One
brush with several different effects applied.
Effects modify the way a stroke appears, adding
taper, border, diffusion, bleed,
spin, shake, etc.
Finally,
we come to my favorite feature: the ability to control the dynamics
of the stroke. The Propeller Paint Engine supplies a simple
graph of input options corresponding to stroke parameters. For
example, you can use speed to control stroke size, while pressure
controls opacity.
To assign
an input option to a parameter, you just draw a line from an
input option to the parameter you want it to control. One input
option (such as pressure) can control any number of parameters
(such as opacity and color), but each parameter can only be
controlled by one input option. To change which input option
controls which parameter, you can cut the lines connecting the
two with a little knife tool that appears as you mouse over
the lines.
How well
it works
This is a pretty solid piece of software. In the couple of weeks
I've been experimenting with it, it hasn't caused me the least
bit of trouble, at least not on my G4. In other words, it didn't
crash, which is really something considering I've crashed twice
in my HTML software just while writing this review. The paint
engine performs quite well, although you will naturally see
a slowdown in performance that correlates to the size of the
brush being used.
I have only
two negative comments about this software, and they're minor
ones. First, it doesn't have multiple levels of undo. Second,
the eraser uses whatever tool you currently have selected. Often
this means you have to go back up through the brush hierarchy
to find one more appropriate for erasing. (Erasing with the
Pebble brush, for example, isn't a terribly efficient way to
erase.)
The bottom
line
Nowhouse Propeller Paint Engine is an excellent addition to
the Photoshop artist's toolbox. It provides capabilities not
found in other standalone programs, let alone Photoshop plugins.
Its tools are easy to work with and quite effective, and the
asking price of $60 is almost negligible. We give this plugin
a strong buy recommendation.
