No it's not the first of April, plugin behemoth GenArts' new venture aims to give consumers access to a cloud based 'looks & VFX package' via their mobile phone or social media websites. Are we on the brink of cat videos with Sapphire?
We haven't heard much from GenArts over the recent months and we thought they might be breaking up Sapphire into bite sized pieces for FCPX. After all if we ran the company that's exactly what we would do to cash in on the FCPX plugin big bang.
We were speculating in the wrong area as GenArts have been working on a cloud based processing service for consumer videos called Vivoom.
The new website doesn't detail much information, but we guess they are taking all of their image processing knowledge and algorithms and trying to offer them to the general public. An online video Instagram maybe? Will you be able to add Edge Rays to your baby making its first steps and then share the video on Facebook?
We are always keen to try out new things so we have put our email in for the beta.
From the website:
"Video is more powerful than any other medium, but most people aren’t confident that their video looks good enough to share online. Vivoom was created to give people that confidence.
Vivoom's video enhancer empowers you to create amazing video by making two things utterly simple: 1) improving video quality, and 2) giving your videos your own personal style.
Vivoom's mission is to democratize creativity by helping people better express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through moving images. Finally, a video sharing experience that’s fun and engaging—never intimidating. By combining premium quality and endless style choices, we have created an engaging experience that makes everyone want to share with video again and again."
They are about to announce a partner at the launch so watch this space.
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!
