OpenFX (API)
OpenFX (OFX), a.k.a The OFX Image Effect Plug-in API, is an open standard for 2D visual effects or compositing plug-ins. It allows plug-ins written to the standard to work on any application that supports the standard. The OpenFX standard is owned by The Open Effects Association, and it is released under a 'BSD' open source license. OpenFX was originally designed by Bruno Nicoletti at The Foundry Visionmongers.
Plug-ins are written as dynamic shared objects, and the API specifies a few entry points that must be implemented by the plug-in.
The OpenFX host exposes sets of entry points to the plugin, called suites. The Property Suite is used to manage attribute-value pairs attached to objects defined by all other suites of the API, the Image Effect Suite is used to fetch film frames from the inputs or the output of the effect, and there are other suites to display informative messages or ask questions to the user, handle multithreading, use OpenGL for processing, etc.
Each plugin is described by a list of parameters and supported inputs and output. The host may execute various actions, for example to signal that a parameter value has changed or that a portion of a film frame has to be rendered.
Optionally, the plugin may also display graphical information over the current frame using OpenGL, and propose interactions using mouse and keyboard (this is called interacts in the OFX specification).
An OpenFX host is an application capable of loading and executing OpenFX plugins.
History
OpenFX was first announced on Feb 10, 2004 The Foundry Visionmongers.[1]
The OpenFX specification was written so that a plugin supporting the latest version of the API may be implemented to be compatible with a host implementing an earlier version.
- OpenFX 1.0[2] was released in 2006.
- OpenFX 1.1[3] was released in 2007.
- OpenFX 1.2[4] was released in 2010.
- OpenFX 1.3[5] was released in 2012.
- OpenFX 1.4[6] was released in 2015.
Hosts
Free and open source hosts
- Natron for OS X, Linux, FreeBSD and Windows (open source, GPL license)
- TuttleOFX (command-line OpenFX host and plugins, open source, LGPL license)
- ShuttleOFX (online OpenFX platform, open source, LGPL license)
- ButtleOFX (open source, LGPL license, alpha status)
- Ramen compositor (CDDL 1.0 license, never officially released, but source code is available[7])
- Kaliscope (scanner controller/batch conversion tool based on OpenFX host and plugins, open source, GPL 3 license)
Commercial hosts
- Nuke (from version 4.5), by The Foundry
- Vegas Pro (from version 10), by Sony Creative Software
- SCRATCH (from version 6.1), by Assimilate
- Fusion (from version 5.1), by Blackmagic Design (formerly by eyeon)
- DaVinci Resolve (from version 10) and DaVinci Resolve Lite, by Blackmagic Design
- DustBuster+ (from version 4.5), by HS-ART
- Baselight (from version 2.2) by FilmLight
- Nucoda Film Master (from version 2011.2.058) by Digital Vision
- Quantel Rio by SAM
- Mistika (from version 6.5.35) and Mamba FX by SGO
- HitFilm (from version 3 Pro) by FXhome
- Autodesk Toxik (from version 2009) (included with Maya)
- DVS Clipster by DVS
- Motion Studio by IDT Vision
- Titler Pro 4 by NewBlueFX
- Piranha by Interactivefx
- Avid DS (from version 10.3) (discontinued)
- Shake by Apple (discontinued)
- Bones by Thomson/Technicolor (discontinued)
- MATRIX Compositing by Chrome Imaging (discontinued)
- Toon Boom Harmony
- EDIUS Pro (from version 8.1), by Grass Valley
OpenFX plug-ins
Free and open source plugins
- The official OpenFX SDK (BSD license) contain sample plugins, programmed using the standard C API, or a C++ wrapper.
- openfx-misc is a collection of essential plugins, which provide many basic compositing tools, such as filters, geometric transforms, and color transforms. Commercial OpenFX hosts usually provide their own versions of these plugins.
- TuttleOFX provides many plug-ins, especially for color grading, usable in most OpenFX hosts.
- openfx-arena is a set of visual effects plugins, mainly based on ImageMagick.
- openfx-io is a set of plugins for reading or writing image and video files (using OpenImageIO and FFmpeg), and for color management (using OpenColorIO).
- INK green/blue screen keyer and ChannelMath by casanico.com
Commercial plug-ins
- Sapphire Visual Effects OFX and Monsters GT VFX Plugins OFX by GenArts
- DE:Flicker, DE:Noise, RE:Match, Twixtor and ReelSmart Motion Blur by RE:Vision Effects
- FBmn Software: white balance, exposure and color matching
- NewBlueFX plugins (including Titler Pro 3)
- Motiva RealPerception
- Lenscare and Flair by frischluft
- Neat Video by ABSoft
- Primatte[8] by Photron/Imagica
- Beauty Box Video by digital anarchy
- Color Symmetry
- Composite Suite Pro, Film Stocks, Rays, reFine, zMatte, Tiffen DFX by Digital Film Tools
- Film Convert for OFX[9] by Rubber Monkey Software
- HitFilm Ignite by FXhome
- Red Giant Universe and Magic Bullet (in version 12.1, Looks, Film, Cosmo and Mojo are OpenFX plugins) by Red Giant Software
Documentation
- The OFX Image Effects API is the official reference.
- The OFX Programming Guide for Image Effects by Bruno Nicoletti.
- OpenFX plugin programming guide, based on the C++ Support library.
References
- ↑ "OpenFX Visual Effects Plug-in Support Grows". Digital Video Editing. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ↑ "The OFX Image Effect Plug-in API, 1.0, Programming Reference". OpenFX. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "The OFX Image Effect Plug-in API, 1.1, Programming Reference". OpenFX. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "The OFX Image Effect Plug-in API, 1.2, Programming Reference". OpenFX. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "The OFX Image Effect Plug-in API, 1.3, Programming Reference". OpenFX. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "The Open Effects Association Releases Version 1.4". OpenFX. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
- ↑ "Original RamenHDR sourcecode". GitHub. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "Primatte for OFX". Primatte. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "Film Convert home page". Film Convert. Retrieved 13 August 2015.