Distributing Product Bundles with Containers
Recent versions of FxFactory support three types of products: FxPacks, for the development and distribution of traditional plug-ins, FxTemplates, for the development and distribution of Motion Templates, and FxTextStyles, for the development and distribution of 3D Text Styles for Motion 5.2 and Final Cut Pro 10.2.
Some FxTemplates products have a special purpose: they contain Motion Templates that “wrap” traditional plug-ins implemented in an FxPack, so that the effects may be used in Final Cut Pro X. The FxTemplates and FxPack are stored in two distinct packages, but they are treated as one for the purpose of licensing and activation.
Product bundles create a new problem for ad-hoc distribution of a product. A bundle can no longer be installed with a simple double-click in the Finder. Users have to install the FxPack and FxTemplates separately, and failure to do so leaves a non-functioning product on the system.
To restore the simplicity of a double-click installation for product bundles, FxFactory version 3.0.3 introduces a new distribution file format: containers.
Containers
Much like FxPacks and FxTemplates, the new file format is a file package, a folder with a specific extension that is recognized by FxFactory. Containers simply have the fxfactory extension.
Users running FxFactory 3.0.3 (or later) will see following icon any time they download a product distributed in the new format:
Within the package reside any number of bundled products. For example, Luca Visual FX Film Leaders is a bundle of traditional plug-ins and Motion Templates for Final Cut Pro X:
Users can install all products in the bundle simply by double-clicking a container in the Finder. They no longer need to know or care about the individual parts. This simple strategy gives us two main advantages:
- Multiple products can be distributed in a single container.
- Installation is simple.
The new file format has another desirable property: users running older versions of FxFactory will see the package as a folder, and they will still be able to install products by double-clicking each icon separately.