Red Giant Software today announced the addition of a new Creative Director for the Magic Bullet product line. Me!

“The Magic Bullet vision is to create software that gives any production, regardless of budget, the look of a high-end feature film. We are immensely pleased that Stu is dedicating his time and vision to enhance and grow the Magic Bullet tools in 2009 and beyond. He has already begun to work on new Magic Bullet products, and you will see many new and updated tools coming later this year,” said Sean Safreed, Co-Founder and Director of Products at Red Giant Software.

The full press release also goes into some detail about the history of Red Giant, Magic Bullet, and The Orphanage.

While the announcement is exciting, it doesn’t actually represent a big change for me. My relationship with Red Giant has always been strong, and has always been about sharing with the world the tools that I create out of necessity when making films. I promise you that my filmmaking will always come first, and that anything I design for Red Giant is a tool that I wanted or needed or found missing in my arsenal.

Colorista and Magic Bullet Looks are perfect examples of this, and to kick off the party with Red Giant I recorded a little tutorial on how to use them to match the looks of this summer’s big movies.

Red Giant TV Episode 22: Creating a Summer Blockbuster Film Look

Thanks very much to Aharon Rabinowitz, host of Red Giant TV, for tidying up my tut and wrapping it in pure (and embarrassing) pimp. Aharon does a great job with Red Giant TV—if you want to catch every episode, subscribe in iTunes.

Thanks to Mik for the comment that brought this to my attention. Magic Lantern is a firmware hack for the Canon 5D Mark II that enables the following features:

• Onscreen audio meters
• Zebra stripes
• Crop marks
• Manual audio level controls
• Lower noise than stock firmware
• Possibly messing up your nice camera

I don’t quite know what to make of this, other than to point out the obvious: filmmakers are so keen on making this camera work for them that they’re willing to void their warrantees and risk ruining their cameras.

It reminds me of what Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) said in Jurassic Park: “Life… finds a way.”

Personally, I’d rather have a peaking focus assist than audio level control. I don’t mind doing dual system with this camera. But the zebra feature is great, as are the crop marks.

If the Magic Lantern guys figure out 24p I may just have to install it, but until that day I’ll hold out hope that Canon will beat them to it.

Magic Lantern Firmware Wiki

Discussion on dvinfo.net

Update on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 1:28PM by Stu

Good and usefull comments below, including one from Ville that links to a FAQ and prompted me to strike out the line about voiding your warrantee.

It’s June 2 in Tokyo, and the manual exposure control firmware update for the Canon 5D Mark II is here.

Now set your shutter to 1/60 and get shooting!

When asked to describe shooting video with the Canon 5D Mark II, I responded that it was like being offered a backrub by a supermodel — who’s wearing Ninja climbing claws. In other words, it seems like a gift from heaven at first glance, but the actual experience is pain unimaginable. But still, you get to hang out with a supermodel…

Today one claw has been removed. Canon announced and released a firmware update that enables manual control of shutter, aperture, and ISO in video mode.

But we are still limited to 30p. No mention of 24p in the announcement.

I’ve been accused of being a “fan” of shooting video with the 5D Mark II. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, what I said was “With 24p and manual exposure control this camera would be of use. Without those adjustments, it’s a tantalizing but ultimately frustrating curiosity to the DV Rebel.”

So for the record, the Canon 5D Mark II is still not “of use” to DV Rebel filmmakers.

(Unless your whole film is in 25% slow motion!)

So, thanks Canon, sincerely, for listening, and for getting us what you could, when you could.

But your work is not done.

A camera that does not shoot 24p is not an acceptable filmmaking tool.

Update on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 7:39PM by Stu

Oops, got fooled by the link on canonrumors.com — the firmware update will be released on June 2nd. Thanks @divergentshadow for the correction!

Update on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 10:38PM by Stu

The more I look at this poster/press release, the more annoyed I get. To make it so film-industry specific, and to be so “we heard you and we did what you wanted,” but ignore 24p… Arg. It’s insulting. Yes, web video and NTSC TV can be produced at 30p (although no narrative episodic is) — but the thing specifically mentions “enthusiasm by major motion picture studios, independent filmmakers.” Those folks need, not want, need, 24p.

Rated A for Almost, but not quite.

The Panasonic GH1 is finally available for order on Amazon and B&H Photo (although with a wait time of 1–2 months, I’d call that pre-order). This little camera is getting the attention it deserves as the first biggish-sensor, interchangeable lens stills camera that takes video seriously.

A big part of that seriousness is the lens. Designed from the ground up as a true hybrid still/motion lens, the kit zoom on the GH1 has an impressive range, optical stabilization, smooth autofocus, stepless aperture, and near-silent operation.

Sadly, the trade-off is that the GH1’s kit lens is slow as molasses, with a maximum aperture of f/4.0 at the wide and and a pinhole f/5.8 at the long end. If the GH1’s 4/3 sensor is the key to shallow depth-of-field, the kit zoom is a big wad of stale gum shoved in the keyhole.

Sure, there are some faster lenses for the GH1. Like this 24mm f/1.4 from Panasonic. For a mere $1100 you can have a fast prime that eliminates many of the above advantages of the GH1’s video mode.

Yes, more and cheaper Micro Four Thirds lenses are on the way, and one hopes that many will offer the video features now exclusive to the MolassoFlex 14–140mm. But in the meantime, folks are going crazy creating adaptors for the GH1.

And with good reason. The flange depth (what?) of the MFT format is very adaptor-friendly. Perhaps this is no better illustrated than by this beast:

This is a prototype PL-mount adaptor created by Illya Friedman of Hot Rod Cameras. I played with this at NAB (on a G1), and what struck me about it is that the mount is so much more heavy and substantial than the G1 body that you actually must wield the camera by the mount! And in fact the actual production model will have mounting points for a plate and rods. Add a PL-mount lens to the mix, even a small one, and you’ve got a rig where the camera body is a negligible part of the form factor.

Personally, I think there’s some real usefulness in a camera that can switch between full pain-in-the-ass cinema mode with big-money glass and follow-focus rigs, to stealth run-and-gun mode with truly useful autofocus and yet full manual control over iris and shutter.

The GH1 may not be perfect, but it is by far the most interesting camera on the market right now from the perspective of this DV Rebel.

If you want to learn more about the Hot Rod PL adapter, contact Illya at illyafriedman@gmail.com.

If you order the GH1 from Amazon or from B&H using these links, then beer is on me.