New Vegas plug-ins

[Ian Stark]

Collectors of every Vegas effect available (yep, that's me!) will want to take a look at http://www.newbluefx.com/ .

They have released several new Vegas effects and transitions packs as well as version 2 of the original Art and Motion collections (including some new filters).

I should disclose that I have beta tested some of NewBlueFX's products but I have no other relationship to the company!

[Sean Seah]

Wow how did u get to be their beta man ;p anyway, I use them n its pretty good.. minus the fact it didnt work when I went to V8.. prob something to do with the .Net #3 thingy..

[Paul Cascio]

Also, the link for FREE Plugins, is really just a link to trial software. Then, they want to charge you again, if you don't buy Download Insurance, should you need to re-download. What a slap in the face.

[Ian Stark]

No, the link gives you a fully functioning, non-watermarked plugin called Halovision plus all the other plugins fully functional, no time limit, but with a watermark. It was the free plugin that first brought NewBlueFX to my attention.

As far as I know, all the latest versions are available for registered users to download through the support pages so the *optional* download protection thingy is not needed, saving you a couple of bucks and that slap in the face. Personally I make a CD copy as an archive.

As for them being expensive, compare them with other Vegas plugins for Vegas - Radiance $139, The Zenote collection $180, Magic Bullet $399, Creativease collection $129, Spicemaster $149, Ultimate S $169, Excalibur $129 etc etc. I think the price stacks up quite well!

[Paul Cascio]

I guess price is relative, but anything in U.S.D. probably seems less expensive in the U.K.

Not to split hairs, but the link said free plugins, plural. Also, a watermarked version is still a demo version.

[Ian Stark]

Yeah, I agree Paul, it does say free pluginS, leading you to believe there will be more than one. I'll mention it to them.

I think we may have to agree to differ about whether these are demos because they have a watermark. To me, a demo is just that - a demonstration of what a plugin can do, but not actually allowing you to do it. A trial is something that allows you to test out a products features but has some kind of limitations, maybe time limits, reduced functionality, no save etc. The NewBlueFX plugins are fully functioning without limits and the trade-off is you have to put up with the watermark if you don't want to pay for them, in the same way that the "250 FREE business cards" deals come with the printers' ad on the back. Seems fair! I'm sure people will disagree with me but like I say, that's my opinion. But I will agree that more of a distinction should be made on their website.

Re the USD/GBP thing - it's actually refreshing to see a straight dollar to pound conversion using rates of exchange, especially given the strength of the pound against the dollar at the moment.

It's not uncommon - especially with IT books - to find the USD price is, say $39.99 but the GBP price is £32.99. That's a tad annoying!

Even more upsettingly, if you look at Amazon.co.uk's current price for MS Office 2007 Professional (as an example - first one I looked at), we pay £371.48, reduced from a list price of £449.99. Same product through Amazon.com - $374.99 reduced from list $499.95.

Twisted, huh?

For a number of years I lived in Ohio and Connecticut for two weeks a month and in all that time I never once bought any books, software, etc in the UK.

I guess value is a very subjective thing. I personally found the value of their Colorize filter alone to be higher than almost any other creative filter in my arsenal, in terms of reactions from clients.

[Todor Fay]

Good point about the free plugin(s). The intention is to have several of them, so we on the dev side just need to catch up with the marketing side. We have some more in the works, so soon enough plural will be appropriate.

Also, there seems to be some confusion between trial and free software. We've started putting them on the same page but perhaps we could make it clearer - I'll pass that on.

Oh, and about that download insurance. We have no control over it. It's provided by our eCommerce provider and they insert it in the buy page. It's frustrating because we provide the same feature for free (if you go to our support section, you get free uploads of all the latest product versions.) I suppose we could put a notice on our buy page: "DON'T BUY THE DOWNLOAD INSURANCE - WE PROVIDE IT FREE". It will look a little silly and maybe antagonize eSellerate, but it could avoid an unecessary purchase.

Todor
NewBlue

[Paul Cascio]

Todor, thanks for being so responsive. That counts for major points in my book. I guess the market, and not me, really determines what is value. I really liked some of the transitions that were available, but have a hard time getting myself to spend money on such things. I guess I'll try the demos and then decide.

[Fred Helm]

For what its worth...i bought the film look package after being directed there by this thread. Very impressed! We just sent to TV in HD using the filter and it looks great. My biggest concern was speed in rendering and conflict with Cineform because nothing I do using "movie looks" that comes with Vegas works in HD. I can pull a 2 second Cineform clip and ad "Berlin" and it will take 7 hours to render if it doesnt freeze immediately. New Blue rendered with no time loss and no lag on playback either. This is very good for us. Hopefully we can resolve the Movie Looks issue in HD because it works perfectly in 720X480. Until then and maybe never...its New Blue for movie looks for us...