Blog Archives

This is a short, step-by-step cookbook to creating a multicam clip in Final Cut Pro 7.

This article show why images displayed in Final Cut Pro 7’s Viewer look better than those in the Canvas.

In this article, Larry Jordan explains why image quality suffers when you scale video, or stills, larger than 100%.

This technique shows how to export a clip with transparency (an alpha channel) in FCP 7 or FCP X.

Whether you are using multicam in Final Cut Pro X or Final Cut Pro X, keep this key point in mind: You can not mix audio tracks using multicam editing, and you can switch between tracks, but not mix between tracks.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a chroma-key (green-screen key) in Final Cut Pro 7.

General Errors in Final Cut Pro 7 (and earlier) are often caused by either bad clips or bad render files. This article explains how to fix them.

In this article, I want to talk about what happens when you make a color or exposure adjustment to a clip; and illustrate this with screen shots.

Audio slowly drifting out of sync is often caused by mismatched sample rates, or trying to edit MP3 audio. This explains how to convert MP3 to AIF.

Although Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro are designed to work smoothly together, that doesn’t mean you are limited to only using Premiere Pro with Audition. In fact, there is a very nice, very fast way to move projects between Final Cut Pro 7 and Audition, which I want to show you here.

Always check to see if Final Cut supports your camera before you buy it.

Is it possible to permanently link video and audio clips together? Larry teaches you how to create a Merged clip.

Are you getting the “render error: insufficient disk space” message? You just need to create more free space on your hard disk by deleting files you don’t need.

The easiest way to control editing audio or video to the Timeline is with the patch panel. However you can also use the Button List to search for shortcuts.

Stuttering, frozen display is one of the hallmarks of non-native video. FCP can edit it, but can’t play it smoothly.

Is it possible to carry custom Final Cut Pro keyboard shortcuts in a pen drive and install it on another machine? Here’s a technique to help you.

Which version of ProRes should you select in Log and Transfer for a Canon 7D? Which is better for the Canon 7D format?

A reader wanted to know how to display video on the monitor using an AJA card. So he contacted AJA, who responded with this.

These two options are designed to solve problems when the clip, or image, you are editing into the Timeline does not match the sequence size.

I’ve become increasingly concerned as I talk with producers, editors, and vendors that we are rapidly moving into a tapeless environment without any realistically priced options for long-term media archiving.

Larry answers some questions regarding the different codecs that Final Cut Express captures vs. Final Cut Pro, as well as fielding a question on audio waveforms.

Action Safe and Title Safe boundaries were invented decades ago to solve two problems with televisions that had picture tubes. This technique explains what they are and how to display them.

Valentine’s Day is coming up, so I thought I would use it as the example for one of my favorite effects – putting video inside a shape. This effect is also called a “traveling matte.”

Welcome to the latest edition of my monthly Final Cut Studio newsletter for December, 2011. This newsletter provides tutorials, tips and other information essential to the interested user of Final Cut Pro.

In FCP 7 and all earlier versions, this technique shows you how to move the playhead, a clip or group of clips, or an edit point using the keyboard.

In FCP 7 and all earlier versions, this technique shows you how to use the Track Selection tools as a fast way to select multiple clips in one or more tracks.

By default, the audio output of Final Cut Pro is stereo. You can get it to output split tracks, but you’ll need to do the mix in Soundtrack Pro or ProTools. This tutorial explains how.

In the Log & Transfer window of FCP 7, how do I empty the Log & Transfer window?

GenArts, long recognized as a leader in high-end visual effects, announced a new version of its Sapphire product line at the London SuperMeet in late June.

Here’s a quick way to hide, or reveal, audio track names on the FCP 7 Timeline.

Using multiple drives for media is an EXCELLENT technique. Final Cut fully supports it.

David Scott was having a problem creating a DVD using a Compressor Template. Until he solved it. Here’s what he did.

Here’s a quick effect to create a “pull quote” using the Motion tab in Final Cut Pro.

Apple rewrote both the Constant and Variable Speed change interface for FCP 7. In this technique learn how to create speed changes using FCP 7.

A clip collision generally occurs when you are trimming. Specifically, when you are ripple trimming.

This is a very cool technique that changes the color and display of your text as the background changes.

This is a very fast way to edit multiple camera angles into the Timeline in FCP 7 – without using multi-clips.

In this article, Larry Jordan answers a question about when to convert HD files to SD for editing in Final Cut Pro 7 or earlier.

One of our subscribers discovered one of the big differences between capturing in tape-mode, where you can combine multiple shots into one long clip, and tapeless, where each shot is stand-alone. In this article we examine how to avoid that problem.

When trying to sync audio to video using sub-frame slipping in the Viewer, a subscriber writes that Final Cut is setting a new In for his audio in the Sequence without actually slipping the Audio. This technique, which can be used in Final Cut Pro versions 4 through 7, explains how to adjust for this.

A subscriber noticed that if there is a clip generator or any clip in a top track in the Timeline, the clip under the top track becomes invisible, making it impossible to edit using Playhead > Open Sync. He supplies three very helpful workarounds.

In this article a subscriber would like to change the name of a clip in a sequence in the Timeline without having to change the original source file. We take a look at the options (making a clip independent, using subclips, etc).

Creating markers for H.264 is exactly the same as creating markers for a DVD. In this article we examine the technique to do just that.

Two excellent questions by an editor/subscriber, L. Blake Baldwin, involving why the Master Gain defaults to .51, and also when to use a +3dB audio transition instead of a dB audio transition. We examine and answer both.

In this article we give a quick examination of how to upsize an original 4:3 sequence into a 16:9 timeline.

In this article we discuss the limitations of using the keyboard to target audio track numbering above 9, and the keyboard shortcut for the lower track numbers is demonstrated.

A clever trick for working around Final Cut’s resetting of transitions is supplied by subscriber, Richard Day, using a temporarily set up dummy edit.

An editor’s interest in “cleaning up” some audio clips is a joy to answer, and very useful info to have.

Larry weighs in on the issue of selecting between the Animation codec and ProRes 4444, following a subscriber’s question regarding importing files into Final Cut.

A subscriber and previous contributor returns with another great tip about operating the Compressor from the command line and advises to limit the number of your batches to a few hundred compressions.