PixelMan wrote:I get that there's a user base and ingrained user habits to consider here (again I don't want to be "that guy") but it goes against every HUI guideline I've ever seen to set up toolbar icons as letters and abbreviations rather than symbolic representations of the function in question. I get that it's very space-efficient and clean-looking, but it's also very cryptic.
I wouldn't mind seeing an option for icons, but to be honest, I generally find icons to be
more cryptic. When PFTrack shifted to pictograms where they used to have text buttons, it slowed me down. I don't like having to squint at the screen and try to guess what the designers had in mind with two little rectangles and an arrow. Is that copy? Paste? Save? I don't know.
In any case, if you would like an iconic tool selection option, try opening the Bins. It takes up quite a lot of screen real estate, but you'll get icons and more descriptive tool names that will help you to learn the tools in your early days.
Suggestion 2: SDK / Plug-in Friendly: if it hasn't been done already supply an open SDK for developers like Red Giant, Video Copilot, and others, so that they can (if they choose) bring their top products to Fusion.
An SDK exists, although it's not advertised. And Fusion can run OFX plug-ins, provided they're compliant with the OFX spec. Many aren't—they have compromises built-in to make them work for the particular host apps they were tested for that causes them to not work so well elsewhere. And Fusion hasn't had enough market share in the past to motivate the plug-in vendors to code toward it. BUT, many do run. Neat Video, Re:Vision, Sapphire (if you're made of money), and Frischluft all run in Fusion. I'm sure others do, too, but those are the ones I can vouch for.
I don't see any point in porting Trapcode—Fusion can do pretty much everything TC can with its own tools.
In addition to compiled plug-in support, Fusion can also run scripted plug-ins called Fuses that are written in Lua and/or OpenCL. Motivated TDs can thus create their own tools to fill in any gaps they perceive. We hope that the recent launch of the Reactor package manager will prompt even more people to create and share new tools.
Suggestion 3: CUDA / CL / Metal everywhere: if it hasn't been done already GPU accelerate all effects where it makes sense programmatically, and give those three platforms parity so people don't end up with GPU purchasing decision headaches. I realize this one is easier said than done and not necessary in all cases.
Most of Fusion's tools have an OpenCL mode. The jury's still out on whether it actually does run faster. I haven't run my benchmarks on 9.0.2 yet. 9.0 was actually faster with OpenCL turned off for some reason.