combustion 3 users?

[dakotapod]

Anyone using combustion 3 and if so what are your thoughts on it?

I have a buddy who bought it on an impulse and has decided he has no patience to learn it. I can get it for basically a favor. (Free, but time involved)

I looked at the overview online and it seems to be a pretty sweet program. Is it worth the effort to learn? I have After Effects and still need to squeeze in some time to learn it so just wondering if taking on combustion would be overkill. Or would I be best served to learn combustion instead of AE? Or both? :-/

Thanks.

[krestofre]

I love Combustion 3. My opinion is that it is the best all around effects and compositing program on the market. The learning curve is there, but it's not as bad as some programs. I would definitely take time to learn it. Having a good handle on Combusion would also let you jump to some of Discreets higher-end programs since the interface is almost identical.

Since you have After Effects as well you should really learn both. I find that for effects I turn to combustion, but for motion graphics AE has a lot of benefits. Combusion can easily do motion graphics too, but AE does have some advantages in that area.

My two cents.

Chris

[dakotapod]

Thanx Chris.

I've been watching some videos on the various features from the discreet website and the program looks pretty sweet. Tons of functions. Since it's just going to cost me a small amount of time I see no reason to jump on it! If I don't get to learning it for a little while, so be it.

Again - Thanks. :)

[seantree]

Combustion is great. I use it more than AE for my comps, but the earning curve seems a bit steeper. Umm, I guess I'm just restating what was said above, but it's all for the love of C3:) Plus who can not dig the dark UI of discreet products. it looks so damn good I downloaded a UI mod for WinXP to get the same look.

[RWM]

Combustion is a very powerful program. In my opinion a class better than AE. Training DVDs you can find here:
http://www.techanim.com/default.asp

or the best one here (with Ken LaRue):
http://www.thestreetproductions.com/training_dvdacv1.htm

Hey seantree, where do you find the UI mod? Like to see it!

[seantree]

http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/f34-1800.html theres the link for the info to use the UI hack.
And the link to the style
http://www.customize.org/list/stylexp/0/5/rank-desc/Noir

[RWM]

Thanks 4 the links seantree! Looks nice! :)

[kappa22]

Combustion is the gold standard in post-/compositing. Learn it, love it, and never leave it

[WaveRiderXIX]

Combustion rocks if you know how to use it. Yah, to some it's pretty difficult. But people who have been able to figure out software since they were on the Amiga 500, will be able to pick it up. I have alot of friends who use it for SPFX commercial work and MTV videos. The best they describe it to me is... it's like a Flint* system minus the sterroids.

Just need patience. And some books.
But if I were you, do that favor. Then find someone who teaches Combustion. Pay him/her like $50 an hour. (or do them a favor too) Meet an hour or 2 a week. You should know your basic elements up and running sooner than you know it. It'll be cheaper than those $1300.00 10 week courses.

Unfortunately, with a job working on Combustion... you may find yourself doing more Combustion work than filming with your DVX lol.

[HansK]

Have and really like it.

Learning curve is definately there but well worth the effort.

Besides the great points mentioned in the earlier posts, Combustion is great for Keying work and Color Correction.

[dakotapod]

Thanks guys. I ended up taking it. What the hell it was more or less free. Haven't installed yet but looks pretty sweet. Are there add-on particles or plug-ins? I would like some fire and smoke stuff.

[kappa22]

Tons of extras

[dakotapod]

Where does one get these gems?

[kappa22]

Well, for starters, you can use any After Effects-compatible plugin with Combustion (although some 3rd parties don't work). If you have AE installed, just make a shortcut to your AE plugins folder and paste it into your Combustion plugins directory. Then, when you start it up, you may get a message about missing DLL's. Just go to your AE dir, copy them, and paste them into Combustion's root dir.

If you are familiar with After Effects and need some help with Combustion, go here:

ftp://ftp.discreet.com/pub2/web/products/combustion/tutorials/combustion_for_ae_users.pdf

For all of discreet's tutorials, go here:

http://www4.discreet.com/combustion/combustion.php?id=207

[kappa22]

http://www4.discreet.com/combustion/combustion.php?id=138

Go there and check out the native 3rd party plugins designed for Combustion

[dakotapod]

Thanks. I was referring to particles. Smoke, fog, fire...

Edit: Got the second post - Thanx *:D