ParticleIllusion

screenshot of ParticleiIlusion interface

includes (A) composition window (B) particle sample viewer

(C) emitter properties window (D) animation timeline

(E) emitter library

Most NLE editing systems worth their salt will include some sort of particle emission system to add splash, sparkle and shine effects to video productions. The degree of versatility depends on the software but quite often you are left facing a somewhat steep learning curve. If what you want is something that will add these effects with a more user-friendly, drag and drop approach then I suggest you look at ParticleIlusion by Wondertouch.

You may face limitations with playback if you plan to use an animated background for reference in the composition window, but so far, most small clips I have attempted (10-15 sec. range for titling) works great for creating sparkle trails with an alpha channel to drop in as targa sequences. It comes with a great selection of flares, sparkles, star trails, jet streams, fire, smoke.....more than you will probably ever need. What I really appreciate is the quickness of this application as you set an emitter point, move the timeline, set a new location, intensity, etc. and it automatically sets an editable keypoint for you. Their website shows tutorial videos for emitter basics, editing and use with HD.
 Go there and download a trial copy to play around with and I feel you'll be lost just testing out the different particle systems in the viewer.

Indigo Renderer

sample dashboard for Indigo Renderer

In my continuing pursuit of alternative render engines for 3d programs (especially in support of Sketchup) I ran across Indigo Renderer. Indigo gives support to 3 major 3d modeling/animation packages (3D Studio Max, Maya, Cinema 4D) and two smaller, freeware programs (Blender and Sketchup). I downloaded the trial version and used it with Google Sketchup-the results were fantastic.

Not only did I find the default settings (just click the button and away it goes) to work with ease and give a great output but the camera match angle and material editor worked great as well. The interface for the material took me a moment to get used to as I had to assign a material from Google's material panel, then replace it through the Indigo material dialogue, but if that's the hardest thing you have to do with this plug-in then you really can't complain. The rendering does take a while to go through all the passes it needs to give you photo-realistic results, but it doesn't lock up your system so as long as you have a sturdy enough working RAM package on your machine (and who doesn't now days?) you can let it render in the background while you go onto other projects. Indigo offers excellent support as well through their website with additional materials to load, group forum to help you with questions, tricks and resources and support for Indigo with usage of whichever of the 3d packages you choose to use. My hats off to the people who produced Indigo. This is just the kind of ease-of-use plug-in I had hoped for.

the GIMP

before & after manipulation on

separate layer in GIMP

Few paint/photo editing programs can boast a low price and versatility to the public. Industry standards like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro work great and offer extreme functionality but price is a huge consideration, even with student discounts or special offers from the companies. Some paint programs give you a low (or free) price but lack the versatility of the larger named programs. The exception to this rule is the GIMP.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a freeware program for Windows,MAC or Unix systems that gives the user most all the same functions as the heftier standards. Image support for all major image file formats, layers, brushes, selection tools, effects, filtering...the list goes on and on. You can adjust the layout of the interface with customizing options and the online manual is a great bonus (so often programs can leave you out there on your own to figure out how to use it). There seems to be a fairly good sized support for this program and the amount of plugins and tutorials for GIMP continue to grow. For those on a tight budget, how can you not love the price-free! Some sites even carry a portable version of this great little program.

Poser 8 vs. Iclone 4

interface from Poser 8 (top)

and IClone 4 (bottom)

I decided to do a comparative analysis of these two programs as they have very similar output functions. I have been a follower of Poser through it's progressive advancement stages of bringing an easy to use application for people who want to create 3d models for static images, animations and modeling. The Poser software package has passed through a variety of owners since it's conception (published by Fractal Design, MetaCreations, Curious Labs, e Frontier and Smith Micro) providing easy to use models for posing, animating and support to other software programs. Their presence as a partner to such programs as Daz 3D Studio, Bryce, even venturing into usage with Cararra, Maya and Zbrush , makes Poser a reliable standard.

There is a new kid on the block however that makes a big push into the 3d puppeteers's programing arena: Reallusion IClone. IClone has gone through some early versions when they showed ease of usage as a major factor in their program. Template animation sequences for characters gave people the ability to make quick flicks. The downside was the versatility they showed in customizing character's appearance or modifying animations sequences were easier seen than done. The latest version (ver. 4) shows vast improvement in easy to use/tweak functions, and much more. Faster, smarter manipulation, great import video support, recognition of alpha channels....all of these functions available in Poser as well, however, mesh creation and manipulation in IClone excels with nice visual interface for facial puppeteering and UV mapping.

If I were starting to venture into 3d puppet/model software programs today for the first time, I would certainly have a great versatility with either program. Those familiar with the Poser package would probably feel comfortable sticking with it's reliability and vast network of addon plugins and models. There are more Poser (and Daz) websites on the web than you can imagine. IClone is newer to the game and will have a lot of catching up to do to match Posers online community. IClone has to keep in mind that the abundance of functionality in a program weighs up against it's program learning curve. If I am a game designer and have the option to make a finished sequence with nice background effects and posed figures, do I spend the time and money on this all-in-one package or rely on cross-program construction from two or more programs?

Eye Candy 6

64 bit interface for Eye Candy 6

and sample chrome effect to eye.

Alien Skin has come out with it's latest update in the quality line of plugins for Photoshop with Eye Candy 6. For those of you who have previous versions of Eye Candy (4 or 5 in particular) you may want to uninstall them before putting on this new set as a lot of the effects are repeats. The biggest updates to the newer version comes with it's 64 bit support for Adobe Photoshop CS4, allowing you to have an interface on youur main work area rather than clicking on the list of effects from a dropdown. For me this is no large convenience as the Photoshop work area is already littered with a variety of pull down menus and I value the space to view my actual work more than the little knobs and dials to adjust. One great improvement they made was it's ability to handle large images and scale the effect adaptively, a setback in earlier versions. As with versions 4 and 5, ye Candy 6 has the capability to place the effect in a separate layer (big benefit), offers a variety of presets as well as the ability to store your own effects for recall (BIG benefit when working on client files that you need to reproduce an effect for) and one more big change, the ability to apply the effect in CMYK mode. I don't know how many times I've tried to apply an effect/filter in Photoshop only to see the list of nice warps and filters grayed out until I convert the image to RGB, back to CMYK, and then you lose true color reproduction from there. My vote is to have one of these plugin packages, whether 4,5 or 6 (and 3 is a keeper as well-I do wish they would continue lines specifically for After Effects) as part of your Photoshop arsenal. If you go to the Alienskin website they have a demo version you can download and try before you buy, as well as demo versions of their other fine plugins (Blow Up 2, Bokeh, Exposure 2, Image Doctor 2, Snap Art 2 and Xenofex 2).

Sketchup Renderers: A Quick Glance at Three

Sketchup renders(top/bottom): Sketchup, IRender nXt, Podium, Hypershot.

Google Sketchup is one of the easier 3d modeling software packages out there to use with easy to load models from the web and single click application of materials. Where a lot of people feel a void comes in the final render. The program itself offers a variety of linear, sketchy options for final output but for that semi-realistic, shaded effect you really need to invest in a separate render engine. There are a wide variety of packages out there, most noted being Vray, but with this sophistication of a top notch renderer like Vray comes a semi-steep learning curve. There are a lot of sites out there dedicated to learning Vray, materials for Vray....invest some time to use this one, but if what you want is a fairly nice job of ambient light, shading, shadows without a lot of hassle, take a look at one of these three plugins for Sketchup:

Irender nXt

IRender allows quick setup for a nice looking render. Options for settings include usage of artificial light (with downloads for various lights off the web that automatically adjust to your scene or let you change the settings), natural light, override Sketchup sun settings, limited variables of materials (reflective quality of material, course or smooth setting for bump maps), adjustment of background colors for your render (or image as background), finished size of output option with a fairly quick render time. Where it might fall short for some is it's inability to handle alpha channel images well so trying to place a tree image (i.e. imagecel foliage) is next to impossible. A bonus to this render engine is it's recognition of Sketchup shadow settings in the render.

 Podium

SU Podium for Sketchup is another fantastic photo-realistic renderer that is easy to operate and offers a variety of variables for you to set. The interface comes with a couple different settings and seems to react very nice in the Sketchup environment, materials can be adjusted for reflection and lighting attributes, great for outdoor architectural shots. Creating lights takes a little bit of patience but the final outcome is worth the effort. A bonus for it's ability to recognize alpha images so realistic looking people, trees, etc. that are masked can be interpreted. Preset lights can be downloaded form certain sites so Podium ranks very high in my book.

Hypershot

Hypershot is one of the best looking renders from the least amount of effort. This plugin opens in a new window allowing rich looking textures to be dragged and applied on screen, slower render time that IRender or Podium but very satisfying results that carry ambient occlusion similar to that you see from Vray. Excellent render for interior shots-I agree with Bunkspeed Hypershot's analysis of their product that touts "not like any typical or standard rendering software packages'-simple, fast and accurate. Only part that takes some getting used to is the camera adjustment but with simplistic adjustment of variables I find Hypershot to be a reliable asset for Sketchup.

TVP Animation 9 Pro

the dashboard of TVP Animation 9 Pro

TVP Animation is not for the weak of heart. This software packages encompasses almost every tool you could imagine needing to create fantastic animations. The downside is, it encompasses almost every tool you could imagine needing to create fantastic animations. The learning curve on this one is somewhat steep, but once you get the hang of it, the versatility redeems the product and opens your imagination to hundreds of techniques to use for your next animation. This is not a beginner’s program and documentation on it takes some hunting (great tutorials on this one can be found here or here) but I feel the creators of TVP Animation 9 Pro  wanted to cover all the possibilities when it come to an animator’s needs for versatility.

using the blue pencil tool to rough in images

One of the best key features I found with TVP is the ability to use a blue pencil to sketch in your work, then drawing on top of that with a black pencil and with one command, erase all the blue pencil rough marks you made to clean up your images. In addition to this great still image tool, TVP offers light box mode, allowing you to view your series of images in an onion skin fashion with great control over opacity and color of the skinned images. To list all the tools of this complete animating software program would take a booklet, which may leave some frustrated, however since the earliest concept of this program in 1991 (with the release of TVPaint!), this French software package continues to polish it’s product. This is by far one of the best animating software programs I’ve seen to date.  If you go to their website you can download a trial copy of TVP but be prepared to dedicate a little time to learning it’s features.

Videohive

screenshot from website VIDEOHIVE

There are dozens upon dozens of royalty free image websites varying in price depending on what size image you purchase, usage and these can be a great time-saver to a designer. Thumbnail sized images from IstockPhoto run you about $3, which is easy enough to pass along to the client. But what if your needs are for stock footage video? Pricing on that can get costly and your project budget may not be able to afford background video to dress it up-that is, unless you go to Videohive. Video file pricing starts at $1 with a variety of animated stock footage, motion graphics DVD menus and project files-even free video files for those who sign up for their blog. Loopable backgrounds and working files for AE users to tweak a project to include their personal editing in a motion graphic title, this site is a time-saver as well as a money-saver. Bookmark this site as a great reference for stock video.

ZBrush 3.5

Pixologic continues to refine one of the most valuable tools for sculpting, painting and rendering in 3d with the release of Zbrush version 3.5. The earlier version of Zbrush were leaders in the field of modeling with the usage of Zspheres, often imitated with other programs (i.e. 3D Studio Max's metaballs) as well as the 2.5D process for creating work.

2.5D can be described as the bridge between 2D and 3D art, allowing the artist to create work with 3D characteristics like lighting, textures and shadows while maintaining a base model which can be accessed to change the model pose, structure, etc. Output can be used to create stunning images from Zbrush, or mesh models and maps can be exported for use in other 3d animating/rendering programs. I utilize Zbrush to create figures and organic shapes to be taken into programs like Bryce or 3D Studio Max for final work. The thing I appreciate the most about Zbrush is it's ease of use. The interface takes very little time to get used to and you find yourself doodling for hours in this program while being fascinated with its abilities. The learning curve on this program grows with your interest in it being the perfect match to drive you to want to learn it. So often I try various modeling programs that leave me frustrated and telling myself I can do this or that process easier in another program. Zbrush just leaves me wanting more from it-and it delivers!

Elefont

Elefont - Simplistic 3d text

Elefont is a small little app that does what it does quite easily, however, most people will find it's usage somewhat limited. The nice thing about it is it takes up very little space, and works quick. The downside to it is you really need to use it in conjunction with another program to view the text as 3d with shading, color, etc.-best used with Bryce or POVRay, it can also be used with Sketchup, however the triangulation of most fonts will leave you clicking a bunch of faces in order to get the coloring you want.
I made the example to the left in a matter of minutes. The top portion of the image shows the dashboard of Elefont-very basic. You type your text in (another downside to this app...no allowance for multiple line entries), choose the font you wish to use, then adjust it using any or all of the buttons (font, curve quality, extrusion length, bevel type and bevel scale) then save it as a DXF or Moray/POV (UNO/INC) to be used in another program. I took the text into Bryce, un-grouped it and put different materials to each letter (recognizes each letter as an individual element). If you need titling in your Bryce renderings, this is a nice little utility but most people will probably have the same capabilities in another 3d modeling program.

Flax

What the Flax?

There are dozens upon dozens of programs out there, and I'm sure still more being created as I speak, whose main purpose is to create little Flash snippets for your website with little know-how. One of the more useful and versatile ones I've come across is Flax, not just because of it's ease of use, creative options for effects and predefined titling effects, but because the interface consists of 5 small boxes (highlighted in red -see image) which you can lay directly over a presentation, website or what ever you're working with on screen and see how it looks. The realtime display will show you your work and update as you change font, color, effect, timing, measurement....just a great little application that spits out a finished Flash file (.swf) to use in presentations, webwork. You can get lost just playing around with the settings for 100's of variations.

My Graphic Arts blog

First Foot Forward...
Greetings to any and all visiting this site. I continue to highlight my own work on my website, however I intend for this blog to be a resource of information regarding graphic art programs and various resources on the web for visual media production. Initially I started this blog to review graphic programs as well as animated movies. I have decided to split these two blogs up, so if you would like to see my other blog on animation, go here. Please feel free to contact me with requests or feedback.