Red Paw Media Plugins

[Andrew B.]

Red Paw Media plugins are among the better plugins I've tested. I only did limited testing, but I am impressed by what I saw. So, if you need what these can do, it might be worth the time for you to run your own tests (Windows only). The demo mode places a watermark on the image.

Here's what they have.

1. Process FX ($19.95). Darkroom cross process can bring about a variety of results, but in the world of simulating cross process, everyone seems to agree that the greenish/cyanish C41 to E6 look is desirable. This is not always easy to reach using native Photoshop tools, so that leaves the plugins, such as Nik Color Efex and Digital Film Tools 55mm. And now Process FX, which does a very good job with the greenish/cyanish look. It also offers a great deal of control over the look. Much more than the other plugins. And you can venture outside of this look, but using the same kinds of controls. Comes with presets, and the ability for you to create your own.

2. Bleach Bypass Pro ($19.95). Another very strong filter with controls that exceed its competitors. But in fairness to the others, what it comes down to is what works for you. Sometimes fewer controls can work much better in production environments. Other times you need the greater range of more controls. But no matter what, if you are interested in a Bleach Bypass filter, I suggest you take a look. It is pretty easy to use. Except I have to say, the Gamma slider is a little weird. But I'll let you decide if it bothers you.

3. B&W Pro 2 ($24.95). I'm not a good person to comment on this. I don't prefer to use plugins for my B&W conversions. But I can say that this plugin offers a respectable number of controls that seem to work well. So if you want a B&W conversion plugin, this might be one to consider.

If anyone gives it a look, I would appreciate some comments. Or for that matter, comments on the others too.

4. HotPixel (Free). Hot pixels are not something I deal with often, and I don't have any photos to test this. Maybe someone else will try it and comment.

5. Bleach Bypass (Free). This is not to be confused with their Bleach Bypass Pro (above). I can't imagine ever using this one on a photo. So I guess the worst came last. But check out the other ones (above).

http://www.redpawmedia.com/

[RedPawMedia]

Red Paw Media plugins are among the better plugins I've tested. I only did limited testing, but I am impressed by what I saw.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the mini-review - I just found this post through my referer logs.

A couple of comments...

Can I ask what is it that you find "a little weird" about the gamma slider in Bleach Bypass Pro? I welcome any feedback on how to improve the controls (and the filters in general).

Interestingly, no. 5, the free Bleach Bypass filter has proven the most popular of the lot so far :-)

Best regards,
Jon

[Cristen Gillespie]

You're making me work too hard, Andrew. You know I'm a sucker for plugins<G> I've picked them up and will try them out today. I think Hot Pixels will have a limited use, but my niece uses a crummy digital camera, and I might see some results from this that is less destructive than GS. Worth a shot.

Certainly the price is right on all of these if they do anything faster or with more control than my usual allies.

[Andrew B.]

Hi Jon. Thanks for coming by. There might be some questions you can answer.

Can I ask what is it that you find "a little weird" about the gamma slider in Bleach Bypass Pro?You decided to make the neutral position "0" and the highest level at "1." And maybe this make sense in the context of the way the controls work. But then you have the Reset button use "1" as the neutral position.


I welcome any feedback on how to improve the controls (and the filters in general).The BleachBypassPro and ProcessF/X plugins are very appealing to me. So I'm sure I will be running more tests on them. And I'll let you know if I come up with any ideas.


Interestingly, no. 5, the free Bleach Bypass filter has proven the most popular of the lot so far :-)Hmmm. Now you have me thinking about my comment.

I guess I should not have evaluated the free version in the context of the pro version, because it cannot possibly come out well. And it does produce a bleach bypass simulation more easily than trying tweak an action. And as such, it could be useful to people who can't afford to buy a plugin to do this.

...Andrew

[Andrew B.]

I've picked them up and will try them out today.I really like the BleachBypassPro and the ProcessF/X. The number and arrangement of the controls gives a good balance of power and ease. You might want to look at the flash movie for how ProcessF/X works.
http://www.redpawmedia.com/flash/pfx_demo.php

I think Hot Pixels will have a limited use, but my niece uses a crummy digital camera, and I might see some results from this that is less destructive than GS. Worth a shot.You mean Grain Surgery?

BTW, I was looking at XnView, the free graphic file manager, and noticed that it can run Photoshop plugins. This could be very handy for someone who doesn't want to bother with a photo editor, and just wants to use some plugins.

[RedPawMedia]

Hi Andrew,


You decided to make the neutral position "0" and the highest level at "1." And maybe this make sense in the context of the way the controls work. But then you have the Reset button use "1" as the neutral position.

Ah, I see your point. Resetting to "1" is a bug. I'll fix that ASAP, and will also look at the general operation of the control.

The BleachBypassPro and ProcessF/X plugins are very appealing to me. So I'm sure I will be running more tests on them. And I'll let you know if I come up with any ideas.

Thanks, that would be useful. I do plan to add the ProcessFX "presets" system to BBPro, probably in the same update as the bugfix above. Any other ideas are most welcome.

Best regards,
Jon

[Andrew B.]

Ah, I see your point. Resetting to "1" is a bug. I'll fix that ASAP, and will also look at the general operation of the control.You could make "1" the neutral position, as it is in Photoshop, and seems to be in your Process plugin. But no big deal as long as Reset takes the user to the expected visual result.

Any other ideas are most welcome.There is a lot to like about Bleach Bypass Pro and Process FX. A very nice balance of power and ease of use. And much better than the other Bleach Bypass and Cross Process filters I've tried. But if I were to make an initial change request, this would be my list:

1. The sliders move in a jerking motion which is disconcerting, and makes it hard to target where I want to move the slider. Smoother action would be appreciated.

2. How about a global Reset button next to the Cancel and Okay buttons.

3. Allow the mouse wheel to move the sliders. The user would click the slider to activate it, then use the wheel. I've seen this done in FilterMeister plugins, btw.

4. Zoom more than 100%. And I realize FilterMeister has its zoom issues, but I have to mention it anyway.

...Andrew

[Cristen Gillespie]

I really like the BleachBypassPro and the ProcessF/X. The number and arrangement of the controls gives a good balance of power and ease. You might want to look at the flash movie for how ProcessF/X works.
http://www.redpawmedia.com/flash/pfx_demo.php

You mean Grain Surgery?

BTW, I was looking at XnView, the free graphic file manager, and noticed that it can run Photoshop plugins. This could be very handy for someone who doesn't want to bother with a photo editor, and just wants to use some plugins.

I don't know how you separate out the quotes here, unless you "write" the html? Anyway, I don't look at flash demos. I'm on dialup here, but I have played with all of them except the hot pixels one. I'll have to find an image for that, but it's too much trouble at the moment<G>

Naturally, I couldn't resist the challenge of creating these effects solely in PS. It isn't hard, but the interface isn't nearly as friendly<G> And it takes more than one step, several in the case of Bleach Bypass Pro, so it's perform a step, then on top of that another, and when it comes to Blur and Grain in BP, obviously it's not interactive or "adjustable" in PS the way it is in the Red Paw interface.

I definitely like the results from Bleach Bypass Pro. I'm with you on the free filter. Sample images, very randomly chosen, produced nice results in Pro and were way ugly in the Free BP. It seems that the freebie is a try it, you might like it. But with a couple hundred filters I could try on any given image, I prefer to decide I want an effect and *make* it work because the filter gives me enough control over the outcome.

B&W gave me error messages every time I ran it, but it ran without error??? Most odd. If I asked for details, it gave me incomprehensible numbers, one per window at a time until I finally cancelled. The sliders for B&W were the jerkiest, as well. I would like the sliders to be much smoother, although the arrows at the end do allow for fine-tuning.

I also found that with cross processing, I couldn't use PS's Ctrl-F to rerun the filter. It did something very strange, as well as threw up an error. But Ctrl-Alt-F did get me back to the dialog with the same settings I had just used. X-processing is more intuitive than yanking on Curves. It makes it easier to experiment with many different results.

I'd like to have a global reset button, as well as the individual ones, but overall, the interface is easy if the sticky sliders are fixed, runs fairly decently on large images, and the price is right for these effects even if you don't plan to use them all that often (and probably shouldn't, apart from B&W, or the look will get very tired).

> This could be very handy for someone who doesn't want to bother with a photo editor, and just wants to use some plugins.

Now why would anyone want to run some plugins and NOT own PS? LOL

[Andrew B.]

I don't know how you separate out the quotes here, unless you "write" the html?Yes, I do it by hand. I'm sort of used to it now.

I definitely like the results from Bleach Bypass Pro.It works very well. I also tried using it as a starting point for B&W images, and I liked the contrasty results.

It seems that the freebie is a try it, you might like it. But with a couple hundred filters I could try on any given image, I prefer to decide I want an effect and *make* it work because the filter gives me enough control over the outcome.There is really no point in using the free one if you can afford the pro one. There is that much difference.

B&W gave me error messages every time I ran it, but it ran without error??? Most odd. If I asked for details, it gave me incomprehensible numbers, one per window at a time until I finally cancelled.Did the errors look something like "ds = 0X0023," one after another, and with different combinations? I didn't get any of these, btw. Just want to know if this is what you got?

The sliders for B&W were the jerkiest, as well.It looks like the filters are trying to do live preview updates, but the render times are such that the visuals do not respond fast enough to get this, and slider motion suffers. I checked some other filters made from the same SDK, and they have smooth sliders. But they also don't update the preview until the mouse button is released. This seems to work much better, overall.

although the arrows at the end do allow for fine-tuning.Also try clicking in the area between the grab handle and the ends. This gives you increments of ten.

...Andrew

[Cristen Gillespie]

Yes, I do it by hand. I'm sort of used to it now.

Did the errors look something like "ds = 0X0023," one after another, and with different combinations? I didn't get any of these, btw. Just want to know if this is what you got?

Also try clicking in the area between the grab handle and the ends. This gives you increments of ten.

...Andrew

That's exactly what the error messages looked like. If the error was doing anything to the results, I couldn't tell on the monitor.

I did click between grab handle and ends. It jumped a ways, but I think I was expecting it to jump further. Now I know it's increments of 10, that will work better.

I hadn't thought of using Bleach Bypass before converting to B&W. Leave it to you to think so creatively. :>) It's my favorite of the 3, the most time-consuming to replicate in PS, and it creates a mood I can easily see working well in blended composites.

Another traditional darkroom process that would be nice to see with a flexible interface is lith printing. It's a lot of separate steps in PS that maybe could be nicely put into a single, flexible interface, perhaps even allowing for results that are derivative--not just the real McCoy.

It's offering so many possible related results with a single interface that I like about these filters.

[Andrew B.]

Another traditional darkroom process that would be nice to see with a flexible interface is lith printing. It's a lot of separate steps in PS that maybe could be nicely put into a single, flexible interface, perhaps even allowing for results that are derivative--not just the real McCoy.What would you think of a filter that could simulate Polaroid transfers.

[Cristen Gillespie]

What would you think of a filter that could simulate Polaroid transfers.

If it allows for a fair manipulation of color, not merely the "old, faded" look, yes, it could be a lot of fun. The ones I like in that medium have odd color, not just faded color. I've seen both, and whether or not it is merely faded probably has a lot to do with the original image, but the ability to intensify some colors and the contrast within the filter would be nice.

[Andrew B.]

I just visited some Polaroid transfer sites, and saw suggestions to hand color them afterward. Now I wonder if this is the kind of thing that is suitable for a filter.

[Cristen Gillespie]

I just visited some Polaroid transfer sites, and saw suggestions to hand color them afterward. Now I wonder if this is the kind of thing that is suitable for a filter.

I saw that too, and thought for the hand look, a digital brush would be needed, but for color -- and after seeing so many that were simply faded I could understand adding color -- I thought that would be something a plugin could offer. At least, I haven't yet seen a colored pencil or chalk filter that did what I wanted.