Return-Path: Received: from omr5.networksolutionsemail.com ([205.178.146.55] verified) by media-motion.tv (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.2.10) with ESMTP-TLS id 4766217 for AE-List@media-motion.tv; Sat, 07 Jul 2012 03:53:05 +0200 Received: from cm-omr7 (mail.networksolutionsemail.com [205.178.146.50]) by omr5.networksolutionsemail.com (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id q671uUNE020691 for ; Fri, 6 Jul 2012 21:56:30 -0400 Authentication-Results: cm-omr7 smtp.user=chris@chriszwar.com; auth=pass (PLAIN) X-Authenticated-UID: chris@chriszwar.com Received: from [122.150.240.225] ([122.150.240.225:50947] helo=[192.168.0.5]) by cm-omr7 (envelope-from ) (ecelerity 2.2.2.41 r(31179/31189)) with ESMTPA id AC/1A-04833-D4797FF4; Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:56:30 -0400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1084) Subject: Re: [AE] element demo From: Chris Zwar In-Reply-To: Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2012 11:56:27 +1000 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: References: To: "After Effects Mail List" X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1084) > Also how is 32bit texture support? Can it handle .exrs for = environmental lighting? I mean if so... this could potentially be a real = threat to Nuke and Smoke. As exciting as Element looks, nothing will make After Effects a threat = to Nuke. They are two different applications that occupy different = markets and fulfil different needs. After Effects is unrivalled as a = motion design tool and Element builds on this - it will be used by = designers. Nuke is a compositing program that works especially well in = large production environments with structured workflows. There are some = niche areas of crossover - high-end corporate productions and mid-level = TVCs - but even here a single plugin is not going to prompt a company to = change their established workflows and infrastructure. The headache for me is that before CS6 and plugins like Element, I have = been perfectly happy working on iMacs. Now the emphasis has moved to = graphics cards I am joining the increasingly large chorus of those = worried about the future (and the price) of the MacPro. =20 I suggested about 6 months ago that for the price of 1 Mac Pro you could = get a 27" iMac and a 4x mac mini render farm. Up to CS 5.5 that would = actually have worked pretty well. But when you add graphics cards to = the mix you have all sorts of price/performance options that require = careful reading of email threads, online forums and benchmarks that I = would have happily ignored 6 months ago... Element looks like a great plugin at a generous price. I've watched the = video but haven't read any further. If it has support for z-depth = layering/compositing then it will be really powerful. Most of the time = I use particular it's with a z-depth map, and using z-depth maps is the = best way to work around After Effects mixture of 2.5D and 3D layers. -Chris=