New Look
Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at 12:21PM It's been over five years since I designed Look Suite, the look creation tool that has become the most important feature of Magic Bullet. The "magic" of the Bullet used to be its ability to convert interlaced video to 24p, but as 24p cameras hit the scene the Bullet stayed relevant and, in some peoples' eyes, necessary, because of Look Suite.
So what have I been doing in the years since the original Look Suite design? I've been using Magic Bullet of course, on my own video and on professional projects. I've been talking to users and staying active on forums. All the time pondering and experimenting with better ways of making video look more cinematic. Meanwhile, Red Giant updated Look Suite to run in hardware, for a massive speed boost.
At NAB, we'll reveal the result of combining Red Giant's work with hardware-acceleration and my new design for a look creation tool. It will be called Magic Bullet Looks, and it will be available both as a part of an all-new Magic Bullet Suite or on its own.
Rather than a regular plug-in with a ton of sliders, Magic Bullet Looks features a standalone application with its own UI. Called Looks Builder, this application is launched when you apply the Look Suite 3 plug-in in After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Avid, or Motion. Within Looks Builder, you build and edit looks using Look Tools; modular mini-effects for things like bleach bypass, gradient filters, and film stock simulation. All of these tools work in realtime and can be tweaked and edited in context. All processing is done in floating-point color. With over 30 Look Tools to assemble however you like, you can create an infinite variety of Looks.
Or choose a preset. Pop open the Looks Theater to see 100 different preset looks applied to your image (not a canned thumbnail) in realtime.
Magic Bullet Looks was designed to be easy and fun to use, but it's powerful enough for pros too. Filters and exposure adjustments work in real-world units. Color corrections obey industry standards. Cineon film scans and digital cinema images, such as those from the Panavision Genesis camera, are interpreted correctly and can be converted to video or left in their native color spaces. The same look that you develop on an Avid rough cut in video color space can later be applied to a 35mm scan.
That's a lot of talk, but this is obviously something that must be seen to be appreciated. Magic Bullet Looks will be unveiled for the first time at NAB on Tuesday morning. I can't wait to show y'all what we've been up to.
Reader Comments (15)
ohh can't wait to see this!.. very nice advance !..
S
That sounds fantastic. I really like the idea of a consistent interface across apps, the modular approach, and I can't wait to see the interface!
I'm getting a lot more work doing 'look management' and design. Tools like this could really make a big difference. We'll be watching! I just hope it's priced for mortals. =)
Can't wait, Stu, looking forward to it!
awesome!!!! see you there...
I hope there will be an upgrade price for the new version.
mike
with monty burns voice and much wringing of hands: excellent
dude!-
all i have to say is everyday you become more my hero and less my nemesis :) hahahah
congrats on everything you are doing.
I love how you couldn't wait to tell someone so posted the teaser here! It must've been so hard not to till now. Can't wait to play with it, I"m using a tweaked Epic and a MB Flicker on my latest music right now and the Epic look gives the footage so much more than it had. Cheers for making me look good for such a small fee!
Enjoy NAB, wush I was there so we could try the old bait'n'switch at the Red Booth. Still I'm #498 so I'll just have to wait...but not too long!
How about MB Looks on top of Redcode! Woooo
Hi,
It seems great.
One question : I often use AE to color grade and while Colorista works directly in AE I can preview it on my video screen, will this be possible with Magic Bullet Looks even if it has its own interface ?
Sounds very exciting. Will there be any limiting controls for broadcast? This sounds like it has a lot of potential for color correction. I hope it has a limiter built in, or an easy way to build one within the application. It sounds like you can build different looks in a stack. Really looking forward to the announcement!
Sounds like it might be approaching what I've been dreaming of for a while. I'm going to take a wild guess and presume that it's node based? ;) Looking forward to hearing more!
I am infact waiting to see a ram preview
of a look suite effect as I type this. I really
like the way look suite works and the tweakabilty
of the settings. Hardware speed boost would
rock mucho. I love the original and it has
helped me put some lipstick on some pigs and
touched up some great shots as well.
Keep up the great work, it is inspiring to
see someone so willig to share their hard
earned knowledge with others at such a
low cost. You are a great asset to the
creative community, thanks.
Hi Stu,
Just for clarification: does Magic Bullet not convert 29.97i to 24p?
Also, one more question... why does de-interlacing seem to make footage look WORSE in the AE window (no matter if I'm de-interlacing by "interpreting footage" or if I'm doing it through MB instad)?
Thanks so much.
Very excited to see the new look suite!
So it's a plugin that works with Premiere Pro, without the need for AE. That's great actually. Are the results the same though, or is it better to apply the look through AE?
Isn't this was editors does? Allow you to apply looks without the rest of the MB suite?
Wow Apple's color looks like it is going to be the app you will need to beat!