What is the best thing about a Friday? Not having to work tomorrow? Having a post work drink with colleagues? Or just looking forward to the weekend? No, of course it is our roundup of free effects as it is #freeeffectfriday!

We have seen quite a few iPad applications that can store notes when reviewing cut sequences. But what about an app for logging on the fly so that important quotations can be found with ease in the edit suite?

Published slightly later than usual, this week's MacBreak Studio features a tutorial on how to blow away text in Motion 5. Many great ideas to try out in this new episode.

Two new plugins at the start of this week. Tritone Overlays from Tangent FX and Luminaire from SUGARfx. Both are under $30 and both apply lighting effects over video.

We didn't expect to get emails saying what happened to last week's Free Effect Friday, so let's put that right and get up to date. Five free effects to catch up with.

Two new plugins have been released that use the FxFactory plugin management system. Although they both do colour correction, they take a very different approach to how it's done. 

The key to good editing in FCPX is organisation before you start. We are familiar with Keywords, but what's the quickest way to label up your clips? The usual duo find out...

We have all seen the Apple demo footage of Audi R8s driving around the Sonoma Raceway that was used to market Final Cut Pro X. But how about a real world Audi job cut and graded on FCPX?

Coremelt have added two new effects to their very popular Slice X plugin that features tracking powered by Mocha. They are also offering a discounted price on the plugin until July the 22nd.

It's a long holiday weekend for many, but that doesn't stop the free effects for Final Cut Pro X coming. This week on #freeeffectfriday we have a colourful range of new free plugins to download.

The boys from MacBreak Studio are back and this time they are going to show us how easy it is to sync up clips and edit a basic music video. Perfect for all the YouTuber musicians out there.

At the recent meeting of the Los Angeles Creative Pro User Group, Alexis Van Hurkman gave a demonstration of the yet unreleased DaVinci Resolve 10. Final Cut Pro X was his choice of source NLE for the demo.

Another roundup of the free effects for FCPX and Motion that have been published over the last couple of weeks. There's a lot of them too ranging from utility plugins, transitions and templates. 

We love seeing what the Ripple Training guys release next as they come up with very innovative products for FCPX. Their latest plugin is called Jumps.

New plugin developer Lawn Road has just released two plugins designed especially for FCPX. Color Precision is a colour corrector and Fast Mask is a masking tool.

Moving up a level from the Ken Burns moves is the technique of modifying and animating layers of a photo for 'The Kid Stays in the Picture' effect. What it is, and how to do it in this new MacBreak Studio episode.

The popular skin smoothing plugin Beauty Box from Digital Anarchy has been updated to version 3 and it's just been released. It's also at a discounted price until June 30th.

Idustrial Revolution started the ball rolling this morning with the simpler hashtag #freeeffectfriday. As everybody loves free plugin effects for Final Cut Pro X, we thought that we would carry the thought on. Lots to download!

Yes we are well into June, but we have quite a few odd bits of news left over from May that we thought we would get out of the inbox to make space for WWDC. So in no particular order or ranking...

In this week's episode of MacBreak Studio, Steve and Mark take a look how to extend the functionality of the built-in Ken Burns picture moving tool. If you want a pause in the movement, then read on.

Larry says your eyes lie to you and if you want to colour correct or grade properly, then you need to fire up the 'scopes in FCPX. That's exactly what he does and he also shares some great skin tone percentage range tips at the end too.

The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women is a documentary about the photographer Erwin Blumenfeld. It's just aired in the UK and it was post produced on FCPX for Auntie.

Many feature films have cosmic zooms, in this new episode of MacBreak Studio we learn how to construct that signature trip through the Z dimension.

Two new plugins from the FxFactory stable. Xflare from SugarFX adds adjustable flares to footage and the sequel to Ripple Tools is out.

With more and more of us shooting RAW images on DSLRs, what is the best way to handle them in FCPX? With a bit of help from Photoshop, this new episode of MacBreak Studio shows us how.

We have to give a big thank you to Larry Jordan for spotting this one. Make sure you have Hoovered the carpet in the office this morning as that's where your jaws will be after watching and more importantly listening to the demos.

FCPX is very quick when it comes to editing, but sharing can take its time depending on what you are sending and to where. Ben Balser has a handy tip to let you know when a share has finished.

It's been a while since we featured a presentation from the LACPUG here on FCP.co. This is a good one, Sam Mestman from Lumaforge takes the audience through a 4K RED workflow on Final Cut Pro X.

So you've finished your edit in FCPX, how do you archive off a project for safe storage? In this new episode of MacBreak Studio we look at the correct way to make sure a project will come back to life in the future.

***Winners Announced***

We have seen it demoed, but today is the official release date for the updated plugin SliceX, the bezier masking tool for FCPX that now features Mocha tracking. We also have 3 copies to giveaway to lucky FCP.co readers!

What are cinemagraphs? In this article we show you a recent broadcast feature made up entirely of cinemagraphs and we also look at how they are made using FCP and Motion.

You would think that from the title of the article that this new episode of MacBreak Studio is covering the basics on behaviors. You would be wrong as it gets complex and very interesting very quickly.

Light flares and anamorphic streaks are very popular. This new plugin from PHYX won't break the bank at $49, but it will get you those light effects on your video.

***Winner Announced***

Want to learn Final Cut Pro X but can't get to or haven't got the time to attend an authorised training centre? The author of the official FCPX training book, Diana Weynand is now offering a live certified course online. We've also got a coupon code for 30% discount and a free place to give away!

A slightly cryptic headline for this new episode of MacBreak Studio, but indeed, our duo of Steve and Mark make a DVDless DVD. See how they perform this FCPX magic trick after the break!

Although there is video stabilisation built into FCPX, the $99 Motionbend application has a lot more going on under the hood. With a new XML export into FCPX feature just added, we thought we would take a closer look at "motion editing" with Motionbend.

With not much news on a quiet Monday, we thought that it was a good opportunity to take a look at the best free Final Cut Pro X tutorials that have been published this month.

The deluge of new plugins post NAB continues. New releases include a utility plugin for getting the timing right when editing to a script and a couple of new free plugins from Andy Mees.

It's back to basics again in this episode of MacBreak Studio. Mark and Steve take a look at using behaviors to animate an object instead of keyframes.

It's certainly new plugin Monday here on FCP.co and we have to thank Andy Mees for releasing three free plugins to download. They all work on FCP7 & FCPX, Motion, Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects.

Two new products from two Final Cut Pro X plugin developers. Get custom graphics layered over footage with XOverlays and bring those GVG wipe patterns back with Shape Pop.

NewBlueFX is one name that isn't that familiar with FCPX editors. Their background has been mainly with Sony Vegas users, so we took the opportunity to talk about their plugins at NAB. Also standby for Denoiser news!

Previewed at the recent SuperMeet at NAB, Ripple Training have released a $59 pack of timeline transitions plugins for Final Cut Pro X. There's also a special offer of $20 off the price until Sunday.

Editing a growing clip whilst ingesting has been pretty common practice with FCP7 for a while. Trying the same with existing replay based streaming solutions and Final Cut Pro X is a different story. MovieRecorder from Softron however allows you import a clip while it is still ingesting and we are super excited! Essential watching if you produce live events or quick turnaround shows.

In this week's episode of MacBreak Studio we go back to basics, but with a twist. Learn how to replace media when you want to match action in the middle of a clip.

We were so impressed by the demo we had on the Monday with Technicolor's Color Assist plugin for FCPX, we had to go back and film it! Some very clever colour correction going on.

SliceX from Coremelt got a huge thumbs up from all our readers here on FCP.co. When they announced that planar tracking was going to be built in, we tracked down (sorry) Roger Bolton at NAB to give us a live FCPX demo. There's a money off offer too!

We have been following the progress of the Beauty Box Video plugin from Digital Anarchy, so we jumped at the chance of getting a demo on FCPX from the plugin's author Jim Tierney. 25% off coupon code too!

Steve Martin has been out shooting timelapse sequences in San Francisco. So what is the easiest workflow with FCPX? You might be surprised to find out that an old app resurfaces.

Motion as a graphics tool is very powerful when using behaviors, but there are times when objects need to be keyframed. This new episode of MacBreak Studio is all about keyframing.

We previewed The Touch earlier in the week and the good news is that today, Friday is the official release date. It retails for €19.95 and there's 300 gestures free for you to test it out. So get swiping!

Demoed at the recent Los Angeles Creative Pro User Group is Lumberjack. It's a real time logging application that inputs the data into FCPX and Final Cut Pro X. No Monty Python gags either.

This week's episode of MacBreak Studio sounds boring, but it contains some amazing demonstartions on how powerful the database can be in FCPX. Well worth a watch and then a rewatch.

Nocommotions has released three budget plugins for help when colour correcting in FCPX. Very reasonably priced, they range from $2.99 to $6.99.

There are a lot of Final Cut Pro X plugins out there, but there is also a core group of people who develop plugins and publish them for free download. Cartoonizer 2 is new to an expanding portfolio of free effects from one such writer.

It has been a week of new plugin products and Friday is no different. Tangent FX has released a $19 pack of swooping colour trails that perform transitions in FCPX.

When Apple axed Final Cut Server, it left a void in the digital asset management (DAM) market. Possible replacement company Cantemo has published a sneak video preview on the FCPX and Cantemo Portal workflow.

More new plugins this week and thankfully not a lawyer's letter in sight! Panel Pop from Stupid Raisins is a plugin pack full of transitions using panels.

Two plugins in two days isn't a bad record for Tokyo so far this month! Chrominator is a $49 plugin for Final Cut Pro X that takes a logo or text and adds a glossy bevelled edge.

***Updated with Winners***

Idustrial Revolution has released a new plugin pack in their XEffects product line for FCPX called X3 Camera Transitions. Priced at $49 it's chock full of old movie, still camera and projector effects. We have got five licences to give away too!

With possibly the coolest on screen controls of any Final Cut Pro X plugin out there, the new $49 ReAnimator plugin fixes small imperfections in video.

One of the features lacking in FCPX is the ability to save favourite effects just like our much loved FCP7 was able to. This new episode of MacBreak Studio shows us a workaround that works, for the majority of the time anyway.

No cake this time, but this week we have more valuable tips and information from Steve Martin and Mark Spencer on MacBreak Studio. In this episode it's all about exporting audio.

10 part French TV series Lazy Company had a split life in post production. Seven episodes were cut on Final Cut Pro 7 and three were cut on Final Cut Pro X. We speak to editor Olivier Galliano who gladly took on the challenge of using FCPX.

Mark Spencer and Steve Martin celebrate the 200th episode of the very popular MacBreak Studio series. After lighting the cakes they take a look at how Final Cut Pro X interprets graphic files and video clips.

Andrew Gormley has launched his online training program called Visual Storytelling with Final Cut Pro X. This budget course is made even better by Andrew offering 100 discounts codes for 50% off to FCP.co readers.

We feature many new products here on FCP.co, but we thought it was time to post a range of new free tutorials for FCPX and Motion5 that have been published so far this year. Lots in there for Final Cut Pro X and Motion. 

A frustrating day. We have two stories to publish and yes they both feature Vimeo videos. As the Vimeo webpages are currently down and now embedded videos don't work, we wonder how reliant we are on video hosting sites.

After a run of media management tips, it is good to see Steve and Mark back to the creating side of things. This week they are looking at moving a keyframed motion path without moving keyframes. Does that make sense?

It is already a bumper month for FCPX plugins and these four new products from Reelpath, Nattress and Pixel Film Studios get added to the list today. Moving picture in picture effects, bouncing and shatter transitions and a good 'ol film look.

So you want to make a copy of a Final Cut Pro X event onto another drive so you can continue to edit whilst away from your main machine. This handy tip will show you how to make sure you've got all your files.

We have broken off from our Christmas to New Year break to bring you the latest episode of MacBreak Studio, it's a good one. Lots of exporting knowledge from the two guys as they look at more features from the 10.0.6 update.

Does any week go by without another pack of FCPX plugins being released? Expanding the transition options available to editors this time is Impackt from Luca Visual FX.

This is slightly off topic and nearly a year old, but it's a fantastic side by side comparison video of camera originals next to the same shot with VFX added. We came across this video accidentally, but after watching it twice and pausing it many times, we thought that we would share.

So you've finished your edit masterpiece, how do you output from FCPX now that the 10.0.6 update has removed the share menu? Steve Martin and Mark Spencer find out.

In this months plugin roundup we have a new grading plugin from Pixel Film Studios, an interesting update to 3D rendering in FCPX with Super Charger and two new plugins from the FxFactory stable. 

Another new feature explored in the 10.0.6 FCPX update from Steve Martin and Mark Spencer on this week's MacBreak Studio. This time they look at flexible clip connections.

If there was one feature that caused the most moaning due to its absence at the launch of FCPX, it had to be dual viewers. The 10.0.6 update has brought the familiar two up layout back and the usual team of Mark & Steve take a look.

***Updated with promo price for Optics plugin***

The latest update to Noise Industries' FxFactory 4.0.1 brings a new plugin called Optics from Ripple Training and updates for XEffects 3D Transitions from Idustrial Revolution, Defocus from PHYX and Stereo 3D Toolbox from Dashwood Cinema Solutions.

We continue the look through the new features in the recent 10.0.6 update to Final Cut Pro X. This week our normal duo of Steve and Mark take a look at new functionality with compound clips.

An early Christmas present. Michael Horton from the LACPUG has found the tapes from a 2006 interview with the film editor Dede Allen. Two hours of industry insight behind the editing of some big Hollywood films.

If you were impressed by the last tutorial from Steve and Mark on audio editing in Final Cut Pro X 10.0.6, just take a look at this new episode. This time they look at the very cool new audio features in multicam editing.

The tutorials from Steve Martin and Mark Spencer are always good, but this one is excellent. The duo explore some of the new audio features in the 10.0.6 FCPX update. Essential viewing.

The plugin management system FxFactory from Boston based company Noise Industries has been updated to version 4. The big news is plugin compatibility with Adobe's Premiere Pro CS6 for the Mac, but more plugins  have been upgraded for Final Cut Pro X as well.

Forget clunky keyboards, forget jogwheels and forget vaporware iPad apps on Kickstarter, what we all want to do is control FCPX like Tom Cruise. Could this Glove Mouse be there already?

It's Bonfire Night, or the day before the US elections or if you don't live in the UK or the States, November the fifth. Five days in and we feature our first plugin roundup for the month.

A double dose of the duo this morning! At the recent Los Angeles Creative Pro User Group, Steve Martin and Mark Spencer took to the stage to present the latest features in the 10.0.6 FCPX update.

The easiest way to bill this episode of MacBreak Studio would be to say that it's pretty essential viewing if you import media from cards or cameras into FCPX. (Who doesn't?) Many tips from Mark & Steve in this one.

We all love free tutorials and new producer We Make Movies has wasted no time after the 10.0.6 update in publishing these eight. Get yourself a large coffee and enjoy some free training!

When we wrote the previous plugin roundup, we didn't expect to be writing another so soon! Three more plugins from different people including a free pack of 24 customised Apple templates.

Want more horsepower for your Mac Pro to run Final Cut Pro X and other GPU heavy applications faster? This tutorial shows you how to install a beefy PC GeForce GTX570 HD 2560MB graphics card into your Mac. Adobe fans take note, the CUDA drivers will help speed up Premiere and After Effects.

When we said October, we really should have said in the last few days. New plugins for FCPX are coming thick and fast so we thought we would combine them into a roundup. Freebies too.

Using adjustment layers in Final Cut Pro X allows editors to apply a grade across clips. In this tutorial we will look at how to build one in Motion and apply it in FCPX.

Are your transitions in FCPX looking a bit flat? Idustrial Revolution has launched a pack of 24 transitions built in 3D space which means variable focal length, depth of field, lighting and adjustable reflections. We've also got five copies to give away.

We don't think we've covered a marriage proposal here before on FCP.co and it makes a happy change from the rather depressing news from yesterday. When industry guru Michael Kammes proposed, he did it with style and in three dimensions...

One of the lesser known editing features of FCPX is the secondary storyline. So what are they and how and when would you want to use one? Our usual duo are on the case.

***Updated with FCPX news***

A plugin that will appeal to event videographers, Flash Remover Pro will repair those annoying half frame flashes that can mar a special moment.

Motion by default will have fixed resolution toggled on for objects that get imported into the Media Browser. But when should you turn this option off and when is it beneficial to leave it set to fixed?

A lot has been said about the media organisation tools in FCPX, but it is always good to see real life examples in action. In this new episode of Macbreak Studio, we take a look at how quick it can be to get your footage organised.

Want an easy way to do custom picture in picture effects in FCPX? Mark Spencer shows Steve Martin how their Callouts plugin gives editors a lot of options for overlaying video in boxes.