Thursday, June 30th, 2016 Posted by Jim Thacker

Red Giant rolls out Universe 2.0

Red Giant has released Universe 2.0, the latest update to its online library of effects and transitions for common editing and compositing packages, adding four new tools for Premium users.

In fact, there aren’t any non-Premium users any more, since one of the other effects of the update is to remove the free Basic membership to the library, although existing users still get access to the old plugins.

New HUD-creation toolset, Line tool and logo animation presets
New tools in Universe 2.0 include HUD Components, which creates good-looking animated UI elements, with 55 component element types and 10 customisable behaviour patterns to choose from.

There is also a self-descriptive animatable Line tool, for annotations, drawing routes on maps, and the like; and a new preset Logo Motion effect for animating logos on or off-screen.

In addition, there is now a new preset browser, which shows an animated preview of the output of 22 of the existing plugins; and 18 tools have been updated. You can read a summary of the changes here.

Free subscriptions removed, some old free tools no longer updated
But in many ways, the biggest change in Universe 2.0 isn’t the new features, but the removal of the old free Basic subscription.

Anyone who took out a Basic subscription before 28 June 2016, when Universe 2.0 was released, will still be able to use the old free tools, so existing projects will still work.

However, many of those tools – which have now been moved into a Legacy category – are no longer being updated, although 22 have been retained within the commercial subscriptions, some in modified form.

You can read a full run-down of the changes in the Universe 2.0 FAQs document.

Pricing and Availability
Universe 2.0 is available online now. A subscription to the library costs $20 per month, or $99 per year. You can see a list of the versions of the host software packages supported here.

Read a full list of features in Universe 2.0 on Red Giant’s blog