Re: magic bullet - opticals?

typically you'd set up one clip in one comp and add your effects. Set up the other clip in a separate comp and apply its settings. In a Third comp, bring the other two COMPS in as your layers, and that should take care of it.

Mind you, i've never used MB, but that's how we generally mean working when we say "precompose the layers" to get them to work in complex nested compositions.