Blackmagic Fusion Compositing Software

Blackmagic has just made the base version of the popular Fusion (formerly Eyeon Fusion) available... for free.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fusion

I've been using Fusion for 10+ years and its a great package for those interested in doing VFX, Motion Graphics etc. It has a fairly steep learning curve but it is a very useful tool.

I have to admit I've not read the EULA yet and I don't know what is missing from the free version but from what I've ready it is feature packed and definitely worth having a look at.

How does it differ from AE?

The biggest difference is that it is node based vs timeline based. That is a concept that some people have a hard time with but it has its good and bad points. I'd suggest you have a look at one of the demos on their YouTube channel (actually this is from the company that developed it) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZB11nCzrdA