by MAXON·VFX
Images © MAXON. Used for product review; image policy.
Universe stands out in the toolfarm library for the breadth of its 89 plugins, from VHS and film emulation to glows, lens flares, and distortion. It ranks 16 on toolfarm, and support spans After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Avid.
Universe from MAXON bundles 89 plugins aimed at editors and motion graphics artists. The set ranges across stylized looks and distortion effects, including VHS and Retrograde film emulation, Glitch and Analog CRT looks, glow tools such as Glow, Chromatic Glow, Glo Fi II and Edge Glow, plus lens tools like Knoll Light Factory EZ, Box Bokeh and Overlight. Text and title effects such as Long Shadow, Luster, Quantum and Point Zoom sit alongside distortion tools like Heatwave, RGB Separation and Prism Displacement.
The plugins run in After Effects CC 2025 and CC 2026, Premiere Pro CC 2025 and CC 2026, Final Cut Pro X 10.5 and 10.6, Apple Motion 5.5 and 5.6, and Avid Media Composer 2023.x and 2024.x. A few tools are excluded on certain hosts, such as Bokeh and the Pixel Dither tools on Final Cut Pro and Motion, and Prism Displacement, Compound Blur and Picture in Picture on Avid.
The 2026.0.0 release added on-screen position gizmos across the Red Giant toolset in DaVinci Resolve and let Fractal Background run as a Filter as well as a Generator there, with 2026.0.1 following as a bug-fix update. Universe ranks 16 on toolfarm, and a demo video is available.
Universe is best for editors and motion graphics artists working in After Effects, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve who want a broad set of stylized looks, glows, film emulation, and distortion effects.
Universe is completely free to download and use.
Universe supports After Effects CC 2025 and CC 2026, and every Universe tool is available on those versions. The same full toolset runs in Premiere Pro CC 2025 and CC 2026. If you work across Adobe apps, the collection installs for both, so effects like VHS, Glitch, Glow, and the lens flare tools are usable in either host. For older or other applications, check the developer's page to confirm which versions are currently supported before installing.
Universe runs in Final Cut Pro X 10.5 and 10.6 and Apple Motion 5.5 and 5.6, but a few tools are excluded on those hosts. Bokeh, Bokeh Transition, all of the Pixel Dither tools, and the Palettes tool are not available in Final Cut Pro or Motion. The rest of the Universe toolset works as expected. If a specific effect matters to your workflow, confirm its availability for your host on the developer's page before relying on it.
Universe supports Avid Media Composer 2023.x and 2024.x, with all Universe tools available except three: Prism Displacement, Compound Blur, and Picture in Picture. Those three are not offered on Avid, while the remainder of the collection installs and runs. Media Composer editors get the same broad range of looks, glows, and distortion effects found on the other supported hosts. For the current list of supported Avid versions and tools, check the developer's page.
Universe 2026.0.0 added on-screen position gizmos across the Red Giant toolset supported in DaVinci Resolve, making it faster to place anything with a position coordinate. The same release let Fractal Background work as a Filter in addition to a Generator in Resolve, so the effect can be applied directly to footage and take advantage of blend modes. The follow-up 2026.0.1 release focused on bug fixes rather than new features.
Universe is listed here as free. Pricing and licensing terms can change over time, so the developer's page is the place to confirm current terms before downloading. The collection bundles 89 plugins from MAXON and runs across After Effects, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and additional supported hosts such as Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Avid Media Composer. Check there for the latest details on licensing and which tools are included for your host.
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