Late last month I wrote an overview of plugins – apps that literally “plug in” to an application such as DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut X to add functionality that the host, by itself, doesn’t possess.
One such plugin I use a lot is Maxon’s Red Giant Universe which contains a plethora of tools / libraries that take advantage of the GPU (graphics processing unit) of your PC or Mac to speed up processing.
To me, what makes Universe stand out against other plugins is the sheer breadth of what you get for your subscription.
Let me explain in a bit more depth.
Tools and Libraries
Broadly, the tools and libraries available are categorised under Generators, Effects, Text, Transitions, Motion Graphics and Utilities. Using DaVinci Resolve as a host, by opening the Effects panel and choosing between the various categories under RG Universe (Transitions, Generators, Filters etc) you can see each of the available individual Universe modules you can apply to your video tracks.
Even better, if you have the timeline cursor over a clip, the base effect of the module will show up in real time letting you choose just the one you are after. Once found, you can drag the effect onto the selected clips in the timeline and then fine tune to get just the effect you are after.
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ECTO Example
In the clip, I have purposely exaggerated some of the settings, but you can see it will easily play back in real time. By setting DaVinci’s timeline in loop mode, you can select the clip being modified and keep the cursor looping as you fine tune the effect as shown and set keyframes as it is playing back.
Other Universe Types
This is just an example of one of the Universe types available. As mentioned, you also have access to Transitions, Text, Blurs, Utilities, Stylize, Colour and Distortions.
One category that is not commonly found in plugins of this type is called Motion Graphics, and as well as being functional for specific video types, is also a lot of fun to play around with.
In this section are modules to set up a graphics array, a Head Up Display (HUD), add animation to a Logo, show a progression bar and more – and of course each of the many, many parameters available can be keyframed at will.
Maxon App
Maxon has centralised all its apps into a central hub called Maxon App, and once you have this installed, it is possible to download any of the company’s products for trial purposes and / or later purchase. You can download the Maxon App from here.
Hint: If you are in 3D and 3D sculpting, have a look at Cinema 4D (which I have been using for years) and ZBRUSH as well as Universe.
What’s Next
The next plugin I’ll look at is Trapcode which is a very comprehensive particule generator.