Red Giant is truly an international company. Our visual effects software for motion design, photography and color correction is used for everything from major motion pictures to worldwide television programming and web production.

Our VFX software has been reviewed in many of the top International broadcast and creative magazines and we were excited to see a recent review of Magic Bullet Mojo on Italian web site, MacforDummies.

MacforDummies wrote a great review on Magic Bullet Mojo and how particularly useful it is for fine-tuning skin tones. Magic Bullet Mojo is “absolutely priceless, it’s perfect for the amateur, but also for the professional who wants to get a good result quickly and with minimal investment.”

You can see the full review here.

Siti italiani tassi di Magic Bullet Mojo

Red Giant è davvero una società internazionale. Il nostro software di effetti visivi per la correzione del movimento del design, la fotografia ed il colore viene usato per tutto, dai film importanti di programmazione televisiva in tutto il mondo e la produzione web.

Il nostro software VFX è stato rivisto in molte delle trasmissioni di alto livello professionale e riviste internazionali creative e siamo stati entusiasti di vedere una recente revisione di Mojo Magic Bullet sul sito web italiano, MacforDummies.

MacforDummies ha scritto una grande rassegna su Mojo Magic Bullet e’ particolarmente utile per mettere a punto i toni della pelle. Mojo Magic Bullet è “assolutamente inestimabile, è perfetto per l’amatore, ma anche per il professionista che vuole ottenere un buon risultato in modo rapido e con un investimento minimo.”
Potete vedere la recensione completa qui.

MacforDummies

T. S. Eliot said “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood,” and it’s the perfect way to describe the mesmerizing collage of images, words and music blended together to create ‘Found’, a stereoscopic short film by Nice Shoes out of NY.

This sumptuous, 3min 12sec showcase is part of the “Verses” series, where the studio challenges itself to visually interpret short poems. But it didn’t just open a poetry book and pick a random page.

Brian Bowman, Creative Director at Nice Shoes, found the poem scrawled on a piece of paper that caught on his shoe as he was walking down a city street at the end of a particularly stressful day. He picked it up, read it, reflected on it and tucked it in his wallet, chalking it up as just another one of those ‘only in New York’ moments.

From this inauspicious beginning, a work of great beauty began to take shape, and we were delighted to find that Trapcode and Knoll Light Factory were some of the go-to tools for the artists that brought ‘Found’ to its visual reality.

Brian told us: “Working with Red Giant’s unique tools we were able to make environments really come alive. The tools proved robust in a stereoscopic workflow, important for those subtle depth flourishes that strengthen the audience’s visceral experience of the film in 3D.”

Here’s the 2D version of the short film, followed by a video breakdown:

Learn more about Nice Shoes HERE.

Check out Episode 59 of Red Giant TV to learn about using Trapcode Software to create Stereoscopic 3D effects.

Grab the Latest updates for both Magic Bullet Looks and Magic Bullet Colorista II Here:

• Magic Bullet Colorista II
• Magic Bullet Looks

Note: Since all of our Magic Bullet products now install through one Suite installer, you only need to download the update once – it will contain the maintenance release for both products.

So, what’s new?

Magic Bullet Colorista II 1.0.3

• The biggest fix here was to allow Colorista II to run properly again on non-English systems.
• We also fixed up our keyboard shortcut handling for Colorista II in After Effects – in previous releases, you probably noticed it didn’t work the greatest – it’s all working great now!

Magic Bullet Looks 2.0.1

• As with Colorista II, the biggest fix for a lot of users is that Looks will now run properly on non-English systems.
• We fixed an issue with Looks causing pixelation in FCP 7 when using the Upper or Lower Field Dominance Sequence Settings.
• Fixed some issues in the Looks Builder interface where the delete key wasn’t working properly and you would encounter some weird beeps.
• Addressed an issue with Looks in Premiere Pro CS5 where the preview image could end up cropped in the LooksBuilder.
• The Looks Theatre inside the Looks Builder interface would always start displaying Looks from the “Basic” category – it will now show you looks based on the category you’ve selected.

As always, you can find updates for all of our products HERE.

When Kung Fu Panda first hit cinemas in 2008 we fell in love with martial arts misfit Po the Panda and the Furious Five as they fought and defeated the evil Tai Lung. But this year the challenge for the teams at Dreamworks was how to create the second installment and build on the successes of the first film.

In Kung Fu Panda 2, not only have the characters developed, but the film itself has upped its game with more explosions, more chases and more visual excitement – all thanks to the dedicated VFX teams at Dreamworks.

Po Finds the Truth – Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

Lead After Effects animator at Dreamworks, Daniel Hashimoto and his close-knit team of AE artists have brought amazing impact to some of the film’s most memorable sequences, using Trapcode Particular and Form.

Po Finds the Truth (2) – Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

Daniel told us: “One of the film’s most dramatic sequences – “Po Finds the Truth” – pulled out all the stops. In this sequence, which involves a village on fire near the snowy woods, Form and Particular were used to create snow, embers, smoke clouds, and a highly-stylized flame effect. The customization and versatility of Particular made it a very powerful tool to have at our disposal. Our Visual Development Artists painted the stylized effects which we wanted to bring to life in the 2D sequences, but not just in 2D, but also in stereoscopic 3D.** And since Particular, Form, and Horizon all work within a 3D environment, they were ideal for the look we wanted to achieve.

Flame example Kung Fu Panda 2 courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

** Check out Episode 59 of Red Giant TV to learn about using Trapcode Software to create Steroscopic 3D effects.

Trapcode Suite 11 is the industry standard package for high quality broadcast design and 3D motion graphics. Its full-featured tools create beautiful realistic effects — with an emphasis on flexible 3D content — for text titles, animated backgrounds, logo treatments and VFX design.

Our freshly released Form 2 is the new rockstar of Trapcode Suite, with a base particle system that can take any shape imaginable, including OBJ files, 3D animated models and organic forms (read more below). Your favorite celebrity, Particular 2, continues to wow its fans as the most powerful particle system for After Effects. And in a star-studded light extravaganza, Lux has been updated to support 32-bpc for more robust color definition.

Other Trapcode tools create 3D styled elements like volumetric light effects, realistic light sources and volumetric lines, all built for the After Effects 3D environment. Get nine addictive plug-ins for a comprehensive addition to your studio workflow, all at a crowd-pleasing price. 

Save $512 when buying the Suite; costs $1,411 for individual plug-ins.

Learn about Trapcode Suite 11
Buy now for $899
Upgrade now for $99

NEW! TRAPCODE FORM 2

Unlimited 3D possibilities & original organic shapes

Words dissolve into sand, a logo catches on fire, and now 3D sequences explode into particles. Trapcode Form 2 keeps the beautiful organic shapes that you love, while adding amazing 3D object support and powerful Particular 2 controls.

Give your base form endless 3D possibilities by importing OBJ models, OBJ sequences or starting with our professionally designed presets. Supercharge the form with popular Particular features like Textured Polygon particles and Shading for AE lights. With its reorganized interface and better integration into After Effects, Form 2 has grown alongside your creative needs.

Powerful new features of Form 2 include:

• Bring OBJ’s into After Effects with Form’s support for 3D models and 3D sequences
• Includes the Particular 2 features you love, like Textured Polygons, Streaklets and particle illumination with Shading controls
• Expanded Layer Map and Spherical Field features include rotating the layer map and distorting a sphere into any elliptical shape
• Get your projects started quickly with sophisticated Form presets designed by Guru animator Harry Frank
• Oh yes! Full backward compatibility with Form 1 projects

Learn about Trapcode Form 2
Buy now for $199
Upgrade now for $99

GET THE TRAPCODE PARTY STARTED

FREE Training for Form 2, Particular 2 & more

Trapcode Suite 11 helps you get that beautiful animation done faster. Learn how to master the Trapcode plug-ins with over 50 hours of FREE Red Giant training.

The video tutorials and quick tips on Red Giant TV give you a solid introduction to every Trapcode product, from the new 3D tools in Form 2 to the Physics controls in Particular 2, and all the cool stuff in between. Learn from Red Giant industry leaders like Harry Frank and Aharon Rabinowitz, and take control of those particles!

Watch the Getting Started with Form 2 video
Watch the What’s New in Form 2 video

Add modern Hollywood color effects in seconds!

Just released! Magic Bullet Mojo is our first product released for FCP X. We continue to fully support Final Cut Studio 2 and 3, and now you can also use Mojo in Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5.

Our Engineering and QA teams are working hard on FCP X compatibility for our products. We have made great progress in a short time, and promise that products will be released as they become available. Read more HERE.

Now about gettin’ some of that great Mojo…

With Magic Bullet Mojo, you have one of Hollywood’s best tricks up your own sleeve. Modern blockbusters often use a subtle coloring effect to warm up actors’ skin tones while backgrounds and shadows get a cool blue treatment –– but the trick is to do it while keeping your talent in focus. Magic Bullet Mojo gives you the look of a modern Hollywood blockbuster in seconds, with easy customizable controls to suit any footage.

Buy now with our week sale! From August 18–25, get Mojo for only $49, regularly $99. Use Coupon Code MOJOFCPX.

Free update for current Mojo users. To download the FREE update to Mojo 1.2.2, go to the Updates page for Mojo.

NOTE: This installation will require your original Mojo or Magic Bullet Suite serial number.

Just like you, Red Giant is excited about the release of OS X Lion. These are crucial platforms for your work and Apple is an important partner for Red Giant.

It is a priority for us to ensure that our customers can run Red Giant products on the latest software. We continue to work closely with Apple to make sure our products run well with theirs.

The good news is that we have been able to test our products with OS X Lion and most of our results have been great. We are happy to report that all of our products work perfectly between Lion and Adobe host applications. With FCP, there are a few issues that have come up, primarily with some of the products in our Magic Bullet Suite (read below).

If you are experiencing any technical problems with our software, and you don’t see the issue already listed below, please contact Red Giant Support. We want to get our products working perfectly in Lion, and your reports are invaluable in helping us continue to make our products high quality and bug free.

Magic Bullet Suite
We have discovered Lion issues in Magic Bullet Suite, primarily with Looks 2 and Colorista II. Apple is aware of the issues and will address them in a future update.Unfortunately, the issues are related to essential functions in OS X Lion that cause problems with saving Looks 2 and Colorista II projects in FCP. Please be assured that we are working closely with Apple to bring resolution to this issue. More details are in this blog post.

Keying Suite
In Lion and FCP, Primatte 5 does not correctly update its view once a key is made. Again, Apple is aware of the issue and will address it in a future update. All other Keying Suite products have not shown any issues with Lion so far, but we are still testing these products to guarantee their performance.

Trapcode Suite
Our testing to date and feedback from customers show that all Trapcode Suite products work in OS X Lion across all host apps.

Effects Suite
In Lion and FCP, Knoll Light Factory cannot save and update its lens flare data. Oh yes… Apple is aware of this issue and will address it in a future update. Our testing to date and feedback from customers show that all other Effects Suite products work in OS X Lion across all host apps.

Hey folks – We know you’ve been wondering what’s taking so long to update some of our plug-ins for OS X Lion. We’ve actually been hammering at it, and we wanted to give you an update:

First off, All Trapcode Products work perfectly in OSX Lion. We’ve seen no problems, nor have any users reported problems to us.

Unfortunately, On the Magic Bullet Front (specifically with Looks and Colorista II) we can’t say the same. And we’re as frustrated as you. The short explanation is this: There is a critical bug in Lion that causes Final Cut Pro to ignore custom data – data that is essential for getting Looks and Colorista II to work properly.

We’ve tried everything under the sun, but at this point, we have to give it back to Apple, and wait for them to make this fix. There is nothing more that we can do other than to strongly advise you that if you want to work with Looks or Colorista II, avoid Lion for now.

To our knowledge, all outstanding issues being cause by Lion are for FCP only. Magic Bullet products in other host applications (like After Effects and Premiere Pro) work fine.

Here’s a more technical explanation from our head of engineering:

The release of OSX 10.7 (Lion) introduced a bug into FCP7 that we have been unable to find a way to work around. We have contacted Apple and are waiting to hear when they will have a fix (either in the Operating System or with Final Cut Pro). This bug affects any plugins for FCP that make use of custom data. Essentially, Apple provides two methods for storing data related to a plugin – general sliders, for example, are a built-in method that Final Cut Pro provides for storing data related to an effect with your project. For more complex information, however, a plugin can define its own set of custom data that it will save within the project. This second method of storing data about an effect with your project is currently broken in the FCP7 / OSX 10.7 combination. It works fine when you run FCP7 on OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Unfortunately for Red Giant plug-in users, we make use of custom data in both the Looks 2.0 and Colorista II plugins. The end result of this is that, while you can use the plugins with FCP on Lion, part of the data associated with the effects once they are applied will not be saved.

We are truly sorry for the inconvenience, but we’re at Apple’s mercy, at this point. Rest assured that the moment Apple has a fix, we will implement it.

Our good friends at MotionWorks have released “Making It Look Great 9: The Complete Robot 2 for Cinema 4D” – training by 3D guru Rob Redman. If you saw Plot Device, our recent short film, You’ve seen Rob’s fantastic 3D work. In this series of tutorials, he’ll teach you animation, camera and staging techniques for Cinema 4D.

Rob also spends a little time on color correction for C4D, using Magic Bullet Looks. Here’s an example of his color correction on 3D renders.

Without color correction.

With Magic Bullet Looks

On the subject of color correction for 3D with Magic Bullet Looks, Rob has this to say:

“As a 3D artist I’m often looking for ways to remove the instant CGness from my renders and bring back some of the warmth you find in film/through a lens. Looks 2 lets me do that with flexibility and efficiency. The ability to create a look and save it as a custom preset is a godsend. A one click application to grade all the shots in a project at once saves bundles of time and it’s easy to tweak if I need to make a quick adjustment.

“As well as using Cinema 4D with After Effects (a common combination) I also use Final Cut a lot and it’s great to have access to the same tools (and presets) meaning I can stay consistent over the length of a big job.

“As for Looks 2, the interface has had a nice spruce up and some of the new tools are pretty cool. I’m particularly fond of the 3 way color correction tools but most important of all is the video preview. I loved the original looks but sometimes you needed to check the grade at various frames. Swapping in and out of looks to scan the timeline could be more work than was needed.”

Other Links

• You can get Making It Look Great 9 with Rob Redman HERE.
• You can check our Rob’s amazing 3D work and other tutorials HERE.
• You can get magic Bullet Looks HERE.

Want to be a giant of the little screen? Red Giant is helping to create a video that promotes the Original iPhone Film Festival and we are looking for on-screen talent. We need males and females, young and old, of all colors, fun and bold.

The Original iPhone festival is open to everyone in the world, so we want its promo video to represent a diverse slice of life. We welcome your unique appearance with tattoos, piercings, hair color, hair dye, facial hair and skin tone, or none of the above.

• Bonus: If you have a cool talent like juggling or skateboarding, or swallowing fire (or, hey, all 3 at once), we would love to film it.
• Compensation: All of those who take part will get a Red Giant Plug-in or Guru Pack of their choice.
• Time/Place: We will be filming the video on the morning of Thursday August 11, in lower Manhattan, NYC. Details to follow.
• How to apply: Email aharon (AT) RedGiantSoftware (DOT) com, and tell us about yourself. That’s pretty much it. Oh yeah – please use the subject “OIFF” as it will help us catch all the emails.