Aug 26 2003
Auto FX Mystical Lighting
Mystical Lighting from Auto FX that can be used as a
plug-in for Photoshop or a stand alone application. It can add lighting and shadows to
enhance photos that need that little something extra. This can be a boon to digital
photographers.
You’re going to need quite a bit of memory and a fast processor for
Mystical, because even with a 700 Mhz G4 with 640 megs of RAM, I found the going slow
sometimes. Of course, the higher the resolution of your image, the more time it’s going to
take. But you can apply the effect to a smaller resolution image and save the setting to
use on a larger resolution image. The effects are resolution independent, so you get the
same results.
Now, on to the effects. Some of the effects such as Edge
Highlighting and Ethereal can be very subtle, but in a side by side comparison the
enhanced photo does look better. Edge highlights can make the subject pop out in a
photo that seems flat. Surface Light can add beams of light that can also add a shadow to
make it look as if light is beaming through a window. there are different presets that you
can use for different effects.You can make it look like the light is coming through a door
or window.
Shadow Caster casts shadows across the image to make it look as though
there are objects in the foreground behind the photographer throwing shadows into the
picture. There’s also a Shading brush that can add shading to a picture where you
want it.
The Mist and Wispy Mist settings can add atmosphere. If you have a good
morning shot, you can add realistic looking fog to it. Along with the Rainbow setting, you
can enhance a waterfall photo nicely. With the Mottled Background and Radial Light caster
you can come up with some pretty stunning backgrounds.
The only problem with the
program that I have is the interface. It takes up the whole screen area. I would prefer
that the effects have their own little boxes such as the filters in Photoshop and then
preview the effect in the document itself. Another thing that bugs me is the way the
shading and lighting tools work. They don’t seem to be intuitive at all. Instead of being
able to just use a brush to paint where you wat the effect to go, you’re given a cross
with adjustable handles. The brushes are strange too. Although you get a round cursor
denoting the brush size, it draws little lines that aren’t the same size, so you have to
do the painting by trial and error and hope it comes out right.
Other than that
these effects have a lot going for them (although I doubt I’ll ever be using the cheesy
Fairy Dust effect). You get unlimited undos, layers, cloning, full opacity blending,
ability to use unlimited number of effects and file saving in all of the most used
formats.
If you could use some plug-ins that can add some magic to your
photography, look into Mystical Lighting. It’s $179 and available in a downloadable
version from the Auto FX website or in a physical CD version
you can get from dealers or by calling toll-free 1-800-839-2008.
System
Requirements
Mac G3 or higher
OS 9 or higher
Minimum of
256MB of RAM/512MB or higher recommended.
