The team behind the visual programming environment Vuo recently announced the capability to turn Vuo compositions into plugins for FCPX. Beta 2 is out and has new features for plugin builders. (With special promo price)
Back in January of this year, we ran the story below that Vuo was getting the ability to build plugins for Final Cut Pro X and Motion.
The team behind Vuo have announced that the Beta for Vuo 2.0 is now available,
Worth checking out as the update includes nodes such as Find Faces (think blurring or censoring) and Make Image from Webpage - possibly a fast way to get a live webpage in FCPX?
There is also a special offer when buying Vuo in the Beta 2 phase-
We also wanted to remind you that if your readers want a good deal, then buying Vuo Pro now at $149 will save them $150, since the price will go up to $299 when the final version of 2.0 is released. (We aren’t going to charge an upgrade fee for people who have the current version.)
The majority of plugins on the market for Final Cut Pro X have been built with Motion. It's a quick and easy way to build effects and it works well, but it does have limitations.
The alternatives are to code yourself an FxPlug or use another technology like Quartz Composer which is still on Apple's life support machine.
Now there is another alternative, Vuo.
Vuo is a visual programming tool using patches and 'noodles' to construct a composition that will process video. It has been used widely for live shows such as creating visual backgrounds for DJs.
Those compositions will be able to be published directly for use within FCPX. You can build effects, generators and transitions.
If you have been used to node based compositing using QC, Shake or Fusion for example, then you will probably already be familiar with the concept of how it works.
So how do you go about building a plugin for FCPX with Vuo? The team kindly sent us a link to their recently published tutorial.
So who is this for? If you want to knock-up a quick text title, then it is not the best tool.
However, if you want to do some custom visual processing, use large media or build a plugin that contains complex calculations, shape generation and/or iteration of items, then Vuo will do all of that.
You will need Vuo 2 to build plugins and that hasn't been released yet. Also the pricing structure of Vuo is changing. Vuo Pro (needed for the plugins) is going up from $149 to $299.
Looking at the list of features and nodes included with Vuo Pro, there are some exciting possibilities to build new plugins for FCPX. So well worth checking out.
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
