Thursday, June 24th, 2021 Posted by Jim Thacker

Maxon ships Universe 4.0


Maxon has released Universe 4.0, the latest version of its online library of effects and transitions for editing and compositing software, adding new electricity, stop motion and analogue video effects

The release – the first under Maxon’s name, following its merger with Red Giant last year – also introduces support for GPU acceleration via Metal on new Macs.

New effects and presets for VFX and motion graphics artists
The release adds three new effects to Universe, summarised by Maxon as follows:

  • Electrify: Add sizzling lightning effects to images and footage by using source image contours to generate electrical effects, Fractal Noise sources to create custom patterns without image contours or select both options at the same time for maximum shock value. Shimmer effects can be added with an animated matte texture.
  • Texturize Motion: Choose from a library of 14 high resolution animated textures to blend into existing footage for sketchy, stop motion looks. Rotation, scale, and position jitter controls are integrated to add additional custom shakiness. Artists can even add custom textures for unlimited possibilities.
  • Analog: Simulate a multitude of color, noise, interference, and CRT effects to recreate classic television video effects. Simple settings like Phase, Filter, Temperature offer complete control to create a wide variety of looks. Basic scan lines, CRT dots, and squares can be added … as well as screen curvature, reflections and more.

The update adds over 100 presets for the new effects, plus 14o presets for existing features Array Gun and Typographic, intended for motion design work.

In addition, Universe now supports GPU acceleration via Apple’s Metal API on new Macs.

VFX Suite and Magic Bullet Looks for Cinema 4D also now GPU accelerated
Maxon has also added Metal support to VFX Suite, its corresponding collection of effects for visual effects work, and GPU acceleration to the version of Magic Bullet Looks integrated into Cinema 4D.

Both are available as free updates.

Pricing and Availability
Universe 4.0 is available now for applications including After Effects and DaVinci Resolve. See a list of the versions of the host software supported here. It is rental-only, with subscriptions costing $199/year.

Read more about the new tools in Universe 4.0 on Red Giant’s product website