Trapcode Suite

[Thomasina Norse]

Iam a student practicing Adobe After effects and I have come to the point where I want to learn the Trapcode suite by Red Giant, particularly the Trapcode Particular part for fiery sparkle animations. I am using Adobe After Effects CC 2018.

I've gone ahead to the Red Giant site and downloaded the Trapcode suite from there, extracted the zip file and ran the installer as an administrator. However, I soon encountered an error message that there was a problem with the installation.

Without this visual way of building specific particle effects and getting instant real-time feedback (on my Mac Pro at least) in the viewer it would be easy to be very quickly overwhelmed by the options. I would recommend sticking with the default particle when playing with the effects builder, as this seemed like the best way to get genuine real-time playback in the viewer, as when I set it to something more complex everything slowed down considerably. (This might be user error though!)

But having worked with an animator who bought one part of the suite on a job, only to discover they kind of needed another part of it to more easily create the look we wanted, and then one thing leading to another, they had to buy another individual plugin, and in the end spent a good chunk of what simply buying the entire suite would have cost. So it seems that if you have all the tools, you will make use of all the tools, so you may as well get all the tools.

The following thoughts (in italics) are courtesy of my motion graphics animator brother Chris Elwyn, who, being far more experienced with the Trapcode Suite, was kind enough to provide some knowledgeable insight for the purposes of this review.

The last thing to mention is the custom Sprite Library, giving you the option of using one of the large number of sprites in the provided library, or importing your own into the Effect Builder. I can see a lot of use here for people looking to create common effects such as fire and smoke.

Soundkeys, Starglow Form

Smaller tweaks here; Form has benefited from the new Square particle available in Particular. Starglow has had bunch of colour presets added to it and Soundkeys has had a number of UI tweaks along with some additions that should make motion graphics easier to create.

As a freelancer, I find myself taking on different roles in both production and post. I can do some modest animations, but any major work, I outsource to an animator. With plugins like the Trapcode Suite though, even a simpleton like me can make some eye-catching graphics.

Another new feature is in MIR, that allows artists to use 3D .obj files, which will react to lights and cameras. There are about 50 preloaded objects, but you can also upload your own .obj files too. It's pretty cool if you have a bit of 3D modeling experience or want to add some 3D objects to your AE comps.

As someone who does a lot of video editing, I often find myself wanting to accent a text background with a little bit of motion. Using the provided presets as a starting point and adding some blurs and blending mode adjustments did the trick quite well; it just took some trial and error to find something I liked.

This might be where I think Red Giant could improve upon this suite, but skilled artists may disagree. Using the Designer in Particular as an example, why not include a sort of preset gallery or designer for some of the other plugins? Take Shine, for example. There is a drop-down menu with all the different color and light styles and parameters that control the light position and intensity. Why not build a mini designer interface that displayed a gallery of these, along with a handful of animation presets that people commonly use? Is that making it too easy? Would we see an onslaught of the same exact Shine effect in countless videos from people who thought it looked cool and changed none of the other parameters? Maybe, maybe not.

Red Giant certainly is moving the right direction with these new features, and the Trapcode Suite has been around long enough that the software is stable and lots of past users have already made countless animations with it. For us, that means there are resources out there we can call upon to help us learn, either through tutorials or user forums.

Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.

Thanks for the write up!

For those with no money to spend on Red Giant products and still want to produce particle effects:

Try Blender!

It is free and open source, has a particle and physics system baked in. (Download the 2.80 Beta version! It is stable enough and has some really neat cool features plus the UI and overall handling is better imho than the 2.79 release version.) There are tons of tutorials on YouTube and Blender has a big and lively community. :)

So, it looks like any customer who had to move on to the next versions of the Adobe Suite and Trapcode suite may, in fact, not be able to use the vast majority of the templates that use these plugins on VideoHive, because they were made in an older version of Particular, and will not migrate over to the new version.

Trapcode Suite is the essential plug-in suite for motion graphics and VFX artists. Work created with Trapcode Suite can be seen everyday on TV and in many movies such as Terminator Salvation, Angels and Demons, Sin City, Spider Man 3, Quantum of Solace, The Day after Tomorrow, etc. See some amazing work done with Trapcode tools in the Gallery.

The introduction of our Dynamic Fluids physics engine makes it possible to create particle systems that behave as if moving through a fluid environment and that interact with each other, producing stunning, organic results.

"We are incredibly excited to release something this groundbreaking to the community of After Effects artists," says Chad Bechert, CEO of Red Giant. "The introduction of our Dynamic Fluids physics engine makes it possible to create particle systems that behave as if moving through a fluid environment and that interact with each other, producing stunning, organic results. This release will completely change the range of what artists will be able to create inside of After Effects, opening the door to new and more robust particle system animation, motion graphics and VFX."

Dynamic Fluids Revolutionizes After Effects Work Red Giant power user Territory Studio, responsible for motion graphics work on films such as "Blade Runner 2049" and "Ready Player One," took a deep dive into the new Dynamic Fluids physics engine in Trapcode Suite 15.

"The new features in Trapcode 15 are great developments," said Sam Keehan, senior motion designer at Territory. "We've been able to achieve simulations that previously we would have had to jump out of AE for. The new Dynamic Fluids physics engine allows for a much more believable level of randomness and can be applied in all sorts of ways that elevate the traditional Trapcode workflow to a new place. Really fun to work with and definitely something to permanently add to the mograph toolbox going forward!"

To help show off the power and versatility of fluid dynamics in Trapcode Suite, Territory took on the task of creating a beautiful video built around their experimentation with the new engine. Watch it here.

Trapcode Particular 4 Trapcode Particular brings the power of 3D particle systems to After Effects and lets users add particle effects to compositions to bring motion graphics work to life. Create fire, water, smoke, snow and other organic effects. Combine multiple particle systems into one unified 3D space for visually stunning results. Use 3D objects to add even more beauty and complexity.

Trapcode Form 4 Create 3D particle grids and objects in After Effects. Trapcode Form particles live forever, giving you precise control over their behavior. Combine multiple forms into one unified 3D space for visually stunning results.

Request a Trapcode Suite 15 Media Review Kit Members of the media are invited to review Red Giant Trapcode Suite 15 as well as any products or suites from Red Giant. For more information or to request a product review kit, please contact Nick Govoni at nick(at)zazilmediagroup.com.

Maxon recently announced two major suite updates simultaneously: Red Giant Trapcode Suite 16 and Red Giant Magic Bullet Suite 14. Trapcode Suite offers a new version of Trapcode Particular which includes new physics models, new behaviors, a new kind of emitter, and new presets. There are also some smaller updates for Trapcode Form and Trapcode Mir. Magic Bullet Suite includes upgrades to Magic Bullet Looks and Magic Bullet Colorista. There are new color workflows, new LUT workflows and abilities, many new powerful tools, and new presets.

Trapcode Suite 16 and Magic Bullet Suite 14 are also included as part of both the Red Giant Complete and Maxon One product bundles. Subscribing customers will enjoy significant enhancements to the creative workflow these upgrades offer. Customers with an older version of Trapcode Suite or an individual Trapcode product, are encouraged to contact Maxon for special upgrade pricing and options.

Trapcode Form and Mir. Thanks to Cineware, both Trapcode Form and Mir now include Cinema 4D input, which works in different ways, since each plug-in has a different function. Visit the Red Giant Complete page to learn more.

Magic Bullet Colorista V. Magic Bullet Colorista V brings streamlined, professional color correction directly to the editing timeline. Colorista offers powerful and essential tools needed to correct and refine the color in any shot. Along with Guided Color Correction, an integrated Adobe Panel and brand new powerful LUT workflow, Colorista V gives creatives access to everything they need for a professional grade.

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