My SPW NewsPage View

Red Giant has just announced the arrival of Universe 2.2, putting 11 new transition tools – 76 transitions and effects in total – into the hands of editors and motion graphics artists. In addition to brand new transitions, Red Giant has made updates to two existing plugins and added support for Avid Media Composer. The Universe toolset, and more, can be seen in action in the brand new short film “Hewlogram,” written and directed by Red Giant’s Aharon Rabinowitz, and starring David Hewlett, of “Stargate: Atlantis” fame.

See what’s new in Universe 2.2. 

The latest update to Red Giant’s collection of GPU-accelerated plugins for editors and motion graphics artists, Universe 2.2 is all about fast and easy transitions that make projects look awesome. From a Retrograde transition that creates an authentic film strip transition using real scans from 16mm and 8mm film, to a Channel Surf transition that creates the effect of changing channels on an old CRT TV, these 11 new transitions make for 76 tools in total in the Universe collection that enable visual effects and motion graphics artists to give footage an authentic and unique look, be that vintage, retro or modern day.

“The Red Giant Universe tools make it easy to quickly turn stories into something that is visually amazing,” says Red Giant CEO Chad Bechert. “We’ve heard non-stop from editors that they need faster and more interesting transitions, and we wanted to deliver to them in a big way. Drawing inspiration from Universe’s most popular tools, like VHS, Retrograde and Carousel, we’ve delivered several companion and unique transitions. We can’t wait to see what our customers do with these new tools.

A Universal Toolset for Editors
This release brings the complete set of Universe tools to Avid Media Composer, which means that all 76 Red Giant Universe effects and transitions now run in eight host applications, including: Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC, After Effects® CC, Apple Final Cut Pro® X, Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve and more.

Transitioning to Red Giant Universe 2.2
Red Giant Universe 2.2 is all about the transition, with 11 brand new transition effects to help creatives tell their stories from scene to scene and frame to frame. Also included in this release are updates to VHS and Retrograde, which were used heavily used in “Hewlogram” to give the film a bona fide 80s look (watch the making of “Hewlogram”).

Brand-new transition effects in Red Giant Universe 2.2 include:

• VHS Transition: A transition that mimics the effect that occurs when a VCR has been used to record over pre-existing footage.
• Retrograde Transition: A transition that that uses real scans of 16mm and 8mm film to create an authentic film strip transition.
• Carousel Transition: A transition that mimics advancing to the next slide in an old slide projector.
• Flicker Cut: A transition that rapidly cuts between two clips or a solid color, and which can invert the clips or add fades.
• Camera Shake Transition: A transition that mimics camera shake while it transitions between clips.
• Channel Surf: A transition that mimics the distortion you'd get by changing the channel on a cathode ray tube TV.
• Channel Blur: A transition that blurs each of the RGB channels separately for a unique chromatic effect.
• Linear Wipe: A classic linear wipe with the addition of wipe mirroring, as well as an inner/outer stroke with glow on the wipe border.
• Shape Wipe: A transition that uses an ellipse, rectangle or star shape to move between 2 pieces of footage. Includes control over points, size, stroke and fill.
• Color Mosaic: A Transition that overlays a variety of colors in a mosaic pattern as it transitions between 2 clips.
• Clock Wipe: A classic radial wipe transition with feathering and the option for a dual clock wipe.

Updates to existing effects in Universe 2.2 include:

• VHS: This update includes new VHS noise samples, VHS style text, timecode and function icons (like play, fast-forward, rewind), updated presets, and updated defaults for better results upon application.
• Retrograde: This update includes a small but valuable addition that allows Retrograde to use the original aspect ratio of your footage for the effect.

Red Giant Universe tools run in Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC, Adobe® After Effects® CC, Apple Final Cut Pro X, Apple Motion, Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, HitFilm, Magix Vegas Pro and now Avid Media Composer - making it available to virtually every creative on the planet.

As Seen on TV
Red Giant Universe has been used on “Saturday Night Live,” “Portlandia,” “Documentary Now,” “Kung Fury,” and much more.

Update to Red Giant Universe 2.2
Existing Universe customers can download the new tools directly by launching Red Giant Link.

How to Purchase
Universe is available as an annual subscription ($99/year) or as a monthly subscription ($20/month). New Red Giant Universe customers can purchase a subscription or download a free trial at http://redgiant.com/universe.

To learn more about Red Giant products, please visit http://www.redgiant.com/products/.

Available in the Red Giant Volume Program
Red Giant Universe is available in Red Giant’s Volume Program, the flexible and affordable solution for customers who need 5 or more floating licenses. Learn more at redgiant.com/volume/.

The Red Pledge
Red Pledge is Red Giant’s commitment to customer happiness, with no purchasing hassles. Learn about the Red Pledge guarantee at www.redgiant.com/redpledge/.

Request a Review Kit
Members of the media are invited to review any plug-ins from Red Giant Universe. For more information or to request a product review kit, please contact Alexis Isaacs at alexis@zazilmediagroup.com.

About Red Giant
Red Giant is a software company made up of talented artists and technologists who collaborate to create unique tools for filmmakers, editors, VFX artists, and motion designers. Our company culture is focused on finding balance between work and life – we call it “the double bottom line” – this philosophy helps us ignore complexity in favor of building simple tools that yield giant results. Over the last decade, our products (like Magic Bullet, Trapcode, Universe and PluralEyes) have become the standard in film and broadcast post-production. With over 200,000 users, it’s nearly impossible to watch 20 minutes of TV without seeing our software in use. From our experiences as artists and filmmakers, we aspire to not only provide tools for artists, but inspiration as well. Watch our films, learn from over 200 free tutorials, or try our software at www.redgiant.com.