TECH TIPS
FxFactory-Added Options to Soup Up Final Cut Pro
by Sharon Franklin
These days, it seems that more and more is expected of us as editors. We are required to have a broader skill set and add a little flash to our game. With that in mind, FxFactory Pro (www.noiseindustries.com) may be just the tool to ensure that we maintain our competitive advantage.
FxFactory Pro is more than just a showy set of plug-ins to use in Final Cut Pro. It is also an application that enables you to easily acquire plug-ins by other developers and to manage your growing inventory. Perhaps most exciting, FxFactory Pro makes it possible to modify and create your own plug-ins––without writing a single line of code.
 Figure 1: Final Cut Pro browser window showing FxFactory and CoreMelt effects. |
Noise Industries released the first version of FxFactory Pro in October 2006 with 79 plug-ins. FxFactory 2.0.3 now comes with 134 plug-ins and an improved interface. Plug-ins include not only those by Noise Industries, but also by developer partners like CoreMelt and idustrial revolution. This latest version offers improved masking and high-precision output clamping capabilities for certain effects, and is now Universal Binary and Leopard compatible. While FxFactory 2 still runs on Tiger, you will experience improved performance using Leopard, as well as access to plug-ins not available to Tiger users.
Once installed, FxFactory plug-ins are automatically available the next time you launch Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express or Motion. These plug-ins include filters, transitions, and generators, although transitions are not available in Motion. In Final Cut, FxFactory plug-ins show up in the Effects Tab in the Browser, organized into separate bins by category. To simplify locating FxFactory plug-ins, all bins begin with the initials or name of the developer. For example, Noise Industry bins begin with the initials NI and CoreMelt bins begin with the initials CM (see Figure 1).
These plug-ins work just like any effect in Final Cut Pro, with parameters easily adjusted via sliders or by entering numeric values in fields. Most parameters are key-frameable as well. Each filter also offers presets to give you different customized looks. And to make these plug-ins even easier to use, help is always just one mouse-click away.
Taking It for a Test Spin
Of the Noise Industry filters, “Heat” is a standout with its simulation
of the distortion created when light passes through a hot gas. Being a fan
of the blown-out look, I especially like “Crush Color,” “Bloom
with Threshold” and “Light Rays.” The best part is that
you could achieve these looks easily while automatically staying broadcast-legal.
When I attempt to achieve this same look using Final Cut Pro’s native
filters, I have to combine a lot of different techniques, including applying
multiple filters and layering in different composite modes, and I’m
usually still not completely happy with the results.
 Figure 2: CoreMelt filter selection in the Final Cut Pro viewer. |
CoreMelt also has some great filters. With “Depth Blur Circle,” I got a nice blurry vignette effect by using the “Soften Outside” preset and adjusting some parameters to render the effect more subtle. The “Witness Protection” filter makes it easy to blur or pixelate faces depending on your needs. CoreMelt also offers a number of film-look filters in their Color Correction bin, as well as a useful array of glow effects (see Figure 2).
Some plug-in filters are designed specifically for using with text. I especially liked the effect I got using Noise Industries’ “Light Rays Text.” I animated the text to move slowly across the screen while animating the light ray so that it passed in the opposite direction. Note: The animation of the text must be done using the “Origin” parameter in the Control Tab. If you attempt to do the animation by using the Motion Tab, the light ray will end at the edge of the text frame, making it appear to end abruptly (see Figure 3).
 Figure 3: An example of Noise Industries "Light Wave" text plug-in filter. |
Plug-in transitions are also customizable. Noise Industries’ “Copy Machine” creates a wipe effect with a bright glowing line of light that crosses the screen. Adjusting its parameters, you can change the angle, color, opacity and width of the highlight. Their “Glow Dissolve” has similar options. FxFactory also comes with a “Cell Phone Browser” transition that mimics iPhone’s graphical interface.
Where the real creativity comes, though, is in finding interesting ways of combining effects to achieve unique looks. For example, Noise Industries’ “Artist Sketch” by itself was fine, but when combined with CoreMelt’s “Shower Door” I got something I could definitely imagine using. CoreMelt’s “Fastblur XY” makes a great transition with some creative keyframing and the addition of Noise Industries’ “Luminance Dissolve” (see Figure 4).
 Figure 4: Transition created with CoreMelt’s "Fastblur XY" with Noise Industries’ “Luminance Dissolve.” |
Kicking the Tires
The FxFactory application features a browser that lists all installed
plug-ins from Noise Industries and its partners. These plug-ins are
organized into sets called “packs” that correspond to
the effects bins in which they reside within Final Cut Pro. Click
on a pack and a list of all the plug-ins included in that pack appears,
with thumbnail previews to help you see at a glance which effect is
right for your needs. A search function enables you to search for
plug-ins that meet the criteria you are looking for––a
much more efficient way of looking for a certain effect than is available
in Final Cut Pro (see Figure 5).
 Figure 5: The FxFactory Pro Search and download window. |
You can add even more plug-ins by simply clicking on the “Download More Plug-Ins” button in the FxFactory browser. This will take you to the Noise Industries website where you can search for supported plug-ins created by the company and its third-party developer partners, which also include SUGARfx and Futurismo. Some packs are free while commercial packs range in price from $49 to $99. Most commercial packs offer a generous 15-day trial period that allows you to use their plug-ins however you like, including outputting to tape for broadcast. After the trial period has ended, a watermark will appear on effects until you have purchased that particular plug-in pack. This way you can purchase only the plug-ins you know you will use.
If you still can’t find that perfect plug-in, FxFactory Pro gives you the opportunity to build your own. The application employs Quartz Composer, a node-based compositing engine built into OS X, as its plug-in creation tool. Launch Quartz Composer from within FxFactory Pro and you will find a library of patches from which you can pull to create your plug-in. If you find yourself frequently using a certain combination of filters, you can also combine them into one plug-in using this feature (see Figure 6).
 Figure 6: FxFactory plug-in creation with Apple's Quartz Composer, a node-based compositing engine, as its plug-in creation tool. |
As you acquire more and more plug-ins, you may get to the point where the list of filters and transitions available in Final Cut becomes unwieldy. This is where FxFactory comes to the rescue yet again. By deselecting the checked boxes for all superfluous plug-in packs, you can make sure only the effects relevant for your current project show up in Final Cut Pro. Change your mind? Re-select a pack, and it will appear again the next time you launch Final Cut.
Taking a Look Under the Hood
FxFactory was designed from the start to take advantage of Apple’s revolutionary
new FxPlug architecture. Apple created FxPlug to facilitate third-party development
of plug-ins for Final Cut and Motion. FxPlug exploits the OpenGL capabilities
of your graphics card combined with the image processing capabilities of Apple’s
OS X Core Image and Quartz Composer. By harnessing the real-time animation
and image-processing capabilities of
Mac’s new generation of graphics cards’ GPU (graphics processing
unit), users are able to experience the superior image quality and performance
once enjoyed solely by video game players. Utilizing the GPU has the added
benefit of freeing up the CPU for other tasks.
While FxFactory plug-ins don’t have the full real-time capabilities of many of Final Cut Pro’s native effects (no third-party plug-ins do), you will gain some real time when your timeline is set to “Unlimited RT.” I tested FxFactory’s real-time capabilities on both my client’s 2x2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon and my old Dual 2 GHz PowerPC G5. On my computer, playback constantly stalled due to dropped frames, but on my client’s computer, I was able to get smooth playback and a nice, high-resolution image out to the external monitor––even with three plug-ins stacked on a single clip.
I also experienced marked improvement in rendering times based on the machine. Effects generally rendered in about half the time on my client’s Dual-Core Intel Xeon compared to my PowerPC G5. But even on my old machine, I found rendering to be zippy enough to keep me feeling productive.
Making the Purchase/Driving Off the Lot
FxFactory Pro sells for $399, but is available for a 15-day trial period automatically
when you download the free version of the application, FxFactory. FxFactory
offers all the same features as the Pro version, except for the ability to
create your own plug-ins. After the trial period expires, not only will you
lose the ability to create plug-ins, but all 134 of the plug-ins that came
installed with FxFactory Pro will render with a watermark until you pay for
the product. You will, however, still be able to download and install both
free and commercial plug-ins.
FxFactory doesn’t work with Avid products, but Noise Industries does offer a product called Factory Tools for Avid Xpress Pro and Avid Media Composers running on Mac OS X. Factory Tools, released in September 2005, was actually Noise Industries’ first product. Factory Tools Pro, like FxFactory Pro, is based on the same Mac OS technologies and offers a lot of the same effects and features, including the ability to create plug-ins.
FxFactory Pro is a worthwhile investment for those who would like to add a little bling to their work. With its seamless integration into Final Cut Pro, effortless expandability, and plug-in creation component, this is a product that will serve the needs of both the casual user and the most technically savvy expert. I am looking forward to putting FxFactory Pro to use on my next project. m
Sharon Franklin is a Picture Editor currently editing a travel series called Forever New Orleans, now airing on the Travel Channel.
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