FMC Review: Noise Industries FX Factory Pro 2.0

By David Basulto

As many of you know, 2007 marked the first year I have ever used a Mac. “PC forever” was my motto before. What was I thinking? Since picking up a new MacPro in June I have never looked back. When I decided to start using Final Cut Pro and Motion 3 something was missing for me. Gone were all the awesome plug ins I had on my Adobe and Avid products.

Lucky for me, as I began to learn the ins and outs of Motion 3 using Mark Spencer’s awesome book . I saw a link on his site AppleMotion.net for plug ins. Listed was a link to NoiseIndustries.com.

FX Factory Pro 2.0

Noise Industries FX Factory Pro 2.0 was just what the doctor ordered for me. 200 professional visual effects that could be used with Motion 3 and Final Cut Pro. I was used to getting plug in sets for After Effects that consisted of 4 or 5 in the set so 200 was a bit amazing to me. The beauty here is you can keep adding to FX Factory Pro 2.0 by adding FX Packs from the user interface. You can view the plug ins using the plug in management window and purchase what you need on the spot. Can you say slick?

Can you say fast?

The defining factor for me with plug ins is speed. I love blazing fast speed. FX Factory Pro 2.0 boasts it is the fastest set of plug ins for Final Cut Pro and Motion and that is truth. The plug ins are GPU accelerated running on Apple’s new FXPlug architecture and render times were a blur. And this is with the stock graphics card in my MacPro too. Huge kudos here.

Customization

All of the plugs ins in FX Factory Pro 2.0 are insanely customizable. If you want to make it happen chances are you can. Tweak, colorize, do what you will. Then save your new masterpiece for future projects.

Design from scratch

Feeling creative? Always wanted a plug in named after your dog Champ? FX Factory Pro 2.0 not only allows you to use the plug ins but you can create them from scratch too. And get this: you don’t even have to write one line of code. Now you can design that amazing in house plug in everyone will drool after. Nice job Noise Industries.

What’s new in 2.0?

The new FX Factory Pro 2.0 contains 122 filters, generators, and transitions. There is also 50 new plug ins. From masking to the always useful glow its in there. Noise Industries also includes 3^rd party effects from great artists like Peter Wiggins, Ricardo Silva, and Roger Bolton. Roger Bolton’s CoreMelt effects are tremendous. Since he has film credits on “Lord of the Rings”, “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” its no wonder they are amazing.

Final thoughts?

Noise Industries FX Factory 2.0 was a huge find for me. I used the plugs ins and transitions on a recent corporate video and the client was blown away. Phrases like “Wow that’s cool!” and “Awesome!” were littered on my notes from them. FX Factory Pro 2.0 will run you just under $400 but take it from me its worth every cent. I made that and them some on the first job using them. To see the plug ins and for more information visit Noise Industries. Filmmaking Central gives FX Factory Pro 2.0 a whopping 5/5 stars for speed, customization, and ROI. For more information or to demo visit NoiseFactory.com