Compositor's Toolkit from Digital Juice

Product Review: Page (2) of 2 - 01/22/09

Compositor's Toolkit from Digital Juice The Compositor's Toolkit is an awesome deal for an excellent product Once the CT is installed, you can now navigate view by "My Products" instead of "All Products", so you don't need to sort through all the packages to find the one you want. Now, here's where things get interesting. Up until this point, you will notice that I haven't mentioned anything about whether the footage is SD or HD, frame rates, or anything like that.

The reason being is that the footage is really whatever you want it to be. All the elements were shot in 2K (2048x1536) with frame rates varying from 100 to 700 frames per second. When you have decided on the clip that you want, drag it from the middle window to the "Batch Panel" (BP) window. I'm going to take a "Paint Splash" clip as an example.

Once I have it in my BP, I'm going to click on the "Settings" button, and I am now greeted by this screen.

Now, if I had decided to download (or copy) all the preview clips onto my hard drive, I would see the clip that I selected in the main window, but since I know what it looks like, for me, it's not important. If you want to see your selected clips here, you can copy them off of the disc, or download them from the internet. The "Settings" panel is what I had meant by the footage being essentially "resolution independent". I can now tell the Juicer exactly how I want my footage exported for me to work in my program of choice. Under "Settings", here are my options:

You can essentially tailor the footage to whatever type of project you need it for, which is totally awesome. Once you are ready to output the clip to work with, simply press either "Render Selected" or "Render All" (depending on how many clips you have queued up), and the Juicer will prompt you for the disc that the element is from, and the render will begin.

Juicer 3 Render

Once it is done, simply import it your clip into your compositing application of choice, and you're ready to work!

I have to say that of all the companies that offer products like this, I have never seen such a user friendly interface that let's me tailor the clip I need exactly how I want it. Other stock footage and digital elements companies should take a lesson from DJ on how to deliver elements to their user base, because after seeing this, I don't want to go back!

Value for your dollar
I had mentioned earlier in the article that Art Beats (AB) offers "Could Chamber" clips for $300 per clip, or $1099 for the full set. Now, the clips that AB offers are not 2K ("HD" only), and don't have a matte. If for argument sake, you were to take one clip from each of the equivalent AB catalogue, and price them at a ridiculously low $100 per clip, you would be looking at $1500 for fifteen clips. The CT from DJ is regularly $699, but is on sale right now for a staggering $499.95, and they are throwing in a free "Chroma Pop" and deluxe carrying bag (while supplies last). The "Chroma Pop" is great for quick chromakeying on location, when you don't have the luxury of a full green or blue screen. This is an unbelievable value for your dollar, and if you do any compositing, and have ever thought about purchasing an element, you are doing yourself a great disservice by not picking this up!

Pros

All clips are shot 2K and are 100% adjustable to any project you are working on
Most clips come with mattes
$699 is a very, very reasonable price for this package, but with the "Chroma Pop", free deluxe bag and $200 off
$499.95 is an absolute steal
Juicer is the only way to go when choosing and formatting your CT clips and previewing elements from other packages.
Exports of clips from the Juicer are lightning fast!

Cons

A hard drive option to the 26 DVDs would be nice!

The funny thing about the pros and cons section for this article was I found myself thinking for a long while about a "Con" for the CT. I would actually pay a little more to get all the elements on a USB 2.0 external hard drive, that way I am not constantly changing discs, but in the end, that is a very, very small gripe for a product this good. The Compositor's Toolkit really is an awesome deal for an excellent product, and like I said before, if you do compositing, you really NEED this. For more information on the Compositor's Toolkit from Digital Juice, head over to www.digitaljuice.com, download the Juicer for free, and prepare to be amazed!

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Kevin P McAuliffe is currently a Senior Video Editor working in HD post production in Toronto, Canada. He has been in the television industry for 12 years, and spends his days onlining on a Final Cut Pro HD. Kevin's high definition onlining credit list includes concerts for Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Snow Patrol, Sum41, Paul Anka, Il Divo and Pussycat Dolls, to name a few. Also, Kevin is an instructor of Advanced Final Cut Studio 2 at the Toronto Film College. If you have any questions or comments, you can drop him a line at kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com

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