And boy is it a big update!

Red Giant Software today released the newest version of Magic Bullet Colorista. Magic Bullet Colorista II takes what was originally a rather simple 3-way color corrector (simple in operation, but great in image quality) with a masking feature and turned it into a full-fledged grading tool with three separate Primary, Secondary and Master corrections built into each use of the plug-in. Add to this those tools that one needs for serious color grading work, like curves, masks and secondary keying (among other things), and you can see it’s a big upgrade. From the Magic Bullet Colorista II features page:

What’s New:

  • A powerful, easy-to-use keyer you to adjust individual colors or ranges of colors.
  • 8 HSL channels make it easy to get your crucial colors just right.
  • Use the new Pop slider to give your images more visual ‘pop’ or use it for incredible cosmetic touch-ups.
  • Highlight Recovery makes it easy to rebuild blown-out highlight detail.

Reasons To Buy:

  • Unleash a fast, easy workflow that lets you experiment without limits or loss of work.
  • Precisely adjust individual colors with the easiest and most powerful Keyer you’ve ever seen.
  • Move between your favorite editing apps while keeping consistency/quality in color grading.
  • For the first time, access professional color correction without a pipeline issue or high price.
  • Designed by real colorists to bring high-end color grading to filmmakers everywhere.

Often tools like these can’t really be explained and you just have to dig in and kick the tires a bit to really understand their usefulness. The secondary keyer that is introduced with this version is one such tool. Pulling a good key is as simple as selecting the color you want to key in the image and using the refinements (like a + and – tool) to fine tune the key. It really is an easier way to select the key than clicking, pulling and tugging on sliders. Thankfully you can kick the tires for no charge with the free demo version of Colorista II. As for pricing, it’s $299 for the full version, with upgrades going for $99. I’ve posted a review of Colorista II over at the Editblog and you can also check out Part 3 of this Colorgradingterrorist article for a bit more early info. Magic Bullet creator Stu Maschwitz will also be posting a bunch of tutorials in the coming weeks so keep an eye toward the Red Giant site as well.

Color correction/color grading is really coming into its own these days with more quality cameras than ever before and affordable color grading tools everywhere you look. Colorista II adds a powerful new option to the mix … with no import/export/round-tripping!