Magic Bullet Looks

[James Hooey]

Originally Posted by Graham Bernard

Jeff? When using the DoF option, ie the blur function, does the centre of attention move WITH the subject? I think I know what the answer will be . . .

TIA

Grazie

Graham,

MB Looks 1.1 does not have keyframe ability within Vegas....so you cannot achieve this through simple keyframing....however :)...

Here is a method I have used with success with the swing/tilt tool (or vignetting/spot exposure - anything that could be wanted keyframed.

Select your clip and apply your MB effects to the start of the clip.

Cut your clip into segments - particularly at movement specific points - at spots as if you were going to insert a keyframe within a normal Vegas plugin. The MB plugin is now specific to each cut length of clip.

Go to the start of each cut segment and adjust the MB effects to best suit their desired position/settings.

Once all the segments have been MB'd :) overlap each segment at it's cut to create a smooth crossfade to it's adjacent segment.

Play....:) While not as elegant as true keyframing....the effect can morph and move over time smoothly with the crossfades to almost achieve a keyframed MB effect.

[Graham Bernard]

Originally Posted by James Hooey

Graham,

MB Looks 1.1 does not have keyframe ability within Vegas....so you cannot achieve this through simple keyframing....however :)...

A] Well, I've got the "Looks" - known it for years . . anyways . . I think I have a Keyframe option, so not having to split the event.

B] Also I can save the Preset and have the exact same MB Look filter available thru' Plugin Manager as a Saved Chain!

I can now apply the MB look having the star filter rotate over time applied to a clip that didn;t have the look applied to it.

Also, I have discovered a way to alter the numbers by holding down the LEFT meece button and scrubbing left and right over number adjusts - bit like a slider?

Having too much fun now . . BYE!!!

Grazie

[Alastair Brown]

Red Giant have acknowledged that keyframes is the No 1 feature request. They are working on it for future releases.

[Graham Bernard]

Thanks Alastair.

I've been rooting about the forums and I understand that to be the case. It is essential to be able to "scrub" through some footage to see how it will develop. I guess for still images, JPGES, PNGs and so on it must be a great piece of s/w. However, dealing with 25fps is a wee bit different - well I think so?

OK, in that case, has anybody got the Standalone version to work? I haven't.

Also my install of MBL is saying 1.03. Is this the same as MBL1.1? Or is there an even later iteration that I am not aware of? Could somebody clarify this for me - for Vegas? - Just go to the HELP and you will get the version number there.

No scrubbing/playing in real-time of an application's plugin? And no keyframing of the same effects? Amazing . . . . what WILL they think of next!

Grazie

[Ian Stark]

From what I understand from various Red Giant responses to the beta testing group, some of the restrictions are forced upon them from the way Vegas works.

Keep in mind that Vegas compatibility has been built on top of the existing AE version, which handles things differently to Vegas. I would imagine that keyframing, for instance, would have to be built in within Looks, rather than using the Vegas keyframes, as I believe is the case with, say, Boris (stop me if I'm wrong - I don't use Boris). That would have presumably been a very significant departure from the original AE version. Same thing probably goes for masking within Looks and real time preview.

My wishlist:

- Keyframes
- Real time preview
- Preview to firewire (so I can see the results on a production monitor)
- Masking within Looks
- and, if I'm being pushy, a waveform monitor.


Grazie, are you running the demo or the full version? Interestingly mine says v1.01 (not 1.1 or 1.03).

[Ian Stark]

While I'm awake, a couple of other follow ups:

1. I agree that real time preview is a necessary development, but I think that's one of the lower priorities for me (compared to, say, keyframes). It is very quick to skip out to the timeline and preview then go back and tweak. Personally, in practice I haven't found many circumstances where that's been a major headache (although I thought I would). It's not that often I have a piece of footage that changes it's characteristics so significantly over a period of time that a Look in one place wouldn't work later in the same clip. Maybe if I'm tracking across a scene and the lighting changes from one area to the next, then I may need to tweak - but in reality I would try to be aware of those kind of things while shooting and avoid them where possible.

Much more desirable for me initially would be the ability to preview to firewire so I can immediately see how an adjustment will appear on a production monitor - even a static image would be useful.

2. What's the standalone version? Not sure I've seen one!

[Graham Bernard]

Demo or Full - I have no watermark.

Standalone - I have a shortcut on my Desktop which says "LooksBuilder" and when I lcick on it I get all the tools that are present in the plug-in and it says, to be precise: 1.0.3, but I can't import an avi into it. I can import a JPG.

As to how I would use MB Looks it is to use it as part of my normal workflow with the OTHER plugins I use within Vegas. Not to have a workflow that ain't doing that is a real PITA. Going IN and OUT to have a sneak peek isn't a plugin - IMO. As to getting it right on the shoot, er yeah? I'm kinda not looking to play "catch-up" with looks. More of a way to access my own creativity to getting a further look out of the spectacular footage I do get! However, I was looking to having a sleeker and consistent with the other plugs I use as an option for Vegas than at present -IMO!

Grazie

[Ian Briscoe]

I'm fairly sure I read somewhere on Red Giant's websote that Looks Builder is designed to test an effect on a JPEG/PNG and to be able to save those settings to share with others?

Ian

[Graham Bernard]

Originally Posted by Ian Briscoe

. . Looks Builder is designed to test an effect on a JPEG/PNG and to be able to save those settings to share with others

Yes, quite correct!

Thanks for reminding me.

Grazie

[Ian Stark]

Ah, OK, I see what you're talking about.

The Looks Builder is a free (I think) tool that allows you to try out Looks on stills, save the Look, share it with others etc. You won't get an avi to work with Looks Builder - it's just for stills. And there won't be a watermark either as it's a full version. That, I guess, is where the 1.03 comes in to play.

EDIT: Sorry, I see the other Ian got there first!

What's the version number on the Vegas plug-in?

Still not convinced about your argument that it's not a real plugin because it doesn't operate the same way as other plug-ins. But, in fairness, I also use After Effects and am quite comfortable with that way of working. I just think of it as building a Look on a still frame, then applying that Look to the footage. I wouldn't personally do any colour correcting on moving footage anyway. But then again, being able to scrub to see how, say, a spot exposure or gradient would work on footage with a camera move, would indeed be useful. Not a showstopper compared with other existing Looks deficiencies though (IMO).

And I wasn't trying to challenge you on whether or not you're getting good footage in the first place - my point was that I would try to avoid situations where the lighting conditions changed significantly in a single shot, whether or not I was planning to use Looks. That's just what I would do - not suggesting in any way that your way is wrong or that your footage isn't spectacular!

I still maintain that, for me at least, even with those few features not present, this is a magnificent collection of tools that I will employ on every production from now on.

[Graham Bernard]

Plugin in Vegas is 1.0.3

Also, being fair, I guess I've been spoilt by Vegas having real time plugs that work as part of my workflow and subsequently my thought processes. So now I want the same from any plugins I use! This is my experience of plugins WITHIN Vegas. And when I don't get that, you should know I do let the developers know about it.

As to this being " . . a magnificent collection of tools " it surely is. And more: I like the way I can manage my creative attempts; name them; group them and recall them AND see the tool chain set that created them.

Having realtime out to my monitor would be very welcome indeed!

Question? Apart from the "Custom Tab", how can/would I add my OWN tab? Something like a project subset would be neat.

I'll get back to "David" about my version number today. Hey-ho!

Grazie

[Ian Stark]

Originally Posted by Graham Bernard

Question? Apart from the "Custom Tab", how can/would I add my OWN tab? Something like a project subset would be neat.
Grazie

If I understand you correctly you're looking to add new tabs to the Looks default tabs (on the left of the screen). If that's the case, you can easily do that by creating new folders under the /Program Files/LooksBuilder/Looks folder then Save Look As into that folder. Hope that helps!

Weird about the serial number. As I say, I am on 1.01 and I just d/l'd the package again - same version! Hmmm . . .

[Graham Bernard]

Originally Posted by Ian Stark

If I understand you correctly . .

Oh yes . . yes you does!

Now that is a fine bit of sideways thinking! This is what you need to do too with the Scripts Dropdown Menu in Vegas.

Email gone to "David" we'll see.

Cheers

Grazie

[Graham Bernard]

Hmmm . . that's a bit of a workaround? I'll try something else - I have a thought about it.

Hmmm. . .

Grazie

[Ian Stark]

I just create the new folder/tab at the same time as saving the Look with Save Look As, all in the same dialogue. Piece o' cake!