By David Gewirtz
We continue our survey of the twisted effects possible in the free Twisting Pixels Sampler product. This week, we talk about a few interesting effects and our overall impressions of the package.
There are three filters we haven't yet discussed: starlight, starpoint, and tonal streak.
Starlight
Starlight is a neat little filter. It takes an image, like the one shown in Figure A and adds star-like effects to the brighter points on an image.
FIGURE A
This is the original image. (click for larger image)
As with the other TwistingPixels Sampler filters, we were impressed that a free filter had as many options as this does. As you can see in Figure B, a few tweaks generated a quite pleasing effect.
FIGURE B
You can have stars in your eyes with the starlight filter. (click for larger image)
Starpoint
The Starpoint filter lets you create a star flare at any specific point on your image, simply by clicking the mouse. In Figure C, we took this clipart picture of the kid and gave him a little boost with a single starpoint.
FIGURE C
Here's a happy kid. (click for larger image)
Tonal streak
The company describes tonal streak as streaks your image using either a motion blur or rotational blur and will streak the image farther wherever the image is brighter. This gives the effect of a shaken camera..
This isn't exactly something you need every day, but it does create interesting Doctor Who-like effects, as you can see in Figure D.
FIGURE D
The room is spinning. The room is spinning! (click for larger image)
What we liked and what we didn't
Overall, this is a very full-featured package, especially since it's a free download. We were very happy to see all of the options made available for virtually every filter. As a preview of what TwistingPixels can do, it's very impressive.
Unfortunately, we didn't like the nag screen this particular sampler insists on flashing on your screen, as shown in Figure E.
FIGURE E
Nag, nag, nag, this screen lost you a point! (click for larger image)
This nag screen is really the tip of this troublesome iceberg. When you install the Sampler, the installer forces you to install trial versions of the other plug-ins. For example, even though I only wanted to test out the plug-ins in the TwistedPixels program, they were also installed into my Photoshop plug-ins folder as well.
Worse, the installer also installed trial versions of the TwistingPixel's commercial plug-ins into my Photoshop plug-ins folder. A simple option asking me if I wanted to install the trial plug-ins would have made this far less problematic, but now I've got crap in my very carefully maintained Photoshop folder I don't want.
Further, as you can see from the nag screen, you can't run the sampler plug-ins without clicking the Trial button. The company's Web site says you can run the sampler plug-ins for free, but if you download them, I can't make any promises they won't just time out at some point in the future.
Yes, they're free. And we have no problem with a company using free promotions as tools to raise awareness of their products. But this is a little more heavy-handed than we like and it cost this free sampler product a perfect five-out-of-five score.
Because the free TwistingPixels Sampler has some very high-quality free filters, and yet installs files without asking permission and nags you more than your mom when you haven't cleaned your room, we give the TwistingPixels sampler a four out of five.
RATING: 4 STARS