Trapcode Suite 13

Late last week Red Giant announced the release of Trapcode Suite 13, an update to its leading collection of motion graphics and VFX software for Adobe After Effects.

Trapcode Tao

One of the star innovations has been Tao, a new tool for generating 3D geometries along a route.

Its functions allow us to create motion graphics with ribbons or animated shapes. It has two levels of repeaters to convert simple paths into complex geometric animations. In addition, looping animations can be achieved thanks to the offset and looping system and it is GPU accelerated.

The price of Tao as standalone software is $99. Here is an introduction to get you started:

Trapcode Particular 2.5

Another of the most changed tools is Particular, which has reached its 2.5 version with the following features:

• Includes a new Effects Builder for creating particle effects visually. Here you can add adjustable blocks with presets of behaviors and styles or add fully customizable effects instantly.

• There are 130 new presets, bringing the total to 180 for creating flames, fireworks, explosions, smoke and more.

• The new “Over Life” graphics provide greater control over the size and opacity of over life particles, allowing you to draw curves and adjust points easily.

• New behavior to automate the creation of explosions.

• New Aspect Ratio control to change the aspect ratio of particles by stretching or compressing them. This makes it very fast to turn spheres into ovals, squares into rectangles, etc.

• It is now possible to render up to 30 million particles (previously 20).

The price of Particular 2.5 out of the collection is $399 and its upgrade costs $99.

Mir 2

Mir 2 also has new features in version 2:

• Adds the possibility of deforming the surface of a mesh with spiral rotation.

• You can choose between square or triangular polygons for the surfaces.

• Selection between the three texture modes. Nearest for unfiltered rendering, Linear, for smoothed gradients and Solid Face to give each polygon a single color.

• Control of the displacement by adjusting the Z-Range.

• 4 types of Fractal Distortions to vary the mesh displacements: Regular, Multi, SmoothRidge and multi SmoothRidge.

• Performance improvements including up to 3x optimized render speeds and improved VRAM management.

The price for Mir 2 is $99 and $49 for its upgrade.

Trapcode Shine 2

• Introduces true 3D light beams.

• New Fractal Noise effects that allow the addition of smoky lights.

• Thirty-five customizable presets are included and can be used as a starting point.

Other improvements

• Sound Keys allows you to show or hide interface elements.

• Starglow has new color/direction presets.
• Form has a new type of Square particle.

All of these tools can work perfectly with After Effects, but in addition, Shine, Starglow and 3D Stroke also work in Premiere. The price of the complete collection is $999 and upgrading is $199.