I made a mistake in this week’s webinar – Apple Final Cut Pro 11 Power Tips – when I said that ProRes did not support Log video. (I corrected this in the edited final version.) It does. WHAT IS LOG …
The new Magnetic Mask in Final Cut Pro 11 is a powerful tool to separate the foreground from background – without a green screen key – so you can alter the look of each layer independently. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how to create a mask that includes multiple subjects.
There are two principal ways to create moves on stills for a video: the “Ken Burns Effect,” and keyframes. Both have benefits, both have weaknesses and both are used every day. Watch as Larry Jordan shows how to use each technique to create effective moves on a still image.
This is a flat-out amazing interview and photographs! Philip Grossman is a documentarian, cinematographer, technology consultant.. and absolutely fearless. His documentaries inside Chernobyl and Fukushima won international praise. Here he discusses his gear, his technique, and his thoughts on media itself.
All NLEs today can convert speech to text, then generate captions for video. However, following in the steps of CapCut, which popularized this feature, DaVinci Resolve now animates subtitles in a variety of ways. Here’s how this works.
The Magnetic Mask in Apple Final Cut Pro provides fascinating ways to separate foreground from background, then manipulate each separately. In this tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to use the Magnetic Mask to isolate the foreground, change the background, adjust color and add text effects.
Sometimes, in spite of our best efforts during production, something gets into the shot that we just don’t notice until it is too late. DaVinci Resolve has two effects that can quickly remove elements from a shot: Patch Replacer and Object Remover. Here’s a tutorial on how they work.
Recently, I contacted Blackmagic Design to learn which features in DaVinci Resolve 20 were powered by AI. Here’s what I learned, along with a video demo at the end of this article.
Ken Paul Rosenthal is a filmmaker who switched from Canon to Blackmagic Design cameras. In doing so, he found an interested technique to improve exposures for his films.
Far too often, you need to change color settings in the middle of a clip so that the colors change during playback. While you can simply dissolve between two clips, using keyframes gives you more control – allowing you to change settings multiple times during a clip. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to create color keyframes and change settings to convert a clip from daylight to indoor lighting.
All recent versions of DaVinci Resolve provide an outstanding motion tracker. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to configure a Power Window (mask) for tracking, then, seconds later, apply a secondary color correction effect. The whole process takes less than a minute and can be used with any Power Window!
The free version of DaVinci Resolve 20 is amazing. But the Studio version will blow your mind! In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan showcases four color effects only available in the Studio version of Resolve that will alter your view of reality and leave your jaw on the floor!
A powerful and poetic tribute to the magic that was LACPUG, née LAFCPUG, for 25 years the defining community for video editors around the world. A labor of love and a work of art by Mike Horton.
In my webinar last week, I showed how to use keyframes in Premiere Pro to seamlessly change color in the middle of a clip using keyframes. However, as Reed Brown wrote, there’s a faster way that can be used in any NLE. Here’s how it works.
Adobe Premiere Pro has vastly improved matching colors between shots – especially when you use Comparison View. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to display Comparison View, how to match colors between shots, then how to make manual adjustment if needed after the match.
Generative AI is commanding all the fear and attention in media today. But, there are a wealth of AI-assisted tools in Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve that are enabling editors to do more, rather than replacing them en masse. In this presentation to the Los Angeles Creative Pro User Group, Larry Jordan highlights nearly two dozen AI-assisted tools across all three of these applications.
Apple Final Cut Pro provides three different ways to quickly adjust the look of a clip: Looks, Color Board Presets, and Color Grading Presets. In this short video demo, Larry Jordan shows what these are, where they are located and the differences between them; including one very big advantage!
Comparison view quickly allows comparing the look of any timeline clip to the clips preceding and following it. Even better, it supports building a collection of “looks” you can use to compare any timeline clip to up to 30 timeline images. Larry Jordan shows how this feature works.
In this conversation, Larry Jordan and Maxim Jago discuss the future of media, the impact of AI on media creation and humanity, why he chooses to be optimistic, and his suggestions on what creative media folks can do to survive and surmount the turbulence in today’s world.
Larry Jordan and Patrick Holroyd discuss their brand-new camera app for iPhone. Expanding well beyond the native Camera app, MAVIS provides camera-to-cloud directly from the iPhone, access to pro features, including 25 fps video, and a totally new interface.
Larry Jordan and Barton Weiss discuss what makes videography with a smartphone different from using a more traditional video cameras. Barton also explains his challenges in writing this book and how he tested its concepts on his film students.
Larry Jordan and Joey Daoud discuss the impact of AI on media and how he deals with it. Joey then shares what got him interested in tech, how he built his channels and suggestions on how to market a YouTube channel.
Larry Jordan and Rick Barrett discuss the latest upgrades to Maxon’s range of artistic software. Rick then goes into more detail on RedShift, ZBrush and Cinema 4D, along with a discussion on the role of AI in the creative arts.
An illustrated look behind-the-scenes at what we did and how it worked at the 2025 NAB Show. This covers setup, operations and the things I learned. Surprisingly, it all worked really well!
Adobe added more AI features into the latest release of Premiere (25.2), along with a variety of other useful features and bug fixes. Here’s what’s new
Apple released the latest version of Final Cut Pro (11.1) last week, with several helpful new features Here are the details on what they are and how they work.
From a recent conversation about radio, I realized there are direct parallels between what is happening in traditional media and the stresses we face as media creators. But, there is also a way for us to successfully compete. Larry Jordan shares his thoughts.
(Even if you don’t read the tutorial, watch the movie at the end.) Here’s how to create an animated flashlight beam that changes shape as you move it around an image, using Apple Motion.
If you, like me, scoffed when Blackmagic Design introduced their URSA Cine 17K 65 digital film camera, well, Blackmagic just published two Behind-the-Scenes video showing the camera in use. (The filmmaker quotes below are from BMD’s press release.) Now, there …
Aiarty Image Matting is an AI-powered image background remover for natural blending with new backgrounds. It excels at matting complex images with hair, fur, semi-transparency, indistinct edges, or low light. Here’s Larry Jordan’s review.
This guest post from Steven Kerr describes cinematic techniques for strong visual storytelling hold great importance in captivating your audiences and sending across the intended message. Here’s how you can achieve it effectively.
Alan has always had problems creating smooth zooms using an iPhone. In this demo, Larry Jordan illustrates the new multiple lenses and zoom features in the iPhone 16 Pro.
Alain asked how to create an animated flashlight beam in Apple Motion. So I showed him; afterward I realized I was wrong. Here’s both what I showed Alain, then an even better way to create a flashlight effect.
This video showcases how to improve a gray, washed-out image using the color wheels in Final Cut, as well as applying different LUTs.
This is a transcript of an interview with Larry Jordan conducted by Cirina Catania for OWC Radio.Here, Larry discusses the media industry, AI, his career, finding work, and more. (Recorded Dec. 27, 2024.)
I’m skeptical about whether AI will benefit those of us in media. But I’m only one person. So I emailed more than a dozen developers and industry leaders to get their opinions. Here’s what I learned.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan what visual generators are in Final Cut, how to modify them and ways to use them.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how to use blend modes to fix image problems, enhance an image or create a surreal effect.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how to create and format 3D text. Plus, how to convert 2D text into 3D.
Twelve years ago I wrote a detailed article on how to use blend modes in Final Cut Pro. But there is more we can do now and, in this tutorial, I want to showcase four different ways to use blend …
Here’s a list of my most popular tutorials for December, 2024. Yet what I find most intriguing is how many older tutorials are still very popular.
Christopher Campbell created an amazing time-lapse image sequence about painting a large picture. Then, he asked me for ways to make this time-lapse look better. Here is a technique you can use in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
The Ken Burns effect provides automated image animation and it works for both horizontal and vertical projects. But there are several cases where keyframes work better. Larry Jordan illustrates both in this short video.
Drop zones are areas in a Final Cut Pro effect into which you can insert an image or video. But, there’s a key “gotcha” that you need to know to use them effectively. Larry Jordan explains.
There are four menu options to scale images in Premiere Pro. One is a really bad choice, while two aren’t bad. But one is clearly the best choice when you also want to animate image scaling. Larry Jordan explains.
Here’s a very fast technique that can reduce (or emphasize) wrinkles in an actor’s face – without resorting to plug-ins. Watch as Larry Jordan illustrates how this adjustment works – improving how an actor looks instantly!
This short video showcases the differences between using Lift – Gamma – Gain and Shadows – Mids – Highlights to change the gray-scale values of a clip. These differences are significant, powerful, and highly useful, as Larry Jordan illustrates.
The new Magnetic Mask is nothing short of amazing. Whether you want to remove a background, improve a color grade, or apply an effect to only a portion of the clip, the Magnetic mask is your new tool of choice. This video shows how it works.
Here’s an illustrated, step-by-step tutorial to Apple’s Magnetic Mask, new with Final Cut Pro 11. This can create amazing results quickly – once you know how it works.
Recently, FxFactory updated their flagship product, FxFactory Pro, to version 6. To learn more about this update, I emailed Niclas Bahn, head of Business Development at FxFactory.
