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[As part of an ongoing mobile-studio concept, this review copy of Commotion was tested on a top-of the-line 500 MHz G3 Apple PowerBook with 256 MB of RAM, as well as on the traditional desktop.]
As software, the paint package Commotion has been reviewed in VIDEOGRAPHY before and has steadily improved since its inception to the 3.0 version reviewed here. What is both unusual and important about Commotion is that it began its working life as a production tool at Industrial Light & Magic of San Rafael CA. It was devised there by Academy Award-winner Scott Squires (one of three effects supervisors on the film, Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace). Commotion is currently being used in the Dungeons & Dragons film, now in production, and has been used in films such as Mars Attacks, Contact, The Mummy, and Mission to Mars. For broadcast, Commotion is used on an ongoing basis at Foundation Imaging for Star Trek: Voyager. It's also used consistently in high-end commercial spots.
The promise and hope of Commotion has always been to bring dedicated workstation class paint, tracking, effects, and masking strengths to an affordable desktop environment. In a phrase: breakthrough power at attractive prices. The list of high-end studios that employ Commotion on a daily basis is testament to the success of that original objective.
The Traditional Commotion
Features that post professionals have come to know and expect from Commotion are readily apparent in the updated version. The interface is startlingly easy to learn and produce in, and is the first thing most artists notice. Sub-pixel accuracy, production level speed, and its vast arsenal of real-time brushes are all in plain abundance. Its instant feedback and generous support for a massive array of After Effects filters have likewise made Commotion a persuasive favorite the world over.
What has always put Commotion ahead of the pack is its motion tracker, which is the most precise available-on any platform, at any price. The fact that the tracker can be used to automatically drive paint sessions over clip sequences is a sign of the expansive power behind this friendly beast. Commotion's animatable "roto-splines"-the masking tools it uses to cut the most sophisticated of traveling mattes-is also a feature without rival, regardless of...