About us

A commitment to high quality and low end-user costs has driven the company to harness new technologies and emerging markets. The aim is to empower individuals and organisations by designing specific and appropriate products and services.

Joshua Davies - Managing director

Foundations

Formed in 2001 by Joshua Davies and Toby Walsh, FXhome began as a small, UK-based software developer. The company's first product, AlamDV, attracted widespread Internet attention from filmmakers and established a sizeable online community at the FXhome.com website.

Further products were released in 2002, including AlamDV2 and a series of plugins for the iMovie editing application, created at Apple's invitation. In 2004 FXhome's first greenscreen compositing product was released, called Chromanator.

Products and services

After three years of intensive research and development, FXhome released three new products to cater for the enthusiast and independent film markets: EffectsLab Pro, CompositeLab Pro and VisionLab Studio. The Lab range have received excellent reviews in the computer and digital video press and have won several awards. Continued development based on customer feedback has seen the introduction of major new features and improvements, including a substantial and free update at the end of 2007.

The FXhome.com website has grown extensively over the years to become a popular news and community site with over 90,000 members from all over the world. FXhome.com features regular interviews with independent filmmakers and behind-the-scenes reports.

FXhome's growing team of experts now provides a variety of consultancy options for organizations and individuals. Services to date have included research and development for a major online content provider and extensive involvement with independent filmmaking (visual effects advice, matte paintings, color grading, CG effects, subtitling, script development).

Recent developments

Two new products were released in 2007, both of which moved the company in exciting new directions. VideoWrap is an easy-to-use utility for converting videos for playback on a variety of platforms and PhotoKey is a compositing tool aimed specifically at digital photographers. PhotoKey continues to be a smash hit with both enthusiasts and professionals, with praise for its simplicity, speed and quality. In summer 2008 a new version was released, PhotoKey Batch, aimed at event photographers who need to process hundreds of images at a time.

FXhome's first in-house film is currently in post-production, a science fiction adventure directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ashley Wing. The production will draw on the unique FXhome.com community for ideas and contributions, making it one of the first global film collaborations.

The future

The FXhome software portfolio will grow throughout 2008 and beyond with entirely new products and improvements to existing software based on user and community feedback. Forthcoming FXhome products will introduce even more powerful and affordable creative tools for low-budget filmmakers and photographers.

Consultancy services will continue to provide high quality solutions for international companies and independent film and television projects, from major contracts to one-on-one advice. Further diversification will explore completely new markets and maintain FXhome as an innovative, reliable and bold company.