Aetuts+ Plug-in Review: ShapeShifter AE vs Invigorator Pro

Aetuts+ Plug-in Review: ShapeShifter AE vs Invigorator Pro

on Aug 27th 2012 with 14 comments
Tutorial Details

This is a detailed video review of ShapeShifter AE from Mettle and Invigorator Pro from Zaxwerks. The review is meant to clarify the strengths, differences, and unique features of each plug-in.

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File size: 380.1 MB

 
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With over 20 years of experience in production and post production both in the US and Europe, Tudor "Ted" Jelescu has an ever increasing collection of hats he had to wear over time. VFX artist, Special Effects Director, Producer, Creative Director, and Graphic Designer to name a few. From music videos to independent film, concert graphics to commercials, corporate presentations to advertising campaigns, the path was never dull. It really started longer than 20 years ago, with pen and paper, and continued with architectural studies, film, photography and electronic media degrees, an apprenticeship in vxf and motion graphics at Cutters in Chicago, and many nights spent in the office replicating what the masters did during the day. Ten years of Creative Direction and over 200 advertising campaigns, together with many challenging vfx projects, where spent in Bucharest, Romania. At the present time, the fjords of Norway inspire him to push the envelope with the new generation 3d plugins for After Effects, actively provide guidance for artists all over the world and just have a lot of fun with the craft.  

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  • http://catoskogvoll.com Cato

    Won’t videocopilots new plugin “Element 3d” render these plugins obsolete? From the looks of it, it has a faster response, works well with imported 3d-objects and you get to use pretty complex materials, all within After Effects

    • Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
      Author

      There are quite a few differences between all these plugins. Element is great, but you can’t do organic intuitive animations with it. If you need a quick 3d version of a logo you only have a image of, ShapeShifter AE can do that in minutes. Also, in Element you need specially prepared models to get proper textures – Zaxwerks products can import almost anything and you have a much higher control over textures. Even though it’s a great plugin, Element does not render obsolete ShapeShifter AE or Zaxwerks Invigorator Pro. It just adds to the 3d capabilities of AE.

  • http://twitter.com/twittem Edward McIntyre

    Interesting review. I would love to know how these two stack up against Element 3D from Video Copilot.

    https://www.videocopilot.net/products/element/

  • http://www.lakekover.com lakekover films

    Hmm, i don’t really think or know how great either one of them compare to VC’s element 3d. I know one thing though, element does all of those things and more and it is WAY cheaper. I would venture to say it may be better. But, i dont know.

  • Alex

    Actually guys, Element can’t do bends and twists, nor extrusions through depth maps. On the other hand yes, it’s way cheaper, it’s faster and easier to use. Plus AK knows how to market his stuff and he benefits from his huge fan base (aka AK followers – I myself being one of them)

    So, yes. I’d say Shapeshifter is nice for some really fast things, Element would be my choice for anything achievable through it and Invigorator just when Element can’t handle.

    If you have to buy one and you don’t afford (don’t want to spend on) all of them, then that one should be Element. But hey, that’s just me!

  • Alexa

    ShapeShifter AE rocks… it does things Element 3D can’t even approach. This review does not do Shapeshifter AE justice.

    Peace
    Alexa

    • Alex

      Yes, you’re right. And still, it’s 100E more expensive than Element and you can’t actually import models or anything like this. Let’s just say they are different, but Element seems to hold the upper hand in this duel not just because its price but also because it’s useful more often.
      And let’s face it. As much as Zaxwerks Invigorator Pro is twice the price of Shapeshifter and over 3 times the price of Element, it is the most advanced. You can actually draw your Bevel profile, get real 3d models inside With shadows and many other nice features. Its problems are 1) Speed 2) Difficult interface and 3) Lack of free and good tutorials like VC ones to familiarize you with the plug-in and its interface.
      As much as “this review does not do Shapeshifter AE justice”, let’s not forget it completely ignores Element3D or Atomkraft AE.

      • Alexa

        @Alex

        On the surface, Element 3D may seem cheaper but let’s put things in perspective (excuse the pun). There used to be a very inexpensive obj import plug-in for CS5. Not sure what happened to that but it was way cheaper than Element 3D. Now consider that without a library of 3D models and shaders that VCP sellls separately, Element 3D is kinda limited in use and scope. So on the surface it is $149.00 but in reality it is really a $500.00 offering (when you tack on the model and shader packs). So this brings it in the realm of Inivgorator (price wise). ShapeShifter AE ships with an incredible amount of project files. At least it did when it was first launched. Mettle changed their website not long ago and many of the project files I had downloaded and still use are not there yet for some reason. Looks like Mettle is still adding them back now and it looks like they are always adding new free project files and tutorials all the time. So for $249.00 it ShapeShifter AE is an excellent deal. Especially considering all the free project files they offer with it.

        Another important point. I find the ShapeShifterAE 3D engine is much cleaner than Element 3D. E3D looks too much like a game engine finish to me.

        Laslty, ShapeShifter AE has been rock solid on my systems. Element 3D… well, not! It keeps crashing even with the latest updates etc.

        Peace
        Alexa

  • R Stevens

    Element? Are you serious? Element is an unstable, useless joke. Climb on the AK train and drink the Kool-Aid. Can’t do anything useful? That’s OK, just buy another model pack…suckers.
    Shapeshifter is kinda cool, but I can never seem to use it for real production work. I like to have 3D objects with more than one color so you hit a wall pretty fast.
    Invigorator is my go-to program. It doesn’t render as fast as the other two, but there is so much more you can do with it there’s really no comparison. Mapping and shadows and bevels and drawing tools right inside the AE interface? The other two can’t even touch it. I’ve made more money off of Invigorator than any other software I own, except for AE. It’s been the one program that has kept me from having to use one of those bloat-ware programs like Cinema64DD. Ughh. I used to use Cinema, but I couldn’t make any money because of the amount of time it took to do anything. I agree, Zaxwerks could use more tutorials, but is it really that hard to learn?

    • Alexa

      @R Stevens

      I beg to differ, I found Invigorator way too slow and way too crash prone when I tried it not too long ago.

      ShapeShifter AE has the ability to use pretty much all of the drawing tools, filters etc. that ship with AE. I find the speed very liberating and the creative permutations almost endless. Most of your work is done right in the AE comp window with Mettle products. this is a must IMO. If I have to launch and learn a new UI then I might as well be in a full 3D app.

      Ceating, compositing and finsihing in one app. is awesome. Mettle products facilitate this. E3D and Invig do not.

      One thing about Element… Andrew Kramer sure knows a thing or two about marketing! Zaxwerks and Mettle should take notes.

      Peace
      Alexa

    • John R.

      Invigorator is cool but the Raytracing is too slow. I would prefer to use a real 3D program instead. I’ve been using Element for a while and the performance is really good even with DOF and motion blur. The only thing I wish Element would support animated OBJ files. R Stevens, what kind of computer do you use? I haven’t had any issues running the plug-in but I am on a PC.

    • http://www.space-jump.com Myaka

      ” I used to use Cinema, but I couldn’t make any money because of the amount of time it took to do anything.”

      I can feel your pain, man! Oh wait … I really can’t!

  • Yuri

    Element has been great, never once crashed. I can say Shapeshifter’s ability to manipulate the objects is the one thing element lacks. Another thing I really like about Shapeshifter is how you can derive more creative organic looks from just playing around with all the built in AE effects. Once element incorporates this it will be the one go to plugin for AE. I will also add that i have never used a Zaxwerk product. No negative reasons, I just never played with it as I never had a need. Come on Video Copilot, version 2 has to have some model effectors. Bend, warp, twist at least. Element also needs to allow the use of animated masks!

  • Roby

    hi , I’m form Romania and I really appreciate your work.