The Editblog

Plug-ins, plug-ins, plug-ins. Can you ever have enough? If I could chose only one set of plug-ins for Final Cut Pro then FxFactory from Noise Industries would probably be the one. I would choose the FxFactory Pro, pay the $399 and never look back.

From a pure price/performance ratio, FxFactory Pro has a lot to offer. But to understand the pro version it helps to step back and understand exactly what Noise Industries has produced. FxFactory is a set of plug-ins written with Apple’s plug-in architecture FxPlug. It uses some of the Mac OS’s built in imaging technologies to harness the power of the Mac’s video card to improve performance. What is the advantage of FxPlug? From Apple’s website:

“Developed by Apple’s Professional Applications group, FxPlug is a compact yet powerful plug-in architecture for image processing. With FxPlug, you can leverage technologies such as OpenGL, Quartz, Quartz Composer, and Core Image to create unique effects that include on-screen controls and custom UI elements—all running seamlessly in the host application. FxPlug supports both hardware-accelerated and CPU-based effects. A single plug-in can use either software rendering or hardware rendering, or both.”

FxFactory is several things. At its heart the FxFactory is a set of plug-in effects for Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Motion. The effects include filters, transitions (transitions don’t work in Motion as the app doesn’t support them) and generators. The quality of FxFactory is second to none. It always seems to me that FCP plug-ins are available at two levels. The high end includes packages like GenArt’s Sapphire collection ($1699 for the entire collection) and Boris Continuum Complete ($895). These packages are priced high because they are very complex high end packages that provide a lot of effects and produce stunning results. Then you’ve got packages like Joe’s Filters or the Nattress Big Box of Tricks. These are lower prices packages that provide a great bang for the buck. FxFactory fits right in the middle. FxFactory Pro, available for $399, is the top of the line install and includes 2 smaller “packs” (which are individually available for $99) as well as the 70 core effects. I won’t go into great detail as to the different effects included as examples of all can be found at www.noiseindustries.com. You can also install a demo that gives a full 15 day access to all commercial and Pro plug-ins. They include the usual batch of blurs, distortions, sparkles and glows. A few of my favorites include:

Old TV:

Scanner:

and the Copy Machine transition:

Trying to review the actual effects seems a bit useless to me as their usefulness depends on the situation and as mentioned you can download a demo and try them out. That usefulness is also very subjective as one editor’s life saving 3D Ventilator Shaft effect: is another one’s waste of processing power. The more effects you add into a purchase the more perceived value that package has. This may or may not be true, depends on your opinion, and for most editors probably the majority of effects go unused. But I have found that on the one occasion when a Zipper transition makes the client extra happy then it was worth it.

There are a couple of things that the effects do universally that are worth mentioning. Many of the effects include a number of pre-saved templates accessed via the drop down menu in the filters tab of the viewer. Even better is the ability for the editor to save his or her own custom parameters for easy recall.

This is a must have feature for any serious set of plug-ins as a lot of the effects feature many different parameters that can be endlessly tweaked. It can be a time consuming process to get an effect just right. While you can always save an effect in the favorites or to a bin, this built in saving function is an even easier way as the presets go into a folder that can be accessed from any project. When saving a custom effect it is wise to note the effect name that the custom parameters came from so when you have a folder full of saved effects you can load the right one. Another nice touch is that any time you are adjusting the parameters of an effect, you can click on the ? in the heading and get a more detailed explanation of the effect and its parameters.

As these packages grow more complex with more and more options I often get dizzy headed when trying to remember what one particular effect is supposed to do. One thing that no plug-in effect package includes is discipline! You often have to know when to stop tweaking and go with a final effect as you could spend hours and hours perfecting one at the expense of others … or the rest of the edit.

Besides all the great pre-made effects that you get for a reasonable price, FxFactory Pro includes the ability to create your own custom plug-ins. This ability is a very powerful tool but even though you can do so “without writing a single line of code” as the FxFactory help states, it is still a very involved process that isn’t for the casual user.
The fxpack editing window

As a professional editor I am far from a casual Final Cut Pro user but I must admit that while experimenting with the creation processes (which uses the Mac OS’s Quartz Composer application) I was overwhelmed. The Quartz Composer is a node based workflow so it won’t be entirely unfamiliar to those who’ve worked in a node-based application like Shake.

The Quartz Composer w/ effect loaded

But the fact that I was overwhelmed is not a bad thing. The ability to edit existing effects as well as create new ones without knowing how to write code is revolutionary indeed. I look at someone like myself who probably won’t write my own plug-ins and see the real benefit being the ability to buy plug-ins written by other users via the unique interface:

Rather than a traditional download and install into the FCP plug-ins folder, FxFactory uses its own plug-in management interface that lists your installed and registered effects as well as all freebies and demos installed. When your trial period is over you can then use the interface to purchase a license.

This whole idea of allowing a free download of the basic architecture and selling “FxPacks” as the way to gain more plug-ins and more functionality is simple in concept but quite nice in execution. The editor who is more savvy at programming and understanding of this node-based way of creating effects can create their own special filter that no one else in the world will have. And by opening this architecture up to anyone it allows the potential for someone to create their own package of effects and possibly sell them to other editors. I love that I can download and install different “commercial” packages for a trial run, be reminded via the FxFactory window how long my trial has left and then buy and register from this one central location. Just the other day I needed a specific feel for a transition and as I was looking for the lucky one I found it in one of my trial packages. It was watermarked as the trial had ended but with a couple of clicks I had purchased it and added to my group of licensed effects. It was nice to have kept the demo around so I was able to have it in my arsenal but only bought it when I needed it. Sure you can do this for any number of other plug-ins that render with a watermark but this centrally located plug-in management that FxFactory offers just makes it easy. And easy is good when you are under the gun to meet a deadline.

I do have to admit that it took me a little while to understand how this whole sales structure worked. Exactly who was making what, why you had to download the free FxFactory before downloading anything else and what the Pro version was vs. the Motion pack vs. the Editing pack. Some time spent browsing the Noise Industries website and looking at the other commercial plug-ins available from other creators can clear it up. Once you do figure it out you get some great plug-in effects that render fast thanks to their embracing of new technology, the ability to take those effects beyond their “default” state and some great expandability for the future. At $399, what more could you want in a plug-in effects package?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 8:53 am and is filed under Editing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.