Why do you want to remove CS5.5 and earlier?

1. To avoid system & software conflicts
2. To free up space

Yes, there are reasons you may not want to uninstall older versions of After Effects, for example, your clients have not upgraded. You can of course try running both on your system, but this script is here in case of problems.

Note: The first item under “Before you start”: Back up all files stored in Adobe product directories, including custom plug-ins or profiles you have installed.

Here are a couple of tutorials for moving your CS5 plug-ins to CS5.5. The same method applies to CS6. I’m suggesting that you back up your plugins and the video explains the locations where your plug-ins might be:

1. Plug-ins Folder
2. Media Core Folder

Also, back up presets!

Because many plug-ins will not be ready by May 7 with installers for Adobe CS6, it does not mean they will not work. Follow the same procedure in the video for moving your plug-ins to CS6. Not everything will work, but you will be surprised at how many will function just fine. This will save you a lot of time re-installing as well. The videos are about making aliases but we are suggesting that you move them, since you’d be deleting older instances of After Effects anyway.

Transfering your After Effects CS5 plug-ins to After Effects CS5.5

How to Transfer CS5 Plug-ins to CS5.5 in Windows

Note: If you do not remove older versions of After Effects from your system and have multiple instances of the plug-ins on your system, you will likely get some errors. It will probably work fine but you’ll find yourself clicking through an endless series of popup windows telling you you have duplicates.

Answer: There are a ton of glows out there. I'm attaching a small excerpt from my book Plug-in to After Effects, which gives an example of some of the glows. I'm adding extra info to the details.

1. Original Image
    
2. After Effects Glow (Free with AE). It works either on the Color Channels, which can be used for creating a glow for full-frame footage, or Alpha Channels, for creating light ray effects around layers with alphas such as text and logos. There are a decent amount of options but the look just isn’t as nice as with the third party glow options. It has no presets.
    
3. Noise Industries FxFactory (MSRP $399, TF Price: $379) The FxFactory Glow (Box-shaped) is a nice looking glow, but there are no presets. Even at a Strength value of just 0.01, the effect is still viewable. This is a great plug-in for bright bloom transitions. There is an option to Use Image Colors or to choose a Color with the eyedropper, an option not included in a lot of glow plug-ins. There is a built in Mask Tool, which has custom Mask Shapes or the option to choose a path on the layer. FxFactory is Mac only  and works in AE, FCP, Motion and Final Cut Express.
    
4. Boris Continuum Complete (MSRP $999, TF Price: $945) BCC Glow is a robust plug-in comes with multiple presets and allows for the glow to be based on RGB Channels, Luminance, Lightness, Red, Green, Blue or Alpha. There are the usual glow adjustments such as the radius, threshold and compositing mode. BCC Glow has the added options of a built in Motion Tracker, a Pixel Chooser to isolate areas of the shot and Beat Reactor, to animate with audio input.  There are quite a few glow plug-ins included and it's one of my favorites because of the variety of options and speed. We sell Continuum Complete for $945 (list price is $999) and it's well worth the price because there are so many great filters with it.

   Update: Peter McAuley of Boris FX contacted me to let me know that the filter used in the sample is now obsolete with the release of BCC 8 (looks like I need a major revision to the book!).  It was replaced with BCC Film Glow, which is "capable of generating an exact match to the Sapphire Glow filter, and in fact it even matches Sapphire Glow at it's default settings. One of the added advantages of the BCC Film Glow is that, again by default, it renders a glow all the way to the edge of the source clip… the Sapphire Glow filter stops short of the source edge, regardless of the setting used." 
    

5. GenArts Sapphire ($1699) Sapphire's S_Glow is interesting because it works with a Background and Matte layer, so it is made specifically for compositing. Width X and Width Y allow the glow to be stretched and this is not something seen in other glow plug-ins. Not only that, individual Red Green and Blue widths can be adjusted. It also has options to Glow From Alpha and Glow Under Source, so the glow can come from behind the text or keyed footage, not just on top of the image. There are no presets with S_Glow, but it’s a solid choice.
    
6. Digieffects Delirium (MSRP $299, TF Price: $284.05) Delirium's DE Glower, which does not have a lot of options but it does include the basics and the option to set a Dark Color and Bright Color, or use the Original Colors. There are a few presets as well. Delirium is fairly inexpensive and has a lot of fun filters with it. Note, the image above, from the book, is out of date. Glower is from the older version of Delirium. Delirium DE Glow is included in the new version and looks like this:

Here's another quick sample (Thanks, Brandon!)

7. Tiffen Dfx Digital Filter Suite (MSRP $599.95, TF Price: $569.95). DFX Glow is a plug-in that doesn’t seem too special on the surface but once the Color Correct settings are pulled down, there are options not seen in other glow filters. There are Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Contrast, Gamma and Red, Green and Blue controls for the color of the glow for precise control of the color. I love this package. It's mostly not glows but gels and lens effects that recreate the look of their gels and lenses in the real world.

Another option, not pictured is Red Giant Warp (MSRP $199.00, TF Price $179.10). It includes a glow plug-in.

All the plugins here are available as free trials or demos here. I'd highly recommend downloading a few and checking them out to see which gives you the look that you want. I'd definitely suggest trying the Boris Continuum Complete package and if you're on Mac, Noise Industries FxFactory.

How to Transfer CS5 Plug-ins to CS5.5 in Windows from digieffects on Vimeo.

Learn how to transfer your After Effects and Premiere Pro plug-ins from CS5 to CS5.5 in Windows without having to re-install your plug-ins!

Digieffects

Become a Fan of Digieffects on Facebook by February 18, 2011 and get a free plug-in on February 19th!

This offer is exclusive to people who follow Digieffects on Facebook

On February 19, 2011 all of the Digieffects fans will receive a link to download a free plug-in.

Also, Digieffects will be discontinuing upgrade products end of February 2011. Upgrade your Digieffects products while you still can!

• Digieffects Delirium v2 Upgrade: $99.00
• Digieffects Damage v2.2 Upgrade: $49.00
• Digieffects Buena Depth Cue v2.3 Upgrade: $99.00
• Digieffects Megasuite Upgrade: $199.00

Digieffects FreeForm is now bundled with After Effects CS5. If you’re using CS4, buy Digieffects FreeForm AE for CS4 or download a free demo.

Author: Ben Griggs Skill Level: Intermediate Version: AE CS4 Project Files: Download Project Files (19mb) Movie: View Quicktime below Plug-ins Used: Digieffects FreeForm AE Free Demo: Download Digieffects FreeForm AE

The Tutorial

Find more videos like this on MyToolfarm

Are you going to NAB this year? Do you need a free pass to the show floor?

Yes Apple isn’t going to be there and neither is RED or Quantel … But Avid is, Adobe is, all of the other camera manufacturers are going to be there. Plus there’s a lot of other great small software developers that will be on the show floor so there’s going to be a lot to see. Plus the Final Cut Pro SuperMeet will be happening as well. You might can find a good deal on a flight if you try hard or fly Southwest and you can definitely find a good deal on a hotel. Get a pass to the show floor and get to Vegas. I looks like I’ll be there too and I am very excited. And I will not eat at any buffets this year.

To get your free pass that includes access to the exhibit floor and the opening keynote (a $150 value) go to http://nabshow.com/passport and enter this code: TP01.

If you’re NAB alumni, I’ve also received the code DM01 for a free Alumni Exhibits passport.

I wrote an article last year or the year before called The NAB Survival Guide. I’ll dig it up and repost it. I have a busy week planned once again, working between the Red Giant, Digieffects and Boris booths and even doing some book signings for my new book with Jeremy Hanke, Greenscreen Made Easy.

So, I ask again:

I’m sure most of you are starting to feel the economic crunch, so we’ve put together a section for plug-ins that are $99 and under. These are useful plug-ins by well known plug-in developers like Red Giant, Trapcode, Digieffects, Noise Industries, Nattress and others.

Plug-ins for $99 and under

If you’d like to take the plug-in for a test drive before you buy it, most of the plug-ins are available for download on our demos/trial page: http://www.toolfarm.com/demo/demo.php

T

Check out The Nobody Hole for information on how to enter. There are thousands of dollars worth of video and music prizes for the best entry. Prizes include goods from Digieffects, Red Giant, Noise Industries, CHV Plugins and limited edition music from Sum… and more. Download one of three short audio tracks and build your vision of the music. Create. Enter. Profit.

Digieffects Delirium – through this Friday, get it for only $99 (regularly $399!). It runs in AE, FCP, and more with a single serial number on a single computer!