OpenFX 1.5 has been released
The Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) has officially released OpenFX 1.5, the first major update to the open standard for visual effects plugins for nine years.
The release modernizes OpenFX’s GPU support, brings future compatibility with Windows ARM64 processors, updates its color management APIs, and introduces support for binary data.
The update was announced in July, but was released last week.
OpenFX: a veteran open standard for VFX plugins
Designed by Foundry co-founder Bruno Nicoletti, OpenFX (OFX) is one of the industry’s oldest open standards, having been first announced in 2004 and getting its 1.0 release in 2006.
A common interface between VFX plugins and their host applications, OFX is supported in a range of compositing and editing tools, including DaVinci Resolve, Fusion, Flame and Nuke.
It has also just been adopted by SideFX in Copernicus, the new 2D and 3D image-processing framework introduced in Houdini 20.5.
Previously maintained by non-profit organisation the Open Effects Assocition, it became an ASWF-hosted project last year.
OpenFX 1.5: updating OFX to reflect modern processor hardware
OpenFX 1.5 is the first update in nearly a decade, OpenFX 1.4 having been released in 2015.
Technology – particularly processor hardware – has moved on considerably since then, and OpenFX 1.5 reflects that, promising “comprehensive GPU support” on all major manufacturers’ hardware, via open graphics API OpenCL, NVIDIA’s CUDA and Apple’s Metal.
The update also “enables future compatibility” with Windows ARM64 processors, which are now beginning to be supported in CG software.
Updated viewport drawing and color management, and support for binary data
The update also reduces reliance on the ageing OpenGL standard, with new on-screen drawing capabilities “to allow hosts and plugins to work together without requiring OpenGL”.
Other changes include “enhanced color management APIs” to ensure consistent color rendering across devices, support for binary data to make it easier to handle plugin-specific data types; and the addition of choice parameters for “more intuitive and organized user interfaces”.
License and technical requirements
The source code for OpenFX 1.5 is available under a 3-Clause BSD license. You can find build instructions for Windows, Linux and macOS in the GitHub repository.
Read a full list of new features in OpenFX 1.5
Download the source code for OpenFX 1.5 from the ASWF’s GitHub repository
Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.