The lighting is perfect, the acting superb, the audio flawless — except the boom mike has crept into the top of the frame. Here are several quick techniques you can use to get rid of it — without reshooting.
I am getting periodic reports of missing render files inside Final Cut Pro. This short article may give you a hand in tracking down the problem.
One of the effects I wanted to create for my training was a reflection of a moving clip of video. This is what we are going to create in this technique.
One of the hot new features in Final Cut Pro 6 (part of Final Cut Studio 2) is the ability to use Motion templates inside Final Cut Pro. This article shows you how that’s done and gives you a couple of killer examples on how using templates as placeholders can save you HOURS of time.
Final Cut Pro is two audio channels in, but up to 24 audio channels out. This article shows you how to get more than stereo from FCP.
Probably the most reqested technique in my classes — how to add the same transition to multiple clips at once. Here’s how.
Probably the most reqested technique in my classes — how to add the same transition to multiple clips at once. Here’s how.
Nesting is the process of placing one sequence inside another sequence. There are many reasons why this technique is useful. This article highlights several of them, including ways to fix problems when your nested audio does not appear.
Normalizing is one way to raise the gain of an entire clip without creating any over-modulation. Prior to FCP 6, only Soundtrack Pro could normalize. Now, FCP can, too. Here’s how.
Paste Attributes is an extremely flexible tool that simplifies copying settings from one clip to another. This tutorial shows you how.
This is a quick tip illustrating how to make your dialog sound like it is coming over the telephone.
Working with still images in video is hard, because images created on the computer are not compatible with video. A new software – PhotoMotion – seeks to solve a lot of the challenges in working with still images. This is a detailed review of how the product works.
Since its first release, Final Cut Pro has integrated effects with video editing. In this tutorial, I show you how to create a picture-in-picture effect, then make it move using keyframes in the Motion tab.
This detailed analysis looks at how to create graphics on your computer that look “right” on FCP. It’s a detailed look at the difference between square and non-square pixels.
Creating keys on the computer is easy – and they look great. Where problems occur is when those specials effects are shot with interlaced video and displayed on an interlaced TV set or monitor. This article describes how to avoid suddenly discovering that all your effects look out of focus.
What’s the best way to position text in Final Cut Pro, and why does the position shift as you change justification? This short article explains the why and how.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to position text in Final Cut Pro to get the highest quality. This article explains what you need to know.
Judging by my email, handling still images is by far the most confusing part of editing video — especially because the computer creates images using square pixels and video uses rectangular pixels, in a variety of shapes. This article explains everything you need to know to create great looking still images for your next video project.
Here’s a technique you can use to slightly modify a voice so that it is no longer recognizable, yet still understandable. This is useful for disguising speakers, or commercial effects.
You have probably used Final Cut’s audio mixer to mix your audio tracks in real-time. Did you know you can do the same thing with audio filters? This technique shows you how.
Soundtrack Pro has the amazing ability to reduce the background noise in a clip – like air conditioners or other machine noise. In this tutorial, I’ll show you a step-by-step procedure you can use to reduce the noise in your audio. (Note: For a video tutorial of this process, click here.)
It’s happened to all of us. We created an effect that looked great at the time, but now, after a night’s rest, we hate it. Here are two techniques you can use to remove all the filters from selected clips.
Final Cut creates render files for all transitions, effects, and audio mixes. This article explains what you need to know to keep these files under control and recover hard disk space at the end of a project.
Tracking and removing render files is easy — when you know how the Render Manager works. This tutorial shows you how.
Steve Gagne sent in a question that sparked this tutorial. He was dissolving between chroma-key shots and in the middle of each dissolve, the foreground clip color-shifted to green. He thought this could be fixed using nests, but needed some help in figuring out how.
Confused about what size to create your images? This article explains what image size to use so they import correctly into Final Cut Pro HD.
Nothing drives us more nuts than having to wait for our systems to render transitions and effects. Reader Don Smith sent in this technique for reducing the time you spend waiting for Final Cut Pro to render.
Apple changed the algorythms FCP uses for scaling and rotation for FCP 5. This explains what the changes are, how to use them and how to convert to the new settings.
With FCP 5’s support for HDV, you need to change the size of images you import. Here are new scan numbers you should use.
The issue of converting to ProRes is addressed along with a walk-through of the pros and cons of the different version.
By default, Final Cut only displays one field of video – this makes images much easier to view while editing. But, sometimes, you need to see both fields. This very, very short article explains exactly what you need to know.
This technique describes an interesting effect combining a traveling matte and a pond ripple filter which allows you to color an effect as it moves across the screen.
Here’s a secret technique that allows you to add the default transition to any number of selected clips in the timeline — all at the same time!
The world of HD is awash in incompatible formats. Worse, it has eight different frame rates. And selecting the wrong frame rate in After Effects can make your video uneditable in Final Cut Pro. This article explains what you need to know.
Gamma settings control the gray-scale midpoint. The reason this is significant is that Macs, video, and Windows all use slightly different settings. This means that video that looks good on one system, may look washed out or too dark on others. Snow Leopard, however, has changed the rules. In this article, I explain what gamma is, how to use it, and where to set it.
Garbage mattes are a fast way to exclude portions of a frame that you don’t want the viewer to see. This article shows an example of using garbage mattes to hide light stands in a music video.
This tutorial shows you how to create a glowing lantern effect in Final Cut Pro using the Light-rays Glow filter and some video generators. It isn’t fine art, but this will show you how to create some amazing effects, easily, on your own system.Easy, I thought… use Light Rays.
Looking for different ways to add some excitement to your transitions? This article explains a little understood transition in Final Cut that provides some truly exciting, and unusual, transitions.
Gradients are a smooth ramp from one color, or shade of gray, to another. Gradients can be easily created in Final Cut Pro, but the button to do so is very hidden. In this article, I show you how to create a gradient, how to adjust it, and provide some ideas on what you can do with it.
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.
This is a comprehensive look at how computer and video graphics are different and what you need to know to create great looking video text and graphics. This article can make your life a LOT easier!
Handles are critical for transitions and trimming. In this article, discover what handles are and why they are necessary.
Here are some design tips to help your text and images look good in video.
One of the most complex steps in video editing is getting your computer-based images to look good in video. This article explains how video images are different from computer images and what you need to do to make them look great.
Final Cut Pro allows you to import text into a text clip, which allows you to write your text in one place, then display it in Final Cut. The problem is, that importing doesn’t always work properly. This article describes the problem and provides a solution.
Interlacing, deinterlacing, progressive — three very confusing terms to many people. This article explains what they are, when you use them, what to do when you see them, and why you should care — not, in many case, not care at all.
Here’s a technique you can use to create multiple keyframes in multiple clips at the same time with a single mouse click. Then, I’ll show you how to get more control over the keyframes you set.
Here’s a fast way to use Keynote create text animations — especially for text-heavy clips. This is also a much faster way to create animated bulleted lists as well. This technique shows you how to make this work.
Keynote is a secret weapon in the arsenal of creating motion graphics. The problem is getting the files exported from Keynote into something we can edit. This article describes the process, along with several tips from readers.
One of the hardest emails to read starts: “After years of work, I’m finally ready to submit my project to a festival. All I need to do is get rid of the audio echoes and I’m done.” The sad part is that is not a lot that can be done to reduce echoes — except for the ideas in this article.
