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FCP plug-ins wish list: which are your “must haves” ?
I’m making a shopping list for a new FCP suite and am not up to date on the plug-ins that I might want. Our existing suite uses Combustion, and I want to stay with that for a compositor, but as far as smaller plug-ins, what do you folks have as “can’t live without it” choices?
The work in our shop is mostly commercials or PSA’s, short documentaries, and lots of dull but vital training programs that could use some eye candy. We shoot mostly SD DVCPro 25 but have dabbled in HD using the Panny hvx200, and are getting our toes wet in DVD authoring, which looks like an expanding part of our business. The bosses love eveything to look like 16:9 film, even when it’s not apropriate 🙂 so I already have the Nattress bundle, which looks pretty nice if you work at it, but maybe there are newer, better choices?. What else would you guys put on my wish list? Especially interested in plugs that simplify and speed up repetitive or tedious tasks and shorten the learning curve to get a good look or effect, fast.
Finally, is there a GOOD FCP plug-in for closed-captioning? Not just subtitling, but honest to goodness broadcast type line 21 closed-captioning, all in software?
Thanks for your suggestions.
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12 Replies
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[Mark Suszko] “Finally, is there a GOOD FCP plug-in for closed-captioning? Not just subtitling, but honest to goodness broadcast type line 21 closed-captioning, all in software?”
There used to be, but it was discontinued about a year and a half ago. That was STL Edit.
If it were me, I’d make sure that I have at least 1 good light rays plugin, a decent lens flare, a really good glow, and something that would do a nice blur & flash dissolve.
Take a look at Noise Industries, Knoll Light Factory & Trapcode Shine.
NI has a good glow & light rays, along with some other good effects. KLF is great for creating any kind of lens flare effects. Nattress has a really good blur & flash tranny, plus I like the diffusion in his Film Effects pack. Magic Bullet Looks is interesting, buy I’ve only played with the demo for a few minutes.
Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog -
[Mark Suszko] “Especially interested in plugs that simplify and speed up repetitive or tedious tasks and shorten the learning curve to get a good look or effect, fast.”
I don’t know of a plug in that does that. Plugin make things look pretty, they don’t generally speed things up, or take care of repetitive tasks. There is XMedit (https://www.xmedit.com/) that will take care of repetitive tasks, but that is a stand alone app.
And really, you have to search these forums. This came up yesterday…
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/959660
Shane
Littlefrog PostGETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
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[Mark Suszko] “Especially interested in plugs that simplify and speed up repetitive or tedious tasks and shorten the learning curve to get a good look or effect, fast.”
[Shane Ross] “I don’t know of a plug in that does that.”
I thought that’s what assistant editors were for!
Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog -
Shane, I did read that thread but felt my question was just a little different, enough to warrant a re-phrasing. Thanks.
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The only all software captioning program I know of is MacCaption from CPC. It’s a standalone program, though, and quite expensive.
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the easiest workflow for subtitles is by far this
https://www.spherico.com/filmtools/TitleExchange/index.htmlyou use final cut pro and then send via xml
wtach the movie at bottom
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A few weeks ago, we bought Noise Industries FX factory Pro.
It’s got some really nice stuff in it. You can download the whole package and try it first if you like.Our mac is an older dual 2.0, but the speed of the plugins is still impressive. I think they’re all GPU accelerated.
Anyway, the whole thing was only $379 from Toolfarm…which by the way, sent me a sale email today offering the whole thing for $199! To me, that’s a no brainer.
Figures I missed the sale. Oh well.
Jason
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We did this must-have list about a year ago, but I can’t find it. Here’s mine in no particular order:
Eureka!
Nattress, everything they make
Joe’s filters
TMTS
Telly’s
Stib’s
PanZoomPro
DH Box, Whip Pan, BigTime
CHV, everything
Boris Continuum Complete
Captains Blowout fixer (unbelievable plugin!)I’m starting to dabble with the Noise industries things, but the first one I bought “Drop in” or something like that, was a big disappointment.
Have a wonderful day.
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Chris,
The ‘Drop in” template that you bought was made by a third party using Noise industries ‘engine’ that allows Quart Compositions to be bundled into FxPlug filters & generators.
Did you know there was a 15 day free trial on all the products before you bought?Depending on you QC skills, the FxFactory Pro package is virtually endless -Have an idea, build it in QC and then load it into FCP & Motion. All without a line of code. Thats exactly what I did when I made Volumetrix and if I can do it, so can others.
Peter
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Hi Peter,
In hindsight, my comment about Drop in was hasty, what I meant to say is it wasn’t right for a very specific effect, it is otherwise pretty cool.
I guess I need to spend more time understanding FX in general, I did not know I could build my own plugs with it, I will give it all a closer look.
Thanks for the tips!
Have a wonderful day.
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