For many artists, the layer-based system of “After Effects” is the ideal solution for working with moving images Moving images. It is easy to understand and learn to use, and its proximity to Photoshop allows many graphic artists to quickly enter the world of motion graphics. The integration with Photoshop is an additional advantage when it comes to transferring designs for subsequent animation. However, in the field of compositing, node-based software shows its advantages through greater flexibility. With “Magic Nodes”, there is a plug-in that extends the Adobe solution with this option. The ambitious “Hollywood Illusion” project works with After Effects from version 2017 for Windows and Apple.
Installation and licensing work without any problems with version 2. A licence can also be used in a beta version of After Effects installed in parallel. The main new features in Magic Nodes 2 are for working with nodes. A selection can now be grouped and summarised in a box. To do this, the user simply has to drag a selection over the relevant elements using the mouse in combination with the Ctrl/Cmd key. A container appears and holds the nodes in it. Additional nodes can later be simply dragged into the group using drag/drop, which also works the other way round. The name for a group and the colour can be changed via the settings.
Multiple networks (graphs) are now also possible in one project. They can be managed via the menu on the right-hand side of the panel. The settings for the individual graphs in a project can be found here. The name, size, runtime and frame rate are changed individually via a pop-up. An existing block can become part of another graph. Frequently used operations can be summarised like libraries and used in another network if required. In practice, you simply drag the graph into the current view and treat it like footage.
Other improvements include the ability to deactivate a node in the network at the touch of a button and the quick connection of elements via “Smart Connect”. Here, the line automatically snaps to the nearest operator. Compatibility with 3D planes and cameras has also been implemented.
Existing 3D footage is now displayed correctly with all animations in the Magic Nodes viewport – to ensure that it runs smoothly, the plug-in has been prepared for acceleration by a GPU since version 2.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to simply copy/paste networks from one project to another. Teams in a studio would particularly benefit from an export/import function for graphs or node groups. Stored in a central library on a server, existing solutions could easily be reused at several workstations.
The undo/redo system was already criticised in the first version of Magic Nodes. Unfortunately, this criticism is still relevant in the current release of “Magic Nodes”. Undoing changes with a shortcut on the keyboard quickly becomes an adventure. Deleted nodes, groups or concatenation lines cannot be retrieved with an undo command. The developer is aware of the situation and has put a solution on the feature list for an upcoming version. We are
curious.
Conclusion
The new features in “Magic Nodes 2” are welcome improvements for the workflow
improvements. They speed up work and provide a better overview of the network. This makes the plug-in an interesting solution for compositing. Additional changes in the timeline are possible alongside the nodes. A little caution is required here – problems can quickly arise if the user accidentally deletes elements or does not adjust a necessary layer.
