Alright – things are starting to heat up! Tons of entries in the Plastic Bullet contest, and we’re getting some great stuff.We’re seeing kids, creatures of all sizes, architecture, not to mention some bordering on the macabre.

Plus, that rock concert image (or is it a book club meeting?) by @BryanVFX is definately at the top of my favorites so far.

IMPORTANT NOTE: you can use ANY camera to take the picture, it just has to be processed with Plastic Bullet. So break out your Cannon 700D’s with a 15 bajillion MM lens that costs more than a house. It’s all good.

But hey – the good news is, even if you’re not a pro photographer with serious camera equipment,  you still have as much of a chance as anyone else to win an iPad.There will be additional prizes awarded based on quality, but for the iPad, it’s open season!

So if you haven’t already, get yourself Plastic Bullet for a mere $1.99 and ENTER THE CONTEST NOW!

Hey Folks – Yesterday we announced our Plastic Bullet Contest, and the entries have been pouring in. Here are some of our favorites from day 1:

Don’t forget, there are different prizes awarded differently:  1 based on randomness, and 3 based on skill.

For the skill based entries, we love  some of the great scenic shots, but we’d also love to see some interesting shots of people.

Keep em coming!

In case you missed it, you can enter the contest HERE.

Our awesome iPhone app, Plastic Bullet, has been updated with a bunch of cool new features, and we want to see what you can do with it. Tweet a photo that uses Plastic Bullet, and you could win an iPad or other prizes. This contest ends on September 7th, at 11:59PM PST. Winners will be announced within a few days of that.

Enter the contest here: http://redgiantsoftware.com/social/plastic-bullet-ipad/

This contest is only open to residents of the United States. Only ONE ENTRY per user.

Get Plastic Bullet HERE.

Dum-Dum-Da-Dum! Man, if they had Magic Bullet Looks when I got married 11 years ago, I might actually watch my wedding video occasionally. Because frankly my wedding video sucks. It looks like it was filmed on a video camera under harsh lights, and has all the artistic flare of a security camera. These days, with the right tools, you can do a lot with what’s shot on video. Even so, I still see a lot of HandyCam wedding videos (don’t ask me why my “friends” make me watch these things).

The good news is, you can save someone (including yourself) from the same fate. Simon Walker has created a well thought-out Guru Preset pack for Weddings and Events. With special attention paid to the types of environments and clothing worn on a couple’s special day, these looks really bring out the emotions of the day. If you are an event photographer or videographer, Simon Walker’s Weddings and Events for Looks is a must have.

Just a few of the 30 Looks in this Guru Preset Pack.

Any host app that can run Magic Bullet Looks, Magic Bullet Quick Looks, or Magic Bullet PhotoLooks, can use the presets. This includes some versions of After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, Avid, Motion, Photoshop. Visit: Magic Bullet Looks Compatibility,  Magic Bullet Quick Looks Compatibility, Magic Bullet PhotoLooks Compatibility.

I probably won’t bother transferring my old VHS wedding tape to a digital format to fix it up with these looks. But I am considering it for the VHS tape of our subsequent Elvis wedding:

Yes. It's real. (Although I cannot vouch for "The King")

Disclaimer: While these looks can give you some nice visuals to impress your clients (the bride and groom), it cannot save them from that embarrassing speech the bride’s uncle gave, comparing her to a used car. As an editor, use some judgment for heaven’s sake!

Even better, if you already own Knoll 2.5-2.6, you are elligble for a FREE update! (SEE BELOW)

Buy Knoll Light Factory 2.7 now for $399 or upgrade for $99.

What’s New?

• New Lens Designer for Adobe CS5
• 10 new custom lenses
• Knoll 3D Flare to easily create Lens Flares in After Effects 3D space (tutorial here.)
• Knoll Unmult for removing black backgrounds and generating mattes
• Support for Adobe CS5 and native 64-bit operation

The new Knoll Lens Designer for Adobe CS5

Free Update for Knoll Light Factory Pro 2.5 and 2.6 Users

If you own a license of Knoll Light Factory Pro version 2.5 or later, you qualify for a FREE update to Knoll Light Factory 2.7! This is our way of showing you how much we value your business and to thank you for being a loyal and devoted customer.

• Download the FREE Update (IMPORTANT: This will  only update Knoll Light Factory 2.5-2.6 to 2.7)

Well, gosh, I’m glad we thought of that. In addition to the powerful extended tutorials you’ll find at Red Giant TV, we’ve also sneeked (snuck?) a few short, easy to digest tutorials under the radar. And by a few, I mean 19, so far. Check out our Red Giant QuickTips Channel on Vimeo for concise and interesting info that will really help you up your game and work faster. I happen to be a really big fan of this short tip by Harry Frank:

Get the Orgasphere Preset HERE.

Get the Nebula Preset HERE.

Get the Falling Text Preset HERE.

Get the Dynamic Pulsation Preset HERE.

iPod/iPad-Friendly version on Vimeo.

Since then, we’ve had a lot of requests for a CS5-ready version. So, rather than waiting until it came up in our release schedule, our engineering team got cracking, and pushed it forward – just for you! No joke.

It’s still FREE, and you can get it here.

Have fun!

Simon just uploaded  these 5 free Looks for Magic Bullet Looks and Photolooks, which you can find at Red Giant People, our community site for sharing presets and templates. Here are 2 images of those presets in use.

I wish I hadn’t. It turns out I had the tools for old film looks all along. It’s not mentioned anywhere on the Red Giant site, but Magic Bullet Looks comes with a great set of tools called Magic Bullet MisFire. These tools allow you to add old film effects like dust and scratches, flicker, film noise… etc., to create an old film look.

And to save me a lot of time and trouble, I added Nick Campbell’s  Vintage film for Looks for a nice vintage coloration.You don’t need it, or course. Magic Bullet Looks gives you complete control of your looks, but this is something Nick is really good at, and there’s no reason not to at least start with his vintage look settings.

Of course, no old-school footage is complete without light leaks. I used Trapcode Particular to create those, and when all was said and done it looked pretty good.

If you want to do this, I made a tutorial that walks you through this process, and you can find that here.