"Sapphire 2 is absolutely awesome! Many of the new effects are huge time savers."
Robert Hranitzky, Freelance Motion Graphics Designer






"GenArts has the highest quality plug-ins you can find. I love the new effects in Sapphire 2 such as WarpMagnify, SwishPan and DissolveGlow, and I expect to use Vignette every day. The LensFlare additions are also fabulous."
Jack Tunnicliffe
Java Post Production





What's new in Sapphire Plug-ins version 2 for After Effects and compatible products

New Effects:

  1. FilmDamage simulates aged film by adding scratches, dust, stains, grain, shake, flicker, etc. to your clip.
  2. ZDefocus defocuses areas of the source clip by different amounts using depth values from a ZBuffer input.
  3. BlurDirectional blurs the source clip in a given direction.
  4. Cartoon gives cartoon-like looks with exaggerated edges and flat areas of color.
  5. CartoonPaint is similar to Cartoon, but uses a paint brushed version of the input.
  6. Posterize generates a contoured version of the input by limiting the number of colors in the source, and replacing detailed texture and noise with solid colors.
  7. BleachBypass generates a stylized version of the source clip by simulating a bleach bypass process.
  8. DogVision generates a dual color-channel version of the input image.
  9. Vignette darkens the outer edges of a clip with various shape options.
  10. Deband removes banding artifacts from a clip by diffusing pixels across the banded areas while keeping the original edges intact.
  11. TileScramble scrambles the clip into rectangular tiles.
  12. WarpMagnify simulates a magnifying glass or lens over an area of the source clip.
  13. WarpCornerPin performs a 3D perspective warp of the source image to align the corners with the four indicated points.
  14. GradientMulti generates a smooth multi-color gradient using multiple control points, and optionally combines the gradient with a background clip.
  15. Shape draws a shape into the image. Shapes range from polygons and circles to stars, flower shapes, and swirled starfish shapes.
  16. TextureFlux creates a moving texture of fluctuating liquid or cellular patterns.
  17. TextureLoops generates a pattern of overlapping loop shapes.
  18. TextureNeurons creates a moving texture resembling moving nerve cell tendrils.
  19. TextureTiles draws a repeating pattern of hexagons, triangles, diamonds, or stars.
  20. SwishPan performs a transition by panning one image off and another on with motion blur.
  21. DissolveGlow performs a transition while adding glow to both clips.
  22. DissolveFilm performs a transition in a film-like color space to preserve highlights during the dissolve.
  23. FeedbackDistort generates time based feedback effects while distorting the trails using a second input clip.
  24. Convolve can create a wide variety of blur effects using arbitrary filter shapes and coloration by performing a mathematical convolution of two input clips.
  25. ConvolveComp convolves a kernel with front and back clips separately and composites them using a matte.
  26. ZConvolve convolves areas of the source clip using a kernel which is scaled by different amounts using depth values from a ZBuffer input.
  27. ZGlow glows areas of the source clip by different widths using depth values from a ZBuffer input
  28. Light3D performs 3D relighting of a clip using an input clip describing the surface normals.
  29. TriTone generate a 3-color version of the source clip.
  30. QuadTone is similar to TriTone but generates a 4-color version of the source clip.
  31. Invert inverts the Luma, Chroma, Red, Green, and/or Blue channel of the source clip.
  32. ShowBadColors colorizes pixels that fall outside a given color range.
  33. ChannelSwitcher allows arbitrary reordering of the RGB channels of the source clip.

New Features and Parameters:

  1. A version of Sapphire Plug-ins for Apple FxPlug Products, Final Cut and Motion, is now included with v2 at no additional charge. You can just install the FxPlug version and it will automatically share your Sapphire v2 license.
  2. The Adobe "Smart FX" API is supported for AE 7 and CS3, which includes more efficient processing and support for 32 bit HDR image formats. Effects only process the visible area of masked layers and large layers in small comps, RGB layers with full opacity process faster, and temporal effects can be applied to clips following other effects.
  3. Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is supported.
  4. Windows Vista is supported.
  5. LensFlare has 14 new Flare Types and new parameters to adjust the look of the flares. An optional Matte input also allows generating lensflares while selectively blocking or colorizing the flare.
  6. LensFlareAutoTrack can track and render flares at multiple hotspots.
  7. RackDefocus includes new Shape, Roundness, and Boost Highlights parameters, as well as improved performance.
  8. Layer includes many new blend modes: Linear Burn, Linear Dodge, Vivid Light, Linear Light, and Pin Light. It can also optionally hue-shift or blur the foreground and/or background layers.
  9. Glare includes four new Glare Types and new parameters to adjust the look of the glares, and has improved performance. The Convolve:Even If Slow option has been removed, since convolve mode should be consistently faster.
  10. WarpTransform has new parameters for Swivel, Tilt, and Perspective Amount.
  11. WarpPerspective has a Wrap Above Horizon option.
  12. The Distort effects have new Rel X and Rel Y parameters.
  13. EdgeFlash has new Lights, Darks, and Saturation parameters for Fg and Bg.
  14. Sharpen has independent controls for Luma, Chroma, and each RGB channel.
  15. Blurs have new Mix With Source parameters.
  16. ZBlur has replaced and improved upon the ZDepthCueBlur effect.
  17. MotionDetect has new Combine modes and an Offset Darks parameter.
  18. The Feedback effects have a new "min" Combine mode.
  19. The installer will also install the plug-ins for Adobe Premiere Elements.


 

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GenArts and Sapphire Plug-ins are trademarks of GenArts, Inc. After Effects and Premiere are trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. Final Cut Pro is a trademark of Apple, Inc. Combustion is a trademark of Autodesk, Inc. Fusion is a trademark of Eyeon Software. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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