| Review
-idustrial
Revolution's SupaWipe |
Febuary, 2008
idustrial
Revolution's SupaWipe
http://www.supawipe.com
$99.00
Review by Steve
Douglas
Noise Industries released its latest version
of Fx Factory 2.0 in November, 2007. With it came an additional
52 FxFactory plug ins for a total of 122 filters, generators,
and transitions. I have used them since version one and have
always been pleased with their ease of use and quality.
Other sets of plug ins have since
become available and this latest, SupaWipes, appears to be worth
taking notice of. Wipes have been used as transitions for as
long as I can remember. In a sequence, more often then not, they
represent the passing of time or a jump to a different location.
In feature films they fell out of favor until George Lucas brought
them back in a major way in his Star Wars series of epic Science
Fiction movies.
In order to take advantage of SupaWipe
transitions you must have Noise Industries' Fx Factory already
installed. Their brief but comprehensive manual says to have
OS 10.4.11 or Leopard installed running Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 or
higher or Final Cut Express 4. I have SupaWipe now installed
on my Mac Book Pro running Leopard and my Mac Pro still running
Tiger and have not had any difficulties or crashes.
Found in the Transitions section
of your Effects tab, one just needs to scroll down to the idustrial
revolution bin to find the SupaWipe plug in. I found it along
with my Volumetrix plug ins also produced by idustrial Revolution
and reviewed here last year. SupaWipe is not a vast collection
of different wipe transitions but rather a single plug in accompanied
by a number of preset wipe objects.
Multiple sets of
wipe options are part of the Supa Wipe package. Parameter controls
were easy to navigate.
There are several objects that can be used from their stored
presets and more than one can be used at a time. For the vacationers
among you, a plane moving left to right; right to left or any
direction you want serves to bring you from one place to the
next. A leading dollar bill could easily be used in any of a
number of the political ads we have be inundated with as of late,
and then there is the flying, rotating CD/DVD, Soccer ball, or
Orange slice that can take you from scene to scene.
All the supplied images included
in Supa Wipes are high resolution images.
Any of these objects can be scaled up or down, moved around the
canvas, or have their direction changed all without key framing.
In fact, the transition has a full 360-degree orientation and
the object can be set to come in before, after or lead the wipe.
The SupaWipe transitions can be softened to your demands and
its' width adjusted as well.
I'm still a fan of
the soft wipe easily done with Supa Wipe.
While any of the supplied, HD resolution images can be adjusted
by path and orientation, they are still images and not animations.
I do not know why they are not animated, a flying bird, a speeding
car perhaps, a swimmer or an animated fish would make it all
the more appealing and useful. Of course, overuse of any number
of transitions other than a simple dissolve or cut can get a
bit cheesy. However, in its right place, they can really enhance
a production.
Most of the supplied stills look pretty
good, there's the plane streaking across the screen, the orange
slice rolling along, and dollar bill you can kiss goodbye. There's
also a black and yellow 'Under Construction' sign, a bouquet
of flowers, a cool squeegee, and a soccer ball, which might be
useful. A non-descript picture of a bride and groom is available
but I can't understand why they would think I would want a picture
of a married couple I have never met.
Also included are a couple of texts that
read 'Jack and Jill' and 'Arsenal v Chelsea. There are no parameter
controls where these texts or their colors/fonts can be changed
and I am a bit perplexed as to why they are included as well.
Of course, you can set the parameter to 'none' which would eliminate
the text and you can use an object well to place your own text
in.
Maybe the ostrich
is named Jack and the giraffe is Jill. I'd still like to be able
to change the text if I chose to.
Using the object well in SupaWipes is where I had a chance to
create wipes that were relevant to my own projects. It was easy
to do and adjustments were made without much of a fuss. Once
done, you can save your customized wipes and retrieve parameter
settings as a preset for the next time. Eventually, you will
have your own library of wipes and images at your disposal. There
is no time lost key framing anything with SupaWipes, it's pretty
much automatic. However, the ability to key frame changes in
direction and scale can be a valuable thing and a part of me
wishes that that had been left in as an option.
Using the image well allowed
me to use my own images and composite modes.
My bottom line is that idustrial Revolution's Supa Wipes enables
you to create unique and creative wipes without the need for
a whole lot of fuss. The supplied graphics are quite good though
there are not a whole lot of them. Never the less, you can use
your own images via the image well and my guess is that most
editors would do just that.
The cost of Supa Wipes can easily be
made up in the time you save from creating your own wipes, and
you can't argue with money saved.
 Steve Douglas is a certified Apple Pro
for Final Cut Pro 6 and underwater videographer. A winner of
the 1999 Pacific Coast Underwater Film Competition, 2003 IVIE
competition, 2004 Los Angeles Underwater Photographic competition,
and the prestigious 2005 International Beneath the Sea Film Competition,
where he also won the Stan Waterman Award for Excellence in Underwater
Videography and 'Diver of the Year', Steve was a safety diver
on the feature film "The Deep Blue Sea", contributed
footage to the Seaworld Park's Atlantis production, the History
channel's MegaDisaster show and other networks. Steve is one
of the founding organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition
and leads both underwater filming expeditions and African safaris
with upcoming excursions to Indonesia and the Coco Islands, Costa
Rica in 2008, Kenyan safari in Africa and the Red Sea for 2009,
and Truk Lagoon in Micronesia for 2010. Feel free to contact
him if you are interested in joining Steve on any of these exciting
trips. www.worldfilmsandtravel.com
copyright © Steve
Douglas 2008
This article first appeared on
www.kenstone.net and is reprinted here with permission.
All screen captures and textual references are the property and
trademark of their creators/owners/publishers.
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