MacDirectory by Trey Yancy

While everyone has seen the complex animated 3D title sequences and lower thirds for popular sports shows, chances are that few outside the world of pro video are familiar with the software that is used to create them. One of the leading applications in this area is Red, from BorisFX.

While Boris Red does an impressive job of 3-D bling (which should place it on any video pro’s must-have list), it does a first-rate job with titles, clip compositing and transitions. It comes in a bundle of two versions: plug-in and standalone. As a plug-in it is compatible with Premiere Pro and After Effects CS4, Final Cut Pro 6 and 7, Avid Media Composer 4 through v5.5, and the Media 100 Suite, as well as with a variety of Windows applications. Software updates for Premiere and AfterEffects CS 5 and 5.5 are forthcoming. Users of Final Cut X are in the same boat with Red as with just about every other plug-in that supports FCP 7 but thanks to Red’s stand-alone version it works well for generating content for FC X.

Among the new features of Boris 5 are first-rate image restoration tools, including noise reduction, a tone smoother that is excellent for skin, fixers for dead pixels and DV aliasing. It also includes 32 particle-based effects, painterly effects, a great SD to HD converter, a 3-Way color grade filter, realistic in-camera and stylized effects. Boris also includes a keyframe library of more than 50 transition effects that were created with Boris Continuum Complete and Final Effects Complete. Interface improvements, while not overwhelming, include drag and drop panels and a curve editor.  read more...