Silhouette 2021.5 ships
Originally posted on 6 May 2021. Scroll down for news of the 2021.5 update.
Boris FX has released Silhouette 2021, the latest version of the popular rotoscoping and paint tool, which it acquired from original developer Silhouette FX in 2019.
The update makes the software available as a plugin for After Effects, Premiere Pro and OFX-compatible compositing apps like Nuke, replacing the cut-down Silhouette Paint plugin.
New features include a Lens Correction node, new roto shape editing tools, the option to add notes to projects for shot reviews, and quality-of-life improvements to the node graph.
Full version of Silhouette now available as a plugin for Adobe and OFX hosts
The biggest structural change in Silhouette 2021 is that the software is now available as a multi-host plugin for After Effects, Premiere Pro, Nuke, Fusion, DaVinci Resolve, Flame and Vegas Pro.
The plugin provides a “fully featured interface for roto, paint and compositing” and access to the “entire Silhouette node-based workflow”, and can share projects with the standalone edition.
It is bundled free with the standalone version, or is available to buy separately as either a $995 perpetual licence, or as $50/month or $395/year subscriptions.
The new plugin replaces Silhouette Paint, the short-lived rental-only cut-down plugin edition of Silhouette, which is no longer available in the firm’s online store.
New Lens Correction node, roto shape editing features and notes system
New features in Silhouette 2021 include a new Lens Correction node based on technology from Mocha Pro.
It automatically undistorts footage, enabling artists to paint on an uncurved plate then reapply distortion; or can generate a ST map for use in other DCC software.
There are also a number of new features for editing roto shapes, including the option to group control points, to collapse or uncollapse sets of points, and to split shapes into multiple timeline tracks.
A new Brush Reshape tool makes it possible to select and move points using a brush-based workflow.
The update also makes it possible to add text-based notes to a project, along with arrows linking them to the corresponding roto shape, for use in supervisor review sessions.
Quality of life improvements to the timeline, colour picker and node graph
Quality-of-life changes include colour coding of tracks in the timeline, and a redesigned colour picker.
Users of the node graph now have the option to colour-code nodes or create coloured backgrounds for groups of nodes, and to align nodes automatically or to organise them manually with dot nodes.
Updated 19 August 2021: Boris FX has released Silhouette 2021.5.
The update extends Silhouette’s compositing capabilities, introducing a new four-way colour correction interface, with control wheels for shadows, midtones, highlights and the entire image.
Users also get 89 colour grading presets “from Academy Award nominated movies”.
In addition, Silhouette’s Math Composite node now supports 22 blending modes.
The list should be familiar to users of other image editing and compositing apps, and includes Multiply, Lighten, Darken, Hue, Saturation and a range of light, dodge and burn modes.
There are also a number of improvements to painting workflow, shown at 02:20 in the video above, including a new interface design for managing brush presets.
Pricing and system requirements
Silhouette 2021.5 is available for Windows 7+, Linux and macOS 10.12+. A new perpetual licence for the standalone edition and the plugin costs $1,795; the plugin alone costs $995.
Read an overview of new features in Silhouette 2021.5 on the product website