17
AUGUST, 2016
Top 5 Plug-in Makers
Making Our Lives Easier
It’s fair to say that, initially, Final Cut Pro X had a difficult birth. But since then, more and more professionals are using FCPX to produce top quality video. It’s even been used to cut cinema-released feature films. So with all these people using it, naturally, there are going to be lots of creative companies bringing out plug-in software to help editors take their videos even further and, generally, make better stuff.
So we’re going to be talking about the great plug-in makers who’s great work is making our lives so much easier, when it comes to corporate video production.
“Plug-ins not only help us make amazing looking videos, but they make our lives so much easier. Here are the companies who are helping us out the most.”
Motion VFX
motionvfx.com | @motionVFX
As far as plug-in makes go, Motion VFX has got to be one of our favorites and most used. We use loads of their products here at Holler. Products which, not only save us a ton of time, but also help us give our videos a really glossy and professional look.
Some of our favorites include mGlitch and mSpy, which help us to create cool futuristic and glitchy effects. We also really like the mCallOuts plug-in which not only allows us to quickly create stylish call-outs, but it is also able to motion track them to video WITHIN Final Cut. Which is great because it saves us from having to export and motion track in other software.
These are just the tip of the iceberg of the great stuff that they make and we’re always keeping an eye out for their latest stuff.
FCPEffects
FCPEffects.com | @FCPEffects
Like MotionVFX, we use FCPEffects products a lot at Holler. These guys make some really great stuff. Their plug-ins are easy to download, easy to install and are really fast and easy to use. They really help speed up our workflow.
We use a lot of their products, but our favorites and most used have to be their organic light leak and lens flare packs. They really help us brighten up and lift shots from days where we lacked the sunshine. We’re also big fans of their lower thirds packs. This saves us a huge amount of time as it gives us a bunch of awesome and customisable lower thirds that have already been animated.
Neat Video
neatvideo.com | @NeatVideo
Neat Video is a plug-in filter that is designed to reduce visible noise and grain in video footage. Digital noise on video is a massive pain in the backside. We mostly use this on existing footage that we’ve been given by clients or on the occasional stuff shot in low light. There are quite a few different ways of reducing noise available out there, but we think this is the best. It does a great job of smoothing over noisy footage without destroying the image.
This has the potential to be a real life-saver.
Crumple Pop
crumplepop.com | @CrumplePop
Crumple Pop make a whole bunch of great plugins for both video and audio, but the one that we like the most is the EchoRemover plugin. No matter how hard you try, sometimes its impossible to capture perfect audio. Whether its because of wind or microphone hiss or because you’re in an large room that produces a lot of echo. Sometimes the elements are against you.
We had one such occasion where we had to do an interview in a large church hall that, naturally, caused some undesirable echo. Crumple Pop’s Echo Remover really helped us fix this and, in the end, you couldn’t notice it at all.
We also like their AudioDenoise plugin, which is designed to reduce background noise and microphone hiss. It’s great to have these in our back pocket to help us out of a sticky situation.
Pixel Film Studios
pixelfilmsstudios.com | @PixelFilmStudio
Pixel Film Studios is another plugin maker that we use loads at Holler and they make some really amazing plug ins. They make everything from amazing light leaks to professional color grading kits.
However, we get the most use out of their Pro3rds plugin; which allows us to quickly make cool and stylish lower thirds. We also use their ProShake plugin a lot as well, as it lends itself nicely to some of the quick and punchy videos that we make.
If you’re after some top quality plugins for FCPX, then you won’t go far wrong with Pixel Film Studios.