Buzz Pro

Buzz Pro 2.0.

Another product from Fo2PIX, which does more or less the same as PhotoArtMaster, is a Photoshop plug in application called Buzz Pro. This is a set of 19 filters that can be applied to layers in either Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, PhotoPaint, Painter, or other plug in compatible application. The filter is accessed through the usual application filter menu. The filter launches with two floating palettes, one with a small preview window and the other is the filter stack.


Buzz Pro Stack	Filter Preview

The main part of the filter is the Stack, select the filters you require and add them to the stack. You can add as many filters as you need and can even duplicate the filters by adding them again. The preview window updates and shows the full effect of the stack. The combination of filters can be saved and re-applied on other images. This is a simple interface and you should be able to produce some interesting effects very quickly. More advanced uses would be to apply a filter to a new layer and use your application’s blending modes to produce the final image.

The filters offered by Buzz Pro are similar to the filters that are supplied with Photoshop and include: Blur, Blur More, Brightness/Contrast, Directional Blur, Edges Colour, Emboss, Gaussian Blur, Unsharp Mask etc. The three filters which stand out are the Simplifier One, Two, and Three. These filters break down an image into simple colours by removing excess detail, but still produce sharp images. Similar results can be achieved with the Facet, Cutout, Palette Knife or Dry Brush filters in Photoshop, but they don’t quite match the simplifier filter.

This result was achieved with two key strokes

There is a tutorial on the installation CD which is not clear or easy to follow. I re-did the tutorial three times and could not match the sample picture, but I did manage to get some interesting effects en-route. A sound working knowledge of Photoshop layers and blending modes is essential to get the full benefit from this plug-in.


Using Photo Art Master	Using Buzz Pro 2.0

A variety of painterly effects can be achieved with the Buzz Pro filter set, but I could reproduce similar results from Photoshop’s own filters and a series of actions.

Verdict.

At £105.73 this filter set is overpriced. You can purchase the filters in three packages, the lowest price is the Simplifier 1.0 package which includes three simplifier filters and costs £35.

Pros:
We Like, The three Simplifier filters and the ability to use any application that supports Photoshop plug ins

Cons:
We don’t like, the price, most of the filters are already available in your own imaging application.

Features	*5/10*
Ease of use	*4/10*
Design	*4/10*
Value	*4/10*
Rating	*4/10*

The Simplifier 1.0 package gets a recommended.

Available for both Windows and Mac.

Other applications worth considering are: Deep Paint, Painter 8, Art Dabbler, Instant Photo Artist and Xaos Paint Alchemy.

www.fo2pix.com