Invitation to join Red Giant Universe

They’re spinning the announcement in a terrifically positive way (of course) but it seems as though plug-in software developer Red Giant has taken a leaf out of Adobe’s book and wants us all the start paying them on an ongoing basis.

Their new offering, labelled “Universe”, is a collection of effects and tools for film makers which promises regular updates and new releases. The company says it’s rewritten much of the code not only to make it work on Mac and PC but also to make it work much faster than before, using your computer’s GPU (graphics card).

Unlike traditional software though, you can’t just purchase outright; you either sign up for a free subscription to a limited set of effects, or choose to cough up a monthly or annual subscription. There is also, it should be noted, a one-off “lifetime” subscription ($399) though details on that are only “coming soon” at the time of writing.

Effects include blurs, distortions, glows and transitions and they work on After Affects, Motion, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X. Irritatingly there’s no support for Sony Vegas Pro or Avid Media Composer. You’ll also need OS X Mountain Lion or later on a Mac; Windows 7 (64 bit) or later on a PC.

More info at www.redgiant.com