Hello everyone, and thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. We are looking into purchasing some new software to go along with FCP 5.04. We have about $500-$1000 to spend. Some programs that we have started to zero in on are: Shake 4.0, RedGiant's Looks & Colorista. Unfortunately I heard that Colorista is not compatible with FCP 5.04. Is this true? Are there compatibility issues with Shake 4.0 or Looks? If not, what one or two programs would you recommend?
I suppose it would help you to know what we are using all this for...
We are a SMALL production company. We have yet to dip into dramatic work, (can't wait though) mostly what we produce is human interest pieces, interview type documentary stuff, and we have one big project that we have been working on for ten months that is a reality type piece where we have followed two Maine lobstermen throughout their season from first trap in to last trap out. You can take a look at a couple short exerpts if you want by going to current.com and searching DBP. Anyway, thank you so much for any info, just looking for an open dialogue/debate about what you think of these programs.
Michel

I'll let other people debate. But to solve your compatibility & testing questions - I would start by downloading the demos of the Magic Bullet software.

http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/demos.html

Shake I know also has a 30 day free trial.

http://www.apple.com/shake/trial/

The first software I would purchase would be to upgrade Final Cut Studio to the most current version.

Hey Michael,

If you are thinking about purchasing Shake, I would go ahead and do it! Especially if you plan on doing any green-screen work. The primatte keyer built into shake is unbelievably powerful. The application takes some time to get to know, but is a very strong program.

The red-giant magic bullet editors software is also a very strong choice. It has some clean looks, but I only use a couple of them on a regular basis. It is a cool plugin though.

Another program that I have heard some great things about is compositelab pro. I downloaded the demo and it looks pretty cool. Haven't really had much time to play with it though. The only downside to this software is that it doesn't have any integration with FCP. It is pretty useful as a cheap special effects software though.

Good Luck!
Ryan

Magic Bullet for sure! It's an extremely powerful set of plug-ins. Looks & Instant-HD

Primatte. If you need to do keying this is the heat!

Color Finesse - As powerful as Color is, I don't have time to grade everything and the work flow getting to Color can be a pain. Color Finesse is another EXTREMELY powerful grading tool that I have been using for about 2 years now and have nothing but good things to say about it.

As for Shake, if you havent used a node based GFX program before it can really get on your nerves. I've been in "timeline" world for a long time and tryed to play with Shake; I about lost my mind. I don't want to steer you away from purchasing it, because it is another big hitter but there might be a bit of a steeper learning curve depending on what you are use to working with.