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FEBRUARY 11, 2004 AV Bros. Page Curl 2.0
Hopefully you're beginning to see why I like working with this company's software. But what about quality and performance? For performance, the speed of this filter is highly dependent upon the complexity of the effect. A simple fold or curl on a medium-sized document (1,024 x 768) might take around 12 seconds (tested on a dual 1 GHz G4 running under Photoshop CS), while a more complex effect with mapped images and extreme torsion and obliquity rendered to a separate file might take around 25 seconds. As for quality, I found the results to be stunning. I've rarely seen a warp-based plugin produce so few stretching artifacts. And the lines of the edges and the shading are just pristine. It's difficult to convey this quality on the Web, where JPEG compression causes some problems, but here are two examples that will give you some idea of what you can expect in terms of output from this plugin.[an error occurred while processing this directive]   The top example, incidentally, is a multi-layer composition that was created manually by applying the effect repeatedly to duplicate layers. It also used a JPEG screen capture at reduced dimensions, so some blurring occurred prior to the application of the effect. Disappoiontments As far as what this plugin is designed to do, I have no qualms whatsoever. Its interface is intuitive; the plugin has a wide range of features for an effect of this type (especially with the individual torsion and obliquity controls, along with the ability to map and scale artwork to the back surface of the image); and its performance is reasonable. But there are a few features that I'd like to see implemented in a future release. The first would be path-based or segment-based controls for manipulating curls; the second would be cycling of curls (to produce waving flag effects); and the third would be the ability to manipulate multiple layers of images so that the designer can create overlapping curl/fold effects automatically, rather than having to go back and manually mask out portions of layers to create overlap. So my disappointments really aren't with the filter itself, but with some missed opportunities that I think this developer is fully capable of implementing, given the wide-ranging functionality found in AV Bros. other Photoshop plugin, Puzzle Pro. Hopefully we'll see all or some of these features in a future release. The bottom line AV Bros. has a way with Photoshop plugins. They don't have as many offerings as some of the larger developers out there, but they make up for the lack of volume with consistent excellence, with a thoughtful, designer-oriented approach to software creation that results in thorough and, functionally rich plugins that are also fun and easy to use. Yes, Page Curl 2.0 performs basic effects that you can find elsewhere for less money, but you won't find the effects better implemented anywhere else. There are plenty of options for making page curls and folds just the way you want them, and the final effect is crisp and artifact-free. I give Page Curl 2.0 a Buy recommendation. Page Curl 2.0 is available now for Mac OS X and Windows for $29.95, with support for Adobe Photoshop 7 and CS and compatible hosts, such as Macromedia Fireworks MX. Upgrades from the previous version run $14.95. Bundles and volume discounts are also available. For more information, visit http://www.avbros.com. Contact the author: Dave Nagel is the editor and producer of Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; host of several World Wide User Groups, including Synthetik Studio Artist, Adobe Photoshop, Apple DVD Studio Pro, Mac OS, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Corel Painter, Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; and executive producer of the Digital Media Net family of publications. You can reach him at dnagel@digitalmedianet.com. Prev 1 2 3 Related sites: • Creative Mac • Digital Media Designer • Digital Producer • The WWUG Related forums: [an error occurred while processing this directive] 
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