Click here to view the embedded video.

As I said in the video, Magic Bullet Looks is available for the next 7 days at 50% off (just $199 – usually $399) , using the coupon code: LOOKSFCPX50

This offer is good for ALL HOSTS supported by Looks, not just FCPX (in fact, buy it for one host, get it for all). The offer expires on 2/6/12 at 11:59PM PST… so get Magic Bullet Looks now!

Also, as mentioned in the video, if you already own MB Looks or the MB Suite, the update to FCPX is FREE. Download the latest version of Magic Bullet Looks with #FCPX support, HERE.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Red Giant TV Episode 69 – Cosmodius: Creating a Retro Sci-fi Logo Animation

In this episode of Red Giant TV, Aharon Rabinowitz walks you through the process of creating a Retro Sci-Fi logo. In addition to creating the logo, he’ll show you how to age the video to make it look like it came out of the early 80′s.

Watch the tutorial HERE.

The 2 big highlights in this release are:

• MB Looks is working in Avid Media Composer 5.5 & 6
• The Single Suite installer now has individual product install options

BUY MAGIC BULLET SUITE 11

As a reminder, MB Suite works in OS X Lion, so no worries there. I repeat, we are go for Lion and have been for several months.

However, before the questions start coming in, no, this release does not include MB Looks support in FCPX. Sorry. We’re bummed too. Here’s a video we released a short while ago to explain why.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’re still waiting on Apple, but we’re confident there will be a fix in the near future. You can read more about that HERE.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above is an example of a sequence from InSecurity where Key Correct really made a difference. Here, Jack tells us why.

“Every time I do a green screen – and I do a lot – I use Key Correct. During production of InSecurity we have to put a city background in for many episodes moving around the boss’s office. It all has to be tracked with Mocha and then keyed. I use Key Correct for all of this and it’s made it a really good-looking show.

“Key Correct really comes into play when the lighting on the green screen isn’t ideal and you have to start massaging the keys.  Key Correct gives you the tools to deal with noise in the alpha, filling holes that happen in the foreground because an actor is wearing a blue or green item like a neck tie for instance.  A situation like this might require time consuming roto work to recover the tie but the alpha cleaner filter fills in the hole automatically with one selection and you’re done.

“I want everything to be photo-realistic so people don’t know it’s a greenscreen. The Spill Suppressor is awesome for taking the green or blue casts out of the foreground without harming the original image. Some keyers have suppression that erodes or deteriorates the original foreground. And we’ll use Light Wrap, which is built into Key Correct, as the final element in the keying process that helps make keys or composites realistic by blending the edge of the foreground a little with the pixels of the background image making the composite more photo-realistic.”

We’ve discussed using Key Correct on InSecurity, a Canadian prime-time TV show. But Jack told us that Java Post uses Key Correct in most of their commercial productions, making every keying job really stand out – or not, if you get my drift.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Red Giant TV Live – Episode 9: Get Seriously Fractalled Up

Have you ever wondered about the difference between Octave Multiplier and Octave Scale? Complexity and F Scale? Trapcode Form and Particular have some complex controls over the fractal fields. On January 17, In episode 9 of RGTV Live, Harry Frank will demystify these controls and show you how to use them in your design.

Mark your calendar! Event details are here: facebook.com/events/210425679047513/

Red Giant TV Episode #68: First Issue Credits – Comic Book Title Sequence

So the other day, Stu Maschwitz, our Creative Director for Magic Bullet, asked me if I thought that the ability to animate a Look in Magic Bullet Looks was an under-publicized and under-utilized feature. Since I had no idea what he was talking about, we figured it probably was, and thus a Red Giant QuickTip was born:

Red Giant Quicktip #57: Animating a Look

In this QuickTip, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to animate the tools in Magic Bullet Looks.

Watch it HERE.

Beats Antique, out of Oakland CA, are not your average experimental world fusion and electronic music group. If there were such a thing. They have described their music as an electro, xfunctional, acoustic, hip-hop, melodramatic, down tempo-freakness, world, gypsy, funk, vulcan, get down off your butt, sound. I’m serious – check out their interview with KVRX 91.7FM Austin:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The trio got together in 2007 in San Francisco to combine the artistic talents of David Satori (guitar, sax, viola, and percussion), Sidecar Tommy Cappel (keys, toy piano, drums, and percussion), and Zoë Jakes (belly dancer, composer, and arranger). All three are from a performance arts background and have a very visual approach to music.

Their latest music video, ‘Revival’, was directed by Ivan Landau who was also responsible for post production and VFX. Using both Magic Bullet Suite and Trapcode Software, Ivan’s video is an intricately woven visual tapestry that is a masterful example of how the two software tools can work in unison.

Landau has said it was ‘amazing, watching ‘Revival’ materialize from subconscious to screen’, so we asked him to tell us a bit more about this enthralling piece of work.

How did the video come about?

“Revival” started as a little dream.  It was a basic story of an epic journey to restore life to a world in decay.  It was a world made of snow and paper cutouts.  It was abstract, beautiful and weird.  I thought of Beats Antique and Leighton Kelly immediately.  Zoe Jakes, David Satori and Tommy Cappel of Beats Antique are artists that I have watched for many years.  I always admired their visual style and amazing live show.  They are a band who put equal emphasis on the visual as well as the musical aspects of their performance.  I approached them with the idea and they were immediately on board.

You talk about the project being a collaborative dream, were you familiar with Leighton Kelly’s work before?

This really was a collaborative dream.  Leighton Kelly is one of my favorite artists.  He captures profound emotion with subtle strokes.  I have known him for several years and, after perusing through his blog (http://dayone2012.tumblr.com/), I was totally inspired to collaborate with him.  The initial dream I had actually had Leighton’s illustrations in it.  I was a little nervous that if Leighton couldn’t do the drawings then the video couldn’t happen.  There was a lot trust between everyone making this video (namely Beats Antique, Leighton Kelly and Austin Rhodes, my cinematographer).  Everyone contributed.  It was a surprisingly smooth collaboration considering we were very rarely all in the same place.  The band was on tour for most of the project and, with the exception of our initial brainstorming session, Leighton was in India and Bali with a sketchpad, a small scanner and sporadic internet access.

How long did Revival take to produce, concept to completion?

The entire production, from subconscious to completion probably took about four months.  It’s hard to gauge exactly how much time was spent in actual production and post because I was usually working on it after hours, weekends and while other jobs were rendering.  At some point, for reasons beyond rationale, I decided I would just do all the post production myself.  I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted it to look like and when I started experimenting with the shots I just couldn’t stop.

What was your favorite part, or particular sequence of the production?

My favorite parts of the video are the illustrated snowscapes and the dance sequence.  The illustrated environments were rewarding for me because it was like recreating the dream I had, except better.  Once Leighton started handing off his illustrations with these little details like spats and bow ties on the deer, I knew we were on to something.  The final dance sequence was amazing to work on because it was a total experiment.  Zoe designed the costumes and choreographed the sequence for the three main dancers (herself, Kami Liddle and Auberon Shull).  We basically could just hit record and they would nail it on queue.  I experimented with a lot of different looks for that sequence (macro photography and lazers!) and decided that stop-motion paper was the most appropriate.  I wanted it to look a little rough and out of control, beautiful and tactile.  Austin and I spent some long nights crumpling paper.

What do you like about using Trapcode?

I’m blown away by what people are doing with Trapcode.  I easily impress myself when I just make a little snow or floating dust particles with Particular or throw some Shine on some otherwise drab elements.  I had experimented with using organic elements for the snow, and while there is some of that in there, it never looked exactly like i wanted it to.  Particular is so dialable you can always get the look you want.  plus, how else could you make thousands of little fish explode from someone’s head? (that didn’t make the cut).

Do you have a favorite aspect to using Magic Bullet Suite?

I really do love Looks.  It almost feels like cheating.  It provides such good baselines that can be endlessly dialed.  I’ve actually learned a lot about color by inspecting and tweaking the Looks settings.

Were any of the Red Giant tutorials helpful?

I used to be a bit of a tutorial junky.  I’m getting better, usually not more than one a week at this point.  I’m basically self-taught so online tutorials have helped me tremendously.  I can’t even count how many of Aharon’s tutorials I’ve watched.  I’ve probably watched all the Red Giant tutorials.  I love how some of the Red Giant tutorials include the projects files.  Being your own teacher can form some bad or at least inefficient habits, so opening up clean project files has enlightened me to some better techniques.

We love the intricate blend of Leighton Kelly’s work and if you’re familiar with the band you should spot some of their signature imagery used in Revival.

Ivan Landau is well known and admired for his work as VFX Editor on feature films such as Sin City, Aeon Flux, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Blade Runner (Final Cut version). And we’re hoping ‘Revival’ is just this start of him turning his talents to music videos.

Links:

• Beats Antique http://beatsantique.com/
• www.facebook.com/beatsantiquefans
• Ivan Landau http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1010291/
• Leighton Kelly http://dayone2012.tumblr.com/

Quick Tip #56: Sketchy Stop-Motion Text Look

Inspired by a video he found on Vimeo, Aharon shows you some quick tips and techniques for creating a sketchy stop-motion style look for text.

Watch the tutorial HERE.