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FILTERiT
4
at a Glance
Maker:
CValley
Price: $129
Platforms: Macintosh
Demo Available: Yes
URL: http://www.cvalley
.com
Overall
Impression: Like its predecessor, FILTERiT 3, version
4 offers amazing tools for manipulating objects in Adobe
Illustrator. The new version adds even more powerful features,
including 3D transformations, for what has to be considered
the final, ultimate set of filters available anywhere.
I honestly don't know what they could possibly add for
a version 5 release.
Key
Benefits: The new 3D transformation capability is
completely cool. You can take any object and manipulate
it in 3D space, and watch the progress as you go. Live
effects are also terrific, allowing you to manipulate
objects, including regular text, while maintaining editability.
Finally, the dozens of vector manipulation tools make
Illustrator behave almost like a paint program, but keeping
all the advantages of vectors.
Disappointments:
None. This set of filters has it all: tons of effects,
innovative tools and a price point that comes in way below
what you ought to be paying for this.
Recommendation:
Strong Buy
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CValley
FILTERiT 4
[Page 4 of 4]
Finally
we get to the Metabrush tool. This is a serious piece of work.
Rather than tweaking an object, it takes a selected abject and
allows you to use it as a brush. More than this, it offers a
tremendous amount of control over how the brush is applied.
Above you
see a screen shot of the Metabrush palette, which is automatically
called up when you select the tool. With it, you can set the
fade of the brush and apply various parameters for setting size,
spacing, shear, color, etc. You can set tablet pressure, speed
or direction to control all of these parameters. And you can
reverse them and throw in some randomness to boot.
The
bottom line
Man, this thing is great. You can see the results in several
of the examples I've created for this review, but to appreciate
FILTERiT 4 fully, you really need to see it in action. I hope
to have a QuickTime demonstration of this product up within
the next month because the way this thing works is just so fluid
and simple that it makes the process of creating images in Illustrator
enjoyable. You get a ton of effects. You get a bunch of live
effects. And you get 3D transformations, along with support
for Illustrator 9's transparency. All of this for $129. It's
so clean and so well implemented that you have to wonder how
they can sell it for so little. My recommendation is an immediate
strong buy. Get it while you can. One day these people are going
to realize what they have and start selling it for much more.
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