As many of you already know, Red Giant Universe is an exceptionally powerful post-production platform that allows for a seamless integration of plugins, transitions, and effects into your NLE. Even if you haven’t already used Universe, you are likely familiar with Red Giant’s other products (such as Magic Bullet Looks, Colorista, and Toon it) – some of which are already integrated into the Universe platform.

Here’s a quick video on Universe for those of you that aren’t as familiar with it yet:

Red Giant Universe from Red Giant on Vimeo.

I’ve been using Universe for the last few weeks on an array of post-projects, and must say that I am truly impressed with what Red Giant has done so far… Not only from a conceptual level, but also a technical level as it’s rare that a platform works as smoothly as Universe does this early on after it has been released. I have been primarily using it in FCP X (which has had difficulty integrating with other third party software in the past), but Universe seems to work seamlessly within the NLE which was quite a pleasant surprise given how new it is. But even with the stability of it aside, Universe is truly an innovative product that puts so many fantastic tools at your fingertips. While I’ve been using many of the various effects that come with Universe, I am particularly drawn to the Universe transitions which offer a slick alternative to the built in, stock FCP X transitions. My current favorite is the ‘Swish Pan’ transition.

One of the great things about Universe is the fact that it is going to continue to grow over time and evolve to suit the changing needs of filmmakers everywhere. As of now there are 50 tools that come with the platform, but over time this will inevitably grow even larger, featuring plugins and effects that will cover even more of your needs. If you opt in to a paid ‘Premium Subscription Plan’, you have the ability to access even more tools that aren’t available on the free version including Chromatic glow and Knoll Light Factory EZ, not to mention quite a few other popular effects.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to chat with Red Giant’s Co-Founder, Sean Safreed who was kind enough to spend some time with me discussing Universe. During our talk, I asked Sean a number of questions about the philosophy of Red Giant (and Universe in particular), as I’m always fascinated by the intentions behind this type of software. Sean expressed to me the level of commitment that Red Giant has for their user base, and their willingness to adapt their products based on user feedback, which really impressed me. Sean boldly stated that “Better tools are made when you understand the desires and needs of your users, and you respond to that”, which was quite refreshing to hear. There are so many software developers and hardware companies that exist today that have the capability to make truly groundbreaking products, but miss the mark because they simply aren’t paying enough attention to their users – This is certainly an issue that Red Giant will be able to steer clear of given their willingness to listen to their users.

During our talk, Sean also revealed that Universe is now being developed for Sony Vegas & DaVinci Resolve (and Avid MC is under investigation as well), which is massive news for many editors and on-line artists! This is also a perfect example of how Red Giant is actually listening to user feedback and making changes and developments in order to serve their customers. Sean said that they “Heard loud and clear” from their users that they wanted Universe to be integrated on these other NLE’s, and clearly Red Giant has responded to this request quickly. This is great news for many of us that use multiple NLE’s, as we can now have access to the same tools and ease of use across multiple platforms, and is of course also a huge plus for users that strictly work on these other NLE’s and don’t currently have access to Universe.

Based on the initial stability of this product, the vast amount of potential that it has, and Red Giant’s unique willingness to actually take action based on user feedback, I can truly see Universe becoming a go-to solution for an extremely wide demographic of editors. If you haven’t already tried it out, be sure to download Red Giant Universe for free by clicking this link.