After Effects or Particle Illusion

Byron K wrote on 8/9/2008, 2:07 PM

I'm from the Platinum camp (pls don't stone me!) but have a question re: these two apps and figured that this would be a better forum to inquire.

I'm looking at Particle Illusion but have been recently researching what AE can do and noticed that it seems to be able to do everything that Particle Illusion can and more especially with the text effects.

I'm looking at using one of these programs to add some effects to movies and slide shows as well as text generated effects like multiple background stills.

Are there anyone here that would prefer one over the other (besides the $$ factor). What would be the better investment in the long run.

I hear that there's a Particle Illusion plugin for AE but cant find anything about this on the Wonder Touch website. Is anyone using this plugin in AE?

Thanks in advance!
bK

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/9/2008, 3:08 PM

PI is a very specific app. I love it. I don't know exactly, but I'd say it could do MORE with particles vs AE.

Byron K wrote on 8/9/2008, 3:54 PM

Thanks for the feed back!

Just curious if I could use pictures as particles and make them fly (slow motion) across the screen.

-bK

winrockpost wrote on 8/9/2008, 4:02 PM

IMO, no comparison AE does an incredible amount more . No plugin as far as i know

Coursedesign wrote on 8/9/2008, 5:06 PM

Trapcode Particular is the best particle plug-in for AE.

It can do stuff PI can't.

(However, in a few cases, PI can be slightly more suitable).

If you go the AE route, consider buying a package on eBay consisting of an antique version of AE + an upgrade to AE CS3 Pro. The whole thing should cost less than $500 instead of nearly $1K,

I did this and checked very carefully that Adobe didn't have a problem with it. They didn't.

Learning PI is easy, learning AE is a much bigger commitment. Don't let oldtimers scare you though, the current CS3 version is significantly easier to learn than past versions.

Note also that there is a CS4 coming this fall.

farss wrote on 8/9/2008, 5:08 PM

Make Youtube your friend. Just search for "After Effects".

For AE,

seems to be the plug of choice. Of course that's only one of many things you can do with, search Youtube for more demos and free tutorials.

If you want SERIOUS particles, smoke, fire and fog search Youtube for FumeFX. You need 3DS Max to run it and it isn't cheap and I'd reckon on a lot of time to master it but it does give results that look the real deal.

Bob.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/9/2008, 5:56 PM

forgot abotu 3d apps. Depending on how much you want to spend & what you want, you could always learn blender. It's no harder to learn then most other apps out there & it's free.

DJPadre wrote on 8/9/2008, 10:00 PM

if u want teh power of AE (actually more power... ) with the functionality of PI, check out Combustion...

FilmingPhotoGuy wrote on 8/9/2008, 10:59 PM

I have been using PI for about 3 years and it does everything I need it to do. You have over 2500 particle effects which you can change into whatever shape, color you want so in effect you have millions.

Go to uTube and search for MrParticle (Alan Lourence) who is one of the pros there at Wondertouch who can do just about anything with it.

It's not a text titler, however you can take text that you've generated with simple paint or whatever picture editor and do amazing glows explodes, fire...........etc. So yes it can make text float in slow motion as you wanted. Download the text demo from the Wondertouch site and be blown away.

AE can do some things that PI can't,
&
PI can do some things that AE can't.

PI is much easier to learn IMHO

Craig

Byron K wrote on 8/10/2008, 12:23 PM

Thanks everyone for your replies!

The smoke and effects in Combustion look very similar to PI.

-bK

Coursedesign wrote on 8/10/2008, 2:30 PM

That's because they are PI.

Combustion contains an older version of PI that doesn't have the full functionality of the latest PI version, but is very usable (it can use all PI3 particles).

C* also contains ReVisionFX RE:Flex, arguably the best morphing plug-in, saving you $795.00.

And its Diamond Keyer (from Flame) is superb and easier to use than some other high end pro keying tools.

Pity that Autodesk has left C* pretty much to itself since they took over Discreet....

DJPadre wrote on 8/10/2008, 7:46 PM

"Go to uTube and search for MrParticle (Alan Lourence) who is one of the pros there at Wondertouch who can do just about anything with it."

heheeh Alan actually CREATED Particle Illusion...
A couple of years back they were working on an AE plugin with the PI engine. I dunno whatever happened to that project....

Rory Cooper wrote on 8/11/2008, 1:47 AM

Pi is very easy to use and can achieve amazing results quickly also has the ability to apply particles to your alpha channel and you can use a video clip for the particle not just pics but also animated GIFS
sequenced jpgs.

Awesome awesome software

I did a project recently where i had a video footage of a falcon dissolve into small birds and fly away, took about half an hour from start to finish

Byron K wrote on 8/14/2008, 10:09 PM

PI, AE and Combustion all look like very good applications! I saw Alan's tutorials on Wondertouch's website and it was very informative.

Thanks again!

-bK

kentwolf wrote on 8/15/2008, 11:14 AM

>>...i had a video footage of a falcon dissolve into small birds and fly away...

Any chance of posting a sample of it?

Thanks.

rsp wrote on 8/15/2008, 2:10 PM

Although i can't compare because i don't have AE, i think Particle Illusion does a fantastic job and is very user friendly. The one thing that would be even better is
PI as plug-in for vegas ; )

Rudi

Rory Cooper wrote on 8/17/2008, 10:11 PM

yes i will dump it on vimeo with some other wierd effects