Best FCPX plugins?

Hey guys.
I want to invest in one of the best plugins out there. I know the term "best" can be a bit confusing. But that's one of the reasons that I'm asking y'all. I already invested in multiple 49$ plugins from pixelfilm and slice x from coremelt.
I've looked at plugins like:

Sapphire 7 from Gen-Art
Da Vinci resolve
Magic bullet from red giant
Etc.

What would you guys recommand and why?

Resolve is an app, not a plugin. Never get a plugin until you really need it, period. Getting stuff you have no immediate need for is a waste.

I agree with Ben. But I would shy away from Pixel Film, they are not very intuitive and in my experience generally a waste. Aside from quality they stole a product from Motion VFX last year and rebranded as their own. MotionVFX has some awesome plugins for color grading, 3D object manipulation and animation, lens flares, pretty much anything. They and Coremelt are my go to.

Okay thanks a lot. But what about color grading then. Is it worth investing the money in Da Vinci or what would you recommand?

You know that you can download DaVinci Resolve Lite for free? It has almost all functions of the full DaVinci. It has a limit in output-resolution of UHD (3840x2160) and you can't do noise-reduction or no support of 3D stereo images, but besides those, it has almost all functions of the full-resolve.
Just check the app store. If you really want, you can download the Ripple Training tutorials, they are the best. But I wouldn't buy a tutorial now, because Resolve 11 is coming out, and they will probably release new training then.

Magic Bullet Looks isn't bad. I use to hate render-times but they SERIOUSLY have faster render-speeds with the latest release. But it's pretty expensive, depending on how much you want to use it.

Don't underestimate what you can do in FCPX with the Color Board. It's not perfect, but it has a lot of power (with color masks and vignettes and stuff), is easy and quick to use, and renders very fast when working on Prores Images. You can use it in combination with SliceX from Coremelt if you want to have some tracking on some color corrections.

These were the first four plugins that I (really) needed.

mFLARE from motionVFX, neatvideo noise reduction (slow but worth it), Film Convert, and LUT utility from Colour Grading Central.

I have also invested in various Light Leak overlay footage. There are several to choose from.

I have full Davinci Resolve on one system, but I only use that for big jobs, Most of the time I just use FCPX for grading.

Hope this helps.

Magic Bullet looks is a great tool and has an easier learning curve than Resolve which is fantastic. If you have some grading knowledge the Resolve Lite (free) will be invaluable.

I al interested in buying color finale. But I have seen that I might need for my job (wedding films) lut utility which is cheaper than colour finale and with the presets luts might work for me

What do you suggest me?

If you already have slice x, going with Colour Finale is almost a no brainer in my opinion. The two work together from a grading stand point, and open so many possibilities. Colour Finale is about more than just the ability to use LUTS, that's only a small portion of the pie. Levels, and Vectors are huge. (and when combined with slice X, you are almost unstoppable)

of course DaVinci is always a smart move, but 99% of the time I'll use Color Finale for my grades. Like it was said, DaVinci is not a plug in, it's a stand alone App. This means that generally what you send back a forth between it is a "final Cut". And I rarely get to work on those... (what can I say, I like to tweak the edit)

As for Magic Bullet, I'm just not convinced. Conor Finale is, in my opinion, a way better plugin, at a far more reasonable price. Also, "the Cosmo" effect is basically already in FCPX, just use a Gaussian blur, or the like, and apply a HSL qualifier to the skin, then adjust amount of blur to taste. Heck, you can even make it a effect preset. (though I don't recommend skin adjustments in this manner as a matter of principle)

As for other plug ins, go to Alex4D's website and raid his old FCPX plugins. There are some I still use every day.

All the best,

Neo_Harms wrote: ....
I want to invest in one of the best plugins out there....

mine.
LOL!!
(although a few of them, e.g. Magnifier or VerticalVideoFixer go into thousands of clicks... If I could get a $ each… )

Seriously:
hard to tell. Some say, Xsend is a heavens sent, others have no singe need. Color Finale would be on my shopping list, 'cause it is IN FCPX, no external app. Speaking of ext. apps: imho, a 'pic processor' is a must, Pixelmator or Affinity Photo...

all products from coremelt, incl LutX (when you're looking for grading presets)

my latest toys:
De-Verb from SPL (erases 'room' when only cam mic is at hand).
Photon Pro - a video denoiser I'm happy with.

... and, still seriously, check the manyfold free plugins, aside here at fcp.co where I publish my toys, fcpxfree.com is a nice depository ...

What was a hype, but now nobody talks about: mobject - imports and handles 3D objects in FCPX ...

Our ‘top' most-useful plugins:

Color Finale. We have Resolve (the free version) but now rarely use it because Color Finale is so good (and you don’t need to leave FCPX). We add the FCPX Broadcast Safe filter as the last thing in the FX stack just to be, er, safe..

Neat Video for picture-noise reduction is often overlooked but it’s truly excellent if used carefully.

SliceX and TrackX from Coremelt are great and can be incredibly useful.

X2Pro by Marquis Broadcast. (App Store). Fantastic if you hand-off sound to an audio house. It converts your audio roles to organised tracks inside ProTools or Logic X via XML / AAF. Very reliable.

EDLX by Rainer Standke. (App Store). Useful if you ever hand-off to a post facility for on-line or whatever and they ask for an EDL. (It still happens to us occasionally..)

FX Factory is worth having on your system. Heaps of stuff there but you only buy and download the plugins you want. (Some good free stuff there too.)

John