Plotagraph Pro is an online-based program that allows you to turn any still image into a moving artwork. When I first saw the software I got very curious, as it seemed very easy and effects were astonishing. There was a downside to all of this that quickly made me not to bother for a while - the price of hefty 30 Dollars a month (a subscription based service).
Monte Fitz Roy (also known as Mount Fitz Roy), Patagonia
But I came back to the software few weeks later, when I was able to get 6 months free Pro account by signing up to an after party event organised by Trey Raicliff during his tour around Europe.
Also I haven't used this software for a while, and just noticed that they now introduced different (cheaper) pricing models, and a Plotagraph Pro FREE tier as well. Each of them comes with different limitations. The payed ones are $19.99, $29.99, $49.99 per month, but they come with no contract so you can cancel your membership after a month and only use it when you need.
There must have been some update to the rendering itself recently, as all my old projects don't render mask edges as they used to, which forces me to go through all of my projects and fix the masks again, with some additional Stabiliser points.
Interface
At first, the interface is relatively simple. It has very few tools and use of them is very intuitive. I would say that my overall learning curve to understand the tools was no more than 15 minutes of playing around.
Aquatics Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Pros
- Videos are rendered and stored online, so you don't have to have a powerful machine to run it
- It is very easy to operate, meaning you can have a decent video in no more than 15 minutes
- Produces very good results out of the box
Cons
- Quite pricey, even for the cheapest option, sets you back more than paying for Photoshop & Lightroom CC combo from Adobe
- Doesn't work when you are offline
- Adding new points that are very close to each other isn't sometimes possible, as software tends to select the point nearby - even when mouse is far away from it - and prevents you from adding them - even when zoomed in extremely close
Waterfall of the Rio de la Cascada, Patagonia
Summary
Overall it's quite impressive software - well, not actually a software, as the software is just running a web view, so it's just the website that it displays - and you have to be online all the time when using it.
Plotagraph Pro is introducing something really new the industry, and they do it really well.