The Big Red Giant Sale is on! Get 40% off EVERYTHING in the Red Giant Store, today (December 13, 2011) only.
Use Coupon Code: SECRETSALE2011
The Big Red Giant Sale is on! Get 40% off EVERYTHING in the Red Giant Store, today (December 13, 2011) only.
Use Coupon Code: SECRETSALE2011
Maintenance Release: Magic Bullet Suite 11.1.2
The elves at Red Giant have been merrily working away on some updates to the Magic Bullet Suite, checking a few items off our lists to try and ensure your latest film project doesn’t end up looking like a lump of coal. This will also be the first Magic Bullet Suite installer that will not contain Denoiser 1.0 (more below).
Here are the hi-lights of Magic Bullet Suite 11.1.2:
PhotoLooks 1.5.2
Looks 2.0.4
Colorista II 1.0.5
Grinder 1.5.1
Bye-Bye Denoiser 1.0
Grab the latest Magic Bullet Suite installer for Mac or Windows here or use Red Giant Link to update your installation.
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.
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.
Grade like a Master Artist with 30 film looks
Film directors and cinematographers have long been influenced by the paintings of Master Artists, using the visual language explored by these painters to inform their own film and video work. Visual techniques like Chiaroscuro, Sfumato and the Impressionist style of capturing light, color and specular highlights have all been used to stunning effect in film and video. Now you can replicate these techniques in your own films using Master Artists for Looks, a collection of presets created by Red Giant Guru and Colorist Simon Walker. Classical painters who spent their lives investigating light, color and form have taught us a great deal about composition, color and light in video. This Guru Preset will give you the confidence to shoot and grade your footage like an artist.
Get it HERE for just $69, or buy it as a part of the Guru Suite (includes over 500 film looks and templates) for just $499 HERE.
BTW – if you already owned the Guru Presets prior to Dec 8, 2011, Simon Walker’s Master Artists for Looks 2 is a FREE update.
IT’S THE ULTIMATE SECRET SANTA
Software Prices that are Naughty and Nice
During the week of December 12-16, 2011, we are running a very big sale… a Secret Sale. This Secret Sale will last ONE DAY ONLY.
We are not yet revealing the particular day and what is included — that’s why it’s a secret! You can check our home page each day beginning Monday, Dec 12. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for details. Or look for a newsletter next week with the Secret Coupon Code inside.
Spread the holiday cheer. (And we don’t just mean the eggnog.) Feel free to share this announcement with your friends and co-workers so they can follow us or sign up for the newsletter.
Episode 65: Warp Projection – 3D Environments from a 2D Image
In this multidimensional episode of Red Giant TV, designer Harry Frank is going to walk you through creating a 3D environment from a 2D image, all in After Effects. This won’t be using traditional camera projection techniques – nor will it use vanishing point in photoshop. Instead, Harry’s figured out a technique for warping images to build 3D layers. You’ll also learn some great compositing and color correction techniques to finish off the job right.
Watch the tutorial HERE.
Our goal at Red Giant is to offer unique products that provide real value to our customers.
In March 2011, Google acquired a technology company called Green Parrot Pictures to improve the quality of videos uploaded to its YouTube service. (Read article) Green Parrot Pictures was our development partner on Magic Bullet Denoiser, and its video denoising technology is an integral part of the plug-in.
Because of the Google acquisition, Red Giant no longer has the legal right to sell Denoiser. Unfortunately, you will not be able to purchase or download Denoiser from us, as we have to remove all current and past versions from our website and product catalog. With the next update of Magic Bullet Suite in mid-December, Denoiser will no longer ship with the Suite.
The good news is that you can continue to use your copy of Denoiser. The Google acquisition does not change your rights to use a product that you already have. It only affects our legal right to sell or distribute it further.
Our Red Giant team is hard at work developing a new version of Denoiser. In early 2012, the new Denoiser II will be included in Magic Bullet Suite and sold individually. We are confident this version will deliver the same great results as the Denoiser that you currently use and love. In fact, we feel the new Denoiser will be more stable, as it addresses customer requests and quality issues. NOTE: Due to the restriction of the Green Parrot Pictures license, Denoiser II will not be backward compatible with earlier Denoiser projects.
Current owners of Denoiser 1.0/1.0.1 will get a free update to Denoiser II. New purchases of Magic Bullet Suite will also receive Denoiser II at no additional cost. For full details about the transition to Denoiser II, please read our Denoiser FAQ Page.
Product quality is very important to us, and we’re making sure the results are amazing. We feel that current and future customers will be happy with the new product once it’s available, but until then there will be a gap in service. We truly apologize for any inconvenience, and hope you share our excitement about the upcoming potential of the new Denoiser II.
As always, we want to hear from our customers. If you have any thoughts about this decision, send an email to ceo@redgiantsoftware.com. If you have any sales or support questions, please contact our Support team.
One of my favorite effects in Plot Device is where Ben Shots an alien and he explodes into blue goo. Apparently you guys liked it too, since so many of you have asked how you can do that too…
Red Giant TV Episode 64: Plot Device – The Exploding Man
In this Episode of Red Giant TV, Plot Device director Seth Worley shows you how to blow someone up. It’s going to be messy, so bring a poncho.
Effects Suite 10.0.1 Goes Live!
Over the last year, we’ve been working on streamlining the entire “purchase to publishing” process at Red Giant – one of the largest behind the scenes activities has been re-releasing all of our suites so you only need to deal with a single installer and a single serial number. It makes installing all of your Red Giant products and getting to use them in your actual day to day work a much easier experience. We’ve finally done it – the remaining product suite now has it’s own single suite installer – say hello to Effects Suite 10.0.1.
While getting this together, we also put together maintenance releases to take care of a number of issues in the products included in the suite. Take a look at all the major updates (there were numerous tweaks made under the hood to clean up all the plugins; I’ll just list the highlights here):
Effects Suite 10.0.1:
Knoll Light Factory 2.7.2:
You can get all of our latest installers on our Product Downloads page here.
A “PS” from the Maintenance Release blog post guy:
As this is probably about my 10th blog post, I thought it might be time to say a brief hello and not hide behind the somewhat-weird looking “acheyne” moniker that my posts show up here as. In the real world, I’m Andrew Cheyne, Red Giant’s Engineering Manager. I oversee everything at Red Giant that has to do with getting our products built and released to the customer – design, implementation, builds, installers, bug fixes, and Quality Assurance. I have a great team that gets the real work done in making these products come together, but it’s generally my responsibility to ensure we’re getting you the products you need and want and making sure they work.
Oh, and sorry for the accent; I know Canada-ese can be tough to understand some days. 
Note from the Editor: I fixed it so that Andrew Cheyne’s blog identity now shows up as his name instead of acheyene. You know, Andrew, you could’ve just asked. You didn’t need to release a single suite installer to get me to do that…
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.