Best Video Noise Reduction Plug-in for Final Cut Pro in 2025?

Yes Terry, I've experimented with the Magnetic Mask for this purpose. It has the same problem though, with some chatter in the edges. The Magnetic Mask also has another problem which is that it produces a low-resolution alpha channels, if you switch to the Alpha view mode in the viewer you can see how the alpha channel looks kind of pixelated, even when the viewer is set to "Better Quality". This is because this is how Apple manages to make the Magnetic Mask so impressively fast, it actually doesn't track, render or work in real 4K behind the scenes.

I always do a multipass key, meaning, one key for the hair, another for the body etc. My key looks great, and the Alpha Channel of each frame looks fantastic on its own. But the problem here is that there's always some camera noise, even though it's not visible, simply because that's how cameras work: the sample light via the sensor and "convert" it to digital information via pixels for each frame, which means there will also be some shift between each frame. That's why the alpha channels of a green screen key will always have some amount of chatter. And to be clear - it's very minimal in my case to the point where basically no one will notice. But that being said, if you do professional projects like me, things like this matters.

That's great Clint, I didn't know that updates within the version are free, the upgrade cycle is long and there is a reduction in price for upgraders. That's great news. Neat Video with the "Pro" edition seems to definitely be the best way to denoise video footage. I contacted a VFX artist in the industry and she got back to me with the following reply:

I'll be honest, Neat Video is my favorite noise reduction tool. With the proper settings, it will not make your footage blurry and it's not super slow either, which historically has been an issue with noise reduction footage. This is a perpetual license, not a subscription, and this is the best tool you're going to get.

I wrote a book on After Effects Plugins several years ago and went through all of the noise reduction tools. I've written 2 books on green screen and I fully recommend Neat Video. I'd tell you the truth if you were asking about a lesser plugin and recommend Neat Video instead.

So yes, Neat Video is definitely the way to go. I just need to do some more experiments with it together with green screens.

I'm asking this because I find the Neat Video Pro's $150 USD price tag a bit expensive, but it might be worth it if it's the primary solution out there. It's also a perpetual license which I prefer.

Thank you Joema, it's good to know that Neat Video is the best there is. It might be worth the investment. And yes - the fact that version 6 is twice as fast is also great news.