Sometimes Cheap is OK

I know I am trying hard to push the open source community alternatives for software. But sometimes you have to fork out a little cash to get the thing you need for a job or two. I was in a situation just recently where I knew the tool I wanted was in a big dollar option called After Effects. Although I am an After Effects user, I just didn't want to fire up the box I have it running on to do the job. So I decided to search around to find the not so industry standard program to do the work. I couldn't really find a freebee, but I did come across a couple of cheapies that combined could really give a big end of town product a run for your money.  They are around $50.00 US and are good additions. If anyone does know of a freebee ( open source ) alternative, please let me know I'll post it here.

So first off is PhotoAnim;

I was looking for a tool that could repose some photos I had for a job. I know about Anime Pro but it’s just a little pricey and somewhat complicated. I just needed a quick fix but nothing to break the budget. So a search on forums turned up this little beauty. It’s really intuitive and a breeze to get results. 

The other is Timeline FX;

 I knew I could do some of this in Blender but time was an issue. I had only a couple of hours to do the work and It needed to be very tweakable in front of clients. As far as quick particle effects you can't go wrong at $45.00 US.