop to show these video walls against as well, you can create a compound clip out of the 3D wall and place that clip on top of another one in the Timeline. The effect is brilliant and the controls allow for virtually endless variations.
I’m not a fan of automatic image enhancement tools, but Perfectly Clear 3 struck me as a Photoshop plug-in that allows for subtle improvements on portraits without making you look like a plastic Barbie doll. It offers a plethora of presets and a full set of controls too.
The MasterCheck Pro plug-in analyses loudness for audio that is delivered through loudness normalised channels. It helps mastering loudness normalised audio. Nugen Audio came up with MasterCheck Pro because loudness normalised audio makes it crucially important to understand how your music will reach the consumer. If you do not take this into account, there is a good chance that it will not sound as you originally intended.
Luca Visual FX has released an FxFactory plug-in that enables you to animate random rows and walls of text morphing into words you define. It offers 18 title effects for you to play with.
MotionVFX puts mocha’s tracking technology to good use. An example of how effective you can create composites if you have the right design, just enough controls to keep everybody satisfied, and the right tracking engine, is mHUD 2, powered by mocha. You can use it to make commercials more exciting or add spice to sci-fi …
Continue reading "mHUD 2 trackable HUD elements make for stunning effect"
The Bechstein Digital Grand is an exceptionally versatile instrument and plug-in. Its tonal character is said to be close to the acoustic model. While playing with high polyphony throughout all registers, each note remains clearly defined within the arrangement. The player software frustrates.
Video footage is often a little soft and sharpening details can make a world of difference. I tested Samurai Sharpen for Final Cut Pro X. This Digital Anarchy plug-in allows you to use parameters that let you easily isolate specific areas of the footage and only sharpen those areas. It's precise and simple.
Crumplepop has come up with a solution for stabilising footage in post-production. BetterStabilizer works as a Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro plug-in. I tested the Final Cut Pro X plug-in and was impressed with the ease-of-use and the excellent results.
mDoubleExposure is a compositing plug-in for Final Cut Pro X that gives you the ability to create multiple masks by overlaying videoclips on top of each other. Due to the granular control this plug-in offers, you can achieve dazzling effects.
