Music I Want to Use, vol. 1

I like music. I listen to it while I’m working, and I even play a little guitar (it’s a regular guitar, I just play it a little). When working on an animation/video I pick the music out as early as possible, and it becomes my soundtrack for developing the look and style of the project. These are some tracks that I would like to develop a look around, but, for whatever reason (budget, overuse, “ripping off” another soundtrack, etc) I probably won’t ever use these…

1. Anything by Danny Elfman (maybe not the oingo boingo stuff, or maybe that too)

I like Tim Burton’s movies (big surprise), and I also like his soundtracks – thank you Danny Elfman. This is from Beetlejuice and is the bar by which I measure all royalty free stock music site “Danny Elfman Sound-a-likes”.

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2. Spoon – Written in Reverse

I like these guys. I like their songs. I think this would be a fun one to animate to. Song starts around 0:46.

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3. Link Wray – Rumble

“Rumble” has made a few movie appearances so I would feel a little cheesy using it for something – but I would do it. This song makes me want to punch people in the face.

My Favorite Plug-ins :: Magic Bullet Looks

Magic Bullet Looks

Color Grading, either for function or effect can (when done well) turn good scenes into great scenes. It is the icing on the cake, the last step in polishing your projects. Good projects need good color and great projects need great color, and that is what Magic Bullet Looks does: color.

I’ve used it on almost every project I’ve worked on since 2006, and I wish I could go back and touch up pre-2006 projects. The interface is clean and simple and most of the included presets are useful with (at most) some minor adjustments. Or, if you are really daring, you can start with a blank slate and build your own looks by adding desired effects (with fully adjustable parameters) to the chain in the editor.

I primarily use Looks within Final Cut Pro, but it can also be installed in After Effects, Motion, and Premier. I’ve used it in After Effects and Premier, but not Motion (because I think Motion sucks). As far as I can tell, the interface is the same regardless of host application (but don’t quote me on that).

Effects like diffusion, color reversal, tilt shift, lens filters, curves, fill light, and exposure are just some of the many tools at your disposal. But, why waste time talking about it when I can show you what it does…

color grading :: Before & after

Misfire

Magic Bullet Looks also comes with Misfire, a full plug-in set for creating old/vintage/damaged film effects. It include: dust, scratches, vignette, flicker, displacement, grain, splotches, gate weave (some of those are also built into Looks).

this is pretty much everything in Misfire turned on

The bottom line is that if I lost it, I would buy it again. If you are thinking about getting it, you should (I guess unless you use FCP on Lion – see special note below). Will I continue to use it on every project? Yes.

For more info, visit www.redgiantsoftware.com

**SPECIAL NOTE**AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING, DUE TO APPLE’S “INNOVATION”, MAGIC BULLET LOOKS (ALSO COLORISTA) IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH FCP ON OSX LION. THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED ON APPLE’S END AND IS OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE MAGIC BULLET DEVELOPER. I’M GLAD I HAVEN’T UPGRADED YET…