Review by J.R. Bookwalter

Class on Demand, Inc.’s Complete Training for GenArts Sapphire DVD is a bit unique out of the handful I’ve reviewed, mostly because Sapphire is not an application, but rather a series of high-end plug-ins for Adobe After Effects and Apple Final Cut Pro. (Sapphire is also available for Autodesk, Avid, OFX and Shake, although Complete Training only focuses on the more commonly-used After Effects and Final Cut Pro.) And by “high-end,” I mean expensive: $1,699 (with the option to rent the plug-ins for a more reasonable $169 per month).

With a price tag higher than the host programs themselves, it makes even more sense to spend an additional $129 on an instructional DVD-ROM to make the most of your luxurious investment. Thankfully, GenArts has free trial downloads of the plug-ins themselves available, so you can try before you buy (or rent), then Class on Demand will get you going even quicker.

Over the course of nearly 5 hours, GenArts’ Senior Business Development and Marketing Manager, Todd Privers (who looks remarkably like Superbad star Jonah Hill’s twin brother), flies through seven extensive lessons, alternating between After Effects and Final Cut Pro and showing you many examples of where one version of the plug-in might be more effective in one host over another. I say “flies through” because Privers speaks at a fast-paced, breakneck speed that I personally found a little nerve-wracking compared with other instructors from Class on Demand. It could be just me, but it was almost information overload even after only a short viewing. More patient users might appreciate cutting to the chase with Privers’ “speed lessons,” but in my case I found myself watching the disc contents over several sittings rather than being absorbed enough in the subject matter to do it in one pass.

That’s not to say that Complete Training fails at its mission… not by a long shot! There’s a wealth of material crammed into the relatively short runtime (considering the vast nature of Sapphire’s plug-ins). As with other Class on Demand discs, the lessons are well-organized and it’s easy to find what you want. Lessons here include: Installing the Software; Interface Overview; Lighting Effects; Stylize Effects; Adjust, Blur, Distort and Sharpen Effects; Render, Time and Transitions and Final Project.

The first six lessons whisk you through the basics of Sapphire. Because there are over 200 plug-ins in the package, it’s impossible to cover them all, but Privers does a good job of exploring the ones of interest to most users, including glows, rays, lens flares, film effects and damage, distortions and zaps.

In lesson 7: Final Project, Privers brings the vast array of knowledge together and shows you how to use what you’ve learned to create an actual spot, which viewers can follow along with thanks to the included project media. While the Final Project lesson is more focused on After Effects, Privers does cover creating the same spot in Final Cut Pro as well. It’s also good to discover that, regardless of which version of GenArts Sapphire you purchase, you can also download and use the others at no additional cost. Producers on a budget won’t have to choose between After Effects or Final Cut Pro, especially when certain projects might be better suited to one program over another.

Widely used in Hollywood for TV shows, feature films and music videos (their website has a long list of impressive credits), GenArts Sapphire is an ideal subject for Class on Demand due to the sheer complexity and number of options available with their plug-in suite. If you can keep up with the scattershot, hyperactive pace of the host, you’ll find the content alone will be the best $129 you’ve ever spent.

Class On Demand Complete Training For GenArts Sapphire

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