| Virtix Bravo effects and Echo transitions iMovie plug-in bundle |
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| Written by Philip Roy | |||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 01 January 2003 | |||||||||||||||||
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This might sound like I have some strange set-up for iMovie on my machine and that Virtix struggled because of it, but this isn't so (I hope). I haven't moved any applications of folders since initial installation. At the same time, Virtix should look at perhaps enhancing the documentation provided. The HTML files are minimal but helpful, although (again) I'm still slightly confused by some of the comments I read there. That said, once installed the plug-ins are easy to use and have a neat feature of providing context-sensitive help when you option-click on any of the transitions. Again, brilliant idea, but a quick diagram popping down as well as the brief sentence that appears would provide users with a lot more visual feedback as to what each of the transitions of effects do. While this way of helping users should be commended, it just feels slightly hurried and incomplete. For the Bravo plug-in, effects include that ability to apply an embossed look to your movie, laser beams, lightning, rain and smoke. You can really go to town on these and most have a number of variables that you can adjust. This is all important with effects. You need to provide the user with as much control as possible and I was pleased to see how flexible each of the effects were. Some admittedly take a bit of work to get to grips with, such as the laser beam, which requires a bit of forethought during your filming if you are to implement it in your latest galactic masterpiece. Once you get to grips with it though, space shoot-outs will never be the same again. The Echo transitions are very enjoyable group of transitions and I've made use of many already. These include the effective burn through, a nice flying blocks transition, a much more effective page peel than the default page turn Apple provides, a dizzying swirl and interesting wipe. Transitions are the kind of things that you can easily get carried away with and bad transitions really show up in a product like iMovie, so it is great to see the quality and thought that have been put into these ones. I think they are a nice mix that will keep most users happy.
It's good to see that Virtix has decided to bundle these two plug-ins together under one price (previously $24.99 USD each) as the bundle offers a bit more variety for iMovie users. These two plug-ins combined provide the user with a long list of effects and transitions that can be incorporated into their movies and will keep many an iMovie user happy. Again, as with most of the plug-ins I've seen, I'd suggest you take some time and make sure that you really will make use of the plug-ins before you buy. The exchange rate hits us slightly with the price, but if these are the sort of things you after, I guarantee that you're going to make a lot of use out of them. Oh...and they have a great sample effects pack you can download for free also, which is well worth the installation! Related Articles
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 28 March 2005 ) | |||||||||||||||||
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