Useful Tools: Our Review of Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite
NYC Production & Post News by Joe Herman
Since its beginnings in 2002, Red Giant has become an increasingly important maker of visual effects software. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company publishes a range of different apps for filmmakers, broadcasters and other moving media creatives.
Most relevant for our readers are the four popular suites of plug-ins that the company continues to publish, support and upgrade over the years. The Magic Bullet Suite, Trapcode Suite, Keying Suite and Effects Suite are versatile collections popular among motion graphics designers, compositors, visual effects artists and filmmakers. Together, they offer a range of creative possibilities, not only for After Effects users but also for those using NLEs including Premiere Pro, Avid and Final Cut.
One or another Red Giant plug-ins turn up in any number of feature films, music videos and television shows. Recently “Plot Device”, a short film funded by Red Giant that of course uses many of these tools, won 16th Annual Webby Award for editing. You can watch that film here. We plan to cover all of Red Giant’s suites in upcoming reviews. For now, we’ll focus on one of the all time favorites of many editors and compositors, Magic Bullet Suite, now in Version 11.3.
The initial version of Magic Bullet came from Stu Maschwitz, a long time production and post pro who also writes an influential blog. After leaving ILM, Stu founded The Orphanage, a well-known effects house in San Francisco. While there he began developing the suite of plug-ins that eventually became Magic Bullet, which allow you to create “professional Hollywood-style results on an indie budget” as their website puts it. read more...
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