Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 27, 2015. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The Blackmagic Design website has just been updated – and the new versions of Fusion are available for free download in their public beta.
(Ongoing updates)
New Features
The most important new feature is likely that Fusion is now also available for the Mac – this ends the “OS war” between Fusion and other compositing packages, and we should soon see a migration to the free tool even among conservative Apple users. We do not think it will scratch After Effects user numbers, but in the node-based playing field of Nuke, Maya Composite, Flame and the remaining Shake user there may well be one or two shifts. In addition, Fusion Studio – the paid version – will also be available for Linux.
The interface has also been thoroughly polished since the first demos at this year’s NAB – and many suggestions from the closed beta were adopted directly.
Difference Between the Free and Paid Versions
It has been confirmed that there will be two versions (comparable to Resolve) – Fusion 8 Free and Fusion 8 Studio, which costs just under 1,000 dollars. The restrictions in the free version are as follows, but according to the information available so far they are quite bearable:
- While “Studio” is completely resolution-independent and easily handles more than 32K (not a typo), the free version stops at UHD – (Irony ON) just the small 4K (Irony OFF).
- the bridge of the Avid Connect plugin is missing, so you cannot get to Media Composer with one click
- “Generation,” the shot management tool,
- Remote Render Nodes/Network Rendering is not possible
- No Stereo3D toolset (Does anyone still do Stereo3D?) and the Optical Flow Tools
- No OpenFX plugins, including GenArts and RE:Vision Effects. You can find a large comparison of the versions here: BMD>Fusion>Compare
Overall, however, little is missing for everyday use – up to 4K you work in one of the best 3D compositing spaces, render nodes / remote rendering are only neeeded from a certain team size anyway, and only the OpenFX interface will be painfully noticeable. But if you consdier that Fusion 6.3 still cost 2,500 dollars, the current 1,000 dollars is ridiculously little. Given Fusion’s range of functions, Nuke will now have to wrap up warm in future.
You can find the download (after a short registration without a confirmation email) below for Windows and Mac.
For anyone who wants a quick insight into Fusion: Here is a beginner tutorial, based on Version 7.7.
