Shake -vs- Ultra 2 at DVinfo.net

Cody Lucido · September 24th, 2006, 08:14 PM

Hello,

I am planning on doing some intense compositing of greenscreen, 3D and 2D layers for a new project.

I own a Mac with FCP 5.1 and a PC with Adobe Production Premium, so I could really go eaither way, Shake or Ultra 2.

Can anybody give me solid advice on choice. These are the things I want

1. Ease of use, but robust features
2. Support of DV and HDV
3. Intuitive GUI
4. Speedy processing
5. Best compositor

Thanks for your input.

Liam Dunlop · October 2nd, 2006, 09:42 PM

Ultra 2 costs $495 (pre-sale)
Shake 4.1 costs $499

I understand the ease of use Ultra offers and find it very attractive being new to composting myself and that Ultra is so simple to use in the same way iMovie is easier to work with right out of the box, but since you have made the effort to push your skills further by learning Final Cut Pro why not go for Shake and kick some ass.

The scary part is like omg I have to learn it. wtf!?
That you have to read the 1054 page manuel, fuggetaboutit, your insane.

Joe Letteri spoke highly of it's use at a recent seminar, that it was and still is his weapon of choice, and hey, it use to cost $2000+ a few months ago, so duh.

There is a massive collection of user shake macros, plugins and tools - free at fxshare so go git!

If you do buy and learn Shake, you'll be one elite ninja.

Patomakarn Nitanontawat · October 2nd, 2006, 10:09 PM

Go with Shake dude. It's a higher learning curve, but the results will be worth it. With it's cheap price now, it's a real bargain.

Cody Lucido · October 3rd, 2006, 08:43 AM

Thanks all. I will order my copy of Shake today.

Kevin Calumpit · October 4th, 2006, 11:23 PM

Yeah i would also recommend shake most of the movies that have won an award for special effects used shake during their production

also if your tentative about learning the program the book i used to help me learn Shake was the Apple pro traing series for SHAKE 4 by Marco Paolini it helped a great deal in learning what i needed to learn....

Liam Dunlop · October 9th, 2006, 09:45 AM

Putting duct tape were my mouth is, I've finally picked up my copy of the book mentioned above and jumped into the interface of Shake.

First lesson, "skip to the end" well the middle actually.

Bullet Blast Through Glass

It took me a while, having ignored the first 241 pages. It is simply 19 frames compositing a 3D bullet, colour correction, reflection of bullet passing over glass and surrounding the bullet with the shattered shards. I stayed up 21 hours to finish this, though I didn't work on it for 21 hours, I just get easily distracted.

I would love to base a short film around this shot with changes to colour, speed, angle and even direction of bullet, backwards memento style and then blam.

Shaughan Flynn · October 11th, 2006, 12:36 AM

Is that completely created in Shake? No actual footage?

September 24th, 2006, 08:14 PM	#1
Cody Lucido Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 206	Shake -vs- Ultra 2 Hello, I am planning on doing some intense compositing of greenscreen, 3D and 2D layers for a new project. I own a Mac with FCP 5.1 and a PC with Adobe Production Premium, so I could really go eaither way, Shake or Ultra 2. Can anybody give me solid advice on choice. These are the things I want 1. Ease of use, but robust features 2. Support of DV and HDV 3. Intuitive GUI 4. Speedy processing 5. Best compositor Thanks for your input. __________________ www.CodemanStudios.com

October 2nd, 2006, 09:42 PM	#2
Liam Dunlop New Boot Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: London Posts: 14	Fuggy Fuggy Ultra 2 costs $495 (pre-sale) Shake 4.1 costs $499 I understand the ease of use Ultra offers and find it very attractive being new to composting myself and that Ultra is so simple to use in the same way iMovie is easier to work with right out of the box, but since you have made the effort to push your skills further by learning Final Cut Pro why not go for Shake and kick some ass. The scary part is like omg I have to learn it. wtf!? That you have to read the 1054 page manuel, fuggetaboutit, your insane. Joe Letteri spoke highly of it's use at a recent seminar, that it was and still is his weapon of choice, and hey, it use to cost $2000+ a few months ago, so duh. There is a massive collection of user shake macros, plugins and tools - free at fxshare so go git! If you do buy and learn Shake, you'll be one elite ninja.

October 3rd, 2006, 08:43 AM	#4
Cody Lucido Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 206	Thanks all. I will order my copy of Shake today. __________________ www.CodemanStudios.com

October 11th, 2006, 12:36 AM	#7
Shaughan Flynn Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 272	Is that completely created in Shake? No actual footage? __________________ B-Scene Films

October 2nd, 2006, 10:09 PM	#3
Patomakarn Nitanontawat Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 97	Go with Shake dude. It's a higher learning curve, but the results will be worth it. With it's cheap price now, it's a real bargain.

October 4th, 2006, 11:23 PM	#5
Kevin Calumpit Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Marcos, CALIFORNIA Posts: 103	Yeah i would also recommend shake most of the movies that have won an award for special effects used shake during their production also if your tentative about learning the program the book i used to help me learn Shake was the Apple pro traing series for SHAKE 4 by Marco Paolini it helped a great deal in learning what i needed to learn....

October 9th, 2006, 09:45 AM	#6
Liam Dunlop New Boot Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: London Posts: 14	Putting duct tape were my mouth is, I've finally picked up my copy of the book mentioned above and jumped into the interface of Shake. First lesson, "skip to the end" well the middle actually. Bullet Blast Through Glass It took me a while, having ignored the first 241 pages. It is simply 19 frames compositing a 3D bullet, colour correction, reflection of bullet passing over glass and surrounding the bullet with the shattered shards. I stayed up 21 hours to finish this, though I didn't work on it for 21 hours, I just get easily distracted. I would love to base a short film around this shot with changes to colour, speed, angle and even direction of bullet, backwards memento style and then blam.