WalkerFX announced the immediate availability of WalkerFX 2.2, a major point release in the company's advanced, production-proven, suite of visual effects and motion graphics plug-ins for Adobe After Effects.
The WalkerFX toolset provides compositing professionals with the most advanced toolset for performing fundamental compositing operations, including advanced channel handling, innovative keying and matting and effective color corrections that streamline workflow. Productivity enhancements and minor fixes in 2.2 ensure maximum stability to deliver extended compositing capabilities to digital content creators in the film, broadcast, video, animation, graphics, design and visual effects industries.
WalkerFX 2.2 also offers improved compatibility with After Effects 7.0, the latest version of Adobe's industry standard tool for producing motion graphics and visual effects. WalkerFX 2.2 is available on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.
Michael Garrett, a designer and visual effects artist in Sydney, Australia, has used WalkerFX since 2001 for his creative motion graphics and technical compositing work. Recent projects that have leveraged the WalkerFX suite of plug-ins include screen graphics for the movie STEALTH, and a music video titled ICE SKATING GIRL for pop group Rekindle.
"WalkerFX grading and color correction plug-ins are excellent design tools that encourage a high degree of creative control and flexibility over the color palette, and allow for experimentation with new methods of combining images to achieve new looks," said Garrett. "Being able to combine channel data in WalkerFX is an additional benefit that gives After Effects artists some much needed non-linear compositing flexibility. WalkerFX helps to simplify your compositing, solve technical dilemmas and beautify your work whether creating 3D, real-world imagery or anything in-between."
WalkerFX is the company's flagship collection of 18 high performance visual effects plug-ins for Adobe After Effects. The software provides a practical and efficient approach that allows compositing professionals to work with individual channels, easily customize effects and streamline workflow.
Some of the key features of WalkerFX include: Colorize enables artists to develop their own custom color treatments. Channel Composite provides advanced compositing capabilities to individual image channels, and Channel Noise, a tool designed for constructing custom grain and noise patterns with independent color controls.
Additional plug-ins in WalkerFX provide time-saving and effective capabilities for compositing 3D render passes, such as Channel Lighting for controlling 3D lighting in 2D, and Light Wrap for blooming background light over foreground objects. The company also offers one additional plug-in, free-of-charge, Super Histogram, which is an invaluable tool for inspecting color channel data.
In the coming months WalkerFX is scheduled to offer its technology capabilities beyond the After Effects market to reach a wider audience of creative professionals.
WalkerFX 2.2 is conveniently available in three editions supporting both Macintosh and Windows, for Adobe After Effects versions 6.0 and later. These include Basic, Designer and Professional, each tailored to meet the needs of various types of production. Version 2.2 is a free upgrade for existing users, and starts at $89 for new users.
WalkerFX (www.walkerfx.com), formerly Walker Effects, established in 1997, is a software provider of quality visual effects and motion graphics tools. The company develops solutions focused toward the film, video, broadcast, motion graphics and real-world needs of digital content creatives. WalkerFX software products are available directly from WalkerFX and its reseller representatives: Adobe Store (www.store.adobe.com/store/main.jhtml), Toolfarm (www.toolfarm.com) and Pluginz.com (www.pluginz.com). WalkerFX is located in Glendale, California.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
