Magic Bullet compares

Staven

Staven

Well-known member
http://www.stabbfilms.com/dvxpage.htm

i've done compares before, this is kinda for anyone who is thinking of buying Magic Bullet.  It's just a couple different shots.  The Neo look seemed to work best from the different ones I looked at so that's why I put it in to compare.

If you click on the back to home link you'll see a little preview of a short that will be up soon.  It has been magic bulleted.
(it's not much of a trailer)  
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

I'm diggin' it. I noticed you're using Soundtrack or Garageband effect sound in your short. I used that same one to create a creepy feel in my flik as well. Wish I knew where to get more samples for that program, it's kind of limited and everyone seems to be using them.

Regarding Magic Bullet: are you using it in FCP? If so, is it the straight default NEO setting you used? Or did you/can you push it further once that look is accomplished. An even better question is do you think you could have achieved that look using FCP's on board color correction without bullet? Also, how long did it take to render those clips?

Looks great by the way. :)
ST32
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

I am really digging this look

Gun.jpg
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

I personally liked curachee the best.
But I guess I need to see it on screen with motion to really comment
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

Definitely curachee!!
Storyteller - You can use any loops for acid. Google it and you'll find more loops than could ever dream. Pretty much any .wav files can be used in soundtrack.
IMHO I think the scenes are too well lit for the "neo" look. I find that "look" looks better in dimly lit situations.
;D CAVEMAN
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

Curachee looks great in the last close up shot. U are going to face trouble with it in bright wide shots like in the first grab. Imagin a darker wall in shadows insted of the burned out white wall behind the man in first grab. Main light source in that frame should be the light reflecting from under the mirror. I think this effect work wonderfully well in dark frames.
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

I think the magic bullet effects look great, however, with some creative color correction techniques, and some curves adjustments, those same looks can be created with any NLE and your render times won't be anything compared to the Magic bullet effect. I also find it helpful to lay down a solid color track on top of my footage, kind of like useing a color optical filter, and then adjusting the opacity and the compositing mode settings. Works wonders for your footage, plus gives you much more artistic control over your footage.
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

Here is an example

cctest.jpg


It took me a minute or two to mimck the look, but the render time for this would be almost non existant.

Here is what I did.
I imported the file to vegas, first I adjusted the levels and took out a little blue.
I then adjusted the curves and applied an "S" curve, lowering the dark end slightly and boosting the mids. You will notice that in the highlights, this preserved the dynamic range a little better than the plugin did.
I then added a new track and added a solid color R-143
G-125 B-93 and set the composit level to overlay and the opacity to 17 percent. Thats about it.
I noticed thent that the overall photo was a little more saturated than the One that you posted, so I desaturated it a little.
I'm not saying that Magic Bullet plugins are bad, they look great, the way that I would use them however, is to apply the magic bullet effect to a clip that you like and then mimick that look with your CC tools. You will save yourself hours upon hours or render time in the long run. Plus Color are fun, don't let some technition that works for Red Bullet decide how your film will look. Use their ideas, but experiment and have fun.
 
Re: Magic Bullet compares

That rocks Scharky. Hopefully others can read your post and start trying to do that sort of ****, instead of going out and dropping $300 plus shipping on a (jury still out) program. I bought it, so I'm gonna use it.

Storyteller: from what I can estimate, it takes on average 1minute render time for 1second of clip. 10second clip=10minute worth of render.

Thats a long time, only good thing is it gives you a break from the damn computer.

That is default Neo. It allows you to alter these presets, and it puts a Looks Suite Effect into your Final Cut Effects that you can apply and create your own starting from scratch.

Biggest thing I've noticed about the presets is that most of them I'd never use, and that almost all of them drop the footage down a couple stops ie. darken. It's almost as if you should overexpose a little in camera to compensate for the film look your gonna apply - which is risky...

I'm still pretty certain anyone can download it for free on their website to try it out. They just have a watermark on it.

I used Soundtrack for that music. I plan to try and branch out a little. Apple's got direct plug in keyboards for $150 that work with Soundtrack, so at least you can create original music instead of looping.

Thanks for input all, I'd say try doing **** like scharky did before buying something you may not need.
 
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