  
The Cost of Video, the Look of Film™
"It costs about $70 per minute per camera to shoot 35mm film when you factor in the cost of film stock, lab processing, film-to-tape transfer and color correction..... Whereas, if the show shoots in HD video, the cost is only about $2 per minute per camera..." Robert Seidel, VP engineering CBS Television Network, from Post Magazine (Sept 2004)
There are two Magic Bullet products to choose from, Magic Bullet Suite and Magic Bullet Editors. A summary of the product features is outlined below.
Product Summary
Magic Bullet Suite, the parent technology, is our premiere product developed for professionals that will result in your best film-look for video by addressing both the speed and look characteristics of film. Along with a true 24p conversion and our proprietary Look Suite color controls and Misfire Film Damage filters, the Suite allows you to generate beautiful film-like cross-dissolves, crop your output to standard film and television aspect ratios simply and effectively, and tests and fixes your video to meet NTSC broadcast specifications.
Magic Bullet Editors is a professional tool that yields outstanding film-look results by providing you all color control and presets of the Magic Bullet Look Suite plug-in in your video editing application. This product works on any video material and can add richness to NTSC, PAL, HD, HDV or 24p footage. You also get a powerful tool to simulate the damage of old film, like grain, splotches, and scratches—as well as projection artifacts like flicker and gate weave.
Which product do we recommend for your camera?
- Interlaced cameras (Includes the Sony's HDR-FX1, HVR-Z1U & PD170, Canon's XL1 & GL2)
If you shoot in a NTSC, PAL, HD or HDV interlaced format (60i or 50i) and wish to achieve the 24p filmic look plus soften your video and add a unique look Magic Bullet Suite is your best choice.
- Progressive scan cameras - 24p or other (Includes Panasonic's DVX100(A), Canon's XL2, and JVC's JY-HD10U)
If you shoot in a NTSC, PAL, HD or HDV 24p or another progressive format, frame mode, use your own deinterlacing techiques, or do not wish to use After Effects and want to soften your video and add a unique look Magic Bullet Editors is your best choice.
If you want all options we recommend the MAGIC BULLET BUNDLE
Untitled Document
| Features |
Magic Bullet Suite
v2.1 |
Magic
Bullet Editors
v2.0 |
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$799 |
$399 |
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| Works on any video material |
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| Supports NTSC, PAL, HD & HDV source material |
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| Look
Suite custom Look creation controls |
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| 65 Look
presets matching hollywood films |
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| Edit and
save new unique Looks |
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| Compression
Correction utilities to fix DV & HDV artifacts |
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| Misfire film
damage effects (14 filters) |
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| 16-bit color support |
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| The
Orphanage DeepColor™ RT GPU render
engine (NEW) |
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| Pentium ® 4 & Mac G5 Altivec ® optimized |
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| Mac & Windows support |
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| 24p motion
effects for video output (true 24p conversion process) |
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| 24p mastering for film output |
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| Deinterlaces to progressive |
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| Letterboxer toolkit |
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| Broadcast
safe color test & correct tool |
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| Film-like optical
dissolve transitions |
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| Adobe
After Effects support |
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| Apple
Motion support |
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| Apple
Final Cut Pro support |
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| Avid
AVX 1.5 support |
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| Sony Vegas support |
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| Adobe
Premiere Pro support |
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Product Background
Which product
is right for me? Before we answer this question, let’s
look at why video and film look different. There are two fundamental characteristics
that are undeniably different, which make video and film mediums appear different.
The list of differences is long but we'll focus on two main aspects, the speed and
look of film verses that of video. Read on to find out the differences between
film
and video and how each Magic Bullet product addressess the those differences
so you can choose the tool that is right for your work and budget.
The Speed of Film
Film runs at 24 frames per second and has progressive or full frames. NTSC
video moves at 30 frames per second and has interlaced frames or two fields
in each frame. PAL video moves at 25 frames per second and has interlaced frames
or two fields in each frame. The human eye and brain processes and perceives
24p (24fps progressive) film much differently than 30i/25i (30/25fps interlaced)
video. Each makes us feel and think about the subject matter differently. The
slower frame rate of film creates a more participatory experience and at the
same time informs its audience that what they are viewing is a narrative work.
The faster frame rate of video gives us the impression that we are watching
reality.
The Look of Film
There are dramatic differences
between the color, tints and look of film and video. Film cinematographers
use a number of devices, such as filters and lenses
that allow them to control and alter the color or "feel" of the subject
matter they capture. The look of film is also different for much more technical
reasons—film captures images by exposing light to silver crystals while
a video camera captures the light reflected off digital chips—the result
is that film and video have different tonal qualities. Typically video has
harsher edges and less dynamic range, where as film tends to be softer and
more organic. All of the Magic Bullet products let you add some of the natural
qualities of film or approximate them to improve the look of your video.
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