Nucleo Pro

Render and work at the same time in After Effects

If you’re an Adobe After Effects (AE) user with either a dual processor or dual-core computer chip in your machine, then I want you to run, not walk, to your computer to order this plug-in. You’ll send me a thank you every time you render—no kidding.

Gridiron Nucleo Pro does the one thing that every AE user wants every time they sit at their machine…to make it render faster. And it renders faster everywhere. Want faster previews? Done. Faster final renders? Done. It even does the one thing that After Effects has never been able to do: render in the background while you continue to work! It’s like getting a second computer that’s faster than the one you currently have.

I still remember when I paid $6,000 for an ICE hardware card to speed up AE in the late 1990s, which within 18 months was all but obsolete. So the $495 cost for Nucleo Pro can’t get charged to most users’ credit cards fast enough. But if all you need is simply faster rendering and previews, then you can save yourself some money and get the regular version of Nucleo for an absolute steal at $149.95.

If there’s one area where Nucleo and Nucleo Pro have a problem, it’s with vector art (such as the kind from Adobe Illustrator). Because AE has to rasterize every frame of vector-based artwork, it adds a huge rendering overhead to any project. Nucleo not only doesn’t make it render any faster, but it actually magnifies the problem and slows it down. So if you mainly work with Illustrator art, stay away from Nucleo.

For most users, Nucleo Pro will be the best money you spend on your After Effects arsenal this year.—Rod Harlan

PRICE: $395
FROM: GridIron Software
PHONE: 866-850-4743
WEB: www.gridironsoftware.com
FOR: Mac and Windows
RATING: 4.5

LAYERS VERDICT
HOT 30%-70% speed increase
NOT Vector artwork slowdown