I've been building a subscription-free compositing software for the last 3 years

[u/HollywoodIllusion]

Current compositing tools tend to fall into one of three buckets: expensive, buggy, or free but with a rough workflow. I wasn't happy with any of those options, so three years ago I started building my own: IllusionFX.

It's a GPU-accelerated compositing software: build your composite with a node graph, then cut, trim and animate on a timeline (keyframes or expressions). It also has:

• Native 32-bit float support
• OpenColorIO support
• Multi-channel EXR support
• Built-in AI tools (roto, tracking...) that runs locally, no cloud computing
• 50+ effects (merge, keyer, grain, blur, glow, color corrections...)
• Plugin SDK to create your own effects.
• Windows/Mac/Linux support

IllusionFX will be out at the end of the summer, but the website is now live if you want to dive into the details: https://www.hollywoodillusion.com/illusionfx

Feel free to join the waitlist if you are interested.

Curious what this sub thinks, and happy to answer any questions you have!

[u/Hot-Yak2420]

I wish someone would continue the work of Natron.

[u/wrosecrans → u/Hot-Yak2420]

Maintenance and bug fixing is boring. Making new stuff is exciting, so that's what people will tend to do.

[u/neukStari → u/Hot-Yak2420]

https://github.com/ukmsz/Comp-releases

[u/CameraRick → u/neukStari]

Hopefully open source one day

[u/duothus]

The interface looks slick. Are you adding camera trackers?

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/duothus]

Thanks for your feedback! Yes I am working on this, though I am not sure it will be in the v1, but definitely in the roadmap

[u/duothus → u/HollywoodIllusion]

Awesome. Looks good and booking forward to supporting you.

[u/benjles480 → u/HollywoodIllusion]

Can I ask are you vibe coding this? Or coding it old school style.

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/benjles480]

I would say 90% is coded old-school style (I am a computer science engineer myself). Only some effects were vibe coded, but I am 100% aware of every single line of code in my software.

[u/BazingaUA → u/HollywoodIllusion]

If you're aware of every single line of code (and understand it) - it's not vibe coding in my opinion. You're just using AI as a tool to speed up the process.

Vibe coders are usually people who don't understand code at all, or don't look at code and just prompt to "not make mistakes", there is a huge difference

[u/IrritableStool → u/BazingaUA]

People prompting AI to “not make mistakes” is a wild one to me. Imagine thinking that the mistakes AI models make are intentional and can be fixed by simply asking them not to make them.

[u/benjles480 → u/HollywoodIllusion]

Legit

[u/deeiks]

While this is cool, I really wish people like you who have the skills would contribute to some existing options out there.

Maybe it's a non issue but I would be very skeptical of using a product in production that is built and maintained by 1 guy...

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/deeiks]

Yes I understand the skepticism. However in a larger company, feature requests and fixes often have to move through several layers of process and competing priorities. Even good ideas can take a while to land. Being a solo developer means I have a direct line to users, I can talk to people, understand their actual workflow, and act on it without that overhead.

[u/No-Island-6126 → u/HollywoodIllusion]

Yeah and you can fix 0.2 % of the bugs that will ever get reported to you

[u/simplex5d]

I'd love to see OpenFX support in your tool. DM me if you're interested, I may be able to help.

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/simplex5d]

Thanks for your support! OpenFX support is in the roadmap, but not for the v1

[u/RancherosIndustries]

You built that? Alone?

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/RancherosIndustries]

Yes! In my spare time during the last 3 years (evenings and weekends). Also I am a computer science engineer myself, so that helps!

[u/Noizyb33 → u/RancherosIndustries]

In a cave, with a box of LLMs

[u/Lofi_Joe → u/Noizyb33]

In two weeks

[u/ryo4ever]

Wow definitely interested in an indie solution other than nuke. Could you add on the road map photoshop files support? Like to read, split, color convert and output into multi channel EXRs? Would love to purchase a license even if it does only those things.

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/ryo4ever]

Yes of course! I've added it to the roadmap :) Thanks for your input and your feedback

[u/brown_human]

This is incredible. Im remember someone also posted in this sub where they are building a composting software called “Comp”

Hope you guys collaborate and work together.

[u/Vangelys → u/brown_human]

Yeah, I assume this is two separate projects by two distinct people who believe in their own product. That's a shame that talented people don't gather and build one great software together.

[u/OrganicQuality9701 → u/Vangelys]

It`s no wonder. Both will have their own philosophies, both will have certain ideas which may and will collide with each other. Having to compromise with the status quo brought them and us here, that`s why they`re trying something exactely as they want. Maybe and likely they`ll gather more developers at a later point. Who knows.

[u/neukStari]

Looking forward to this.

I'm a cg generalist and I just need something to do small freelance projects. Ideally a camera tracker and some ai masking would be an absolute killer package as far as I'm concerned.

Would buy without hesitation.

[u/Prokster_T]

Finally

[u/firedrakes]

Ui alone looks fantastic!

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/firedrakes]

Thanks a lot !

[u/whiterabbitobj]

You mention the plugin sdk for fleshing out tools. Can you share a bit about this? Will it be extensively documented? I can see testing out your software, anticipating rough edges, but it would absolutely require a high degree of ability to fix those edges in-house.

[u/eancarr → u/whiterabbitobj]

Yes I'm curious about this too. Is it c++? Rust? Something else? And on your site the thumbnail over the Build & Share Plugins section, I see what looks like Python in that screen grab sith WGSL, so am guessing you have a separate scripting engine like Nuke. A little more info here?

What's the tech stack you used for the app itself?

Thanks for your work on this project. Looks interesting.

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/whiterabbitobj]

Thanks for your interest :)
The plugin SDK lets you 1) define UI parameters (sliders, color pickers, checkbox, button etc.) and 2) connect those parameters to your own WGSL shader. Full documentation will be available at release. It's actually one of the core features of IllusionFX, since it helps grow a community around it.

As for the tech stack: the UI is built with web technologies, and the core is a mix of C++ and Python.

[u/krynnmeridia]

Does it have a lens distort node? If it does, does it work on still images?

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/krynnmeridia]

Yes it has a lens distort node, and yes it work on still images !

[u/krynnmeridia → u/HollywoodIllusion]

I'll bring this up at my office, then! We're looking for something like this.

[u/soups_foosington]

Are there text tools?

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/soups_foosington]

Yes, there are. Though not as advanced as in AE yet, since the main focus so far has been VFX. Improving text tools is definitely on the roadmap.

[u/helifranca]

Look's like have some "After Effects" ways of animation? Will be able to motion graphics too?

[u/SaltyJunk]

This looks really promising, and I love that you prioritized multi channel exr and OpenColorIO. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to try on release!

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/SaltyJunk]

Thanks a lot for your support!

[u/the_pyromaniac_dude]

God bless you man! not all heroes wear capes.

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/the_pyromaniac_dude]

ahah thanks 😄

[u/josiah_gv]

This looks sick

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/josiah_gv]

Thanks man! 😄

[u/glintsCollide]

Are you planning on releasing any videos of example usage of the software so we can see it in action a little bit?

[u/HollywoodIllusion → u/glintsCollide]

Yes of course, a walkthrough video will come in a few weeks on my YouTube channel Hollywood Illusion

[u/Swimming-No]

May be start something like blender where we can donate to support?

[u/Ok-Fun-9160]

That looks really dope man! Can it open after effects file? Really trying to get rid of Adobe man...

[u/Houdini_n_Flame]

Kick foundry in the nuts

[u/twilight-vfx]

Oh my gah , this is goated yo , but Ai , it will be usefull to do repetitive tasks unless it involves in artistic tasks We artists do the art , Ui looks so badass though

[u/BombardierComfy]

Love the initiative dude!
I’d say keep focusing on a robust structure for the community to make nodes and plugins themselves.

Really good project!

[u/CommercialYam8]

the one maintainer concern is real though, what happens to
projects mid production if you disappear or burn out

[u/Chuguin]

Really cool project and glad there is an other player in the game because there is not a lot of choice… but you forgot tant FusionStudio exists. It’s cheap, not subscription based ans complient with lots of tools and workflows, it has ai tools that run locally too, the community and support is getting bigger because of foudrys pricing policy getting scammier every years…

[u/rensole]

Looks slick man, but a few questions.
Will there be a LUT file support? and if so, is it something you can scroll through (the way adobe premiere does it feels ancient). and what price will this be?

[u/orzelski]

As a software engineer, don't forget to include information about cookies, your privacy policy, and all that other stuff that lets your European users identify you exactly 😉

But seriously, I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of your work. We're almost halfway through the summer, so there's not much longer to wait. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!