> plug it in

I’m no developer, but as far as I can tell, Final Cut Pro (as well as AE, Avid, and practically every other professional video app) features a robust plugin architecture. This has led to the proliferation of third-party plugins that accomplish a wide variety of tasks. There’s only one problem: you usually have to pay for them.

And they’re not cheap.

Fortunately for those of us without much money to spend (a group that grows larger by the day), a few enterprising individuals have set out to create Final Cut plugins and – gasp – give them away!

Awesome.

What follows are two plugin providers for FCP that I’ve encountered; there are almost certainly more out there, and if you know of any (or if you develop them yourself), it’d be great if you would leave a comment.

Now then, on to the good stuff.

haiku

An Australian named Marcus Herrick developed two FCP plugins that have become relatively popular over the years. Though he hasn’t updated his blog since late 2006, you can still get the plugins via an image on the right side of his page (or you can just click here).

Once downloaded and installed, you’ll find both of these plugins in Video Effects -> Color Correction under the ‘Effects’ tab.

Vignette

If you have Final Cut Pro 5.1 or later, Apple has already provided you with a Vignette plugin that’s pretty decent. However, if you don’t like Apple’s vignette, you can try this one, which offers a higher degree of control and, in my experience, faster render times. Or, if you’re like me and too poor to upgrade your FCP 5.0.4 to 6 (and missed the crossgrade, rats!), this plugin is a lifesaver.

Face Light

This plugin is a bit quirky, but highly useful if you don’t have a high-end plugin such as Colorista or Magic Bullet Looks. It brightens a user-defined area of the image (such as an underexposed face), and has a good degree of control.

alex4D’s Plugins

Alex Gollner, a freelancer based in London, is quite an interesting guy. Aside from creating a number of extremely useful Final Cut plugins, he is a technologist, graphic designer, and avid blogger. I recommend adding his blog to your RSS feeds – you won’t be disappointed.

He has created (thus far) 11 12 FCP plugins, including transitions, effects, and text generators. Some feature innovative user interface designs. While I haven’t tried all of them, I highly recommend downloading the whole suite and taking a look. Not only is the price (or lack thereof) excellent, you may be pleasantly surprised by their usefulness. Even better, he seems to be churning out new plugins rather quickly (so far at least one per month). [Edit: He just posted another today. That's three in three days. Wow.]

While far from exhaustive (or exhausting, hopefully), this small list of plugins should function as oil for your editorial gears. Get them turning. Explore the possibilities. Discover something new.

That’s what makes this industry exciting.

- d.m.c.