Our good friend, director Dan Blank, is making a film pitch to Hollywood. But instead of using a script or storyboards, he’s gone all-out with a Proof-of-Concept trailer that brings classic martial arts films together with today’s CGI and color correction sensibilities. Check out the awesome promo for Monster Roll:

Dan is a power user of Red Giant products – from keying, to compositing, to color correction to visual effects. Check out the VFX + Color Correction reel here, and see some our products in action (plus Dan’s serious VFX chops):

You can check out more Monster Roll stuff at the official site.

Also, check out this Red Room Blog article about more of Dan’s work HERE.

Hi, it’s Nawal from Red Giant’s Portland office. You may recognize my name if you have contacted our Support team in the past.  I’ve escaped the Support grind and moved onto Quality Assurance… But what about escaping the QA grind?  Fortunately there are always the weekends and summer months where I look forward to releasing some creative energy.

Part of being a true Oregonian involves turning off your digital devices and living in a tent for most of the summer.  When I am not reporting bugs, testing installers and working on top secret software projects, I am occupying myself with the great outdoors.  A trip to Crater Lake, working at the Oregon Country Fair and several jaunts to the Oregon Coast filled up most of my summer.  Sometimes it involves living off the grid, deprived of phone service and toilets, while other adventures can incorporate the unimaginable merging of nature, technology and art.  Someone once thought of the genius idea of bringing their computer outside, which later evolved to bringing an entire video production team outdoors.  This paved the way for the highlight of my summer, a weekend of camping and video editing in the woods.

In early August I found myself on the dusty grounds of Pendarvis Farm outside Portland Oregon, home of Pickathon, an annual Indie Roots Music Festival.  I worked on the film crew which is the largest volunteer film crew in the nation (maybe even the world?).

I had never been part of any team remotely like this before so it was quite the adventure.  Being on the post production team was a challenge at first–learning FCPX and getting into the swing of things, but the weekend turned out to be quite the success.  It was a delight to work with the senior editor, Lance, who apparently was no stranger to Red Giant as he won our Magic Bullet Suite for a film competition in the past, and knew Stu Maschwitz (small world!), the Magic Bullet creative director.

While the weekend event was happening, there was live video feed broadcast over the website. It was my job to create some of the content. I worked on short intro videos for each band as well as minute long clips that showcase the festival.  This ranged from pieces on the food vendors to camping and comedy sketches. One of my favorites was a clip showing how people were trying to beat the heat.  During the weekend we experienced a couple days that were well above 100 degrees. It was so hot we didn’t know what to do with ourselves (says the girl editing video in an air conditioned trailer) but really, people were literally dousing themselves with water to stay cool.  Here’s the clip:

The camping film industry may be relatively new, but it is sure to stick around indefinitely.  I mean, really, who can’t get down with a weekend of cameras, computers, dirt, sweat and warm beer?

Recently, Red Giant released a new version of Knoll Light Factory, and I’ve been asked a few questions quite a lot.

1. Does the world need another lens flare generator?
2. Is it better than the competition?
3. What’s unique about it?

Thanks for asking. Here goes…

1. Does the world need another lens flare generator?

About 20 years ago, John Knoll – co-creator of Photoshop and VFX master at ILM – set out to create a system for generating lens flares he could use in film. It eventually evolved into a plug-in for off-the shelf software, and finally it became an After Effects and video editing Plug-in. Today, pretty much every lens flare generator out there is built on John Knoll’s methodology for digitally creating naturally occurring lens flares. Even the flare element names like “Caustics,” “Chroma Hoop,” “Sparkle,” and “Spike Ball,”  used widely, were originated by John Knoll for KLF.

You might not realize this, but for the last 20 years, Knoll Light Factory has been the most used lens flare generator in the world. The list of customers that own a license of some version of a Knoll Flare product is gigantic -  partially because of it’s long history in Hollywood, and partially because it’s supported on multiple host (including After Effects, FCP and Premiere Pro).

But despite working in the host apps you use most, the Knoll Light factory engine is still built from the same engine as the one used by John Knoll at Industrial Light and Magic – the one used in Star Wars, Transformers, Avatar, the new Start Trek, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

(In the above image of a few flare presets, EH stands for Ethan Hunt)

Even with the competition in recent years, Knoll Light factory still has 20 years of customers using the product – and those customers needed an update. But an update of that magnitude could only be done properly by John Knoll – one of the smartest busiest men in Hollywood. John is easily the most qualified person on the planet to bring realism and accuracy to a lens flare tool – especially in a Hollywood landscape where directors still prefer to do as much as they can practically, because the digital does not really come close the actual (although, when you do see very real-looking digital flares in films, it’s often John’s work or someone using his tools).

So, while to some degree, competition has driven forward the development of Knoll Light Factory, for John, it’s all about accuracy and realism. No flare generator could go out the door if it was not up to his standards.

Coming back to the original question… Does the world need another lens flare generator? I don’t know. KLF is not another flare generator – it’s the original – with the longest history and largest user base. And with the latest updates, it bring more to the table than there ever has been in the world of lens flare generation. (Watch a Getting Started Tutorial)

2.  Is it better than the competition?

Well, we sure thinks so. We’ve worked hard to balance creative user experience with accuracy and beauty. But don’t take our word for it. Download a free trial version and try it out yourself. We know you’ll be impressed.

3. What’s unique about KLF3?

Lots. And we think it makes all the difference in the world. It’s fair to say that due to Knoll Light Factory’s long history, so much of what’s out there resembles KLF – it has set the tone for flare generation for the last two decades. But let’s look at what makes this new version of KLF unique.

1. Accuracy/Realism. KLF3 is hands-down the most realistic lens flare generator in the world. It is built on years of John Knoll’s work at ILM creating ground-breaking VFX for big Hollywood movies. Many of the flares included with KLF come right out of recent big-budget films.

2. Lens designer. We’d be lying if we said there was nothing like it on the market – And that’s because we took our incredibly popular Magic Bullet Looks interface and built off of it to create an entirely unique, intuitive, and artist driven experience for designing and altering lens flare presets. You will never feel the need to just use a preset as-is – but you can if you’re short on time. There are tons of fantastic presets to help you get started. (Watch a Tutorial on the New Lens Designer)

3. Behaviors. My personal favorite – a fantastic set of easy-to use tools that make it simple to animate one, a few, or even tons of flares in seconds. Blinking, pulsing, flickering, and more, plus fantastic timing controls for all of that. Even an experienced motion designer with a need for control will love behaviors because they remove none of the control, just the time needed set up flare animation. (Watch a Tutorial on Behaviors)

(Several 3D lights fire off lens flares in sequence, using the strobe behavior with a delay.)

4. Integration with AE 3D Lights. Okay, we’re not the first to do this, but I think it’s fair to say that our integration is easily the most flexible, elegant system you’ll find for this kind of thing. (Watch the Getting Started Tutorial)

5. Stability. KLF 3 is stable. We haven’t traded anything for stability. You can rely on it to get the job done.

6. Team Red Giant. Software is nothing without an amazing support team to back it up. We have the best, most knowledgeable, fastest-responding team in the industry. You’re never alone when you buy a Red Giant product – That’s part of our Red Pledge.

One important thing to note: Given Knoll Light Factory’s long history, there are a lot of people that are eligible for the upgrade price of $99. If you have ever owned a license of any Knoll Video product (so that excludes Knoll Light Factory for Photoshop) you are eligible for the upgrade.

Today, Vimeo announced the short list for videos to be considered for the Vimeo Festival + Awards, and, much to our excitement, Plot Device was among them.Vimeo features some of the best video content on the web and we are really proud to even be considered for a Vimeo Award.

You can check out and vote for the videos featured under Advertising HERE (all videos sponsored by a company or ad agency fall into this category), and vote for your favorite – we hope it’s Plot Device, but we know there is some seriously stiff competition, all deserving of recognition.  If Plot Device wins, director Seth Worley could get $5K, $25Kor even $30K to put towards his next film.

There’s also a lot of other amazing work being being recognized at the Vimeo Festival + Awards, and you can vote for all of the ones you like HERE.

It’s really been a whirlwind 2 weeks. In case you missed it, last week, Plot Device was nominated for a Webby. Also, Virgin America announced that Plot Device would be featured on Virgin Airlines flights as a part of their new programming (Seth calls it “the most expensive way to watch Plot Device).

If you haven’t already, head over to the Webby’s and vote for your favorite entries. There’s a lot of great stuff there.

In the meantime, you can watch Plot Device right here:

There are days you wake up and know it’s going to be a good day.  And then there are days where life really surprises you. Today was one of the latter.

This morning we found out that Plot Device, a short film we helped bring to life, was nominated for a Webby Award. I’m not going to lie to you… It’s a big fricken deal. The Webby’s are basically the Academy Awards for Internet content. And while it’s my nature to be humbled by recognition like this, I’m not really comfortable even saying that, because, in reality, this award isn’t really about Red Giant. It’s not for us to be humbled. But we are proud…and extremely excited.

The nomination is for Best Editing – something that can be attributed entirely to Seth Worley, the film’s director.  Seth is an amazing storyteller and, while the nomination is a surprise, the fact that a storyteller as talented as Seth is being recognized for his ability to tell a great story, is not.

Also – I know I said that we’re not feeling humble, but I totally lied. Me and the rest of the folks at Red Giant are actually quite humbled at this moment – Humbled and honored that a film we helped create is considered notable among the fantastic content being produced by the community of visual artists, for whom we work so hard to support.

It’s one thing to make software that your customers love and use in telling their stories. But it’s a whole other thing to tell those same creative people a story and have it pass muster. We’re totally floored by the reaction you’ve had to Plot Device.

I’m not a fan of telling people to rock the vote, and I’m even less a fan of when people email, asking me to vote for a creation in a contest without even considering that there may be someone who is truly more worthy of the win. But if you believe in the importance of acknowledging great work, then head over to the Webby Awards and check out all of the nominations. If, after that, you think Seth deserves the award, great – vote for Plot Device. If not – vote for someone else that worked hard and deserves the recognition that editors so often don’t get.

In the meantime, you can watch Plot Device right here:

Joe, our head of QA, lounging with a good friend. One of these two wants a tummy rub. I won’t say which.

When I tell people I’m an animator, I almost always get asked: “So can you draw me?” Then I have to disappoint them and explain that I mean I am a computer animator, and mostly I move pixels or object from point A to Point B, and then add what Harry Frank likes to call “Zazzle.” At that point, most people are not impressed, and can I pass the ketchup?

Naturally, I’ve always been in awe of anyone who can draw. Don’t get me wrong – I can stick figure with the best of them, but past that, my drawing of a car might be mistaken for a roller skate or maybe a turtle in a wheelchair. So imagine how impressive it must be (at least for me) when someone can draw, not only well, but fast – AND have it match up with the world around them.

Some of you may know Kaylinn Solazzo, one of our Technical Support team, but what you don’t know is that, like many of the people at Red Giant, she is a visual artist. And not just that, she is an amazing compositor… Just not in the way your probably used to. She draws on little scraps of paper and holds them up next to real things and they become part of, and alter, the real world. Here are some examples of her work:

But the world around us changes quickly, So I asked Kaylinn about the challenge of capturing a moment, in a moment.

“I try to give myself three minutes (five, if I haven’t had any coffee) to come up with a doodle and set it in my daily surrounding. You can often catch me telling my coworkers to quit moving as I try place a narwhal on someone’s shoulder or a bear on their lap and snap a quick photo or two with my iPhone. It’s a fun sort of challenge that I like to give myself that doesn’t have to do with anything but being a tiny creative outlet.”

As I said earlier, a lot of people at Red Giant are visual artists, and many more are creative outside the visual medium. I love how different their skills/talents are from mine. It’s both humbling and inspiring to work with people who think differently, and it’s a big part of what makes my Job at Red Giant as awesome as it is.

You can see more of Kaylinn’s awesome work HERE.

(Above photos taken with Movie Looks app for iPhone/iPad)

Digital Production BuZZ is one of the production industry’s longest running podcasts. Each week, host Larry Jordan keeps listeners up-to-date with trends and technologies in digital production and post production.

Earlier this month, Sean Safreed, co-owner and Director of Product Management at Red Giant, appeared on the BuZZ to give his thoughts on ‘Shooting Movies on an iPhone’. Talking to a somewhat skeptical Larry Jordan, Sean opined on whether it makes sense for producers to consider doing post production on an iPhone, what the challenges are and what tools are available.

“It fits the continuum of enabling tools that have gone before. When the first affordable professional mini DV camera – specifically the Sony VX1000 – came along in the mid-90’s, it got Stu Maschwitz [Creative Director for Red Giant's Magic Bullet products] into thinking he could create his own motion pictures.” Said Safreed.

“Next came MiniDV with 24p in the Panasonic DVX100 and then the price came down even more and you were able to get 24p in a Canon HD camera like the HD20 a few years back. And that became a hot indie tool. This is a continuum of that evolution, beginning with a high quality camera in a really small package.

“It’s more than just shooting videos using the iPhone. The [iPhone] 4s camera has shown itself to be a great camera with image stabilisation that is nearly as good, or even better in some cases than a little hand held HD camera. And the big thing this has going for it is the software flexibility. It’s got the capabilities to take the video you’ve got right there on set and then do something with it. You can edit it or add effects like we have done with our Movie Looks tool or use a host of other great image tools on the iPhone.”

Can you really shoot a movie with an iPhone? Do you agree with Sean? Tune in to hear the full BuZZ podcast.
http://www.digitalproductionbuzz.com/2012/03/07/digital-production-buzz-march-8-2012/

Not too long ago, our Support Manager, Jeremy, sent out a customer service survey to over 15,000 customers. You might have been one of them. Here are the results! Drum roll please:

Availability and Responsiveness of CS Team

• 89.8% Excellent or Good
• 5.8% Average
• 4.4% Below Average or Terrible

Helpfulness of CS Team

• 88.9% Excellent or Good
• 5% Average
• 6.1% Below Average or Terrible

Quality of Red Giant Products

• 95.1% Excellent or Good
• 3.8% Average
• 1.1% Below Average or Terrible

96.9% Would recommend Red Giant products to someone else.

If you want, you can compare these results to our last customer service poll HERE. We try to do them often so that we can improve ourselves. We know there is always room for improvement, and we want to hear how we can make your experience better.

Kicking it Old School

When I think about customer service I can’t help but imagine a 1950′s gas station. A car rolls up, the bell dings and the attendants come running out with a smile. Want your windows washed? Some air in your tires? You got it!

Over the years, it’s pretty safe to say that the level customer service that most companies provide isn’t to that degree anymore. I can’t think of the last time that I called into a company and I didn’t have press 7 different extensions, answer a riddle to the Billy Goats Gruff and then give up my first born child just to receive contact with an actual human being.

Call it old fashioned, but Red Giant has that 50′s customer service mentality in the modern world. Call us, log in to LiveChat, Tweet, Facebook, or Email and we come running to help.

We’re a small support team (totaling of about 5) but we run like a well-oiled machine. We each have our strengths and where one of us has a weakness, or when the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, we work together to find a solution. There are countless times where I’m at a loss for words about an issue, when my coworker swoops in and iChats me the correct answer. We keep an eye out for one another with the rewards of friendship, coffee and, if we’ve earned it, a beer.

Red Giant is the best company I have ever worked for. It’s pretty fantastic to be a part of a team that has its customers’ best interest at heart.

If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here for you.

When Avril Lavigne launched her first perfume – ‘Black Star’ – it was praised as a sultry mix of dark fruits and dark chocolate. It was even nominated for The FiFi Awards, an annual event hosted by The Fragrance Foundation to recognize achievements in the scent industry.

From that auspicious start, the challenge for the promotions company was to create a commercial that would capture the visual essence of this unique fragrance.

Working for NY Visual Effects and Design Boutique SUSPECT, Jesse Newman created a captivating vision, using Trapcode Particular to add the final and literal sparkle. Jesse took some time out to tell us about his work and use of Trapcode.

“I’ve been fortunate to have worked on several creatively challenging and award-winning projects, including feature films (Armageddon), commercials (M&Ms, Verizon, HP), broadcast designs (Disney, SciFi, HBO) and short films (Shapeshifter, One Rat Short).

As far as workflow, the Trapcode plug-ins are regulars in my bag of tricks.  They are incredibly intuitive and powerful.  I used Form to create the interactive world of sparkling stars in the Avril Lavigne “Black Star” commercial and Particular to create elements ranging from the streaks in the Verizon FIOS logo to the bubbles following the fish in Shapeshifter.”

Jesse also told us “My true passion has always been my personal art, which gravitates toward hyper-real fantasy art.  I am currently on a year-long sabbatical to focus on an epic personal project for my daughter, depicting her as Gaea, Goddess of Earth.”

We wish him all the best with his personal work and look forward to seeing his new projects develop.

With a mantra that says “We don’t do annoying rubbish!” I knew Barbeque Design were going to be something a bit special, and they certainly don’t disappoint.

In April this year Barbecue produced a concept commercial for Toyota to introduce the new Yaris at the 81st Geneva International Motor Show. This elegant piece of motion graphics was developed using Trapcode Form, so we just had to ask Barbeque about their choice of software.

Managing Director Rüdiger Chmielus told us, “I think that from the moment I first used “Shine” I was a Trapcode follower. Especially the combination of Shine and Particular are essential for the typical “Barbecue” style. We use them on every project – even if it’s not obvious, they’re there. We definitely love this software!”

“The Yaris Project was finished under a very tight schedule and the final production took just under two weeks. We had one unit doing all the rotoscoping and tracking while another unit worked on the composites and the backgrounds.”

Based in Frankfurt and founded in 2007, postproduction and motion graphics studio Barbecue Mediendesign GmbH have produced consistently stunning concepts for brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus and Porsche, not to mention numerous television ads, main titles and trailers.

As well as using Trapcode for commercial productions, some of their experimental work is equally impressive.

Also, check out their amazing show reel: