Every now and then you get a new plug-in added to your editing or motion graphics system and you say something like, “Wow! That’s very cool. I’m not sure how I will use it but it’s cool anyway.” That’s how I feel after using a new plug-in called nVeil.

It’s kind of hard to describe nVeil. The splash page of the company Web site calls it this: A new creative tool for motion graphics on the Mac, nVeil creates unique visual effects by filtering source imagery through veils, 2D vector graphic line drawings, you can create.

Currently available for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express, nVeil can possibly add something very unique to your toolbox. The plug-in also shows up in Motion and you can have some real fun by turning on the Record button and tweaking in real time. An nVeil clip can have the feel of looking through stained glass, with the look of a lot of movement and motion happening right outside the window. That is if Source Scale parameter is cranked to zero. Crank that parameter all the way to the other end of the spectrum, say 200, and whatever the shape of the veil you are using kind of embeds itself in the frame and offsets the image a bit. Think of a kaleidoscope where you can still make out the image.

An nVeil filtered clip is composed of two different pieces. The nVeil filter itself and an .svg (scalable vector graphics) file that acts as the “veil” through which you view the clip. These veils are little line drawings that can be created in Adobe Illustrator (or any number of other vector art programs). The nVeil plug-in uses these lines as the outlines and borders when affecting a clip.

It’s easiest to understand by looking at a clip that’s been filtered with nVeil. There’s a lot of really cool and intricate shapes available in the supplied svg files but for simplicity’s sake I went into Illustrator CS4 and created an X.

I then saved this into my folder full of .svg files. Back in FCP I found a nice shot with a lot of red in the frame.

Next I applied the filter from the Effects > Video Filters menu. Once the filter is applied you have to load your selected .svg file by clicking on the open button in the Filters tab.

The key to nVeil’s range is Source Scale, located under the Source Transformation parameter. Once an .svg file is loaded you can start to play with the Source Scale for some very unique effects. When you first apply the filter, the Source Scale is set to 100; you’ll notice that there appears to be no effect on the clip. The default should be something other than 100, just so you know you’ve properly set up the effect the first time. But slide Source Scale to zero and the clip now looks like vector line art with the colors changing as the clip plays. IMHO, this is the best simple look you can get out of nVeil.

At the opposite extreme, move the Source Scale to 200 and the clip is now viewable but filtered through the veil you have chosen. This parameter is fully keyframable so you can certainly create some rather interesting effects.

Once you have your veil in a clip there are other parameters for scaling, panning and rotating both the actual veil, as well as the source clip with the veil applied. Combine all of these different scaling and rotating parameters and you could make one mean kaleidoscope effect that trumps the built-in FCP kaleidoscope-type filters in customization.

One thing that is lacking, however, is an easy way to preview the .svg files. I thought that viewing them in Adobe Bridge might show a preview of what the files look like but it seems that some of them will show a preview while others just show an icon, in this case for Adobe Illustrator.

I tried saving my X.sgv with several different options but I didn’t see any way to make it save with a preview. Maybe the nVeil developers can shed some light on this, as you won’t want to load every single .svg file just to preview it. If you have a folder full of them this can take a long time.

Introductory pricing for nVeil is $99, with a library that currently includes 60 veils. That’s not cheap considering the price of many plug-ins available for Final Cut Pro these days. This plug-in is not for everyone; many won’t need these kinds of effects. But for those looking for these kinds of graphic-rich vector effects, it might well be worth the price. A demo is available so you can make that decision for yourself, for free. The company is also sponsoring a contest, now extended through October 25, for the best clips created with the plug-in.

Scott Simmons, a regular contributor to the StudioDaily Blog, was born in rural West Tennessee and discovered editing while a student at the Watkins Film School in Nashville. After more than ten years in various contract and freelance editing positions, he became an editor at Filmworkers – Nashville. In 2005, he created The Editblog, a Web site dedicated to all things editing and post-production. Someday he hopes to edit on a beach with a touch screen device, a wireless hard drive and a Red Stripe.