It’s fully-featured for $399 or it’s a plug-in environment for free. It works with FCP 7, FCP X, Motion, AfterEffects and PremierePro. It’s a time-saver and a creative tool. It’s FxFactory
FxFactory is built upon Apple’s Quartz Composer which leverages the computer’s GPU for accelerated rendering as well as even previewing effects. The free version installs the framework for add-ons both free and commercial. For $399, the pro version adds over 170 visual effects filters, transitions and generators. The pro version also installs trial versions of all add-ons at the time of your download along with built-in links to purchase licenses.
Add-ons range from free to $1299 for Tim Dashwood’s Stereo 3D Toolbox (a lite version is available for $99) with the majority of paid plug-ins in the $29 - $49 range.
I’ll highlight 4 recent additions to the family.
$49
A great way to create cinema-style credits. Like all of the plug-ins, it contains a number of presets and is infinitely customizable. Yes. It is possible to create titles using Motion, AE, native NLE features, Photoshop, etc etc. But where time is of the essence or even if an editor is not adept at creating motion graphics, this is a pretty amazing tool to create stunning credits. Ultimately, your audience neither knows nor cares that you customized a plug-in rather than designing and building credits from scratch. If you want to escape from ho-hum credits, consider this one.
$49
A very quick way of doing picture-in-picture effects. It is particularly great in FCP X to create multilayer applications of the plug-in and coordinate movement, size and all properties of PIP, collapsing the effects then into a Compound Clip. Again, nothing you can’t do with more work, but worth the $49 for all the features in one plug-in.
$49
Breaking images into windows and pieces for transitions can be very effective. This was just released and I haven’t even had time to take it for a spin. Looks interesting.
$29
The Ripple Training guys have branched into plug-ins. It’s cute. Add various kinds of scopes or optical distortions. Always need something fun in the toolkit.
The FxFactory family of products possibly represents the most versatile collection of VFX and motion graphics add-ons on the planet. They are designed for everyone from editors with no VFX creativity to motion graphics and effects pros who simply need a starting point adding effects while still within the NLE environment.