This technique generated a LOT of responses — how to export a series of still to create a slide show. This technique shows you a couple different ways to create this effect.
MXF is the native format for a variety of HD video formats. However, it is not one that Final Cut Pro currently supports. This short article details what you need to know to get your QuickTime video into MXF format.
Dramatically slow motion is easy to create in Motion – if you know where to look. This article details all the steps you need to take to make your fastest shots move in balletic slow-motion.
Creating a slow-motion clip is easy: Modify > Speed. But what if you want to create a fast-motion clip and your hard disk isn’t fast enough to keep up? This short article explains what you need to know.
Tired of recreating the same effects over and over again? Final Cut has a better way – create a Favorite Effect. This article shows you how fast and easy this is.
In this article Larry fields a question regarding recommended color space when importing images into FCP.
Final Cut’s text tools are pretty limited in the design department. But here is a simple way to make your closing credits look much more interesting without a lot of work.
In this technique, I want to show you how to use clip distortion to create an interesting opening title sequence. Distortion, also called “corner pinning,” allows us to change the shape of the frame from a rectangle to a parallelogram, then modify it using keyframes so it changes over time.
NTSC video, unlike PAL and HD, has two different timecode systems — drop-frame and non-drop-frame. This article describes what they are and when you need to worry about them.
Without a doubt, the question I get asked the most is “what should I buy?” This article explains all the different gear you may need for your editing sytem along with links to companies and products to consider. This isn’t a commercial, rather it’s a tutorial on what you need to know to make some good investments.
Final Cut is not, generally, used for live recording. However, in this article, discover how one reader uses it for live recording and simultaneous playback.
As Eric Mittan writes: “My favorite keyboard shortcuts are those that are contextual. The function of the keys in question change in the context of what task is being performed, or what item is selected, or what tool is chosen in order to get a different, if slightly related result.
The best way to archive your project is to organize it before you even start. This article provides a host of tips on getting organized, what to save and how to go about it.
Asymmetric trimming allows you to trim the audio and video in opposite directions at the same time. I’m still not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Here’s how it works.
Final Cut expects all cameras to shoot audio at 48 kHz. But, what happens when they don’t? Well, you get audio drifting out of sync, or no audio at all. Many low-end cameras record audio at 32 kHz. This technique shows you what you need to know to capture your audio accurately.
There are very few things that cause as much confusion to video editors as working with audio. In this technique, I show you a very efficient technique for structuring where to place audio in your timeline and suggest audio levels that can make your project sound GREAT! If you read only one audio article this month, this is the article to read!
Here’s a neat trick to make a constant speed change to a video clip without changing the sound of the audio.
This is a quick simple technique to automatically create keyframes for an audio filter. Basically, audio key-framing in real-time.
Ever wonder what levels to set your reference tones to? Should you output tone at 0 dB, -12 dB,-18 dB, or -20 dB. In this discussion, Larry is joined by Woody Woodhall, president of Allied Post, to get a better understanding of the issue. And, yup, it’s just as confused as we thought!
Final Cut Pro hates compressed audio. This article explains the problems you will having working with it, as well as providing a simple conversion process that solves the problem.
Using Pro Tools to mix your Final Cut Pro project is a great way to achieve excellent audio. However, there are some tricks you need to understand in this process, as explained here.
Setting the correct audio recording levels on a video camera is crucial to obtaining the best sound during production. This short article explains some of the choices and what you need to know.
Here is a great trick to solve one of the features of FCP that drives me nuts — we can’t slip keyframes. But, here, in this article, I’ll show you an undocumented way to slip audio keyframes. Very cool and very quick.
It’s easy to create burned-in timecode for video clips. But what about visible timecode for audio clips? The answer is “maybe,” but probably not.
Every clip in Final Cut supports up to three timecode tracks — a primary and two auxilliary tracks. This article describes how to access them, change the timecode they contain, and idea on what to use them for.
Here’s something to try when Final Cut won’t open after an upgrade. Most likely, it’s due to bad plug-ins. This article describes what to do to fix it.
Faster is always better, when you can maintain control and quality. Here’s a VERY fast way to reset clip durations in the Browser that can save you tons of time, when compared to doing it one clip at a time.
There are two questions I get asked a lot: what’s the best camera, and what’s the best hardware. This article explains why answering the hardware question is so difficult. It isn’t that there’s no answer, its that the answer is TOTALLY dependent on what YOU need. Take a look here at why.
Keyframes and motion paths are used in Final Cut to move images around the screen. However, every keyframe contains additional Bezier controls if you know where to look. This article shows you where they are and how they work.
Folks that have worked with video for a long time are often confused about where to set the black level for digital video. This article explains what you need to know — and, relax, it isn’t that hard.
Ever wonder about those black bars on the edges of DV? They are about 9 pixels wide and they are always there. How can you get rid of them? SHOULD you get rid of them? This article explains what you need to know and when you need to worry about it.
Even an iSight camera can be pressed into service for capturing video when nothing better is available. This tutorial shows you how fast and easy this can be.
The problem is that both 16:9 and 4:3 SD video have exactly the same number of pixels. This is true in both NTSC and PAL. And, sometimes, you need to convert from one to the other. What’s the best way to do this? What’s the fastest? Why is it necessary? This article answers those questions.
One of the common problems that inexperienced Final Cut editors run into is audio that slowly drifts out of sync. While the problem may appear to be within Final Cut Pro, the cause is actually due to mismatched audio sample rates between the video you shot and the way you are capturing it. What makes this worse is that many consumer cameras default to an audio sample rate of 32 kHz, while Final Cut expects 48 kHz. In this step-by-step tutorial, I’ll explain what an audio sample rate is and how to change your Final Cut settings to capture your audio accurately.
Stereoscopic 3D video is not just for theatrical release. Cable and satellite channels, even YouTube, now display images in 3D. In this musing, I reflect that even if 3D isn’t the future, we can make money on it now – without spending a ton of money.
The simplest definition of rendering is to convert an effect or image from its native format to match the video format of your timeline.
It’s late at night, you are wrapping up a project. Just when you think you can go home, you discover that your final export from Soundtrack Pro, doesn’t sync with your final export from Final Cut Pro. Grrr!! Now what? This article explains a very nifty technique that solves that problem in short order.
Need to find some new fonts — or looking for a way to add them to your system? Here’s how.
Traditionally, effects were recorded to DigiBeta tape in two cuts. The first cut was the hold-out, which defined the alpha channel and the second cut was what went into the matte. However, creating an alpha channel from tape is not obvious. However, it’s easy to do and this article shows you how to do it.
Setting the Anamorphic Flag to tell FCP how to treat your footage.
It’s hidden in plain sight, near the top of the Motion tab in Final Cut Pro: Anchor Point. But, what does it do?
In Final Cut Pro, filters process before motion effects. Most of the time, this is fine. However, this order prevents creating certain effects. This tutorial shows how to create nests, how to change this processing order, and how to blur both a clip and the edges of a clip.
HDV is the latest video format craze, but it isn’t like DV; or any other video format we are used to working with. This article explains how HDV is different and what you need to know to use it successfully.
Here is a fast way to create a sequence with burned-in timecode – very useful for client reviews and revisions. In fact, we can do this in about six steps, as this tutorial shows how.
Here is a fast way to use anchor points in the Motion tab to create motion effects quickly, while saving keyframes.
In Final Cut Pro 7 is the File > Share option which allows us to export a sequence from Final Cut and compress it for YouTube. This article, and comments, show you how this works.
How to carry a preference Custom Keyboard Layout file and place it in a new Final Cut Pro system. Very useful for freelance editing!
I want to share with you something I discovered while working with an AccuSys RAID that totally surprised me. This has NOTHING to do with the RAID itself, but having the RAID made it possible for me to discover this.
Sometimes, the best of plans suddenly go awry and you need to remove plug-ins from your FCP 7 system.
