Red Giant VFX Supercomp produces realistic VFX composites by applying an effect to all layers instead of just one. It features 17 light and atmospheric filters for After Effects, such as Light Wrap and Heat Blur. Results are more natural-looking than possible with just 2D layers. Heat Blur, for example, applied to a fire element, gives a realistic blurring and distortion of all the layers behind it, without any additional effects added.
To make the workflow efficient, Supercomp's adjustable presets display live previews of how they'll affect your finished composite. Additionally, all 17 effects are GPU-accelerated for fast performance.
Supercomp works seamlessly with the After Effects timeline. The plug-in enhances the After Effects 2D compositing engine with its own, powerful environment and set of tools. You can use Supercomp for finishing touches or base your entire workflow around it, all the while working in the familiar After Effects timeline.
Note:
Your download provides you with the latest version of VFX Supercomp.
Host Applications
Adobe After Effects CC 2018 and later
Supercomp Panel
VFX Supercomp's dockable user interface makes it easy to do complex compositing through clear visual feedback. Supercomp's layers are easy to read at a glance with intuitive icons for each effect. Quickly access the complete set of effects through a convenient radial menu for fast application and results.
Fine Detail Preview
Often, effects like Light Wrap are almost too subtle to see especially with so many other effects applied to a layer. With the Supercomp Panel, you can view your full composite or you can drill all the way down to a single selected effect making it possible to see and alter small details for better results. Supercomp gives you a visual preview that delivers contextual feedback at every level.
Context-Aware Effects
Unlike standard After Effects layers and effects, in Supercomp, all layers and effects applied are aware of changes to the other layers in your composite. Adjustments will ripple throughout your composite, altering any pixels that should be affected by those changes. Swap out a background, or change the order of your layers and all light wraps, diffusions, haze, etc., will automatically change with it. There's no need to hunt through multiple After Effects comps, layers, and effects.
Supercomp Layers
Supercomp supports three different layer types: Normal, Additive, and Displacement. Each layer type has its own set of effects and presets. You can also specify the gamma (log, video, and more) of your layer, which makes it easy to combine elements from different sources and cameras.
Presets
Setting up a complex composite is now as simple as a single click. With Layer Presets, you can apply multiple Supercomp effects at once to get a starting point or even an instant final result. Audition presets with the visual preview, then apply. Tweak a setting or two to taste and, if you like, save and share your own presets.
Animation
Most controls in Supercomp can be animated. Just right-click on a parameter and select Add Keyframe. The control then appears in the After Effects timeline, where you can keyframe it, or even add expressions.
32-Bit Floating Point HDR
No matter what the bit-depth of your After Effects project, Supercomp always works in 32-bit float with proper gamma management. That means that your composites will look realistic and seamless without any clipped highlights or color artifacts.
GPU Acceleration
All 17 of the effects in Supercomp are GPU-accelerated, giving you fast feedback and renders.
Visual Feedback of Previous Edits
No more having to remember what you did when opening an older project or trying to figure out what someone else did when you inherit a project. Supercomp's clear visual feedback makes it simple to understand a project's makeup so you can jump right in and tweak.
Color Correction
Often a difference in the color of layers is what stands between you and a good composite. Supercomp offers a powerful color correction effect designed specifically for VFX compositing. Once you set your black level, no subsequent adjustments will alter the black values of the layer.
Optical Glow
Supercomp's Optical Glow tool creates a photorealistic glow that uses an inverse-square falloff rather than the gaussian approximation used by other glow effects. The result is a natural-looking glow that adapts realistically to changes in brightness and color and blends beautifully into the background. This context-aware effect automatically wraps around all foreground layers in a way that would be daunting to set up in After Effects. Even layers and effects that blur or displace the glowing layer are honored.
Layer Glow
Layer Glow works exactly like Optical Glow but without the foreground wrapping. This is effective for layers that create an atmospheric glow that should realistically be occluded by foreground elements.
Light Wrap
Light wraps are critical for allowing background light to spill over onto your foreground elements. In Supercomp, you can pick from two different Light Wrap models: Diffusion and Encroachment. Diffusion models the kind of light spill that happens in-camera from imperfections in the lens or intentional on-camera filtration. The Encroachment method adapts the light spill to the layer's level of detail for an organic, realistic effect. Supercomp's Light Wrap is subtle, highly customizable, and works in an optically correct color space so you never get that "overdone" light wrap look.
Reverse Light Wrap
If the background light and color can spill light onto the foreground, then the reverse must also be true. Reverse Light Wrap spreads subtle color and light from the foreground onto the surrounding background layers.
Haze
Blend your foreground layer into the atmospheric perspective of the background with a heavily diffused background color. The Haze effect includes an optional shadow control to simulate the foreground layer blocking the background light that's illuminating the haze. This shadow can be repositioned to match the light direction of the background footage and especially helps the realism of backlit scenes.
Blur Behind
Add realism to smoke and dust elements or lend a backlit look to snow or rain elements. The Blur Behind effect blurs the background according to the opacity of the foreground layer. The result is most noticeable in semi-transparent areas of the foreground and also works well on fully opaque layers that have soft edges such as hair or fur.
Edge Erode
Supercomp's Edge Erode effect adds smooth transparency to the edges of your foreground layer. Use it to shave a harsh edge off an almost-perfect key or add additional transparency to a soft-edged element like smoke or dust.
Volume Fog
This is the ultimate tool for setting a layer into an atmospheric shot. If your element is backlit in an atmospheric scene, Volume Fog adds rays of background light spilling over the foreground. The rays can also be diffused so that the lighting takes on a more subtle, natural backlit look.
Edge Blend
The Edge Blend effect finds the sharp edges of your foreground layer and blurs it together with the background.
Diffusion
If the element you're trying to composite into a shot just looks too sharp and crisp compared to the organic background plate, Diffusion is the effect you want. Diffusion functions as a more extreme version of Light Wrap and Reverse Light Wrap in one effect.
Heat Blur
It can be a tricky thing, compositing red-orange fire over a deep blue sky. Supercomp's Heat Blur tool allows you to blur and displace the layers below using a custom luminance extraction from the foreground. The result is realistic muzzle flashes, flames, sparks, and generally anything hot. The displacement has all the features of the VFX Suite's standalone Chromatic Displacement effect, and it also includes controls to texturize the blur or to add visual complexity to simple elements.
Displacement Layers
Displacement layers use the same engine as the standalone Chromatic Displacement effect, integrated into the Supercomp engine. This means you can create beautiful, light-diffracting displacement effects and they will be perfectly integrated into the rest of your composite.
Core Matte
Additive Layers have no alpha channel but that doesn't mean they should be uniformly transparent. Often what makes an additive layer pop is a soft "core matte" derived from the luminance of the foreground. The core matte tool allows you to create punchy, saturated elements that still have naturally transparent edges.
Grain, Managed
Film grain is a critical element in bringing together your final composite. Supercomp's got you covered. Every Supercomp composite has master settings for grain and each layer has its own grain controls. Every effect you add is automatically grain-managed, so your composites are always seamlessly integrated with your background footage.
GPU Requirement
The minimum GPU required is an Intel HD 5000 integrated graphics chip. For NVIDIA, Red Giant recommends 9xx series graphics cards or newer, mobile GPUs, or the professional series Quadro cards. For AMD, 200 series graphics cards or newer are recommended as well as mobile GPUs or the professional series FireGL cards.