After a long, 4-year diversion into network security software development I have now returned to programming color correction plugins and post-production workflow tools, hopefully for longer. If everything pans out, some products in this space will see a nice upgrade and a market expansion thanks to yours truly. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal any more details yet. Let me just say, that I am quite happy with the prospects.
What does it mean for Creative Impatience then, thank you for asking? I think mostly good news. I am quite surprised that so many people are still using my plugins, and in the near future I intend to do a maintenance pass on all of them to make sure that they work with recent versions of Premiere and After Effects on both platforms. With the expected Apple’s move to Apple Silicon it’s quite possible that I will add that compatibility too, when I lay my hands on their new hardware, which definitely is in the books. You might also see a new plugin or two.
However, I can hear the real question that most of you want to ask me: what about the GPU acceleration? Will I do it? It depends. Time has become precious in my life, as I’m growing older, and this is still a bunch of probably weeks that I would have to devote to this. I’m not making promises here, but I’m also not saying no. It might take some convincing on your part, stay tuned for details. One way or another, the GPU accelerated plugins will require recent Premiere/AE versions, definitely don’t count on CS6 support.
I might also write FCP X counterparts to the plugins, though I find its publishing process a bit cumbersome. I also had briefly thought about OpenFX, but Resolve already has all the tools that I’ve built for Premiere, so I’m not seeing much point beyond proving that I can also work in this environment. But before I do all this I need to build back the audience that I’ve had, and it might take several months.
If time allows, I might do a website overhaul too. It deserves it, but at the moment it’s not yet worth the effort. I only added https certificate so that we are up to 21st century web standards at least in this regard.
For those interested in my random thoughts on the industry, I might resume looking at various tools and services that help the editors and vfx artists. I still keep getting offers to promote this or that, but I’ve never depended on them, so it might be a chance for you to read my obviously biased thoughts on products or services that I deem worthy of your attention. I doubt I will be as involved as in the past, though.
Will I go back to editing and vfx work? I think, despite my opportunism, I am done with being a vfx artist. I tried it, and I have no patience for multi-hour rotoscoping. I’ll keep my skills sharp, but I’m going to leave this work to the experts. As far as editing goes, we’ll see. These days everybody seems to be more or less proficient in this area, and I definitely don’t see it as my main career anymore. But I still enjoy working with motion pictures, so who knows – if an opportunity comes up, I might be up for it. Especially if it’s a short form and something interesting.
Over the past decade or so I have done consulting and development for quite a few companies with regards to extending Adobe ecosystem and post production workflows. In most cases I had a lot of fun doing this, and that’s the area where I am definitely keen on helping other people out – especially when scripts, extensions and CEP panels are involved. With actual plugins it might become a bit more tricky, because of possible conflicts of interest with my new job, but don’t let that stop you. If you have a problem or an idea, feel free to shoot me an email. The worst you can hear is “no”, and in the best case you might get some valuable advice.
Finally, some of you have asked me about more plug-in development courses. In this regard, I have worked with amazing folks from fxphd.com, and I would prefer it to stay this way. I do have ideas, including GPU acceleration for Metal and OFX. If you want more such educational content, let them know, and maybe it will happen. I know that at the moment they are busy providing work and assistance for those people in the industry who had misfortunes connected to COVID-19 pandemic, and I am quite busy these days, so it might take a bit of time, but definitely keep them aware that this is something you want to see.
And that seems to be it. It’s good to be back. Hopefully I’ll see you around somewhere, sometime, when these crazy times pass. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay well.
