VR Mobile Apps For News And Documentary

Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Virtual Reality

Do you love virtual reality or have some interest in its potential for journalistic use? The best place to start, without paying a dime, is by downloading a few apps on your mobile device. Try these out, explore a little bit, and see what you think. You don’t need a virtual reality headset or even the affordable Google Cardboard viewer to experience VR videos on your phone. Just download the apps and view the videos. If you do have Google Cardboard or a similar VR viewer, you can use those with most of these apps, too. I didn’t include the two most obvious apps, because you probably already have them, but make sure to try 360-degree videos on Facebook and YouTube. If you haven’t noticed yet, you can already view VR on these apps.

Vrse (iOS + Android) These are the folks behind some of the bigger New York Times VR projects that received a lot of attention lately. This app features the NYT projects such as The Displaced, but you can also find the short horror fiction piece Catatonic. A fun one to watch after you’ve scarred yourself with the horror film is Lucy Walker’s A Short History of Cuban Dance, which debuted at Sundance.
Littlstar (iOS + Android) This one is a bit more exciting. Their plan seems to be to become the Instagram of VR. You can make a profile, upload VR videos, like VR videos, scroll through a timeline, etc. You can already find videos from big names like ABC, NPR, the Kansas City Royals, etc. It will take some time to feel more authentic once actual, like, real people start sharing more content.
Vrideo (iOS + Android + Samsung Gear VR) Vrideo seems very similar to Littlstar but I would say it leans toward a YouTube feel. Yes, you can like and follow people, but it seems to be less of a community and more of a collection of channels. They use the term “subscribers” instead of “followers” (Littlstar uses “followers”) so maybe that’s why I’m getting the YouTube vibe.
RYOT (iOS + Android) RYOT is a news site that donates a portion of its earnings to non-profit causes. They have a VR app with two main sections: “Films” and “360 News.” As of today, the News section was filled with Iowa caucus content (even though today is Super Tuesday) but it’s safe to say they are invested in VR news since it accounts for 50% of their app’s categories! The Films section has a great documentary feel to it. Unlike the other apps, you don’t get much of a corporate branding influence, and one of the projects is a five minute collaboration with the Associated Press on “The Jungle,” the infamous refugee encampment in Calais, France.
Jaunt (iOS + Android) Jaunt is another slick one with travel, documentary, and corporate content mixed together. You can watch a funny promo for Zoolander 2, a Disneyland 60 promo, NHL hockey content, or a North Face piece shot in Nepal. CBS and ABC also make appearances in this app. Judging by all of the branded logos, there must be a fair amount of money flowing through this content, and probably the app. I assume that is a good sign for the app’s staying power, but as a source for news and information, it doesn’t have the same distinctive vibe as something like RYOT, or the next two apps.
WSJ (iOS + Android + Oculus Rift + Samsung Gear VR) The Wall Street Journal app is kind of convenient in that if you already have the regular news app on your phone, you can just open it up and scroll down to the “Virtual Reality” tab. Click on a few videos and learn about how Ikea rugs are made in India, etc. Pretty cool!
NYT VR (iOS + Android) I credit The New York Times with bringing VR journalism to the mainstream when it released The Displaced, an in-depth feature produced by NYT Magazine, along with free Google Cardboard viewers bundled into subscribers’ Sunday Times last November. The NYT VR app is nice, but single publications like NYT and WSJ are going to have a hard time keeping me coming back when they are so slow to add new content. Hopefully soon, budgets will swell with all of that post-Spotlight Oscar journalism love from viewers and advertisers 🙂 Hey, a guy can hope, right … ?

360-Degree Video Camera Reviews: Samsung Gear 360 vs Nikon KeyMission 360

Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

So far, the two most exciting camera announcements of 2016 are the 360-degree cameras from Samsung and Nikon. Nikon first inspired us with its announcement at CES in early January, showing off the weirdly-named yet tempting KeyMission 360. Samsung just announced the Samsung Gear 360 yesterday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with the help of Mark Zuckerberg on stage. Clearly, camera makers have invested much in the belief that 360° video is soon going to play a larger role in our lives.

Cameras that record 360° are not brand new, and tons of options already exist, like the leading Ricoh Theta S. However, the quality of even the Ricoh is pretty low. You can duct tape together (or buy a rig to mount) six GoPros and stitch the footage all together, but then you’ll be bald after you tear all your hair out while stitching that together on the computer 🙁

You could also rob a bank to afford the Nokia OZO. It’s only $60,000.

So, that leaves us with the Nikon KeyMission 360 and the Samsung Gear 360. What’s the catch? Neither have a release date or price. However, I’m expecting to see them in the $500 range and the companies have said they will come out soon. Samsung says the Gear 360 should come out in the second quarter of 2016 and Nikon says “this spring,” so I’m guessing they’ll be competing fiercely for our $$ and that might mean lower prices.

What are the pros and cons of each? Well, it’s unclear whether the Samsung Gear 360 will be usable with mobile devices not made by Samsung. The camera comes with an app that allows for extended controls when using a Samsung device, but there’s no mention of iOS or other Android devices. It does appear that you can still use the basic functions of the Gear 360 without any mobile device, and then transfer your footage via USB to a computer for sharing.

The pros of the Samsung Gear 360? MicroSD media storage, smaller than a baseball, and 3840×1920 HD footage.

The pros of the Nikon KeyMission 360? It’s a true “action camera,” in every sense of the phrase. It’s built to go underwater to 30m and it’s dust, shock, and cold weather proof. The best feature: UHD 4K video footage. Cons: We’ll see once we get our hands on it. Right now, the Nikon KeyMission 360 is the leader of the pack in the realm of prosumer 360° cameras.

Large Softbox Reviews

Gear, Still photography, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Shopping for a softbox? Below are three options for softboxes in the three-foot-wide range. All of these work well with small speedlite strobes, although some may require an adapter. To refine your portraiture, food, and other photography you’re probably going to want large softboxes sooner rather than later. What you’ll see below are three softboxes from leading brands, including Glow, Profoto, and Lastolite.

Glow ParaPop 38” Softbox $219.95

-Inner and outer diffusers, for a smooth, graduated modification of light
-Versatile, in that it works with both small flash and studio strobes with speed ring
-Quick setup and breakdown. With a squeeze of the hand, the rods collapse down for storage in the included bag
-2 lbs

Profoto RFi 3′ Octa Softbox $235.00

-Two diffusers
-Best for studio strobe use with Profoto branded strobes
-Optional space for a grid (light modifier)
–3.5 lbs

Lastolite Hotrod Octa Softbox $212.99

-Best for small flash “Strobist” photographers
-Two diffusers
-Velcro attachments to rods add leverage for those of you without huge muscles
-2.67 lbs

Eight Affordable Last Minute Gift Ideas for the Photographer in Your Life

Gear, iPhone, Still photography, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Did you procrastinate and are you ready to shell out for overnight shipping to impress that photographer on your list with a last minute, yet thoughtful, gift? Below are eight gifts that I recommend, ranging from $30 – $175.

Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand for mobile devices – $25.46

Have a little class. Don’t gift a selfie stick 😉

Glow ParaPop 38″ Portable Softbox – $175.96

Versatile, lightweight, and sets up in a pinch.

Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 backpack – $69.95

Stellar deal for a camera backpack that carries a tablet.

Donate in their name to the Passion Projects Photo Grant

Mail a check to: SPJ Western Washington Passion Projects, PO Box 30111, Seattle, WA 98113.

Pring’s Photographer’s Miscellany book – $10

A fun little book that makes for the best photo nerd fodder.

Mastin Labs Lightroom editing presets – $119

Popular editing presets to mimic film looks of Ilford BW, Portra color, and Fuji color.

Fujifilm instax mini 70 instant film camera – $124.50

The smaller and more affordable version of my favorite instant camera, the instax 210.

AquaTech Oli Rain cape – $40

Get that shot underneath the waterfall and still stay dry!

Red Giant Shooter Suite 12.6 Review

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Red Giant Shooter Suite, now available in version 12.6, is a suite of six plugins/programs that offer an array of video editing tools. I took it for a spin and will explain what’s in the package in case you are shopping around for tools like these. Here’s what you get for $299 ($149 for an academic license): PluralEyes, Offload, Denoiser II, Instant 4K, LUT Buddy, and Frames. Below is a quick breakdown of each of those.

PluralEyes 3.5

Red Giant PluralEyes is technically an entire program of its own, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility. It was the first Red Giant product that I had ever heard of and has always been a reliable solution for synching audio and video. It’s a classic. If you learned on Final Cut Pro 7, like I did, you probably learned to use PluralEyes when syncing your DSLR footage with the external audio that you recorded. PluralEyes has always been great and continues to be one of the best in the game. If you use Final Cut Pro X, as I do, you know that there is now a built-in audio sync feature. So for me, I don’t really need PluralEyes. Some FCPX users will still use PluralEyes because you can actually still sync inside PluralEyes and then export a sequence for use in FCPX, but I don’t really need to use that step. As far as compatibility goes for that sequence exporting feature, PluralEyes does work with the major video editing programs: FCP7, FCPX, Premiere, Avid, and Sony Vegas.

Above: A detail of the PluralEyes interface

LUT Buddy

Red Giant LUT Buddy will generate Look Up Tables for use in Adobe After Effects and Premiere. Essentially, Look Up Tables are little formulas for color that help you get your footage to look good in its final medium – which could be actual printed film, for instance. Let’s say you have color corrected your video project and it looks good on your calibrated monitor. Well, when you print it to actual film it may look different due to the color cast, contrast of the film, etc. It’s kind of like when you have a photo that looks good on your screen but when you print it out it’s too dark, etc. This is an age old problem for photographers. Anyways, LUT Buddy is popular industry tool for using LUTs.

Offload

Red Giant Offload pretty much works with every camera/memory card system out there, according to Red Giant. What it does is manage the import of your media. For me, this is the one inclusion in the Red Giant Shooter Suite that isn’t a must have. The program does verify the files and make sure that everything was transferred, which is kind of comforting. Sometimes I scroll through the finder on my Mac and look to see if everything made it, and might even check the size of the folder to make sure it’s correct, so I guess Offload would, er, offload some of the stress of making sure my precious media assets are safe and secure on my drives. You can also program it to create an automatic backup upon import.

Denoiser II

Red Giant Denoiser II might be the most aptly-named and straightforward tool in this collection. It, well, it denoises your footage. It’s a solid addition to your kit and can help with those clips shot at high ISOs that you’ll want to clean up without losing detail. Just like the noise reduction slider in Lightroom.

Instant 4K

Red Giant Instant 4K builds upon the older Instant HD, which made HD footage out of smaller resolution footage. Instant 4K makes high resolution out of HD and smaller resolution footage and is supposedly four times as fast as Instant HD was. Basically, the program has an algorithm that takes your footage, be it SD, HD, or whatever, and creates new pixels, adds sharpening, anti-aliasing, etc. to create new high resolution footage. You just pick whether you want to output your footage as 720p, 1080p, 2K, or 4K.

Frames

Red Giant Frames can de-interlace your interlaced footage to output as 24p. I believe this feature is built into Adobe Premiere, but Frames has added features for cropping and broadcast details, like NTSC, PAL, HD, etc.

I think this is a good package, and there is a significant savings in choosing the package deal; however, you can of course pick and choose from these six and select only the tools you want. Personally, I would skip Instant 4K, only because I would generally just shoot 4K if I needed 4K. Of course, it’s probably meant to help you in a pinch when you have a 4K project and maybe just one or two clips from an HD camera, but if that’s the case then I probably wouldn’t use the tool enough anyway. All in all, these are all fine products and I don’t see any red flags that I would want to pass on to my colleagues, so, happy editing and good luck.

Adorama Flashpoint AutoStand Review

Gear, Lighting, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Adorama has a new series of heavy duty, lightweight light stands that they call the AutoStand. They sent me one to try out and I’ll try to give you a good sense of what it’s like so you can decide if it’s right for you. They come in seven and nine foot heights. If you’re considering the Flashpoint AutoStand, review my thoughts and learn more about it at Adorama.com here.

The first thing you’ll be looking for, if you’re in the market for a Flashpoint product, is the low price. These are affordable products and that is usually the first selling point. So, if it’s so affordable, does this light stand hold up? Is it going to break after I throw it in and out of my car fifty times for a busy year of shooting? Well, it is indeed affordable at about $80 for a nine foot light stand. That is quite tall, and it does feel pretty sturdy, too.

It’s a light stand, so it’s a pretty basic piece of kit. You just want something that is going to be nice and tall, fold down small, and not break your back or your wallet. This is a solid alloy stand with just enough size to feel substantial. It’s not going to beat a Manfrotto or comparable stand that retails for more than twice as much; however, it is the real deal. It’s all metal, it opens and closes smoothly, and the plastic wing nuts clamp down just fine. Keep in mind, it is a pretty big stand. Not heavy, just nice and large. It folds down to 40″ but it’s not a tiny little cheap travel stand, if that’s what you’re looking for.

There’s really not much else to say. It’s a good product at an affordable price. They also throw in a little bag to sweeten the deal.

Photos: Adorama (top), David Ryder (middle, bottom)

Red Giant Universe Review

Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Red Giant has done a few things right over the past year since it launched Red Giant Universe, its new subscription-based collection of editing/effects tools for filmmakers. In my opinion, the key to Red Giant Universe’s success (since it’s a subscription service) lies in its ability to add new and interesting tools, and they’ve done just that. In order to produce useful tools, Red Giant has utilized Universe Labs, where users can vote on potential new additions. So far, Red Giant has added a Compound Blur effect, an Exposure Blur Transition, a PixelGlow EZ effect, and a Soft Wipe transition. I think it is really cool that Universe doesn’t just add new tools periodically, but it actually listens to its customers and adds tools that the community members are asking for.

Other than keeping things fresh, Red Giant made the right choice in creating Universe as a subscription-based service. You can opt in at no charge for access to the basic tools and to vote, or you can choose from the followed paid options: $10/month, $99/year, or a $399 one time payment. The paid options allow access to a premium set of tools, of course. I enjoy using subscription services because they automatically update and I no longer have to worry about spending large amounts on new versions of the software.

I use Final Cut Pro X, so I can only speak to the Red Giant Universe experience in Final Cut, but Universe is also compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Apple Motion, Sony Vegas Pro, Davinci Resolve, and HitFilm 3 Pro. Within Final Cut, the Universe tools are supposed to be much faster because they are GPU-accelerated. I honestly can’t tell too much of a difference on my current iMac, but I do think this is a good design that will allow for quicker plugins as I update my hardware.

I counted almost 90 tools, and of course this number will only increase with time. I’m pleased with what I’ve seen so far, and some of my favorites include Turbulence Noise, Streak Blur, Texturize, and OverLight. They are not all mind-blowing plugins, but everything is useful. Some tools might parallel what you’ll see prepackaged in Final Cut Pro X, but you will also find plenty of new tools that are much more creative than the prepackaged options.

My suggestion is: go for it. At the very least, you can spend $10 for one month and decide whether or not you like it. That option within the subscription model is, to me, really empowering.

Lowepro Echelon Bags Review

Gear, Tech stuff, Travel

Lowepro has produced classic, sensible bags that I’ve come to respect over the years. I have used a couple of their backpacks, with exceptional results. Their products have generally been geared toward folks who hike or are are looking for something rugged, but this month they launched the Echelon series, which is Lowepro’s first step into the luxury realm.

Photo courtesy of Lowepro

If you can get past the branding on the Lowepro website that’s a bit over the top, you’ll notice that the Echelon series isn’t over the top at all. In fact, it is a high-end series but quite sleek and understated. For that, I like it. The style suits my personality. Echelon bags are classy and feel reliable. Much like my personality? 🙂

Narcissism aside … you’ll like the bags and will feel professional using them. Too often while traveling and shooting, camera backpacks are practical but just don’t seem professional. Many shoulder or roller bags are also practical but don’t quite have much style. Echelon strikes a nice balance, being rooted in a company that makes very practical bags, yet has a desire to create something a little more high-end.

That said, you might not be one-upping your friends who store their Leicas in ONA messenger bags or Filson’s Magnum series bags but those bags are designed for a slightly different consumer. The Echelon has a sleek black finish, with brushed metal and a bit of black leather that creates a luxury look.

The Echelon Roller ($800) is not cheap, but it’s a solid piece of equipment that I can tell will last a long time. It’s big enough for two or three DSLRs and a bunch of lenses, and you could even put some clothes in there if you travel light. It’s a standard roller bag in many regards, but the leather details look good. After loading it with some heavy gear, the telescoping handle wiggles a little bit; we will have to see if that gets worse with time or if the handle is just designed to flex.

The Echelon Brief ($340) is my favorite of the three bags in the series. It doesn’t actually hold a camera, but there is room for lenses or other accessories if needed. It holds a 15-inch laptop, hard drives, etc. The Brief has a really nice, solid shell and is the coolest looking bag of the collection. The leather straps look really nice, especially paired with the brushed metal. The Brief easily attaches to the Roller for transport.

The Echelon Attaché ($420) is a really cool idea. It’s designed to be similar to an old school medical satchel, with a zippered top that opens wide for camera and laptop access. I do like the concept and the overall style, but I think it needs just a bit more leather, or similar material, on the top portion of the bag. The handles also need a bit more leather. Lowepro made just the top half of the handles leather and I think that hurts the design (whereas the Brief has fully leather handles that really look nice). Otherwise, it’s a sleek, modern bag in a style that you don’t see very often. You’ll stand out and look good using this doctor’s-style bag. It fits a tablet or 13-inch laptop, with plenty of room for camera bodies and accessories. The Attaché easily attaches to the Roller for transport.

All Echelon bags come with TSA-approved locks and removable rain covers, which are nice additions. If you buy all three bags together, the package is $1,300.

Red Giant Magic Bullet Suite 12.0 Review

Gear, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Red Giant just dropped an update to its ever-popular Magic Bullet Suite, which includes Magic Bullet Looks 3.0, Magic Bullet Colorista III, Magic Bullet Mojo 2.0, and Magic Bullet Cosmo 2.0.

(Above image credit: Red Giant – Magic Bullet Looks screenshot)

If you’re not already familiar with Magic Bullet Suite, it is a set of tools for color correction, finishing, etc. for filmmakers. It’s a robust addition to what you might find built in to your video editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro.

I generally use Final Cut Pro X and I’ve found that it has some nice basic color and finishing tools, but Magic Bullet Suite 12.0 can really take your visuals to the next level.

Here are some pros and cons of Magic Bullet Suite 12.0; review them and see if the $799 is really worth it to you:

Pros:

Versatility: It’s compatible with Premiere, After Effects, and FCPX
The tools are robust: Change someone’s shirt color!
Tools are available from within your editing software: You don’t need to launch anything else

Cons

The price tag is a bit high for independent shops like my own
The tools vary from application to application, as they say: “All of the tools work in Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and more – but it varies by host application.”

(Above image credit: Red Giant – Magic Bullet Mojo screenshot)

All in all, Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite 12.0 is definitely a top notch collection of tools. You really can’t go wrong, if you can afford it 🙂 It does seem silly to run $799 Magic Bullet with my $299 Final Cut Pro X, but that is what filmmaking has come to these days, and you do indeed get what you pay for when it comes to Magic Bullet. Wait, what does that mean about the low price of FCPX … ? That’s a topic for another blog post …

Domke Metro Messenger Camera Bag Review

Gear, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Photojournalist Jim Domke designed the first Domke camera bag in 1975 while he was on staff at The Philadelphia Inquirer. The bags haven’t changed much over the years (for good reason) except for the new Next Generation line that just launched. I had a chance to try out the Domke Metro Messenger and I’ll tell you a little bit about it in case you’re considering this or similar bags.

The first thing you’ll notice is that this is a really sexy bag. Credit to Domke for creating this military green color and using the RuggedWear material. The RuggedWear is a waxed and oiled cotton material that looks a little like leather but seems to be more durable and weatherproof. It’s not waterproof, but I’d be comfortable spending a day with this bag while shooting here in the Seattle rain.

The metal clasps on the bag look great and feel like they will last forever. I’m a bit disappointed about the plastic clasps that attach to the shoulder strap and I’m not sure why they chose to go that route. Perhaps the plastic was a lot lighter than metal.

The interior is a perfect size for me, as it fits two DSLR camera bodies with space for lenses, a flash and plenty more (read: snacks). It comes with moveable dividers and customizable pouches, which is pretty standard nowadays, but still awesome. My 15″ Macbook Pro fits perfectly in the “tablet” sleeve, which I think would even fit a 17″ laptop without issue.

The bag weighs in at 5.25 pounds, which isn’t light. I absolutely love the 2.2 pound Tenba Messenger bag, which was given to me at the Eddie Adams Workshop in 2008 (read: humblebrag) and is still my workhorse. The two bags are very similar in design, except … the Domke bag is way cooler. It’s going to weigh more but it has a much more classic, and classy, look. And don’t get me wrong: It is still extremely practical and built for working professionals.

All in all, I do really love this bag. My guess is that Domke wasn’t worried about the competing Tenba, Think Tank, or LowePro messenger bags, because Domke sells a ton of bags and has nothing to worry about. What I think the designers wanted to do was compete with the Filson line of bags co-designed by Magnum photographersDavid Alan Harvey and Steve McCurry. Those guys are awesome, and Filson is awesome, and they are making pretty cool bags with a similar look. But, if I am going to shlep my gear around the city all day on assignment, I would probably lean toward a Domke bag.

Hopefully this review was helpful, and just let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for reading.

Bag reviewed: Domke Metro Messenger in RuggedWear Military (also available in RuggedWear Black and Cordura Black)
MSRP: $499.99
More info on the Domke Next Generation bag line: http://tiffen.com/products.html?tablename=domkenextgen

New Mobile App Gives Great GIFs

My work, Seattle, Tech stuff

(Announcement: In related news, this post is also featured on The Huffington Post, as I will now be blogging for them on occasion. Follow my Huffington Post blog entries here!)

Phhhoto is an oddly named and extremely fun iPhone app that is the answer to all the visual questions you didn’t know you had. How can I share motion without worrying about audio? GIFs! How can I fall in love again with exploring the world like I did so long ago through photography? GIFs! There’s a certain magic that I’ve discovered with this app, and I really do feel the same as I did when I first picked up a camera and explored the world by making pictures.

(Broad Street & Beaver Street, New York)

Simply point your camera at something, press the shutter once, and Phhhoto will take a brief series of pictures to create an instant GIF. It’s amazing. Make a caption and click share, and then go find something else to GIF (I think GIF is going to become a verb soon, FYI).

The social side of the app seems to be modeled after Instagram, so when you browse others’ posts, you can like them and make comments. Also, you can save the GIF as a video for sharing on Instagram and other social media platforms. The original GIF is always saved as a GIF on your phone, and it is a nice surprise to see that the motion in the GIF actually moves if you are to send it to someone via the iPhone’s messaging app.

The app is quite new, so I’m sure it will improve, but one thing that bugs me is that you are forced to shoot verticals. Also, there is a bit of a delay after hitting the shutter button. Regarding the social side of the app, the network seems to be growing but the creators haven’t yet implemented an alert system. Once I’m able to know when people like and comment on my GIFs, I will be very pleased 🙂

I’ve included a few GIFs I made below. Download the free Phhhoto app and follow me: @davidmryder.

(Blue Moon Tavern, Seattle)

(My garage, Seattle)

(Fishing for coho in the Duwamish River, Seattle)

TrackX Review For Final Cut Pro / SliceX Review For Final Cut Pro

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

(Can you spot where an object was removed in the frame grab above? And no, I would never use this for a documentary project, but it could be useful otherwise!)

The creators of TrackX and SliceX recently sent me copies for review, and they seem like quite useful products. Developed by Mocha, the TrackX/SliceX combo of plugins for Final Cut Pro X offer some great effects without ever having to leave FCPX. The bundle runs $149 or $99 each. Normally, to achieve some of these tricks, you might have to open another program like After Effects, which also happens to require a subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud. With this TrackX review and SliceX review, you can learn a bit from my experience testing the two products out and see if they are right for you.

SliceX Review

First off, SliceX has a lot of features, which is nice. In the video below, you can see a little demo of the Object Remover function. In the first clip, try to see if you can notice anything missing. The removed object will return later in the clip.

SliceX tools include: Blur Shape Mask, Color Correct Shape Mask, Depth of Field Shape Mask, Object Remover, Pixelate Shape Mask, Shape Mask Layer, Skinfix Shape Mask, and Vignette Shape Mask.

The tools in this plugin are quite easy to use, as it only took me about two minutes to install the plugin and start removing objects with the Object Remover function. They probably aren’t going to be as robust as After Effects and other competing stand-alone visual effects programs, but they are still nice and worth the $99 price of SliceX. I’m pretty excited to use some of these tools in upcoming and current video projects. I had a great time learning how to use Slice X; review it for yourself though and let me know if you think it’s right for you.

(Below: The SliceX Official Tutorial)

TrackX Review

TrackX is pretty awesome and straight forward. I’ve been wanting to do this for some time, and now I have a simple plugin that lets me track text to a moving object in the frame. It’s great.

Another effect that I’ll mention in this TrackX review is that, using the same technology, you can track a video clip to the surface of a screen. Imagine you have a computer screen or an iPad in one of your clips, and you want to make it look like a certain clip is playing on that screen. TrackX makes it easy to add any clip onto that screen. See below for an example in a video provided by the TrackX creators:

All in all, I have to say that these plugins are a good deal at $149 as a bundle. They accomplish very targeted goals, which means that a more robust stand-alone program might be a better choice for general visual effects creation; however, for a couple of quick solutions, TrackX and SliceX work great for quickly elevating your productions to a high level.

Seattle Photographer David Ryder

(425) 681-4959 | Seattle, WA | david@ryderpictures.com

Tech stuff