Plastic Bullet
Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 9:21PM
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Plastic Bullet is now live in the iTunes app store!
Red Giant’s first iPhone app, my first iPhone app. I’m kinda excited about this.
If you’ve ever shot with a Lomo, a Holga, a Diana, or any of the other plastic “toy” cameras out there, you know that part of the magic is the surprise factor. Did your photos turn out good? Or bad? Or so terrible they’re amazing? Just like a real plastic camera, Plastic Bullet never does the same thing twice. It develops your iPhone photos into literally infinite variations. They might look awful. They might look awesome. The good news is that you can keep tapping the refresh button until you get something you love. The look you love is yours and yours alone—not a canned preset than anyone can use.
Like it says in Holga: The World Through a Plastic Lens:
…as soon as you’ve pressed the button to take the shot the Holga does its own thing altogether and, depending on the camera’s mood, produces either the most enormous crap you’ve ever seen, or the most wonderful image ever to have caressed your oppressed creative soul.
I was in Seattle last weekend. I carried my Canon 5D Mark II with me wherever I went, with both my 24–70 f/2.8L and my 50mm f/1.2L. I pulled it out maybe once. I was having too much fun shooting with my crappy iPhone 3GS camera and Plastic Bullet.
Plastic Bullet is $1.99 and available now.
I can’t wait to see what you do with it! Please share your shots in the Plastic Bullet flickr pool!
Reader Comments (84)
How I miss my 4 lens Lomo. This looks awesome! Beautiful, really! Please please please code an Android version. Please.
No andorid love?
We will certainly consider creating an Android version.
Bought it. My favorite app now!
Android would be cool (if you do please also think about the smaller screen devices like the htc tattoo).
But please make it an universal app so it'll use the full screen on my soon to be delivered iPad. Running around with a crappy Point&Shot and developing at the evening on my iPad sounds like a great Idea to me...
Looks cool anyhow, bought!
We're definitely working on making Plastic Bullet a universal app so it will work on iPad.
Thanks for that. Now where do I get a cheap, but wide-angleish point&shot for a few bucks...
Charging my iPod Touch to test it out.
Great app! Love it! Keep up the good work Stu!
Wunderbar. Its a pure joy to mess up those clean digital predictable captures, making them sort of timeless. Simple shots actually seem to tell a story when Plastic Bullet is applied. Its interesting what happens with the perception of an ordinary image turning into something beautiful. I´m reinventing my iPhone photolib right now. Great App, much appreciated.
Doesn't work with iPod Touches. Damn, now I have to wait till the iPad arrives in Europe to test it out. Would really like to apply some plastic bullet love to my iPod Photo Libary :-(
George
Got it. Cost $2.49 here. Guess I can spare that...
Consider this another vote for an Android version. If you don't mind me shilling for another product in the meantime Stu, Vignette for Android and Fxcam have good toy camera emulators. I hasten to day Plasticbullet looks better and would kill on my 5MP Nexus or an 8MP Evo.
P.S.: please don't let these apps keep you from shooting with actual film and toy cameras. Nothing can really replace that experience, but these apps are a lot of fun.
Hi,
Does this app save the pics at full res?
I'd buy an Android version in a heart beat. And please note that since there isn't a Hipstamatic-port for Android you'd probably sell loads.
+1 for ipod touch support if possible.
Just bought it - I wonder how it compares to the results of the Hipstamatic Camera?
Just bought it and can't stop taking pictures...I think the mistake was using the words 'infinite variations'....
cost £1.19 in the UK..bargain!
Would be cool to use this effect in After Effects and apply on motion video.
I'm also in if you guys make an Android version-- just ordered a Droid Incredible a few days ago. Love Magic Bullet products, Colorista, etc. Keep kicking ass and taking names! :-)
I'm getting it now!
PS, I just shot with the 24-70 f2.8L and mmmmm I love it!
I have been using hipstamatic and have hated that the look is permanent to the photo. So glad you made this app, just bought it.
George and mr. c, iPod Touch support is coming.
pslkat - For version 1.0 we chose a resolution that all iPhones can support: 800x600. Full-res rendering (for the 3GS at least) will come in a free update.
Man, PLEASE develop this for android! Android has 28% market share now, which is over the iPhone!! We don't have anything cool like this. You'll be one of the first (if not THE first) app like this for Android. If you don't here the cash register opening, I certainly do.
Don't even own an iPhone yet, but this is pushing me closer to taking that fateful step.
@Stu: the moment full res becomes an option, I'd proclaim to everyone I meet that Plastic Bullet is a five star app!
I guess you would keep the previews at the present resolution and make full res saving an option, wouldn't you?
I think Plastic Bullet has the potential of rendering the other toycamera apps redundant.
I've been using Hipstamatic and Lo-Mob. But this is so much better... I was expecting a small version of Looks, but this is still great...
I like the undocumented workflow features... Press anywhere on the start screen to start the camera. Swipe the previews to generate new random variations...
Has anyone found anything else?
I was just in Seattle too (well, I live there, but in the burbs). Shot this on my 7D at the cheese festival, taking my first real stab at color grading, thanks to your videos.
I had to try it out, so I bought it for a friend's iPhone. Tons of fun! Please do take a strong look at making an Android version so I can buy it for myself. :-)
Looks awesome. Please consider this another vote for an Android version!
@bizmar Actually, I find Hipstamatic and Lo-Mob to be pretty cool too. Plastic Bullet is a nice addition to the range of post-pro on an iPhone. Looking forward to the 4G version to see what it can do. Might even need to pick up an Owle Bubo for more fun.
For the record, I like Hipstamatic and Lo-Mob as well. The nice thing about these apps is that there's no reason not to have a few of them.
Another vote for this as a plugin for Vegas / AE / Premier - please!! I'm begging you - and keep it random too. I still use Misfire and wish I could take it further.
I bought it and love it, but there needs to an option to streamline it more for immediate use if you don't care about keeping the original or reprocessing. As soon as I start the app I want it to go to the camera live view, and when I take a picture I don't want it to ask if I want to use that image before it shows me the processed versions. Then I want it to immediately save whichever one I tap rather than first tapping the image and then the heart.
The iPhone is for quick n dirty on-the-go shooting, so not much time to poke at buttons ;)
Stu, I can't stop! ughhh.
http://www.alloyous.blogspot.com
Normally I can run iPhone apps on the iPad. Cannot find the app in the iTunes store though?
Don't stop Kate!
Would love to see this as a droplet type application for the desktop. Drag a pic (regardless of source -- DSLR, iPhone, etc) on the app -- select output size, and let it randomize. Save a look if you like the result and have it apply to a series of pics you drag to the app.
Or create a video/slide show from the different versions
If you make this for Maemo5 you'd be alone. And I mean alone in all of camera apps for the N900. There's not a single photo app for the Nokia Maemo5 OS yet. I'm not talking about apps that crop or do basic editing, but this sort of real time filtering. All that comes out are geeky linux apps to change the orbit of satellites and whatnot, but nothing like this.
Full res please. It's really not worth it on the 3gs all though the effects look good just wish it supported full res now! :)
No votes for a Window Mobile version?
Great app though, Stu!
You're gonna make a killing with this one!
I love the look. There's just one thing I don't like though, the fake black border.
Bought it, now I wait for an update so I can try it on my iPod Touch ...
I too what buy an Android version for my HTC Evo's 8mp camera.
Apps are easier to get approved for that marketplace.
Get to it! :)
Yep, would be very interested in an android version of this! Im addicted to vignette, and plastic bullet looks amazing!
This looks great. I hope there will be some kind of hi-res capable desktop version of this app in the future. It would also be cool to be able to apply this effect to videos...
Stu- The name alone is a work of genius. Mazel T'ov -Joe
iTouch!
+1 on the Android request
Wow Stu, this is an amazing app. I've been telling everyone I know with an iPhone to get this asap.
And to think, I've only been going through my albums and converting them, I haven't gotten to taking new pictures with it yet.