SYNAPSE CIRCUIT PRESENTING MANFROTTO 360 VIRTUAL REALITY

 SYNAPSE CIRCUIT 

NEWS!

#Manfrotto #360 #Virtual #Reality #VirtualReality

PRESENTING

MANFROTTO 360 VIRTUAL REALITY
The first dedicated range of solutions supporting virtual reality creation

• Pro and enthusiast solutions for immersive content creation
• Reliable, high-performance bases, accessories and extension booms
• Engineered with high-quality materials and careful attention to ergonomics and detail

UK 9th August 2017 - Manfrotto, world leader in the photography, imaging equipment and accessories industry, is excited to introduce the brand new 360o Virtual Reality range and to be the first player to bring unique, dedicated products designed to support professionals and enthusiasts shaping the future of photography and videography. Manfrotto’s new 360o Virtual Reality offering includes bases, accessories and extension booms that make it easier and more fun to create amazing 360-degree videos and photos.

With this new range, Manfrotto is facilitating the transition that is taking immersive content creation into the mainstream: from niche professional to widespread consumer application. Leveraging Manfrotto’s innovative offering, photographers and videographers can effortlessly capture entire scenes around their camera, enabling anyone viewing the content to look around and feel like they are experiencing the scenery in real life.

Manfrotto’s new 360o Virtual Reality Range provides a wide choice of combinations for individual content makers to select according to their specific needs and objectives.

Manfrotto VR bases provide reliably stable support and are compact enough not to show in 360° shots. They guarantee the stability photographers and videographers need to get a few meters off the ground and are available in a variety of sizes and materials to suit individual creative requirements.

Manfrotto’s VR accessories range makes flawless 360° shooting quicker and easier. These innovative accessories are compatible with all products in the range for the best results every time.

Manfrotto’s VR boom extensions maximize camera height when required. They can be connected to all the bases in the Manfrotto VR range, enabling users to achieve a wide variety of heights for the most breath-taking content.

The Manfrotto 360° VR range features a convenient selection of kits designed to make 360°content creation incredibly easy and intuitive. They are compatible with the most popular 360° cameras and are the smartest choice for anyone who wants to start creating high-quality immersive content easily, right away.

The Manfrotto 360° VR range starts from RRP £29.95 to £634.95

For more information, please visit www.manfrotto.co.uk

Manfrotto (Vitec Group)

Manfrotto is the world leader in the design, production and distribution of professional products for photography, video and entertainment. The company was founded in 1972 based on Lino Manfrotto’s experience, and its mission has always been to support and simplify the work of reporters, photographers and producers. The Imagine More project adds to this historical mission the idea of fuelling the enthusiasm of weekend photographers and supporting the surge of new amateurs.  Part of the UK-based Vitec Group since 1989, Manfrotto has now become a worldwide presence. In its eight key markets – Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States – it is represented by its own direct distribution system, Manfrotto Distribution, whereas in 80 other countries sales are handled by independent distributors

Thank you for reading! Review coming soon!
Synapse Circuit / Blue Gene

SERIF, TO AFFINITY AND BEYOND SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT 

SERIF

AFFINITY 

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! 

TO AFFINITY AND BEYOND 

#Serif #Affinity #AffinityDesigner #AffinityPhoto #AffinityPublisher

A MASTERSTROKE

London, UK, January 18, 2017, It took ages for my Serif Affinity Designer Workbook to arrive and when it did I was very, very impressed! As a Graphic & Multimedia Designer by trade, I've felt a little guilt that I didn't master Adobe Illustrator, so when Serif announced the release of the Affinity Designer application I promised myself that I would give Digital Illustration a good go!

I had used the brilliant DrawPlus for simple logo creation, and I mean simple! Affinity Designer meant a new start with a new software concept. In a masterstroke move, Serif initially released Affinity Designer for the MAC to critical acclaim. Still, to this day, the MAC computing platform maintains its reputation in amongst the Graphic Design Industry and it was vital for Serif to garner a long overdue recognition for its professional alternatives to some Adobe software applications: PagePlus - we'll come to that in a bit; DrawPlus, and PhotoPlus. As a result, Serif has reinvented itself as Affinity! As stated earlier, the first Affinity product was Designer. Unlike Adobe Illustrator one was able to purchase it outright without breaking the bank; Affinity Designer retails at an amazing £39.99! £39.99, not monthly or annually. No. A one time only fee! Awesome! When Affinity Designer came out last year on the PC I bought it straight away - especially as it was sold for an introductory discounted price of £29.99!

And, just before Xmas, Serif released Affinity Photo for the PC at a discounted price also! I had to get Affinity Photo too!


Above: Affinity Photo

GREATNESS
MAC users have been saying that Affinity Photo & Designer are PhotoShop and Illustrator killers, while this may be true for MAC users, the truth is that PhotoPlus and DrawPlus on the PC had slain PhotoShop & Illustrator many years ago! I have been using PhotoPlus and DrawPlus instead of the Adobe equivalents for the last 3 or so years! Adobe tried to make a comeback with PhotoShop Elements but Serif's PhotoPlus was more advanced in that it could output documents in the professional CMYK format. This has always been Serif's legacy - professional output. I have brought documents created with Serif products to print bureaus and always had great results!
Above: Affinity Illustrator

Serif is currently working on Affinity Publisher and a beta should be released soon. Now about Affinity Publisher...

PagePlus was, and still is, a great desktop publishing application but it was always lacking in the Digital Publishing steaks. For example, the video and audio players within a PagePlus produced PDF document looked terrible. Trying to do something that matches Adobe or Quark in Digital Publishing was an exercise in futility, sad to state. Before Adobe Flash got shot down in flames one could export InDesign documents as an interactive Flash medium.

It could very well be that Affinity Publisher will address Digital Publishing; the possibilities are vast! I envisage that Affinity Publisher could create executable HTML5 documents in the way in which a PowerPoint presentation could be launched from its native executable file; HTML5 is cross-platform compatible and therefore should present no problems in creating executables for MAC, iOS, Windows, and Android to name a few.

Can you imagine HTML5 documents that includes aspects like animations, page transitions, audio and video and much more besides? I can! Whether Serif delivers on it remains to be seen.

I am also hoping for PDF documents that include a great looking media player. The PDF slide player could be overhauled too! I don't know how hard it'll be for Serif to take PDF to higher heights as PDF is an Adobe technology. Would it be worth Serif's while to develop PDF? Would it be a good idea for Serif to create yet another media format? Other software houses have tried to create a media format only to crash and burn. Does anyone remember Scala? Scala was a dream turned into a nightmare. I bought one of its applications many, many moons ago... It was a multimedia product, like PowerPoint on steroids but there were so many bugs in it that it was never used. It had some great ideas for all its faults, though! It was a precursor to YouTube with Scala channels. These days, Scala is about kiosk displays. Ah, it was MM200 and it was a huge disappointment. Never mind...

Now that Serif Affinity is hot news it has a shot at creating a proprietary medium that can span different screens and operating system platforms. Serif Affinity has come back for the future and could be the creator of a medium that Flash so very much wanted to be when Steve Jobs shut it down.

WEBBED 
Sticking with Affinity Publisher, I had it in mind that Serif would incorporate the ability to output to web pages into it. The word is that Affinity Publisher will not have any web publishing attributes whatsoever! What??? That's crazy, right? This makes me wonder... It also looks like there will be no Affinity Web Designer either! If this is true then it is incredibly sad! Serif produced on of the best WYSIWYG applications ever in WebPlus! It would be a great shame if WebPlus and PagePlus couldn't merge into Affinity Publisher. That stated, Serif is enjoying a monumental high in its achievements that could encourage them to do something very, very special for Web Design, Digital Publishing, and traditional Paper Publishing!

2017, is going to a very exciting year for both Serif and its consumers. One other thing that I would like to ask of Serif for Affinity Publisher is the ability to create TrueType Fonts! There has to be a font designer onboard! I have always wanted to design fonts and it remains on my 'To Do' list!

In any event, WebPlus version X9 has been taken off the virtual shelf. You can't purchase it anymore! That is so, so very sad...

If my hunch is right then I think Affinity Publisher will have an option for web page design. Fingers crossed!

MOVIES
Serif has a legacy application for the editing and making of videos... Yes, you've guessed it, MoviePlus. And it looks like there will not be an Affinity version for the foreseeable future. This is a great shame!

For now, it looks like Serif is just concentrating on professional photo editing/manipulation and graphic design applications. Just imagine how brilliant a video editor could be? Imagine Affinity Movies that is what Affinity Photo is to videos... WOW!

UNDERSTANDABLE
I can understand where Serif is coming from in that the focus is revolutionary based professional photo and illustration applications but I can see that there is already a demand for an Affinity Web Design & Video Editing applications. I would imagine that the runaway successes, Affinity Photo, and Designer could mean that the web and video solutions are in development already! Who knows?

If I know Serif like I think I do, they'd want to have the equivalent for just about everything Adobe does. I think they will do it too - eventually!

Thank you for reading!

The Synapse Circuit website is in the making...

Best wishes,

Synapse Circuit aka Blue Gene

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT REALLUSION FACE FILTER 3 PRO REVIEW

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
REALLUSION
FACE FILTER 3 PRO REVIEW
$79.95, PC & MAC
#RealLusion #Facefilter3PRO #VirtualMake-up #PhotoRetouching #DigitalPhotography

Good evening, Synapse Circuit Readers! How are you this fine evening? Earlier on during the day it was so, so very wonderful! It looks as though spring has sprung in London, UK! I hope that the weather is treating you all well – wherever you may be!

Y’know, today’s smartphones are improving in one particular area all the time and that is in the area of photography! We’ve seen how smartphones have killed of the pocketcorder such as the Flip! It flipped off! Lol! Ahem... Sorry... Yes, these days the camera on a smartphone is pretty much negating the use of a compact digital camera! Gosh! I own a couple of digital cameras, Panasonic TZ7 and Canon SX220HS. Both cameras are great but I find the cameras on the Galaxy Note 2 and S4 are very capable!

I am planning on taking some portraits at some point this year as I love to study faces! And guess what I will be using to edit / retouch the photos? That’s right, Reallusion’s Face Filter 3 Pro!

PHOTO MANIPULATION SOFTWARE OF THIS CALIBRE MAKES YOU ASK:
Are the days of Adobe numbered? Let me see if I can provide an answer to this question...

If you are familiar with Adobe products and what Adobe has done lately with regards to how they sell their products to consumers you will know that they are renting out their suite of software on a monthly basis. Maybe it’s something that will work for professionals but I do not see it as being a great option for semi-pro / consumers. As you should know by now there are great alternatives to Photoshop that are either very cost effective or freeware! And because of tablets you will find that a good PC is costing less by the month!

What I love about software houses like Reallusion is that they are producing cost effective software that is not only cost effective but offers professional features that really and truly empowers the average Joe or Jo!

FAMILIAR?
Face Filter comes from the software house that has brought you Crazy Talk 7 Pro and therefore the interface is very similar.

Face Filter is a great idea for those that want to perform fast and effective edits on portraits and create lens filter effects on otherwise flat photography.






IN USE
Face Filter performs the task or set of tasks admirably. Sometimes you just don’t want to bring out the big gun that is Photoshop or other photo manipulation software to perform what should be rudimentary edits in this day and age.

Face Filter 3 is a godsend! It makes light work of retouching portraits and that all too tricky problem area of skin tone and blemishes!

Contained within Face Filter 3 Pro are many templates for adjusting facial features, skin and make-up. The photo effects are brilliant! Because Face Filter 3 Pro is template driven most changes can be made with just one click!

THE INTERFACE IN MORE DETAIL
I don’t want to risk boring you with endless repetitions – I try to keep my reviews as short and as sweet as possible! However, I have to say once more that the interfaces that Reallusion creates for their exception software is nothing short of amazing!

Upon launching Face Filter for the first time I was able to perform edits to facial portraits like a pro! There was no time wasted in trying to figure out something. The interface just speaks your mental lingo! I was able to clean-up blemished skin, even-up the tones, reduce lines and wrinkles without making the result look plastic!

I have done such tasks using Photoshop but the results weren’t as convincing as Face Filter 3 Pro!

What’s more is that you can move the interface around to suit the way that you like to work!

SCOPE
The scope for Face Filter 3 Pro is vast! I know for a fact that if you bought yourself a decent professional digital SLR camera and set-up a photography business your costs to set-up will be further reduced as you can bypass Photoshop altogether or get an alternative. Face Filter 3 Pro will definitely enable photo edits that allow the subjects to be recognizable as a human and not a showroom dummy!

Plastic / cosmetic surgeons are using Face Filter 3 Pro to show facial reconstruction!

Beauticians can show how one can look with certain shades of make-up before spending a penny on possible ill-looking products! If you wanted to set-up as a travelling make-up artist then you’d need a cost effect laptop to add to your kit!

Me? I love Face Filter 3 Pro as I love to take portraits and to be able to edit them without spending countless hours trying to make the edits look natural!

There is a “Standard” version of this remarkable software but I say do not bother with it as this Pro version is so inexpensive that you’d think that you’re paying for the standard version!

IN CLOSING
Face Filter 3 Pro is a truly innovative and outstanding program. Do not let the price fool you! You will be able to edit images up to 6000 x 6000 in resolution which should be enough for most professional applications i.e. desktop publishing.

Recommended!

5 out of 5

Yes, Adobe Photoshop’s days are numbered if it is not dead already! The beauty of Face Filter 3 Pro is that it works standalone! It’s not a filter for Photoshop or alternative programs!

Just in case you weren’t paying attention: Face Filter 3 Pro is inspirational and outstanding software from Reallusion! Just watch out for my review on CrazyTalk Animator 2!

Imagine what would happen if Reallusion decided to make a photo editing / manipulation software! WOW!!!

Reallusion Face Filter 3 Pro scores a magnificent Synapse Circuit Platinum! Awesome!

What do you reckon?

Take good care!  

Thank you for watching and reading!

Please check out the Synapse Circuit website for video, i-PDF and more! 

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