• Radius, which lets you set the radius of the bevel;
• Height, which adjusts the height of the bevel from -100 to 100;
• Smoothness, which adjusts the fidelity of the texture from 0 to 100;
• Texture, which sets the relief of the texture from -100 to 100;
• Embossing, which sets the overall emboss effect from -100 to 100;
• Gloss;
• Glare;
• Reflection (of the environment);
• Glassiness;
• Caustic;
• Iridescence;
• Iridescence Colors, which are set along a slider;
• Tarnish;
• Rain, which adds striations;
• Evaporation, which affects the appearance of the rain striations;
• Diffusion, which also affects the rain effect;
• Wander, which alters the pattern of the rain effect;
• Dust, which adds layers of dust (0 to 100) to certain areas of the object;
• Grit;
• Abrasion;
• Moss;
• Leakiness, which affects the pattern of the moss;
• Blotches;
• Blotch Size.

Super BladePro lets the user select the colors for several of these slider effects, including rain, evaporation, dust, tarnish, abrasion, moss, leakiness and blotch size.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] In addition, there are two selectable lights that allow you to select color, intensity and direction in 3D space; a random button; a button to let you save and load your favorite settings; a scalable preview window; an undo button; a default button; and a randomize function.

The main difference between the OS 9 and OS X versions is in the interface. As will most OS X ports, the new version looks clean and streamlined, but it also looks generic. In the previous OS 9 release, for example, individual sliders included visual representations of what each parameter was intended to do. In the OS X version, you just get a slider without any indication of what the effect is supposed to do. Normally, this wouldn't matter too much, since the preview is interactive, and you can see the effects as you apply them. However, some settings affect the ways in which the others appear, which means you really don't know what you're getting into by changing one slider without playing with others as well. And there's no help text to show what the buttons mean. You'll just have to experiment, unless you want to download and read the tutorials available for the plugin at Flaming Pear's Web site.



Performance, functionality
Working in Super BladePro is incredibly easy. You can hit the Randomize button to find a texture you like, and then fine-tune the settings to achieve your desired result. Or you can start basically from scratch, importing textures and reflection maps of your own and adjusting parameters and colors as you see fit.

Version 1.06 for Mac OS X is decidedly slower than its 1.0 counterpart on OS 9. Running on a dual 1 GHz G4, the OS 9 version could apply an effect to an image at 500 x 500 pixels in about two seconds. The OS X version took anywhere from 22 seconds to 25 seconds to apply similar effects to an image of the same dimensions.



As for functionality, SuperBladePro remains as powerful as ever. This plugin is not just a one-trick effects package. It has broad applications for creating textures and special effects. One of the obvious applications for Super BladePro is text. Effects can be applied to the text itself to create a bevel effect that follows the contours of the text. Or it can be applied to shapes or solids, and even areas with feathered masks. Just select the area you want to be textured. (Text has to be rendered before filter effects can be applied to them.)

The bottom line
Despite its slowdown in the OS X release, SuperBladePro remains a solid filter well worth the paltry $30 registration fee ($15 for BladePro owners). It offers a lot of control and some stunning results in a package that's flexible and easy to use. I give SuperBladePro a Strong Buy recommendation.

Version 1.06 is available for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X and Windows, and Flaming Pear provides a number of bonus textures and tutorials an its Web site. For those who purchased the OS 9 version, the OS X version is a free upgrade. Just enter the serial number you received when you registered your OS 9 version. SuperBladePro is immediately downloadable in a fully functional demo version, which you can use for 30 days before registering. For more information, visit http://www.flamingpear.com.