Pro Editing @ Home

by Kevin P McAuliffe
January 15, 2009

I have always been a fan of Zaxwerks' plug-ins, and after interviewing Zax Dow, and finding out that 3D Flag was available for FXPlug, I had to take a look at it. How good could a 3D Flag plug-in be, you ask? Just wait and see!

INSTALLATION

The plug-in installs quick and easy, and you should be up and running in a few minutes. One thing that I do want to point out is that in some places I see this plug-in referred to as 3D Flag for Motion, and in other places I see it as 3D Flag for Motion and FCP. Make no mistakes, it is an FXPlug plug-in, meaning that it will work for both applications. My suggestion? Use it in Motion, and get real-time previews. Nice!

WHAT YOU GET & HOW IT WORKS

3D Flag is just that. A plug-in that let’s you create a flag (or better yet, a piece of material) out of any still frame you like. You do have flexibility when creating your flag, like the ability to switch from a “flag” (horizontal) to a “banner” (vertical), whether you want a flagpole or not, and adjustments to “wind speed” and other finite adjustments. Let’s take a look at just how easy it is to put a realistic looking flag in a scene. I downloaded a Russian flag from the internet, and I’m going to put it into a picture I took at Red Square in Moscow.

I’m going to set up my comp SD 720x540 Uncompressed in Motion 3, import both my picture and the flag, and drop them into the timeline. It should look something like this.

Something to keep in mind is that your flag’s frame size should match your composition’s, so there are no weird clipping issues. To apply the effect, all I have to do is select the RussiaFlag.jpg layer, and navigate to ADD FILTER>ZAXWERKS>3D FLAG.

Almost immediately, I have a large flag that looks pretty good. I just need to add a flag pole, and make some sizing adjustments, and I will be all set to go.

Much like any other plug-in in Motion, to access the controls of 3D Flag, simply click on the effect and then select the “Inspector” tab, and we can now see all the parameters.

Now, to add a flagpole all I have to do is look under the “Flagpole” drop down under “Pole Image”, and I can quickly select the type of pole I want. (I like Medium-Gray personally).

Now, I can also quickly have the plug-in adjust the size of the flag for me by using the Quick Size drop down. I’m going to select “Medium” for my flag size, and again, the plug-in immediately makes the adjustments for me. If my flag was out of alignment in relationship to the flag pole, I could easily adjust it by using the “Flag Nudge” option under the “Flagpole” drop down. Now, I can use the “Pole Position” parameters to move my flag into a better location.

With my flag in position, and a bit of color correction to my background image, we’ve got a flag that looks like it was there right from the start! I can also just hit play in Motion, and it will preview the scene in real time, and once I'm happy I can click render and here is my new scene!

Something important to keep in mind is that although the plug-in is called “3D Flag”, you are not limited to creating just flags. This plug-in would be awesome for creating “material” lower thirds if you are a wedding videographer, or if you are creating graphics for awards shows. There are many more things you can do with 3D Flag, than just creating flags.

PROS

- Very simple parameters that even new FCP/Motion users can use with ease
- Using the plug-in inside Motion let’s you preview it in real-time
- Render times are pretty good (ten second flag animation took two minutes to render)
- Great looking results

CONS

- No option to add a simple “Sky” background.
- If you don’t look past the “It’s just a Flag plug-in”, you could miss out!

Purchase Recommendation : Buy

In the end, $129 might seem a little pricey for this one plug-in, but the proof is definitely in the pudding, as it does produce great looking results, and will help you create great looking flags and so much more. For more info, or to download a free demo for 3D Flag from Zaxwerks head over to their website at www.zaxwerks.com . Looking to pick up 3D Flag a little cheaper? Toolfarm is selling it for six dollars cheaper than retail, and you can get it by clicking here!