Compositor on Mac OS X?

canamaccanamac
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hey everyone!



Quick question, I am using Maya on my Mac and I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good compositor for it?



I am finding that Final Cut Pro has a lot of compositing features for when the composite is complete. I've heard that I should check out Adobe After Effects which I am going to, but can anyone else suggest a solid compositor for me? Cheers!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    macjunkiemacjunkie Posts: 35member
    Depends on how long you can wait...



    Commotion is great if you are matching live action with CGI...



    After Effects Production Bundle is a standard for some folks...



    Final Cut Pro does some compositing, and runs most After Effects plug-ins...



    But the big variable in this equation...



    Apple just bought Shake (high-end Irix/NT compositor) recently, and it should make it's way into Final Cut Pro sometime soon...



    That might be the combo to beat...



    Cheers!
  • Reply 2 of 6
    4fx4fx Posts: 258member
    After Effects is a very popular program among video professionals. It works great for complex compositing. Version 5.5 now has support for OSX. However, if you are only doing small composits, its really not worth it to leave Final Cut, which is much easier to use and a lot less hastle since you dont have to leave your video editing platform. AE production bundle will cost you a LOT more, but has many more plug-ins and such. You can buy the standard version and then upgrade later if you find you need the extras. And as MacJunkie said, it will be interesting to see what Apple does with Nothing Real.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    canamaccanamac Posts: 6member
    Hmmmmmm.....



    I had heard of Nothing Real being purchased but I am assuming that it is going to take Shake sometime to redo itself under Apple's control, but hey, when it does come out! BAM! Instant purchase for me!



    I've also heard about Commotion, haven't checked it out either.



    I guess what it comes down to is what each app can do, time to do some researching I guess and then make the call between something like Commotion or AE.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    jasonfjjasonfj Posts: 567member
    you might want to check out Combustion from Discreet as well. But I'm an AE junkie, I find it really easy to use. Combustion looks a bit scary, but if you know Flame or Inferno you'll be right at home.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    supersuper Posts: 82member
    The combonation of AE and commotion is hard to beat but discreet have done it. Combustion 2 is an outstanding piece of kit with some great features. The colour correction, tracking and keying come straight from their high end flames and infernos. It has vector paint, true 3D environments and a really tight intergration with 3DStudio. It's workflow is a little harder to pick up but once you have it down it's great. Maybe the best benefit is being able to take your combustion files straight into a flame or inferno for finishing. After Effects is cheaper however and is adding features all the time.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    koffedrnkrkoffedrnkr Posts: 170member
    [quote]Originally posted by jasonfj:

    <strong>you might want to check out Combustion from Discreet as well. But I'm an AE junkie, I find it really easy to use. Combustion looks a bit scary, but if you know Flame or Inferno you'll be right at home.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    combustion is powerful software, but for me, the interface is a pain and it's not nearly as consistent or intuitive as after effects. add to this the fact that supposedly the mac development team has been fired and any future releases are highly doubtful at this point. my advice is stick with AE. it does it all and for the price, you can't beat the quality.



    [ 02-21-2002: Message edited by: koffedrnkr ]</p>
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