Need a cheap alternative to Adobe After Effects

Discussion in 'Off Topic Discussion' started by Hawanja, Mar 30, 2008.

  1. Hawanja

    Hawanja Ancient Deadly Ninja Baby

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    Hey guys, I'm looking to make a microbudget shclocky horror film, so I need a cheap alternative to After effects. Anyone have any suggestions? Just that I would like to avoid just downloading a cracked version if possible. It would be nice if it could do all the same things, (i.e. explosion filters and the like) but all I really need is to be able to do green screen and superimpose crap on the screen.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. liquitt

    liquitt Site Soldier

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    cheap? i don't know what after effects costs but since it's from adobe i don't think it's under 400$ or more ;)

    so maybe Corel/Ulead Video Studio would be an alternative since the full version costs 130$

    i think i can remeber that it can handle greenscreen but i'm not sure about explosion filters or something

    there's a demo version you can test:
    http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1175714228558
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2008
  3. Hawanja

    Hawanja Ancient Deadly Ninja Baby

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    Full version of After Effects is $999, so anything within a couple hundred dollars would do. Thanks for the heads up Liquitt.
     
  4. liquitt

    liquitt Site Soldier

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    1k bucks? insane...

    personally i'm using corel/ulead video studio and i'm very confident (bullshit, i meant content) with it
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2008
  5. mairsil

    mairsil Officer at Arms

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    If you qualify, you can get a recent academic edition of After Effects and then do a commercial upgrade. That should save quite a bit, depending on how much the older version costs.
     
  6. Rawit

    Rawit Spirited Member

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  7. RyanGamerGoneGrazy

    RyanGamerGoneGrazy Clubbies Are Minis Too!

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    Darn, beat me too it !

    http://www.osalt.com/ Has almost any free alternative to most of today's popular software


    Ryan
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2008
  8. karsten

    karsten Member of The Cult Of Kefka

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    what about WAX?
     
  9. mooseblaster

    mooseblaster Bleep. Site Supporter 2012, 2014

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    Jahshaka is terrible, period. It is by no ways a replacement for AE. Many of the open source video editing systems don't go far beyond the boundaries of iMovie or Windows Movie Maker options last time I checked.

    The problem with many of the low-price options is they are designed for home movies, and as such are just not subtle. Many do explosions, wipes and particle effects, but few do subtle hinting, offer complete control and have a huge amount of flexibility. WAX, for instance, can do everything your average wedding videoer would want, but little that sits in a semi-pro movie maker's book that doesn't look tacky.

    In fact, I unfortunately cannot suggest anything as good as AE without recommending products in a similar price band. And I've been looking for 7 years. However, if anyone does find anything that could replace it, let me know too.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2008
  10. Hawanja

    Hawanja Ancient Deadly Ninja Baby

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    Hmmm... Well I think I'll try Corel video studio out. However a quick check on Ebay shows that I could possibly pick up an older version of After Effects for under $200. I don't really know that much about it though. All I need to do is the following:

    - Green screen (for the giant monster sequence)
    - B * W filter, film grain so it looks like an old movie
    - Explosions, gun barrel flashes
    - lazers


    That's pretty much it, so if I were to get an older version, anyone know which one I should try?
     
  11. mairsil

    mairsil Officer at Arms

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    Well, I just looked at my copy of AE 6.0 (kind of old and thinking about upgrading it) and it looks like it can do the green screen replacement and color filters without a problem. "Film grain" is a named filter in Photoshop, but I do not see it in AE 6.0. There are plenty of noise filters though. Explosions, flashes, etc. would have to be created from scratch (or found elsewhere) as far as I can tell. Newer versions might have more features though. It looks like someone on ebay has a combo "old version + upgrade" for $500 right now...
     
  12. Shadowlayer

    Shadowlayer KEEPIN' I.T. REAL!!

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    Well you could always get a cheap used A3000 with VideoToaster:nod:

    You can pull Babylon5-like FXs with that.

    Or maybe a Mac with Shake, but you'll need a used one with a copy for it to be anywhere near cheap
     
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