Hey folks – we are super proud to present Red Giant BulletProof (Beta) a new on-set solution  for Media Prep and Delivery. Best of all – the BulletProof beta is FREE! Download it right now!

What are you downloading?

The greatest thing since sliced bread! OK, maybe not  – sliced bread is pretty hard to top , but we think BulletProof is pretty awesome – and we want your help to make it even more awesome by testing it out, contributing feature ideas, and letting us know what works for you and what doesn’t.

You’ll be downloading Public Beta version 1.

BulletProof is free as beta software until the products full release (and we’re aiming for this summer). This version is Mac only, but we fully intend to support windows as the product further develops.

Updates

We will be sending out updates of the Beta as development continues the next few months with bug fixes, performance improvements and UI tweaks.  Updated versions will be made available through the Red Giant Link App.

How to get BulletProof

You’ll first need to download the latest version of Red Giant Link. From there, it will be pretty simple. Here’s a short video that will walk you through the process:

• Go to http://www.redgiant.com/products/all/bulletproof/ and click on the “Sign in and Download” button.
• From there you’ll be sent to a page where you can start the download process for Red Giant Link. You’ll need to sign into your Red Giant Account  -  if you don’t have one, you’ll need to create one here.
• Once you’ve signed in (setting up a new account will sign you in),  you’ll click on the “Download for Mac” button.
• Once you’ve downloaded and installed Link, you’ll need to run Link and sign in. Link can be found in Application > Red Giant Link. (If you already have link installed, you will be prompted to replace the existing version. Go for it!)
• After you’ve installed Red Giant Link, and you sign into your account in the Link app, you will see that the BulletProof Beta is available for download. Turn on the BulletProof checkbox to select it, and click download.
• Once downloaded, follow the installation instructions and you are good to go.

Learn more here: http://www.redgiant.com/support/faq/product-specific/bulletproof/

How To Use Bullet Proof

Some Important Notes:

• Camera Support: BulletProof will support DSLR’s: Canon, Nikon, GoPro for v1.0
• Check out the Compatibility Tab on the BulletProof Product Page for Supported Camera and Codecs information:  http://www.redgiant.com/products/all/bulletproof/compatibility/#tabs
• Please visit the BulletProof Support Forum to add requests for Camera support: https://support.redgiant.com/forums/20859680-BulletProof-Beta
• Exported footage will have all of your the Slate Info, EXIF data, Markers, In & Out points and Organize Badges brought into Premiere Pro using XMP formatting.   XML to come later.
• ProRes Export: ProRes is a proprietary codec owned by Apple. For ProRes Export, You will need to already have the ProRes codec (licensed for encoding) already installed on your machine. This usually means having FCP, FCPX or Motion installed on your computer.

Where do I go to give Feed Back?

• To send us your love or for Compatibility requests, Bugs, or Usability issue.
• There is also the BulletProof Beta User Guide available online:  http://www.redgiant.com/docs/doc-on/bulletproof/index.php
• Please check out the BulletProof Resource page to see all Video tutorials, Faq’s and Resources available to you for this release:  http://resources.redgiant.com/bulletproofbeta_resource
• To see a list of all Known Issues or to Report and Issue please visit the BulletProof Beta Support Forum: https://support.redgiant.com/forums/20859680-BulletProof-Beta
• Also, please remember when using BulletProof on your projects: Play at your own risk! This is a Beta!! We’ve done our best to ensure that BulletProof is stable, but we also know that nothing is truly tested until it’s out in the field.

Hey folks – With Adobe’s recent announcement about Creative Cloud, we’re starting to get questions about whether or not our plug-ins will work on the new versions of Adobe’s tools. The short answer is: Yes!

People who are already using Creative Cloud for CS6 are already enjoying our plug-ins. But it get’s better. When then next version of After Effects, Premiere, and Photoshop are released, here’s what you can expect from Red Giant:

• No upgrade cost: As a part of our Red Pledge, you will not need to pay for the updates to the software you’ve already purchased.
• Installers are ready to go and in final QA – that means we have people testing each product thoroughly to make sure you won’t get any surprises.
• From the preliminary tests we’ve already performed, everything seems to be compatible with the next versions of the Adobe host apps, and while we’ve found a few minor bugs, we’re already fixing them.

Introducing Spy vs Guy – a new original short film from director Seth Worley and the awesome team at Red Giant Films.

Spy Vs Guy

A retired Russian spy hunts down sensitive technology after it falls into unsuspecting hands.

Spy Vs Guy was made with the help of Red Giant BulletProof – a complete offload, prep, and delivery system for your footage. Signup now for the FREE BulletProof beta HERE.

Hi folks  - Many of you have been reaching out to us, asking when PluralEyes 3 for windows will be available. Some of you have been expressing frustration that it’s taking so long, and even doubt that it will ever be available.

We want you to know that it is absolutely in development, and coming soon. We have a beta team using it. We used it ourselves in the making of our new film, Spy Vs. Guy (See the Behind the Scenes HERE). Even though it’s in Beta, it does a pretty good job of syncing.

So if there are people using it, and it works, why can’t you have it right now?

Here’s the deal: While Syncing works as expected, PluralEyes 3 for Windows is not yet fully functional. Specifically, the playback engine is not ready for prime-time. That means that while syncing usually works, there are problems with Playback that make it difficult to verify and troubleshoot – and no easy way to fix things within the app.

If you know us, and you know our products, you also know it’s just not our way to release software that “sometimes,” or even “often,” works. We do not want to put software out there that could potentially make your job harder. When we release PluralEyes 3 for Windows, we want you to experience the pure joy of syncing in seconds with no worries – but until then, releasing the software would cause more harm than good, by introducing a lot of guesswork to your workflow.

The good news is, we’re finally on the road to reliable playback, but we need a little more time to clean up the playback engine. Hang in there – it will be worth it.

In the meantime, don’t forget – there already is a version of PluralEyes for Windows that works: PluralEyes 2. If you purchase PluralEyes now, you can use version 2 for Windows right away (it’s included in the PluralEyes download package), and you’ll get a free upgrade to version 3 when it is released. Get PluralEyes HERE.

Hey folks – we have some good news and some great news.

First the good news: Yesterday, Apple released an update to FCPX (Version 10.0.8) with new features and some really important fixes. Learn more HERE.

These fixes solve the issues that you’ve been experiencing with FCPX and Magic Bullet Looks and Mojo. We’ve tested the update and everything is working as it should. It’s been a frustrating few months, and we can’t tell you just how happy we are to have a fix and to know that you, our loyal customers and community of users, can get back to using our products in your work.

But now the great news: To celebrate the fix, we’re knocking 50% off Magic Bullet Looks for 48 hours. That’s right, instead of $399, Magic Bullet Looks is available for just $199 for just 2 days. And it doesn’t matter what host you’re using it with. Buy it for one host, get it for all – that’s a part of our Red Pledge.

To get the discount click HERE to buy Magic Bullet Looks and use coupon code FCPXLOOKS13 when checking out.

Don’t forget, we also now offer the ability to bundle individual products and suites to get up to 20% off.

So if you buy Looks and bundle it with other products, you can add to the discount, big time.

Check out our FCPX-compatible products, Like PluralEyes 3 for some great bundling options.

Again – thanks so much for your understanding through this process. It feels great to be back.

This latest update for the Magic Bullet Suite (11.4.2) contains several bug fixes and improvements for products in the Suite, most notable of which is a new, GPU enhanced version of Denoiser II – speed! To download the latest version of the entire suite, you can grab it here. For full details, read below!

Magic Bullet Denoiser II v1.4:

The key feature here for this free update to Denoiser II is speed. The engine has been completely enhanced to run on OpenCL 1.1 compatible graphics card. Our testing has shown Denoiser runs 3-4 times faster using the GPU – we recommend downloading a demo and seeing for yourself. If an OpenCL 1.1 compatible graphics card isn’t found, don’t worry – Denoiser II will still run on the CPU.

In order to engineer this update, we have had to drop support for Adobe’s CS4 products. If you are using a CS4 host application, you can still use Denoiser II v1.3, which you can still find in the latest Windows 32-bit installer. OSX users will need to use the 11.4.1 version of the Magic Bullet Suite installer.

To read all the gory details, including details on supported graphics cards, check out the Denoiser II product page.

Magic Bullet Looks 2.0.9:

Several bugs have been fixed in Looks running on Retina displays:

• A fix for the mouse jumping to the top right corner of the screen when editing the value of the controls of any of the tools added to the Look.
• A fix for FCPX users so the tool overlay is properly sized and readable when a Look is applied.

A special note for FCPX users: This Magic Bullet Suite update does not contain a fix for the rendering issue we have blogged about previously.

Magic Bullet Colorista II 1.0.6:

• We have fixed an issue found in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 where the secondary keyer was importing the wrong frame.

Magic Bullet PhotoLooks 2.0:

• An issue in the Windows installer has been fixed that would cause the LooksBuilder to be unable to launch from Adobe Lightroom when running on 64-bit versions of Windows.

Enjoy the update!

Andrew Cheyne, Director of Engineering – Red Giant

At Red Giant we strive to provide you with the best support experience (and to make the need for technical support suck less) so we’re excited to announce the new Red Giant Community forums that will allow you to connect with other Red Giant users to share ideas and solutions.

These forums continue our goal to provide faster answers to your questions, whether the answer comes from our support team, an FAQ or by asking in the community forums.

Red Giant Community Forums are organized in to a few different sections:

Updates & Feedback – Stay up-to-date with announcements from Support, show your Red Giant love and share your feature suggestions with us.

Getting Started – Topics that will help you get up and running for all Red Giant products.

Community Questions & Answers – Ask questions and share solutions with other Red Giant users.

You might also be happy to know that you may use your existing Red Giant ID to post and comment and you can subscribe to topics to receive email notifications.

So, what are you waiting for? Check it out, look around and start posting!

Hey folks  – We share a lot of user stories here, but this is one I feel a huge connection with, on may levels.This is a story about Sesame Street where I started out my career in TV and post production – and about a production team in NYC, many of whome I have come to know over the years and call my friends. Here goes…

Recently, Sesame Street ran a campaign to help them hit 1 billion YouTube views. If you haven’t seen the video, check it out here:

You might not be able to tell from the video, but it’s shot in front of a bluescreen – not on set. If you have ever had to key out Muppet hair (which I did plenty of, back in the day) it is notoriously hard. But Juan Salvo, who did the keying and more, used Primatte Keyer – Red Giant’s powerful and easy to use solution for keying out greenscreen and bluescreen backdrops. This made it easy for him to remove the background without compromising the wisps of hair.

This week, Sesame Street hit 1 Billion views, and, to celebrate, they released this video:

Again Primatte Keyer was used here to key the footage cleanly,  making it ready for compositing. In case you’re wondering, the pieces were shot in ProResHQ on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera.

The team that shot, edited and finished this included some of my good friends.

• Directed by: The Diamond Bros.
• Produced by: Jim Muscarella
• DoP: Timur Civan
• Gaffer: Andrew “Tank” Rivara
• Editor: Jesse Averna
• Assistant Editor: Meaghan Wilbur
• Colorist: Juan Salvo
• Sound: Parker J. Colt

The Diamond Brothers, Jason and Josh (in alphabetical order so I don’t get into trouble), are a directing and producing team – not to mention 2 fantastic filmmakers – that I am privileged to know and rely on for advice and inspiration. They work in both NY and LA, and their projects have included cast members like Elijah Wood, Selma Blair, Ralph Macchio, and the band Danko Jones. Learn more about their projects HERE.

Most of their team on this project are the same awesome folks who brought you Share It Maybe, a YouTube video that has been watched 13 Million times.

Also, just because I can, here’s a picture of me on set at Sesame Street back in 1998.

You’re welcome.

Buffalo NY may not be the most salubrious place that comes to mind when considering film locations, but for Raymond Guarnieri having grown up there himself, it was the perfect choice for his new feature release, Buffalo Boys. The film draws from Raymond’s very real life experiences and centres on suburban teenager IAN, 15, who is entangled in a plot to murder a 65 year-old woman.

Buffalo Boys is the lowest-budget film ever to be approved for the New York State Tax Incentive for Filmmakers and took just 23 days to shoot last August including a number of challenging night sequences. Here Director and Producer Raymond Guarnieri tells us how his story was told more effectively by using Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite for the overall look and Magic Bullet Colorista for the more intricate colour work.

“This was my first feature film and I’d spent two years developing the screenplay, including the time it took to speak with the families and friends of the people whom the true story was based on. We spent four months on pre-production, 100% on-location in Buffalo. Some of the locations we shot at were places where the real-life characters actually hung out. And contrary to belief Buffalo is a fabulous place to shoot films; because of its architecture, its low cost of living, 4 beautiful seasons in all their diverse, vibrant colors, and its relative proximity to both NYC and Chicago, said Raymond.

“The use of color made the telling of our story more effective in that it has allowed us to overcome some of the lighting challenges that we faced on a low-budget, independent production. It has enabled us to re-shape the look of key scenes to suit the “mood” and “energy” that exists within the writing and acting.

“There were many night scenes in places like “The Pits” (the local hangout spot in the woods) and “The Rave” sequence, which was shot in an abandoned warehouse with over 150 extras. It would be fair to say that our editor and colorist, Don Burns, found Colorista was helpful with the trickier challenges of lighting, even in some daytime interior scenes.

“Magic Bullet Suite made this possible because everything we wanted to do in terms of color could be done in just a few simple clicks and tweaks. Being on a small budget often also means being on a short deadline – this has been the case for post-production as well as production. Magic Bullet has allowed us to accomplish in weeks what might have taken months.”

Raymond and his team are also big fans of Red Giant’s PluralEyes, which he explains really speeded up the whole process.

“I have used PluralEyes for a handful of short commercial projects, but its true value was most apparent in this feature. Buffalo Boys was done on a 9:1 shooting ratio, which means we had about 90 hours of raw footage and sound. It could have taken us a month, or more, to sync the audio and sound manually. Instead, we were able to do it in 5 days!”

Raymond Guarnieri is a founding member of production company Better Stir Fry Productions. Co-founders McKenzie Trent and Matt Tester are both executive producers of Buffalo Boys, along with Jason Montalvo and Resnikoff. You can check out the trailer for Buffalo Boys on Kickstarter Page where they’re offering copies of the DVD & Tickets to the World Premiere in August. You can read more about Raymond Guarnieri here http://www.raymondguarnieri.com/.

Learn more about Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite, Colorista and PluralEyes.

We get a lot of emails and tweets asking us when we’ll be having our next sale. Well here’s some good news: The next sale is whenever you want it to be.

To make your love of filmmaking, visual effects, and motion graphics a little easier on the wallet, our new on-line store offer you the ability to bundle whatever products you need and to get a nice deal (up to 20% off your order) in the process.

Red Giant has over 30 individual products, while we group them in Suites allowing customers to get a substantial discount, the grouping of products isn’t always what you want.  We have kept our Suites because the product mixes are grouped for complimentary uses, but also we’ve added the ability to Create Your Own Bundle any time you’d like.

It’s simple, combine two or more copies of an individual product, or mix and match to your heart’s desire.  The more you add the more you save – you get up to 20% off the entire purchase for any purchase of 4 or more products.  Here’s little secret, the already heavily discounted Suites are each considered a single product and will receive an additional discount when combined with a second item.

As always, our products come with our Red Pledge Guarantee of no hassles, just happiness – which includes:

• 30 day money back guarantee. Always! Even on rainy Sundays. No questions asked.
• One price for all hosts. Your purchase works in all supported host applications and operating systems.
• Free Support. Ask us anything, no charge, during business hours by phone, email or online chat.
• Two computer license. One for your workstation and one for your laptop.
• Rock solid products. We triple-check every product before shipping.
• Easy Upgrades. ALL previous versions qualify for an upgrade to the latest release.