We were so pleased to discover Ryan Graham’s review of Video Essentials in the April 1 issue of MicroFilmmaker magazine. He immediately grasped exactly what we’re trying to do when we say that NewBlueFX are competiviely-priced, aesthetically fresh and ridiculously easy to use. Take it away, Ryan:

I’ve been consistently impressed with the ease-of-use of NewBlueFX’s plugins; they’ve all contained useful and interesting presets, along with easy to understand, adjustable parameters. Recently I’ve found myself going to their effects over other manufacturers’ more expensive ones, not necessarily because the quality is better, but just because they’re more enjoyable to use and make work seem like fun instead of a chore.

And what did he have to say about Video Essentials?

Luckily we get more of the same with their Video Essentials package, which is marketed as a video utility belt of sorts. It probably contains their most useful plugins, in that they’re ones that will likely be used in every project, regardless of the content. We get Color Fixer Plus, Crop Borders, Detail Enhancer, Flash Remover, Pixelator, Sharpen, Soft Focus, Tint, Touch Up, and Video Tuneup. Admittedly, on the face of it, some of these replicate built-in effects already in your editing or compositing software, but NewBlueFX’s versions either look better or are simpler to use. Plus, there are some real gems here that I haven’t seen elsewhere which make this package worth a look for anyone involved in video or film production.

For the full article, see http://www.microfilmmaker.com/reviews/Issue41/VidEss1.html .