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Plugins, templates, apps and tips
I’m interested in what helpful tools people are using on their Macs. Especially in relation FCP X and Motion 5 but OS X and iOS in general as well.
I know there is a ton of great stuff out there being developed for FCP X. I hope to compile an organized list of links divided by paid and free, to aid myself and others in discovery. Some links to get started-
MotionVFX (Motion Templates) Paid- https://www.motionvfx.com/store,motion,3,58,1,1.html
MotionVFX (FCP X Plugins) Paid- https://www.motionvfx.com/store,plugins,3,60,1,1.html
MotionVFX Free- https://www.motionvfx.com/store,free,3,63,1,1.html
Alex4D (FCP X Plugins, templates, tips etc.) Free/Donation- https://alex4d.wordpress.com/fcpx/
RippleTraining (training)- https://www.rippletraining.com/categories/apple-pro-apps-tutorials/final-cut-pro-x-tutorials.html
RippleTraining (FCP X Plugins and Templates) Paid- https://www.rippletraining.com/categories/plugins-and-templates.html
Crumplepop (FCP X Plugins) Paid-https://www.crumplepop.com/all-fcp-effects-plugins/
Crumplepop (FCP X Plugins) Free-https://www.crumplepop.com/free-fcp-plugins-effects/
FCPEffects (FCPX Plugins) Paid-https://www.fcpeffects.com/collections/entire-catalogue
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I grabbed both the MacUpdate and MacLegion Spring 2013 Bundles and recently found BetterTouchTool. Coming across some handy stuff has inspired me to find even more and share what I’m finding to be helpful. Some of the most recent Apps I’m using-
MacUpdate Bundle- https://deals.macupdate.com/
MacLegion Bundle- https://maclegion.com
Paid-
Event Manager X, $5- https://assistedediting.intelligentassistance.com/EventManagerX/
Show/hide FCPX Projects and Events, I think just about everyone knows about it already.Time Sink, $5- monitors time spent in applications, shows each apps time in the foreground and total time open. Automatically pauses timer when inactive for custom amount of time. Haven’t used it to actually track any paid time yet but seems like the perfect tool.
PocketCloud Remote Desktop, Free/Pro $16 (iOS App)- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocketcloud-remote-desktop/id326512817?mt=8
I find it handy for tasks like dropping a finished export into compressor. Working from home, its nice to not have to go to the computer just to click a couple buttons.iStat Menus, $16 (MU Bundle)- https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/
System activity monitor visible in the menu bar.LaunchBar, $35 (ML Bundle)- https://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html
Even if it’s just for the clipboard function. I mapped Option-C to reveal a list of my last 20 copies. Select one to paste at the cursor. It saves them across reboots, and I love it. Curious if anyone uses it or a similar tool.Prizmo, $50 (MU Bundle)- https://www.creaceed.com/prizmo OCR (optical character recognition).
I had great results scanning at 200 DPI. Not so good with 72 DPI or with a picture from an iPhone (poor lighting didn’t even give it a chance). This paired very well with LaunchBars Clipboard function. I used it to get a list of names from an event program, copy each name one at a time and they’re ready for rapidly pasting into lower-third titles. In the long run, I doubt it was faster than just typing but it worked and I liked it.DiskAid, $30 (MU Bundle)- https://www.digidna.net/diskaid
A handy iOS tool, access to everything on your device. Used it twice so far, seems solid.MotionComposer, $150 (MU Bundle)- https://www.aquafadas.com/en/motioncomposer/
“Create engaging animations and interactive flash and HTML5 web content easily and without any coding knowledge”. Interested in checking it out but haven’t got around to it yet.ProCutX (iPad App) $25 on sale, $40 reg- https://store.pixelfilmstudios.com/plugin/app-procutx
iPad FCPX “controller”. Not really useful right now IMO, but I’m optimistic about it’s (or a similar apps) potential. Not as a controller that you edit with but as a shortcut and navigation tool. When FCPX gets custom savable window layouts, I could see this app having custom button layouts that switch according to your FCPX window layout and vice versa. I thought their website said they are “working with Apple to bring previously impossible features” or something like that. I can’t find it on their site now. I’m still somewhat weary of supporting PixelFilmStudios because of the incident with Mdust and the seemingly abundant complaints about poor customer service. We’ll see.Free stuff-
BetterTouchTool- https://www.boastr.de/
I’m using it for Magic Trackpad Gestures in FCP X. Also the BetterSnapTool functions.IFTTT (if this then that)- https://ifttt.com/
Not Mac Specific but a handy tool none the less. I use it to get email notifications of new articles posted on Apple and video editing related news and rumor sitesTips-
Save and organize all your installation files. I started doing this about a year ago. The first thing I do when I get a new program is make an image of the disc or save the install file to a master folder I call “All Install Files”. Also save stuff like Stock footage/music, custom window layouts, compressor settings, title templates etc. All license keys can be saved in a text file to a secure USB stick for easy copy/pasting. Doing this makes clean OS installs a breeze.
Get an SSD. If you can get away with a 128 GB system drive, it’s barely over $100 investment. It may not make a huge difference in overall productivity but it’s a nice user experience.
Use Time Machine “Correctly”. This came up recently when advising someone to use it. It is not there so that you can freely delete files from your main drive and rely on still having a backup copy of the files. It is there to keep a rolling backup of your CURRENT files in case of a catastrophic failure. If you need to delete files that you want to save, archive them appropriately. Archival is not Time Machines job.
iMessage on Mac. If nothing else, just for sending stuff to yourself. I’ll text short sample videos to my iPad and save them to the camera roll to show clients and potential clients while I’m on the road. Just Right-click> Share> message.
Well if you made it this far, what helpful stuff are you using? Great Paid Plugins? Sweet freebies? General tips? Have you made any handy Motion 5 Templates for use in FCPX that are available to others?
Even though this post is huge, it only scrapes the surface of whats available. Your input is appreciated.
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7 Replies
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Even though it’s self promotion here some tools of mine (most are free)
Motion Template Tool for Apple’s FCPX
Is a small donation/freeware which allows to install custom Motion Templates in an easy way for FCPX users. It also allows to analyze your template setups.
https://www.spherico.com/filmtools/MTT/index.htmlCreateDiskImage
This little free tool allows to create and handle disk images — this can be helpful when working with Apple’s FCPX (and other applications as well)
https://www.spherico.com/filmtools/createDiskImage/index.htmlTitleExchange
Is a small donation/freeware app collection which allow to juggle subtitles within several applications including FCPX. It comes with 8 free Motion Templates ready for subtitling.
https://www.spherico.com/filmtools/TitleExchange/index.htmlAndreas
Spherico
https://www.spherico.com/filmtools“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby
become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will
also gaze into thee.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil -
[Andreas Kiel] ” Even though it’s self promotion here some tools of mine (most are free)”
Not at all! That is just what I was asking for.
I have used MTT and will check out the others. Your efforts are appreciated!
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Disk Warrior is an invaluable maintenance tool. Saved my behind many times. $99.95
Excellent plugins from CoreMelt, although, there are currently somre weirdness with FCPX. $79 to $199,
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz, 16 GB RAM, OS 10.7.4, QT10.1, Kona 3, Dual Cinema 23, ATI Radeon HD 5870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.3, Motion 4.0.3, Comp 3.5.3, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.3)
FCP-X 10.0.7, Motion 5.0.6, Compressor 4.0.6Pro Tools HD 10 w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec DSP Monitors, Prima CDQ120 ISDN
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yes disk warrior is defiinitively a must have!!
andreas
Spherico
https://www.spherico.com/filmtools“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby
become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will
also gaze into thee.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil -
John, Thank you! You reminded me that I purchased the CoreMelt Polychrome pack in the FCP7 days. Looks like it’s compatible with FCPX too.
Couldn’t find it in my “All install files” folder. A quick Spotlight search found the CoreMelt folder buried in a subfolder within a subfolder of my own motion templates. Oops. It’s like finding $80 in the laundry. Sweet!
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+1 for Disk Warrior.
Kannan Raghavan
The Big Toad Films Pte. Ltd. -
Here are a couple more good ones-
From Ben Balser (free)-
text yourself when your final cut pro x shares have completedand
From Izzy video (paid Members-only for full video)-
How to Have Compressor Send You a Text Message When Your Compression Is CompleteAlso, I’m hoping for help with another iMessage notification setup at this thread-
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/71/863464
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