Auto FX DreamSuite Series 1

Auto FX's latest release, DreamSuite Series 1, is a set of plug-ins for your favourite imaging program (since this is a Photoshop site, we'll focus on that particular program), but it can also be used as a stand-alone application if you feel like it, which can be useful if, for example, you don't have a lot of memory installed and can't run two applications at the same time. DreamSuite works with both Windows (98 and later) and Macintosh (OS 9 and OS X) and requires at least 128MB of RAM. 256MB or more is however recommended.


There are in total 18 different plug-ins in the set, with varying degrees of usefulness. Here's a rundown on the plug-ins:

35mm Frame - As the name says, this plug-in creates a frame around an image, making it look like a slide. The look and feel of the frame is rather configurable, and it's great when making collages and such, but still I find the usefulness a bit limited.

Chisel - Here's one of my favourites. With this one you can make for example text looked like carved or hammered from stone. The effect looks rather realistic and impressive, and - as the case is with most of the plug-ins in this set - there are tons of settings which makes it very customisable.

Crackle - This plug-in can create two types of very realistic looking cracks: mud and paint cracks. Again very impressive!

Crease - Now you can fold, bend or wrinkle any image. It looks really realistic and can for example be used together with the Deckle plug-in (see below) to create some really interesting images.

Cubism - The name pretty much tells you what this one does, it disorts the image by using various shapes. Similar effects are fairly easy to achieve in Photoshop without the use of any external plug-in, so this is not really a very useful plug-in.

Deckle - With this plug-in you can create torn paper or photographs. The effect looks very realistic and it's easy to change the size and shape of the tear.

Dimension X - My favourite plug-in in the whole set, this one creates those metallic 3D bevels that we all love (or love to hate). There are tons of settings and bevel shapes that will leave you creating bevels for hours. It's almost worth buying the whole set just for this plug-in (of course you can buy each plug-in separately as well).

Focus - This plug-in changes the focus of the image. Among the different types of focuses you can apply are directional focus, rotational focus, zoom focus and soft focus. This is like an advanced version of the same filter in Photoshop, so many of the effects this plug-in creates can be recreated in Photoshop.

Hot Stamp - Adds glow and blend effects. Photoshop has a similar filter built in, although not as advanced.

Instamatic Frame - As with the 35mm Frame, this one creates a frame around the image. The usefulness is again a bit limited, even though the effect looks quite good.

Liquid Metal - A bit similar to the Dimension X plug-in, this plug-in however makes it look more...liquid. It probably could have, somehow, been integrated into Dimension X. Either way, it creates great looking effects.

MetalMixer - Another metal effect, and another favourite. As the name suggests, it allows you to mix different metal effects, having one kind of metal on the inner bevel and another one on the outer bevel. The outcome will look quite good.

PhotoBorder - Yet another frame plug-in. This one does however have more settings than the previous two and the shape of the frame/border can be customised. With these three plug-ins, you pretty much have a complete border-making package.

PhotoDepth - This plug-in is supposed to give the image depth, and sure enough it does, but most of the time the image will look wrinkled or a bit folded, so perhaps it should have been included in Deckle. Still a nice effect.

PhotoTone - Adds a sepia tone to the image. It works quite well and there are numerous options to create quite different effects.

Putty - You can reshape any image using this plug-in, for example along a path, or resize parts of the image. It's quite a nice plug-in which can produce rather crazy effects.

Ripple - Just as the name suggests, this plug-in creates ripples. It's a lot more advanced than the filter in Photoshop, which makes it quite useful and it's also capable of creating waves.

Tape - Creates tape, hence the name. There are numerous of settings making it possible to make your tape exactly as you want it. There are also different types of tapes, for example duct tape and masking tape. It really does look realistic, even though the usage again is a bit limited.

All of these plug-ins can of course be combined, and the possibilities are almost endless when creating and manipulating images.


DreamSuite works and loads relatively fast, but I felt it could have been a bit faster, and that's why I'm deducting a few points from the final rating. The graphical user interface (GUI) is well organised and rather easy to learn, it does however look quite a bit like the GUI in Kai's Power Tools (KPT). The GUI's colour flavour can also be changed if you feel like it. You can also save settings inside the plug-in in case you need to repeat a certain effect on multiple images. It can also be integrated into Photoshop actions (macros), but you cannot adjust any settings while running the actions, which most other plug-ins do. This is however not very important. The plug-ins works well with Photoshop layers, which is of course is great.


I really enjoyed working with this plug-in, it was very easy to learn and use. The manual is easy to read and understand, which should make it easy for new users to learn it. Most of the plug-ins in this set produces great looking effects, and even though some of these effects could have easily been done with just Photoshop, DreamSuite makes such simple tasks even simpler. Not to mention if you plan on using DreamSuite as a stand-alone application, you wouldn't be able to create such effects without those plug-ins. Auto FX has set the price to $299, which is pretty expensive, but on the other hand you get one and half dozen professional plug-ins. Considering that, it's a cheap price.


Auto FX's DreamSuite is a really nice set of plug-ins, which I'm sure many Photoshop users will enjoy and use for many years to come, and it's definitely going to give KPT and EyeCandy a run for their money as the premiere PS plug-in.


Score:


Reviewed by Michael Stormbom

For more information about DreamSuite and the possibility to download a trial version, please visit:
Auto FX's DreamSuite website

Copyright 1999-2003 Michael Stormbom.
All rights reserved.