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MillimeterReview: wondertouch particleIllusion 3.0
Jul 27, 2009 11:52 AM, By Franklin McMahon
Easy particle-generation program grows and gets more powerful.
The program continues to be a solid workhorse for particle creation, but a couple areas are ripe for improvement. The program works with Adobe After Effects; you can import position data from AE directly into PI. But wondertouch did hint at a dedicated After Effects version—well, years ago. I recently chatted with wondertouch president Alan Lorence, and that was one of my first questions: When? He did not set a date, but he did say it was definitely (still) being worked on. I hope to see it soon. As a plug-in for After Effects, the package would really hit its stride. Now it can seem a little detached—you basically bring in particleIllusion particle effects as a separate movie when you move it into a program such as After Effects. Mixing the live effects into your After Effects project via a plug-in would be the ultimate. Wondertouch has, however, packaged a version of its particle effects for Apple Motion. So if you use Motion, definitely look into the set of particleIllusion effects that’s available separately.
Also, particleIllusion’s upgrade process is problematic. It’s nice to have it within the program, but when you download the update, the program puts it in a separate library folder. Then it can’t be copied into the actual applications folder via the installer. If you try to run the newly downloaded version, you get a license error. I eventually had to go to the website and manually download the update. Then I ran into a few more snags involving its placement within folders. Long story short, this process could be streamlined. Chances are if you are a media professional, you can work around everything, but unseasoned users may hit roadblocks while updating. I am also not keen on the Internet verification activation when you install. I installed once on my Mac, but when I had to reinstall it at a later date, my original activation number was no longer valid; I had to activate again.
The utility of particleIllusion all comes down to output quality, and that’s where version 3.0 really delivers. The interface is easy to use, and you could get lost for hours experimenting. The program is constantly being refined, and it’s a welcome addition to have the full 3.0 version now available for the Mac platform. In addition to the Pro libraries of emitters offered for sale, the company offers tons of new emitters for free every month. There are now thousands of them available for free, ensuring you will never run out of creative inspiration.
bottomline
Company: wondertouch
www.wondertouch.com
Product: particleIllusion 3.0
Assets: Version 3.0 available for Mac OS X; includes search engine and auto-update; tighter intergration with pIllusionRender; more than 2,500 particle effects with quick-load library.
Caveats: Upgrade process problematic; After Effects version would be a solid improvement.
Price: $399
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