Blog Archives

Apple updated Final Cut Pro X just before the holidays. In this short video excerpt from a recent PowerUP webinar, host Larry Jordan illustrates how to access, display and change LUTs.

For power, flexibility, and color effects, 3D LUT Creator is unequaled. Now, they need to turn their attention to showing the rest of us how to use it.

CoreMelt provides motion tracking and image selection tools far beyond what’s available in Final Cut Pro X. In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan provides an overview of the color grading tools in Chromatic.

Color correction and color grading are part art, part science and part applied technology. In this short, video excerpt, Larry Jordan shows how to create a color key, which selects an object within the frame based on its color. This also illustrates how to create a mask.

Color correction and color grading are part art, part science and part applied technology. In this short, video excerpt, Larry Jordan shows how to install and add LUTs in Premiere.

In this short video excerpt from a recent webinar, Larry Jordan illustrates a very simple, yet extremely powerful, technique to color correct clips in Apple Final Cut Pro X when you don’t have a lot of time.

An overview of the new P3 / Rec. 2020 color space supported by Final Cut Pro X 10.3 and what we can do to view media in this new color space.

This is a little-known trick that allows you to color correct a clip without first editing it into a multicam clip or the Timeline. The benefit to this technique is that you can apply this change once and it appears everywhere a portion of that clip is used.

A quick tip that can help dial out color problems during video editing, quickly and easily.

Video scopes are indispensable when making final decisions on how to fix problems or grade a scene. This article shows how to configure them in Final Cut Pro X.

Color correction allows you to make problem images look great. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to color correct a shot where the skin tones are too orange using Final Cut Pro X.

Color correction allows you to make problem images look great. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to color correct a portion of an image using Shape Masks in Final Cut Pro X.

An illustrated tutorial on weird, obscure settings at the bottom of the Sequence and Export dialogs in Premiere Pro that no one understands… and that you can’t find in the Adobe Help Files.

Secret tips and tricks on editing with Final Cut Pro X, from Larry Jordan.

An illustrated tour of all the different options in the Color Picker in Final Cut Pro X or Motion 5.

Recently, Premiere totally overhauled its video scopes and color correction software to integrate features from SpeedGrade into Premiere Pro. In this article, I want to showcase these new Lumetri video scopes. NOTE: If you want to learn how to use …

With the 2015 release, Adobe massively improved their color correction and grading tools in Premiere Pro CC. For the first time, video scopes and tools that were only available in SpeedGrade are now available in Premiere. In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan illustrates how to use the new Lumetri video scopes to analyze clips and determine any problems they may have.

With the 2015 release, Adobe massively improved their color correction and grading tools in Premiere Pro CC. For the first time, video scopes and tools that were only available in SpeedGrade are now available in Premiere. In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan illustrates how to analyze skin tone values to determine whether corrections need to be made.

There’s nothing worse than returning from a shoot to discover that all your images are blue, or green. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how to use color and shape masks in Final Cut Pro X to adjust a portion of an image.

There’s nothing worse than returning from a shoot to discover that all your images are blue, or green. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how improve your images by adjusting their gray-scale values; what Final Cut Pro X calls "Exposure."

An illustrated, step-by-step tutorial on how to prepare digital images for video editing in either Premiere Pro CC or Final Cut Pro X.

An illustrated step-by-step tutorial on how to take a video clip or still image and make it look older. MUCH older, using the Sepia effect and others in Final Cut Pro X.

In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan illustrates the new Color workspace in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015, along with its outstanding new video scopes and amazing Lumetri color panel.

An illustrated explanation of video scopes – Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope – and how to read them to better understand your video images. This article applies to all video editing software and images.

A detailed, illustrated look at compressed video image quality as created by Apple Compressor 4.2.

A short video tutorial from Larry Jordan showing how to automate Photoshop image processing using Actions.

A short video tutorial on how to use the Clone tool to remove dust and small scratches from a still image.

This short video tutorial by Larry Jordan shows how to remove scratches and creases from a damaged still image using the Healing Brush in Adobe Photoshop CC

A step-by-step illustrated tutorial showing how to animate an effect in Motion 5 using audio. This also shows how to animate color changes.

A short video tutorial on visual effects plug-in Dfx, from Tiffen. This can create some stunning visual effects, especially when you want your actors to look great.

A step-by-step tutorial on creating adjustment layers in Final Cut Pro X. This is an especially good technique for applying the Broadcast Safe filter.

A short video demo from Larry Jordan showcasing “Smooth Skin” from Dashwood Cinema Solutions running in Final Cut Pro X.

An explanation of how to choose the right version of ProRes for your project.

Create a surprising effect using two different colors in a chroma-key. This is especially useful for props shots on camera. Illustrated using Premiere Pro CC.

A very interesting effect, created from combining two different chroma-key colors in the same clip allowing us to switch between backgrounds. Illustrated using Final Cut Pro X.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to remove a background color that isn’t green or blue, using the Keyer filter in Final Cut Pro X.

A step-by-step explanation of the Broadcast Safe filter, why you need to use it, how it works, and how to use it to keep your video levels “safe.”

A video tutorial on how to find, access and save color presets in the Color Board of Final Cut Pro X.

A video tutorial on how to apply an effect, or color correction, to an edited multicam clip in Final Cut Pro X.

A detailed and illustrated article showing how to use a variety of blend modes to combine text with backgrounds to yield striking visual effects in Adobe Premiere Pro (all versions). Plus, these are fun and easy to do.

A discussion and step-by-step example of what Log C files are and how to change their look, quickly and easily, to Rec. 709 in Final Cut Pro X.

A short video tutorial showing how to apply multiple color masks to create visually stunning color effects in Final Cut Pro X.

A secret, yet quick tip to make color correcting multicam clips in Final Cut Pro X a lot easier.

A detailed explanation of how to use the video scopes to make skin tones look normal for a variety of ethnic skin types. These techniques apply to Final Cut Pro X, Final Cut Pro 7, Premiere Pro CC and CS6, as well as other video editing software.

A step-by-step tutorial on creating a soft-edged wipe to a full-screen color in Final Cut Pro X.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to maintain safe video levels using the Video Limiter effect.

A short video tutorial defining the differences in video gray-scale levels.

This video tutorial shows how to use the Video Limiter to prevent excessive white levels.

This video tutorial shows how to create shape masks and use them to adjust exposure levels within a video clip using Final Cut Pro X.

A short video tutorial shows how to turn everything black-and-white, except for one element in the frame; the “Pleasantville effect.”