There are many plugins out there for all sorts of post production platforms that make it possible to generate 3D models, creating amazing effects you wouldn't be able to pull off otherwise. One such plugin is Yanobox's Nodes, which has been used on major effects driven films, such as The Avengers, Planet of the Apes, and Ender's Game. Nodes fans may be happy to hear that version 2 of the powerful motion graphics plugin is now available. Continue on to find out all about Nodes 2, including its many features, tutorials on how to navigate it, which platforms it supports (it's only for OSX unfortunately), and how much it'll cost you.
Yanobox, which is powered by FXFactory, garnered the anticipation and excitement of fans of the original version of Nodes with a slick teaser that announced the launch date of Nodes 2, which coincided with this year's SuperMeet and NAB. And there is much to be excited about with Nodes 2.
A few of its many great features include the ability to import your own custom 3D models and sequences, combine text, graphics and images in your 3D animations, and control how nodes, connections, and text are animated. The new auto-highlight provides users an instant carousel effect, while the new accelerated fonts lets you use up to five thousand real-time text layers. Furthermore, since Nodes 2 natively supports the After Effects Camera, it is integrated with other AE-compatible plugins. If you're not quite as experienced with Nodes as you'd like to be, it ships with over 100 fully customizable presets that make it easier to find your way as you learn.
Nodes 2 is the result of a complete rewrite of the original plugin from the ground up and provides a rendering engine that can support 50,000 particles and unique font acceleration. Point clouds are now created from primitives, footage, and 3D models, allowing for infinite possibilities.
Here are a few stills from Ender's Game, which used Nodes to create several effects, including the Mess Hall and Battle Scoreboards.
Check out the video below to see the effects created in Ender's Game by using Nodes.
Yanobox offers several tutorials on how to use Nodes 2 -- they have one for each post production platform it supports. The tutorial below demonstrates how to get started using After Effects.
Nodes 2 supports Final Cut Pro X, After Effects, Motion, and Premiere Pro on Mac OSX Mountain Lion or Maverick Version 10.8 or 10.9. It will cost you $299, but if you want to test it out first, you can always get the free trial and see if it's right for your projects.
Have you ever used Nodes before? What do you like/dislike about it? Let us know in the comments below.
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