Blackmagic Fusion
Blackmagic Fusion (formerly eyeon Fusion and briefly Maya Fusion, a version produced for Alias-Wavefront) is post-production image compositing developed by Blackmagic Design and originally authored by eyeon Software. It is typically used to create visual effects and digital compositing for movies, TV-series and commercials and employs a node-based interface in which complex processes are built up by connecting a flowchart or schematic of many nodes, each of which represents a simpler process, such as a blur or color correction. This type of compositing interface allows great flexibility, including the ability to modify the parameters of an earlier image processing step "in context" (while viewing the final composite). Upon its acquisition by Blackmagic Design, Fusion was released in two versions: the freeware Fusion, and the commercially sold Fusion Studio.
Original author(s) | eyeon Software |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Blackmagic Design |
Stable release | 18.6
/ 13 September 2023 |
Operating system | Linux, macOS, Windows |
Type | Compositing software |
License | Freeware, commercial |
Website | Official website |
Fusion is available for Linux, Microsoft Windows, and with the release of Fusion 8, macOS.
History
Fusion was originally developed in 1987 as in-house software developed for use by New York Production & Design (NYPD), a post production and visual effects boutique based out of Sydney, Australia. The very first version of the software was written in DOS and consisted of little more than a UI framework for quickly chaining together the output of pre-existing batch files and utilities. eyeon Software Inc. was formed specifically to commercialize Fusion, and all operations relating to the software were moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In 2014, Blackmagic Design acquired eyeon Software Inc, and is now developing the Fusion software.
Released in 2018, version 15 of DaVinci Resolve, also developed by Blackmagic Design, added an integrated version of Fusion within the application.[1][2]
Version history
Official name | version | date of release | comments |
---|---|---|---|
Digital Fusion 1.0 | 1.0 | November 1996 | First public Windows release (older versions for DOS are not commercially available) |
Digital Fusion 1.1 | 1.1 | March 1997 | Support for direct hardware playback/preview |
Digital Fusion 2.0 | 2.0 | November 1997 | Added timeline, 16 bit integer color processing, SCSI tape I/O |
Digital Fusion 2.1 | 2.1 | April 1998 | Render queue/batch rendering. |
Digital Fusion 2.5 | 2.5 | December 1998 – 2000 | Network rendering, deep-pixel processing, AE plugin support. |
Digital Fusion 3.0 | 3.0 | October 2000 – 2001 | UI rewritten, added paint capabilities, advanced text tool. |
Digital Fusion 3.1 | 3.1 | January 2002 | 3D particle system (2.5D UI) introduced, added new color corrector. |
Digital Fusion 4.0 | 4.0 | October 2002 – 2004 | eyeonscript (Lua based scripting language), float and HDRI color processing, concatenated transforms, nested flow groups, macro tools, new darker UI, OpenEXR, OpenFX plugins. |
Fusion 5.0 | 5.0 | August 2005 | 3D compositing environment, ASCII save files, 16bit float processing, straight node connections. |
Fusion 5.1 | 5.1 | December 2006 | consoleslave, elbow nodes, multistroke paint. |
Fusion 5.2 | 5.2 | July 2007 | 3D look up tables, fuses (just in time scripted tools), external python scripting, FBX geometry import |
Fusion 5.3 | 5.3 | April 2008 | 64 bit executable |
Fusion 6.0 | 6.0 | June 2009 (preview release) | 3D material shaders, Region of Interest / Domain of Definition, stereo display |
Fusion 6.1 | 6.1 | July 2010 | GPU Supercomputing framework |
Fusion 6.2 | 6.2 | June 2011 | World Position Pass Tools / QuickTime 64 bit support /Linux 64bit / SVG import |
Fusion 6.3 | 6.3 | November 2011 | Additional color tools / New version of Primatte - 5 / Direct support for "KONA 3G - AJA Video Systems" (already existed as plugin from AJA) |
Fusion 6.4 | 6.4 | July 2012 | Connect to AVID, new camera formats, advanced 3D and geometry particles, LPeg scripting, PFTrack lens distortion, DirectX view spanning, Windows 8 compatibility. |
Fusion 7.0 | 7.0 | June 2014 | Animation Indicators, Drag and Drop Layout, User Interface Templates, Learning Environment, Multi Projects/Documents, Connected Node Position and Prediction, Templates, Native Camera Support, Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, 3D Custom Vertex, Alembic Import, Latest FBX Library, Replace Normals 3D, 3D Interactive Splines, 3D Ribbon, UV Render and Super Sampling, 3D Text Bevel Shaper, Dimension – Optical Flow and Stereoscopic Tools, Just-In-time Compiling, Script Development Interface, Linear Light Color/Open Color IO, Roto Onion Skinning |
Fusion 7.5 | 7.5 | November 2014 | Logo redesign, slight UI changes, addition of Free version lacking stereoscopic 3D, network rendering, and third-party plugin support. |
Fusion 8.0 | 8.0 | April 2016 | New Mac version, UI redesign including a new darker background colour, new multi-user licenses. |
Fusion 9.0 | 9.0 | August 2017 | Virtual Reality, Camera Tracking, Planar Tracking, Delta Keyer and Clean Plate, Planar Rotoscoping, Studio Player, New Formats (Support ProRes output for all platforms), GPU Acceleration and over 40 powerful new features. |
Fusion | Integration into DaVinci Resolve 15 | August 2018 | New user interface, Support all plugins for Resolve. |
Fusion 16 | 16.0 | April 2019 | User interface based on DaVinci Resolve 15; Numerous improvements in the stability and productivity of different tools and the program as a whole. |
Fusion 17 | 17.0 | November 2020 | Customizable Templates, Automatically Retime Animations, Sync Audio, Vector Shapes, 27 new GPU accelerated Resolve FX tools, Workflow Personalization. |
Fusion 18 | 18.0 | July 2022 | Custom Poly modifier for creating animatable strokes and masks, New blending modes, Updates to the paint and duplicate tools, Fractional UI scaling, Support for Python 3. |
Fusion 18.5 | 18.5 | April 2023 | Support for importing Universal Scene Description (USD) files and USD Hydra based renderers including Storm, Introduction of the USD toolset for managing USD assets, New multi-merge tool for compositing multiple layers, Support for a native AI-based depth map tool, GPU accelerated Clean Plate and Anaglyph, Support for OpenEXR DWA compression in saver nodes and BMD Film Gen 5 in CineonLog tool. |
Fusion 18.6 | 18.6 | September 2023 | Support for 7 new built-in Resolve FX tools for Relight, color transform, ACES transform, gamut mapping and limiting, chromatic adaption and chromatic aberration removal. Multiple USD Enhancements. New MaterialX tools to load .mtlx files and apply them to objects. |
Uses
Fusion has been used on over 1000 major Hollywood blockbuster feature films as of 2015 as well as on many TV shows,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] among them:
- 2012 (film)
- 300 (film)
- 9 (2009 animated film)
- Adventure Time
- Alice in Wonderland (2010 film) 2010 Oscar nominated film
- American Horror Story
- Anonymous (film)
- Avatar (2009 film) 2009 Oscar nominated film
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Batman Begins
- Barely Lethal
- Battlestar Galactica
- Black Hawk Down (film) 2001 Oscar nominated film
- Blade: Trinity
- Breaking Bad
- Bunraku
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Clash of the Titans (2010 film)
- Doctor Strange (2016 film)
- Dolphin Tale
- Downton Abbey
- Dragonball Evolution
- Edge of Tomorrow (film)
- Empire (2015 TV series)
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Final Destination III
- From Dusk till Dawn: The Series
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
- Game of Thrones
- Gangs of New York
- Get Smart (film)
- Ghost Rider
- Gothika
- Gulliver's Travels
- Gnomeo & Juliet
- Gravity (film) 2013 Oscar nominated film
- G-Force
- Green Lantern (film)
- Grimm
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Hancock (film)
- Happy Feet 2006 Oscar nominated film
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
- Hellboy 2
- Hell on Wheels
- Hercules (2014 film)
- His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass
- How to Get Away with Murder
- Hugo (film) 2011 Oscar nominated film
- I, Robot
- Independence Day (1996 film) 1996 Oscar nominated film
- Iron Man (2008 film)
- Immortals
- Jumanji 2
- Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 theatrical film)
- Kingsman: The Secret Service
- King Kong (2005 film) 2005 Oscar nominated film
- Legion (2010 film)
- London Has Fallen
- Lost
- Maleficent (film)
- Master and Commander 2003 Oscar nominated film
- Minority Report (film)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith
- Nashville
- NCIS
- NCIS: New Orleans
- Night at the Museum
- Noah (2014 film)
- Oliver Twist
- Orphan Black[24]
- Panic Room
- Poseidon
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)
- Prometheus (2012 film)
- Resident Evil: Apocalypse
- RBG 2019 Oscar nominated film
- Saw 3D
- Scandal
- Sin City
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
- Skyfall 2012 Oscar nominated film
- Snakes on a Plane
- Soul Surfer (film)
- Spider-Man 3
- Splice (film)
- Spy
- Spy Kids II
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- Sucker Punch (2011 film)
- Superman Returns
- Soul Surfer
- Teen Wolf
- Terminator Salvation
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- The Aviator 2004 Oscar nominated film
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
- The Da Vinci Code (film)
- The Day After Tomorrow
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)
- The Expendables 2
- The Forbidden Kingdom
- The Halcyon
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
- The Illusionist (2006 film)
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
- The Last Samurai
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- The Matrix Reloaded
- The Matrix Revolutions
- The Martian
- The Mechanic (2011 film)
- The Social Network 2010 Oscar nominated film
- The Terminal
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
- The Witch
- Thor (film)
- Titanic (1997 film)
- Tropic Thunder
- Twilight (2008 film)
- Underworld: Awakening
- Underworld: Evolution
- Unknown (2011 film)
- Watchmen
- White House Down
- X2 (film)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Fusion has also been used in video games such as Halo 5: Guardians, Destiny: Rise of Iron and Dawn of War III.[25][26][27]
References
- Cade, DL (2018-04-09). "Blackmagic releases DaVinci Resolve 15 with all-new VFX and motion graphics module". Digital Photography Review. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- Dent, Steve (2018-08-22). "DaVinci Resolve 15 is a free, Hollywood-grade video editor". Engadget. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- Govoni, Nick (25 February 2019). "Blackmagic Design Congratulates 2019 Oscar Nominated Films". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- "Eyeon Fusion". Eyeon Fusion ~ Visual FX - >VFX tutorials,after effects tutorials,Autodesk Combustion tutorials,VFX training videos,VFX Video tutorials. 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "Why You Should Care About Blackmagic's Acquisition of Eyeon Fusion". The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. 2014-10-02. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "New Magic - News". www.newmagic.com.au. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "New Magic - News". www.newmagic.com.au. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- Alen. "Fusion VFX software from Blackmagic Free". sanitarac.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "New Magic - News". www.newmagic.com.au. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Blackmagic Debuts Fusion 9". Streaming Media Producer. 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Video Compositing & VFX | Medianetic - Digital Media Solutions". Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "BLACKMAGIC DESIGN: HUNGER GAMES SCORES BIG WITH FUSION STUDIO". MelroseINC. 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Editor Alan Bell Cuts 'The Hunger Games' Final Chapter". digitalmediaworld.tv. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Blackmagic's Fusion 8 Updated by Brian Hallett". ProVideo Coalition. 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "How They Did It: Levitating a Creepy Coven in The Witch". Studio Daily. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Kingsman: The Secret Service - VFX Dossier". Cinefex Blog. 2015-03-31. Archived from the original on 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "The Making of The Martian". Jonny Elwyn - Film Editor. 2015-10-25. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "The Long List Of Summer Blockbusters Using Blackmagic Design Products". INDIE Shooter. 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Summer Blockbusters use Blackmagic by Jose Antunes". ProVideo Coalition. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ""London Has Fallen" Destroyed London With Blackmagic's Help by Brian Hallett". ProVideo Coalition. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Current Productions". Eyeon. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "Productions". Eyeon. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- "Ten reasons why you need Fusion". Eyeon. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
- "- YouTube". YouTube.
- Altman, Randi (2016-07-18). "Axis works with Bungie, Activision for 'Destiny: Rise of Iron' trailer". Randi Altman's postPerspective. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ""Halo 5: Guardians" Game Cinematic created by Axis Animation with Fusion Studio | ProductionHUB". ProductionHUB.com. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- "Axis Animation Transforms 'Dawn of War III' Cinematic with Fusion Studio". www.digitalmediaworld.tv. Retrieved 2019-02-21.