These days with the amount of plug-in packages out there, spending money on a single plug-in can be very hit and miss, as there are few out there that justify their price tag. For me, there really are only three that I would spend my hard earned money on. Trapcode’s Shine, Trapcode’s Particular 2 and Yanobox’s MoType. Three plug-ins that all do very different things, but what they do, they do exceptionally well. Well, for me, there’s a new number one “single” plug-in out there, and surprisingly enough, it’s from Yanobox (makers of MoType) again. Let’s take a look at why Nodes is a “must have” plug-in.
INSTALLATION
Yanobox’s Nodes (YN) is a Noise Industries partner plug-in, and is installed with the most recent version of FX Factory, that can be downloaded here. The download of FX Factory will take longer than the installation, and you will be up and running in about 10 minutes. The bonus is you get a free trial of all Noise Industries plug-ins, as well as partner plug-ins, and now (actually, for a while now) it’s available to use in Adobe’s After Effects. With the most recent update of FX Factory, it is also usable in After Effects CS5. Bonus!??
WHAT YOU GET AND HOW IT WORKS
YN is a unique plug-in that creates nodes. What is a node you ask? Well, if you are familiar with compositing programs like Apple’s Shake, their workflow is called Node-based compositing. Think of DNA. Each molecule would be a node, that is connected together with lines or “connections”, and you can take these unique structures and animate them in just about any way imaginable. With twenty-five presets to get you started, you’ll be creating unique animations in no time flat. Just about every possible parameter you want to adjust can be adjusted in any one of the twelve parameter categories. The one thing that struck me right away with YN was that it’s much more than just a “node” creator. You have the ability to turn off the “Text”, “Connections” or “Nodes” to create animated backgrounds for any project you might be working on. You also have the ability to create and import your own unique nodes, so every animation with YN can be different from the last. One other feature I love about YN is that you can type in any text you want for your Nodes (assuming you want text), or you can import text files that might have been e-mailed to you by a client, and you can even copy and paste the data directly from an e-mail into YN. What used to take hours to create, can now be created in a matter of seconds. Take a look at what I mean.
VALUE FOR YOUR DOLLAR
I have to say that there is no plug-in on the market that can do what YN does, and how well it does it. All the presets look fantastic, and are very, very different from each other, and the other most important feature is that it previews and renders quickly (very quickly). This is one of those $99 investments that you will reap the rewards from for months and years to come.
PROS
One of the most unique plug-ins I’ve used in a long time
Looks awesome, previews and renders quickly
You’ll get back your $99 investment on the first job.
FCP, Motion, FCE and AE CS5 support
Every possible parameter is adjustable
Learning curve is next to nothing
CONS
No Motion or AE Camera or Lighting support
Text resets every time you change presets.
In the end I have to say that the Pros outweigh the Cons by a landslide, and Yanobox’s Nodes blew me away with what it delivers, and I give it my highest recommendation. Check it out at www.yanobox.com or www.noiseindustries.com . As always, you can send me an {encode=”kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com” title=”e-mail”} or follow me on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/kpmcauliffe .