This twelve-step workflow organizes your editing to focus on doing critical tasks first.
A commentary on how to pick the best video frame rate to shoot your project, with a look back at history.
The seven basic ideas you need to think about before starting your own creative company.
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.
Jack Rickard sent me a very thoughtful analysis of why he is a fan of the Cloud that I want to share with you.
Mark Whalen sent me his thoughts on Final Cut Pro X that I wanted to share with you.
Final Cut Pro X was released just over 30 days ago — seems longer than that somehow…
A quick, comprehensive definition of one of the most commonly misunderstood terms in our industry.
Ben Balser, an Apple-Certified Trainer for Digital Media, sent me the following commentary on investing the time to get trained. By way of background, Ben is a long-time educator and trainer.
Deciding whether to upgrade to Final Cut Studio 2? Read this short note first.
Not all software updates work the way they are advertised.This article describes an update approach you can use to make sure all software updates go smoothly.
This article grew out of newsletter discussions over the last few months and features thoughts from experienced tape editors.
Snow Leopard, Apple’s latest operating system, is not for everyone. But it may be for you. This article describes what you need to know in deciding when to upgrade your system.
What makes for an effective technology teacher? What should we focus on? How do we avoid the “fear of the unknown” in our students? In this philosophical musing, I reflect on what I’ve learned about teaching technology for almost a decade.
We are living in the middle of truly interesting times from proliferating video formats, monitor problems and tapeless acquisition, this article helps you make sense of the industry during a period of very rapid change.
This Q&A article discusses the reasons for hosting your own content, rather than posting it to YouTube. It also suggests ways we can get additional revenue from our projects.
This is a commentary by Larry Jordan on the announcements and background conversation at MacWorld 2006 in San Francisco, CA.
Apple just finished its event for NAB 2007 — where they announced Final Cut Server, Final Cut Studio 2 and Color! And I thought you might be interested in some more immediate observations.
Hard disks are essential to video editing. But, as this short article explains, what you thought you knew about maintaining your hard disks may not be true. Take a look.
These thoughts have been bubbling around my head for the last few months, but developed into an article as I was trying to learn a particularly tricky piece of software. After reading the manual, watching the tutorials, and taking the training, I was more confused than ever. This article is an attempt to discuss how to create effective training, and specific techniques to avoid.
Recently, I got an email from John Bertram, an editor in Toronto, on why metadata support is crucial to the next generation of Final Cut Pro.
Apple released Final Cut Studio (3) on July 23, 2009. This is a quick look at the announcement and an exclusive interview with Richard Townhill, Director of Video Application Marketing for Apple, about the new software suite.
Trying to decide what hard drive to buy? This article explains the differences between FireWire and SATA, and how to select the one that’s right for you.
Great looking chroma-keys start on set with how you light. However, once you’ve got the footage, what’s the best way to create a key. Here’s a quick sidebar that lists some other software you might want to try if you are not able to get the effect you want using the keyers that ship with Final Cut or Motion.
As I was investigating how Final Cut Pro handles multiclip editing, it struck me that, after a certain point, the speed of your storage doesn’t really matter. Which means that we need to pay attention to more than just the raw speed of our storage systems.
Apple has announced their new iPad, though as of this writing it has not yet shipped. What is the iPad good for? Should video professionals pay attention? In this article, I share some of my thoughts on where the iPad fits in.
Here are a series of tips, gleaned from lots and lots of painful experience, that can help you find and land a great post-production job.
With the release of Final Cut Studio (3), Apple signaled that LiveType was not long for this world by no longer bundling it with the suite of software. However, FCP 7 still supports LiveType files. This is a shame, as I truly like working with LiveType. This article details what makes LiveType fun to use, and features in Motion that would help us make the transition.
Just because the ProAps are no longer top-of-mind at Apple does not mean they are dead. Or dying. They just aren’t the darlings they used to be. And many of us are feeling the lack of love.
The latest versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro were announced, along with a brand new application: Soundtrack Pro 2. This article gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what’s new.
Final Cut Server is out, but what does it really do? In this article, we take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the product. Server has a lot of power, but it isn’t for everyone — this article helps you decide for yourself.
The best way to export from FCP is reexamined with new attention given to changes in distribution mediums. Also, Larry provides a detailed explanation of how he exports files from Final Cut.
Editing is both a craft and business. Which means that, unless you are independently wealthy, you need to find a way to make money at it. This article describes how to calculate the rates you charge for editing, for the use of your equipment, and how to handle travel expenses. As well as provide a link to a tutorial I’ve created with more tips on how to grow your business.
Here is a series of ten questions that new editors can ask their producers to make sure everyone is on the same page at the start of a project. This is also a useful bidding tool.
What are the disadvantages of using DV, rather than SD, video? This discussion also features comments from a variety of readers.
There’s a lot of talk these days about previewing, accessing, storing, even archiving media in “the cloud;” a vast amorphous pool of storage on the Internet. But is this a good idea? And what are some ways we can take advantage of this? In this interview with Peter Chang, president of Oxygen Cloud, we discuss what the cloud is, how we can take advantage of it, and what some of the limitations are.
Here’s a short, interesting discussion of key things to keep in mind as you pursue free-lance work from corporate clients. This includes a list of questions to ask before starting any project.
This article spells out the rules I use for reviewing products — both software and hardware. It is my goal to provide objective, fair, and honest reviews you can trust. Reviews based upon life in the “real-world.” This article explains the rules I use in determining what products to review and the role that potential sponsorship plays in determining what I review.
The recent conversion to all-digital broadcasting brought this reflection on the changes we’ve seen in television over the years. I guess this isn’t really technical, but it struck me as appropriate.
You know the drill. Someone at Apple coughs and suddenly the rumor mill is filled with frenzied statements that the doom of Final Cut Studio is at hand. “The Death of Final Cut” rumors have gotten to be as regular as spring floods or a plague of locusts.
One of the easiest questions to ask, and one of the hardest to answer, is “What’s the Best Camera?” The problem is that tricky word “best.” In this short article, I provide some general guidance, along with a list of a dozen questions you need to answer before you can find the camera that’s best… for you!
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.
In a recent conversation with Bruce Nazarian, president of the DVD Association, during The BuZZ podcast, we were discussing the sudden shift toward Blu-Ray DVDs.
What is the future for distributing HD video? Is it Blu-ray or is it digital downloads? In this thoughtful opinion piece, Jason Chong, Kit Laughlin, and Lorin David Schultz share their thoughts on where the future is headed. Even though recent events have made Blu-ray Discs easier to create on a Mac, that doesn’t mean they’ve won the war. The battle rages and you get to choose.
As 2010 draws to a close, three quick observations on technology for the coming year.
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.
With the camera industry’s head-long rush into tapeless image acquisition, having a soild backup and archiving strategy is critical because video tape masters no longer exist. In this commentary, I discuss the sad state of today’s options and provide suggestions to keep you out of trouble.
As part of my recent research for the Tapeless and DSLR Media webinar, I sent a note to a variety of editors asking for their thoughts on working with tapeless media. Specifically, I wanted to learn what problems they were running into. I was fascinated by the results.
