Post-Production : Blackmagic's Free Fusion changes everything by Brian Flanagan

Disclaimer: I really don't know much about this topic, but the following article intrigued me. "Blackmagic's acquisition of Eyon Fusion could be the biggest thing to happen in post production for a decade. It's a very clever business move that changes the map completely, and will disrupt the industry for years to come. For users, it's a dream: software that was previously a major budget item, or simply unaffordable, is now either free or within reach - especially because the paid-for version mostly differs by having features that will appeal to companies rather than freelancers. The revolutionary nature of the new cost structure can't be overemphasized. This type of software has never been cheap. That's not surprising: it's complicated, with a steep learning curve. You don't write a 3D compositing package overnight. You probably don't even write it in a decade. When Blackmagic started selling products, they were relatively simple. A capture card either works or it doesn't. A converter either converts or it doesn't. Of course there's more to it than that: construction quality, reliability and usability all matter. Subtleties that you wouldn't normally think about like jitter matter as well. So while the products might have been simple on the surface, they weren't easy to make without good engineers and good designers. But they were simple compared to the type of product that Blackmagic also sells now. There are, as I see it, two main reasons why Fusion matters so much. First, it's a very serious product. It's as deep as it is wide, and it's very wide indeed. What does this mean? It has a lot of very powerful, useful features. If it were merely a compositor, then it would be a fantastic tool, but it goes a very long way beyond that. If you want to know how deep Blackmagic Fusion is, just visit Blackmagic's website and read about it. When I did that, it took me twenty minutes. That's an extraordinary amount of space to devote to a single product that is one of so many, and surely an indication of how important Fusion is to the its new owner." http://bit.ly/1xWEHii