We originally reviewed Alien Skin's filters back in 1996 with their "Black Box" product including an interview with from Michael Pilmer , one of the developers of Alien Skin. Later, XenoFex was a DTG "BEST" winner in 1998, then along came "Eye Candy 4000" which was also a true blockbuster, and the basis of this new incarnation.
Eye Candy 5: Nature
... from Alien Skin
Alien Skin has rolled out the latest in their series of Eye Candy filters: Eye Candy 5: Nature (Nature), a set of 10 plug-in filters for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Jasc Paint Shop Pro and Macromedia Fireworks.
This latest package from Alien Skin, Nature simulates a variety of phenomena, including fire, smoke, rust, snow, ice and more. The second of a three-part upgrade to Eye Candy 4000, Nature features four all-new filters and six reincarnated Eye Candy classics. Graphic designers, digital photographers and Web or multimedia content creators will appreciate Nature's versatile and beautifully rendered effects. The first part of Eye Candy 5 was "Textures" which came out earlier in 2004
- Ripples creates refractive ripples around any shape, as well as chaotic reflective waves. (New)
- Rust tarnishes and corrodes images and text with rust, moss and mold. (New)
- Snow Drift piles snow on text and lightly dusts images with surface snow or frost. (New)
- Icicles drips translucent icicles from any selection and works great with Snow Drift. (New)
- Smoke simulates anything from voluminous clouds of smoke to murky haze.
- Drip melts images, melding colors and rendering oozing drops that drip from selections. (See this for some real eye candy)
- Corona creates radiant solar flares, organic gradient glows, and wispy auroras.
- Squint mimics poor or wet vision or camerawork, defocuses images and adds highlights and halos.
- Water Drops splashes images with a variety of drops, spurts, spills and more.
- Fire ignites artwork, creating any incendiary effect from blue flames to white-hot rocket exhaust.
They just keep getting better
Version 5 refines the features of previous Eye Candy versions, simplifying usage and supporting the latest digital imaging innovations. Nature uses familiar keyboard shortcuts and is scriptable in Photoshop using actions. Presets provide over 500 quick and easy effects for rushed designers and complete novices, and an improved settings management system makes it easier to browse, share and add new presets.
Nature works with 16-bit images; color transitions are smoother, with less banding, and print documents reproduce colors more accurately. Unlimited undo and redo speeds the process of selecting the right effect, while context-sensitive online help prevents perplexity. Nature is the second of three Eye Candy 5 plug-in collections.
The first upgrade, Eye Candy 5: Textures was released in 2004 and produces a wide variety of seamless, texture effects, including snake and lizard skin, fur, brick, stone and wood. The final upgrade, Eye Candy 5: Impact, will be released in 2005. Impact will include the graphic design effects that made Alien Skin Software famous. For those who want chrome, bevels, shadows and other classic effects now, Eye Candy 4000 remains available.
Pricing and Availability:
The estimated street price for Nature is $99.
Upgrade pricing is available for owners of other Alien Skin products. Eye Candy 5 will be a three-part series. The remaining upgrades will be released in 2005. Eye Candy 5: Nature will simulate fire, smoke and other natural phenomena. Eye Candy 5: Impact (not yet received) will contain the classic graphic design effects that made Alien Skin Software famous. If you need bevels, shadows, fire, smoke or other classic effects now, check out "Eye Candy 4000".
Registered users of other Alien Skin Software products receive discount pricing when ordering direct. Online delivery is available at the Alien Skin Web site: http://www.alienskin.com.
Nature is also available worldwide through stores, catalogs and resellers. Host Requirements: Nature is a plug-in; it must be used with one of the following: Adobe Photoshop 7 or later, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 or later, Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 or later or Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 or later.
System Requirements:
Windows users must have at least a 1 GHz Pentium III processor, 256 MB RAM and Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Macintosh users must have at least a 500 MHz PowerPC G3 processor, 256 MB RAM and Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later.
Alien Skin has made award-winning plug-ins since 1994, Alien Skin Software writes and sells filters that users love. Alien Skin says: "We will never wear suits."
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