Digital Video - January 2009 - (Page 19I)

Noise Industries | FxFactory 2.0 FACTORY FRESH NOISE INDUSTRIES’ FXFACTORY 2.0 PLUGS YOU INTO COOL NEW EFFECTS. BY OLIVER PETERS In 2005, Avid made the move to Tiger with the Mac versions of Avid Media Composer and Xpress Pro, and Noise Industries was ready with its first product, Factory Tools — a unique set of sophisticated real-time effects built around Apple’s Core Image. Until then, these types of effects (blurs, color effects, convolutions, distortions, etc.) would have required extensive rendering time. More interesting, though, than a new set of plug-ins, was that for the first time, Noise Industries was offering Avid editors a way to modify and even create new, FxPlug, like Core Image, takes advantage of custom effects using the tools available the OpenGL graphics card performance to from Noise Industries and Apple. This is accelerate effects — often running up to made possible by a free Apple developer real-time. When FxPlug made the move to application called Quartz Composer, FCP, Noise Industries made the move as which is a tool for creating custom screen well, with the release of FxFactory, making effects, like the screen ripple when a them at the time the first plug-in developwidget is removed from the desktop. er to take advantage of this new, native Quartz Composer is a simple, node- architecture. A single installation of based application — not unlike a vastly FxFactory installs the same set of filters into simplified version of Shake or both Motion and FCP, since both Apple Combustion — that may be used to link applications integrate this common plug-in together a series of effects nodes to cre- architecture. These run as native filters, ate a new end result. Noise Industries transitions and generators in FCP and filused this existing mechanism ters and generators in Motion. AWARD OF The Noise Industries effects and wrote additional code to turn these new Quartz groups can be found right in the Compositions into AVX-com- EXCELLENCE Motion filters pulldown menu — pliant Avid effects. Factory no need to navigate to a “thirdTools is actually two elements: 1) Factory party filters” folder. The apps share these Floor — the overall software application, plug-ins, so there is consistency between which is used to organize, create and the two and the customer benefits by not control various plug-in packages; and 2) having to purchase two sets of plug-ins. the effects filters themselves. Factory Noise Industries has recently released the Floor is also the conduit to Quartz FxFactory Pro 2.0.3 update. It is fully comComposer. You can own or create all the patible with Tiger and Leopard, but a few effects you like, but without Factory Floor, of the plug-ins depend on additional they won’t run as AVX effects. Leopard-based technologies, so a small handful of effects will not be enabled on ENTER FXFACTORY Macs running Tiger. As Apple advanced and improved its Like the Factory Tools AVX version, professional applications within the Final FxFactory Pro is both an application to conCut Studio bundle, it added the new trol and organize effects packages, as well FxPlug API. This came first to Motion and as a series of effects. Since the AVX and was later integrated into Final Cut Pro. FxPlug architectures are not compatible, you need both Factory Tools and FxFactory and their effects packs if you intend to run both Media Composer and Final Cut Studio on the same computer. Programmers have the option of adding ingredients to the effect that are missing from the application. For example, Factory Tool AVX effects include Photoshop-style composite (blend) modes and geometry parameters (scale, position, rotation). FxFactory Pro effects don’t require these, because composite modes and clip geometry exist within Final Cut’s built-in tools. VIRTUAL CORPORATION The model behind Factory Tools and FxFactory has encouraged outside designers to create new effects, which are available through the Noise Industries Web site. There you’ll even find quite a few free effects, like a plug-in to create 3D animations of planets. These require one of the Noise Industries products to run, but are otherwise self-contained. As a result, Noise Industries fits the definition of a virtual corporation, with key contributors from all over the world, including experienced visual-effects artist Roger Bolton and noted FCP editor Peter Wiggins. Bolton’s Organoptics FX pack is included as part of Factory Tools Pro 2 and his CoreMelt effects are used in FxFactory Pro 2.0. Peter Wiggins launched iDustrial Revolution and first introduced Volumetrix, DV ADVERTORIAL

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Digital Video - January 2009 Contents First Look: D90 Camera Sonicfire Pro 5 You Pod Instant Expert Muse 2.0 FXFactory Pro 2.0.5 Motype Fxpack DV Product Directory All Powered Up Creating Your Own Sun DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - January 2009

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