Microfilmmaker Magazine - Reviews - Software Review: Boris Continuum Complete 6, Pg. 2 of 5


	Software Review: Boris Continuum Complete 6 , Pg. 2

Although I don't have enough space to write about each individual effect, I do want to give a brief run-down of some of the effects that immediately made me jump out of my seat and drop kick the first person I saw in a fit of joy. (Hey, we all have our own special ways of expressing our joy! Mine is just a bit more aggressive than others.)

1. Advanced Lens Flare: For the love of God, someone has finally done it. They've perfected the Lens Flare! Each and every feature of a standard Lens Flare is customizable, addable and subtractable delivering believeability and depth to any element you add it to. Forgive me if someone did it before Boris with this much control and I haven't run across it, but this effect is ESSENTIAL.

2. Generators: I can't tell you how many hours I've wasted in Photoshop recreating rock, wood floor, fire or any other sort of texture over and over again. This sounds really stupid I know, but this kind of stuff comes in handy time and time again.

3. 3D Effects: Previously only available through Zaxwerks, Boris Continuum Complete includes a full 3D extrusion suite. This alone is worth the price of admission. (check out some of the examples at http://borisfx.com/after_effects/bccae/3D_movies.php )

4. Cartoon Look: For years I've admired the look of movies like Waking Life and to a lesser extent those Charles Schwab commercials where the people are cartoon characters for no particular reason. Boris includes an effect that imitates this look with stunning precision.

Figure 2. Generators: Just a sample of a few of the generator plugins. This can save you hours of messing around in Photoshop.

Depth of Options
One of the problems that I've had with other effects suites is that even when you get a plethora of options, they don't necessarily play well with other After Effects functionality, rendering them pretty much useless. In the Sapphire suite, this comes into play sometimes when using a mask. And at times, similar third party effects don't get along with the After Effects 3D environment. In the case of BCC6, not only do they give you A LOT of options for each effect, but there seemed to be no conflicts with my workflow.

Figure 3. PixelChooser: When you select PixelChooser (available in many of the effects) The functionality is nearly doubled.

In the case of masks, BorisFX's exclusive PixelChooser option allows you to integrate masks into the effect or avoid them entirely by using preset in-effect masks for quick use. As an added bonus EVERY effect comes with about two dozen really well thought out preset modes. Not just static presets but pre-keyframed animated presets that will automatically stretch to the length of your clip if you want them to.