Boris FX Red 4.1

Product Review: Page (1) of 2 - 06/22/07

Boris FX Red 4.1 By Kevin McAuliffe I have been an editor for a long time (about 11 years now), and I have been familiar with Boris FX's plug-ins for almost as long, and when I was asked if I would be interested in taking a look at RED 4.1, I really didn't have my expectations set very high, as I have always had a bit of a preconceived notion in my head of what the package is and what it can do. Let me just say that I have now seen the light. The RED light! Let's take a look at Boris RED.

Installation

The installation for RED can look a bit daunting, but one thing that Boris FX has done is give the users options. The first thing that I loved about this program is that it can run as a standalone application, like Adobe After Effects, as an "effect" inside of Final Cut Pro or both. For all the users out there, I would suggest installing both the Boris RED Engine to use as a standalone, and then install the Boris RED for Final Cut (the effect) for either Mac Universal or Power PC, so you have the best of both worlds.

The "effect" version of Boris appears in your video filters under "Boris FX", and the "engine" portion appears in your "Applications" folder under Boris RED. Both installations are quick and simple, and you will be up and running in a matter of minutes. Boris offers a two week trial of the application, and then you can purchase it directly in the "Help" menu. Remember, you need to have an active Internet connection for the purchase, or you will need to contact Boris FX directly.
Installation : 9 (out of 10)

What you get
When I saw what you get with Boris RED, I was completely blown away. You not only get all of FX and Grafitti's effects and functionality, but you also get all of Continuum Complete's effects in one package. In total, you are looking at over 180 effects. Believe it or not, but there are also some Final Effects and DigiEffects Delirium plug-ins thrown in there for good measure. Some of the effects highlights include nineteen different keying filters including Chroma, Luma and RGB difference Keyers, thirteen different blur filters including Gaussian, basic and directional blurs, you also get Glows, Lighting effects, Partical effects, and so many more that I almost can't even count. You even get a Wire Removal filter to remove rigging from your shots. I've only scratched the surface of filters that you get, but let me tell you that you will have more effects than you could possibly ever need.

You also have the ability to extrude text in true 3D, as well as importing EPS files to extrude to give your projects that 3D edge. RED also supports many After Effects third party plug-ins including Trapcode's Shine and Starglow, as well as Synthetic Aperture's Color Finesse, the Foundry's Keylight and most Tinderbox plug-ins, as well as scores of others. You will have enough effects to handle just about any job that comes your way.
Total : 10 (out of 10)

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