HitFilm review
3D & Importing Geometry
Compositing in 3D space is a must have feature these days, and it’s also available in this software. Being able to import 3D geometry into your compositing environment to do camera projection work is a standard in the industry these days and it is nice to see that HitFilm is keeping up with its higher priced competitors.
One thing I would like to see is support for Alembic files, or at least .fbx files. In the version I was using, I was only able to import .3ds, .lwo, or .obj files. The import window for 3D geometry offers control to pan around and view your model before bringing it into your composite, and it also lets you adjust and manipulate the materials. Once imported, you can create a camera, and then add your geometry to gain access to the full 3D environment. Accessing and manipulating the transform data is simple and allows users to move the 3D geometry as needed.
If you are importing a camera from Boujou, SynthEyes, or PFTrack, you will be happy to know that HitFilm supports these formats. And if that wasn’t enough, Mocha for HitFilm is also a part of the HitFilm toolset so planar tracking is possible as well.
Once your editing and composites are complete, you can move onto the Export component of HitFilm. This is where you can output your projects to various formats, including a direct connection to YouTube. Along with YouTube, the HitFilm provides export settings for Quicktimes, H.264, EXR sequences, and various image sequence formats. One thing that stood out to me was that both the Quicktime and Image Sequence outputs seemed to be lacking some of the more popular formats and codecs. For example, if I wanted to export my sequence as a tiff or targa sequence there was no option for this format. Also the Quicktime tab seemed to be missing a lot of the codecs that you would normally see in other products like After Effects or Nuke.
Conclusion
HitFilm 3 does not attempt to be a substitute or replacement of Final Cut, After Effects, or Nuke. When using it, I felt as if HitFilm is the underdog, and I was rooting for it and wanted it to succeed. It is an entry level product, that offers users a rich and well thought out toolset, at a really great price. For the low price $299 USD, users can get a software that is capable of delivering high quality effects, without having to break the bank.
Overall I was really impressed with what HitFilm has to offer. The simple interface, coupled with a really great support community, make HitFilm a really solid product that new users can learn and get up to speed quickly. There are a few small details that HitFilm could improve upon to make it an even better product, like additional export options and better support for 3D geometry and audio. With previous releases, HitFilm has listened to its users and community and added in new features, so if the demand for these improvements is there, they will most likely be added in the next release.
HitFilm is a great alternative to some of the other more expensive, well known tools out there, and the price makes it appealing to anyone who requires a full editing and compositing toolset for filmmaking.
Joël LeLièvre is an FX Artist who works in film, television and print. He has worked on features like Transformers: Dark of The Moon, Tron: Legacy, and Day After Tomorrow. You can find more about his work at Divisionof8 and Delicate Machines.
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Tags: HitFilm | Editing | Compositing | VFX | Motion Graphics
nice Joël. Any chance you’d do a clarisse fx review?