Hi all:

After years of foot dragging, I have finally downloaded FCPX, Motion and Compressor. So the question, which of the amazingly cool new FCPX plug-ins do I need to download to make it hum? I particularly like type plug-ins, I am definitely downloading the Haiwaiki Keyer as their demo video on YouTube shows that it is an amazing keyer for $50.00. But what else?

I go to www.fxfactory.com/products and am like a kid in a candy store, I really would like them all but at $49.00 to $300.00 a pop, I can only afford perhaps five or six of the most essentials to start with. I mostly edit live events, corporate, reels, docs, do a lot of title packages, fancier L3s, not a lot of music videos, skateboard videos, etc. that many of them seem to use as demo material. Even the Nodes 2 looks amazingly cool and interesting, although probably way over my head as far as complexity. So what should I download to have a well rounded toolkit? I have been using GoPros quite a bit this year, perhaps a few of the GoPro plug-ins?

Thanks!

I particularly like type plug-ins

Here are some plug-ins you could check out on the motionvfx website:

mLowers
mTitle3D
mStripe

It depends on your taste, but I like them.

Also check out their mObject templates. I think they are quite stunning. But you have to buy their mObject generator first if you want to run these particular templates.

All of the above plug straight in to FCP X.

FXFactory certainly is the candy store. You don't have to actually buy FXFactory's own plugin set to get the FXFactory "framework" to buy the third party plugins. I had been using FXFactory with FCP Legacy so it was an affordable move up though. Usually the third party plugins are on sale for a week upon their release before jumping up in price.

Some of my FX Factory purchases go back to the FCP Legacy days including their own set. Additionally I have Yanobox Motype, industrial revolution ParticleMetrix and Volumetrix (all useful for type), Phyx Keyer (Hawaiki didn't exist at the time). New FCPX purchases have been Sheffield Softworks Artitude and Stupid Raisins DataPro 2 both during sales and the latter is great for fast charts and graphs turnaround.

Another Plugin set I grabbed with RedGiant Universe. I bought the lifetime subscription on sale for about $250 (normally $399). Getting KnollLight Factory and Toonit For less then what they'd cost individually and those aren't FCPX compatible) motivated me.

ColorGradingCentral's ColorFinale was another important purchase. It adds important grading capabilities including curves and brings back color wheels.

CoreMelt SliceX and TrackX. Adds basic Mocha type tracking in FCPX and... they added support for ColorFinale so you have Resolve like Power Windows tracking in FCPX. Also their Lock&Load (from FCP legacy days) is significantly better than the one in FCPX.

NeatVideo Video Noise Reduction plugin is also important if you're forced into shooting in some poor lighting conditions.

I had Boris Continuum Complete for FCP Legacy but it was too dog slow to be useful. I beta tested version 8 for FCPX and it was still dog slow. The price dropped for the upgrade but it hasn't been worth it baring any speed improvement and since then, other companies such as FXFactory and Universe have similar plugins. Now that they own Mocha and are incorporating it in their "pixel chooser" that might be interesting but having SliceX/TrackX using the same technology doesn't make that a motivated purchase.

Excellent info Craig.

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I've found that new plug-ins can really open up my thinking about what is possible. I am loathe to put in the time to learn AE and I am lukewarm in Motion. I am so not a graphic designer so these are appealing to me to jazz up my edits without me having to invest weeks and months of learning AE and even if I could utilize it, I am not a fine arts major and cannot design to save my life.

When we need real graphics, we hire a designer but it seems that fewer and fewer of our projects have the budgets to hire designers very often.

Definitely check out the motionVFX.com stuff!

Check out some of the great free Final Cut Pro plugins:

On fcp.co they have a great write up on Lintel Film's Dawg Pu plugin which gives you a great Holga-esque-Toy Camera look to your footage:

Probably the oddest named free Final Cut Pro X plugin out there! (http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/articles/1699-probably-the-oddest-named-free-final-cut-pro-x-plugin-out-there)

Add Some Dirty Soul to Clinical Video Footage: a Free FCPX Plugin by LintelfilmBlog | Lintelfilm | (http://lintelfilm.uk/blog/dawgpu)

I also found Alex4D's free Letterbox plugin to be awesome:

Free Final Cut Pro plugin: Alex4D Letterbox effect | alex4D old blog (http://blog.alex4d.com/2012/10/28/alex4d-letterbox-fcpx-effect/)

It gives you many different aspect ratio masks for your footage.

Hey my friend, welcome to the party!

The most important thing you can do is to learn X systematically.

DO NOT jump into a storyline and just start editing. You'll skip over the stuff that can make your editing MUCH easier in the long run.

Get some basic training on importing wile preserving camera Metadata. Learn about the range based key-wording system including using REJECT and FAVORITE to pre-sort your footage.

Even if you just do this stuff at a SUPER basic level, it will help you understand the entire X flow - which is significantly different than traditional NLEs.

Trying to use X like another NLE is like buying a bicycle to go on a picnic, then loading up your basket with all your goodies - then WALKING the bike on the whole trip instead of riding it.

Kinda misses the point!

Have fun and email me if you get lost. Always happy to help a friend. Plus I know a dozen top notch X editors in LA who are universally great folks.

Welcome to the club!

ColorGradingCentral's ColorFinale was another important purchase. It adds important grading capabilities including curves and brings back color wheels.

CoreMelt SliceX and TrackX. Adds basic Mocha type tracking in FCPX and... they added support for ColorFinale so you have Resolve like Power Windows tracking in FCPX. Also their Lock&Load (from FCP legacy days) is significantly better than the one in FCPX.

NeatVideo Video Noise Reduction plugin is also important if you're forced into shooting in some poor lighting conditions.

All of the above have been very useful to me as well.

Thanks for all of the recommendations guys. Thanks for the advice Bill. I bought the Larry Jordan FCPX training series and am slowly making my way through it. I am definitely not a jump in the water and learn to swim editor, I am still in the middle of two client projects on FCP 7.03. I will not be cutting any client project with FCPX until I feel confident that I understand how it works and why it works the way it does. I just hired an editor for an intensive re-edit of a client's project. He cut it on FCPX and I was very impressed with just the built-in effects, he doesn't even have any plug-ins. So I will probably not buy any plug ins for a few months, until I need them for a paying project or my reels.