

Originally starting as a way to add a quick stylized look to footage, in many ways it helped shape a very stylized and processed look that has since become popular. Hit shows such as “Top Gear UK” graded their show in Magic Bullet in a very over-stylized fashion.

Magic Bullet has been a powerful and easy color correction and grading tool since 2008. We reviewed this toolset back in June of 2015 and declared it a game changer. This color grading suite has become a behemoth in the industry. Possibly just as popular as Trapcode is Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite 12 ($800). The most popular of these plug-ins is Trapcode Particular, a much more advanced particle generator than the stock generators in After Effects.

The Suite comes with 11 separate plug-ins, which can also be purchased individually and range in price from $99 to $399. These are very powerful tools that produce effects many clients have come to expect. We reviewed the current version, Trapcode Suite 13 in our May 2016 issue, calling it a standard for virtually all motion graphics artists. The most powerful set of tools Red Giant offers is the Trapcode Suite 13 ($1,000). Their tools range from high-end motion graphics plug-ins to color correction and grading, keying, syncing plus a plethora of other effects. Red Giant is one of industry's biggest names in post-production. Red Giant Magic Bullet Suite 12 Red Giant This guide is in no way a comprehensive encyclopedia of the hundreds of available tools instead, it’s a glimpse into the beautiful world of plug-ins. Since many of these companies produce plug-ins across many platforms and purposes, we will sort this guide by company rather than attack this list by purpose or platform. If you're looking at kicking up your post-production game, plug-ins are a great place to start.īecause of the diversity of plug-ins available for all post-production programs, there are many ways we can organize this buyer's guide. In fact, almost everyone in the industry is using a variety of plug-ins to make their work competitive or their lives easier. There’s no perfect video editing or effects program even tried and true industry standards like After Effects could be better.
