Composite so much potential!

[LenDoublet]

Just for the record, I have beeen using Composite in production for a couple of years and love the structure and interface and the speed of use.

I really like the organisational aspects of being able to colour code groups of nodes into windows and label things for complex comps. 

Yes it is not robust - however I decided to give it a go in production after all I could always fall back on other pakages - I generally do not have to though. I have also created a number of 4k comps without an issue for most work. Generally I found working with vector masks at these resolutions can be flaky.

The morphing warping is not as thoroughly integrated as in combustion but is workable in a clunky way.

I kind of got to like the whole swiping to a menu thing -  it really sppeds up workflow once you get used to it.

Expressions are great - though more help and reference would be fantastic.

It would be great to be able to stretch the nodes to be able to read longer names! Let alone have the abilty for audio (should anyone at autodesk take an interest).

It is so close to being a really great tool - needs a bit of polishing. I like it's interface and workflow better than nuke - if only it could be as robust.

[paulneale]

You do realize that it is dead software. It doesn't get any work done to it. I too use it in production from time to time as it works well and is free. 

[LenDoublet]

If you think it is dead and everyone else treats it as such, then it will
probably remain dead.

I like to think that if users like it and want more of it and respond
psoitively to it, then it is more likely that the developers will do
something rather than canning it.

I stick by my initial comment - great potential, and gets some use.
Wouldn't it be great if.........

Nice to get someone else's feedback.

[FalconCrest]

Unless I'm mistaken, I think composite / toxik will soon be free, of course no more updates. It's not that bad of a compositor, it's not the most solid, but considering the of owning Maya or Max then Nuke, I think it's the best option.

[miketruly]

Although I would like to see Composite continue to be developed... what I would prefer to see at this point is simply some polishing to make it more stable.  It is very easy to crash just by putting in the wrong path syntax in a path slot.  Otherwise, the features seem fine for my compositing needs.

[FalconCrest]

I don't foresee any more development on composite considering it will be a free download forever, sometime this month.

I will add it is a overall good compositor, but as you mention mike, it is prone to crashing so frequently saving is very important.

[dpool]

I just finished a project using Composite and was very happy with the workflow.  I had no issues other than one or two crashes.  My needs were pretty simple: color grading and simple composites, but everything worked well.  I tried adding motion blur based on motion vectors output by 3ds Max and thought the issues I was having were related to Composite, but as it turns out this was a Max issue (one that I hope gets resolved).

The interface is fast once you get used to the swipe workflow and customize your quick pick items.  Also rendering is quick.  I was thinking we would have to purchase After Effects or some other compositor to get the work done, but after a couple of hours using Composite, I realized this wouldn't be needed.  

My main issue using the program: The Name.  If you search for "Composite Background Using Composite" in google, you will get information about every compositor and video app out there; whereas, if you make a similar search: "Composite Background Using After Effects," you get info related only to After Effects.  The name Composite is just too generic.  It's like starting a car company called "Car" or an naming an appiance "Refridgerator".  It makes it too difficult to find usable search results on the internet.

[Steve_Curley]

Try "Toxik" - Composite's original name. There's a fair bit out there.

[paulneale]

Even the help file refers to Toxic. 

[FalconCrest]

I think they called it, composite was because it was packaged with Maya / Max. Now that it's going to be free, I'm beginning to think it will gain more life. We will all refer to it as "Toxik" 🙂

[paulneale]

The name changed for legal reasons as far as I know since it was a paid app and then became bundled with the others. No one bothered to change the names internally how ever so I don't think that it was fooling any one. They also changed the icons and stripped out some of the features. 

[FalconCrest]

Legal reasons. Is this name rights, did someone else want to use the word "toxik", besides Britney Spears (little joke)

[PiXeL_MoNKeY]

Paul is right I believe it is because they EOL'd the Toxik product and therefore couldn't ship the bundled version as the same product. With the name changed to Composite (eventhough cosmetically) it is a different product, licensing, etc. Oh the joys of corporate business.

-Eric

[michaelwbell]

To all those that have subscribed to this thread - Eric's started a great thread regarding feature requests/tweaks and the future of Toxik/Composite. 

There are some great suggestions in this thread. We should collate them all and post them in the one place - Eric's thread here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/General-Discussion/What-would-you-like-to-see-with-future-releases-of-...

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/General-Discussion/What-would-you-like-to-see-with-future-releases-of-...

[FalconCrest]

Good idea. Composite is IMO a great app, it has it's moments, since now it's free, what more can you say 🙂

[LenDoublet]

Good thought,

One simple thing that occurs to me is to have stretchy icons so that it can
accommodate longer names.

Len

[Steve_Curley]

Better posting that in Eric's Thread so it doesn't get lost.

[wrbones]

OMFG!!! 5 years of trying to get customers to believe in this product and nobody bothers to let me know it's now a free download!?! I have missed it sooooo much since 2009, I cannot wait to get home and install it! It's a month last but this is the best Xmas present ever!!!!