Buena Depth Cue V2 Review – Worth the focus!

I remember years ago when I first started with after effects my first plug-in package was from a company called Digieffects. That package was titled Delirium. I recall adding the magical effects on to any and all footage I could find. It reminded me when as a child I loved to add different colored paint to my white paint to see what would happen.

Of course much of that explosive creativity did not add to my pocketbook. I was simply experimenting. And you know what? I still like to experiment!

Flash forward to last week when I was offered a chance to review  a new plug-in set by the much new and improved Digieffects.  This time I was experimenting with depth of field. Their new plug-ins set, Buena Depth Cue V2, is absolutely amazing.

What is Buena Depth Cue V2

If you are dabbling or doing a lot of work in 3-D you will love this toolset. The package includes six highly useful effects that will add, if you’ll pardon the pun, a new dimension to your workflow. Once again I find myself in creative heaven.

With the advent of digital filmmaking and DSLR cameras, the world really expects that “big movie” out of focus or depth of field look. So what happens if you have footage that doesn’t contain that look? Digieffects has your back!

Buena Depth Cue V2 includes depth, falloff lighting, atmosphere, rack focus, camera mapper, and flipside. This really is a one-of-a-kind set of tools. It is all you’ll need to create that depth of field look.

Getting deep with Depth

I remember seeing the demo for Depth and was completely blown away. I could take standard or high definition footage that was in complete focus, and with a few clicks turn into a piece of art. Depth is really that simple. All you do is choose pre-composite depth and the plug-in creates a grayscale depth map for you. It is highly customizable to lets you set what you want in focus and what you want out of focus. Next add the lens blur effect which is standard in After Effects and you are done. You can’t get more simpler than that.

This of course also works when importing 3-D objects or creating them in After Effects. I re-created the tutorial they did by creating globes and spacing them out in Z space. I added depth, then my lens blur.  Next I animated them to go in and out of focus. Very simple yet oh so nice. What an extremely useful tool.

Create the shots you cant afford

When I tried out the Camera Mapper effect I have to admit I was like a kind in a candy store. While I learned camera mapping in programs such as Cinema 4D, I never really did too much in After Effects. Boy, was I missing the boat.
As an independent filmmaker, this is one tool everyone should learn. My pal Mark Christiansen shows it best in his tutorial. He created an illusion of zooming in across a freeway in San Francisco using a still and camera mapper! To create that shot using a film crew, getting permits, and all the safety needed to shut down the freeway isn't very indie friendly. The Camera Mapper can help democratize that! Awesome stuff!

Final thoughts

The other effects in the toolset are extremely useful too. Falloff Lighting really adds reality to objects as they move further away. Atmosphere is very cool and fun to use to create haze and fog effects. Rack Focus does a great job simulating focus effects. Flipside is just fun! It allows you to have different footage on the back of a layer.

If you are an Adobe After Effects user this is a must have toolset to add to the arsenal. I guarantee you that some day if not immediately, Buena Depth Cue will come in extremely handy. At just $199 this is a no brainer! FilmmakingCentral gives Buena Depth Cue V2 our top 5/5 Stars for usefulness and price. Check out the demo and tutorials at Digieffects.com.