Friday, April 1st, 2016 Posted by Jim Thacker

Blackmagic Design ships Fusion 8, Fusion 8 Studio


An overview of Fusion 8, recorded by Pariah Studios’ Rob Redman. Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Studio, the first versions of the compositing software to support Mac OS X, have just been released officially.


Originally posted on 1 January 2016. Scroll down for news of the official release.

Blackmagic Design has released Fusion 8 Studio in beta, introducing a new Mac version of the formerly Windows-only compositing software. A Linux version will follow later this year.

The beta release – Blackmagic’s first major update since acquiring Fusion from original developer eyeon in 2014 – follows that of the free edition of Fusion 8 last August.

Mac support and a new UI, but no major new features this time round
As with the free edition, Fusion 8 Studio adds a new OS X edition to the formerly Mac-only application, and reworks the UI – you can see the new design in the image above – including a new darker background.

However, as far as we can see, that’s it for new features. Blackmagic’s press release does list the extra functionality not available in the free edition, but it seems to be identical to that for Fusion 7 Studio.

Existing functionality available only in the Studio edition of Fusion 8 includes the advanced optical flow and stereo tools, support for OpenFX plugins, and the option to render at resolutions higher than Ultra HD.

The new Linux edition of the software – another potential selling point for the Studio edition – hasn’t actually made it in the initial beta, although Blackmagic says that it will follow in “Q1 2016”.

Updated 1 April 2016: Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Studio are now officially shipping for Windows and Mac OS X. Fusion 8 is free, while new licences of Fusion 8 Studio cost $995.

Blackmagic has also introduced new multi-user licences for Fusion 8 Studio, starting from $8,955 for a 10-user license, $17,895 for a 20-user license and $44,495 for a 50-user license.

Read Blackmagic Design’s official news announcement for Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Studio

Read more about Fusion on Blackmagic Design’s website
(Includes download links for Fusion 8)